I just can't resist linking to this story about a new French-designed 'luxury' handset in Nokia's Vertu line. The non-Symbian (of course) Boucheron 150 costs $30,000 and is made of pure gold, but it looks to me more as if it were run over by a truck. Is it just me? Give me a $600 E90 any day - and it'll probably survive BEING run over by a truck...
After being in closed beta for six weeks, Vringo Studio is now live. This is a new Web application that "lets anyone become a video ringtone producer". Essentially, you take video clips from Vringo’s 4,000-strong clip library or upload your own, customize it and the application then creates a personalised video ringtone, a 'Vringos'. What do you think of this service or the idea of video ringtones?
A couple of interesting links of interest for you from the N82 Blog - bringing news that Slick IM, a popular free Instant Messaging utility, has been updated with full theme support, plus news of a big update to MyPhone, a commercial iPhone skin/launcher that sits on top of S60 (though its use seems to be mainly novelty value in front of easily-swayed friends...)
Sony Ericsson today announced it is joining the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). OHA is the group behind the Android platform championed by Google. Sony Ericsson says its membership will 'complment its existing Open OS strategy which is based on Symbian and Windows Mobile'.
... In which I get all picky about the quality of video capture on Nokia's latest devices, the N79, N85 and (here) the N96. Is there a problem, and if so then is it down to changed premises, settings or lack of graphics acceleration hardware? For once, I'm really not sure and would love folk with more technical/photographic expertise than me to help out in the comments, as we try to get to the bottom of the issues.
Yes, so many of us have been playing with the new proxy-based, video-friendly, S60-native browser Skyfire over the last few weeks. It has now gone official though, with links, press release extracts and an official Skyfire FAQ below.
No, not my list, I'd have plumped for 10 resons why each is better than the other. But over on (the horribly biased!) Tube5800.com there's an interesting list of 20 reasons why Nokia's touch-screen mid-tier newcomer is better than Cupertino's finest. Don't send any flames to me - go the Tube5800 site itself! (via WoN)
So Rafe's off in the USA at Mobius for the week, while Ewan's in Paris for Le Web. Meanwhile, Ewan has been recorded by 'Cruel to be kind', chatting in depth about mobile social networking, a topic on which he'll be presenting at Le Web. You can listen to or download the 38 minute interview here.
No. 153. At 'mobscure'. Your weekend generic reading? Say no more...
AAS's month of trying to destroy Nokia smartphones concludes with me taking an unscheduled fall and hurting myself rather nastily. An N82 helped break my fall, yet still works perfectly. After Rafe's attempts to drown an N95 8GB and an E71, how much more do we have to do to break one of these things? Summing up, I reckon that robustness is a factor often forgotten by other gadget blogs and reviewers.
Programme 70 of The Phones Show just went live and will hopefully be of interest. I do mini video reviews of the Samsung INNOV8 and i7110, deliver some comment on the Nokia N97 and then launch into a six minute critique of the N97, E71 and E90-competing Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - it's very well built but, like the Samsungs, could do with some fixing up and optimisation.
According to Forum Nokia, Python for S60 1.4.5 is now officially released and more powerful than ever. Picking the SIS files to grab is now simpler and there are several important under-the-hood improvements, not least that a Python script can now control Python code in processes that the script didn't start. Oh, dash it, just install the thing, won't you? It'll make all those useful Python mini-apps smoother than ever. Hopefully...
As a fellow mobile video show host(!), I can appreciate the efforts of others in the field. Stuff.TV's last two shows have some interesting bits for the Symbian world. The very latest show has a feature on the best mobile games, with the N82 shown many times and Reset Generation on the N96 starring as well, plus the last but one has a big head to head between the Samsung INNOV8 and Sony Ericsson C905. I've already slated the INNOV8's reflective display in our video podcast and Stuff.TV agreed - it's the single biggest downside of the Samsung flagship.
Popular IM client deluxe Palringo has had an S60 client for a while, but as of now (v0.97) it's properly Symbian Signed, it's got cell tower location, GPS support and Wi-fi beacon detection built-in, plus a mountain of bugs have been fixed, settings added and the interface has been massively overhauled. Screenshots and download link below the break.
While not directly S60 powered, the accessories announced at Nokia World yesterday certainly would sit happily alongside any smartphone. With a focus on 'enhancing the mobile experience,' the Finns presented a Home Music Station, the Internet Stick and the Nokia Extra Power DC-11.
