There was always going to be one big topic for in-depth discussion in the latest AAS Insight Podcast - the announcement of the Symbian Foundation. Rafe and Steve are joined by Stefan and Ewan to talk over the ground-breaking news, and shoot a bit of Midnight Pool into the bargain.
As shown below, the Nokia E71 is now recognised in Nokia Software Update. Latest firmware is v100.07.76, should you want to double-check your new device, not that I've noticed any real bugs - although we can hope for new features at some point.
Warner Music Group become the third of the so called 'Big Four' music labels to sign up to Nokia's "Comes With Music" program. Sitting alongside Sony BMG and Universal, this accounts for between 65%-70% of the total music market depending on which figures you use. Only EMI are outside of the program now - and once they come on board expect a big PR push from the Finns.
Guest writer Justin Berkovi reports back on the brand new and innovative Nokia CK-300 car kit, which reduces control hardware to a minimum and relies instead on using your smartphone's display. Here's Justin's lavishly illustrated review, his first for All About Symbian.
Thanks to all the people who emailed in with this - I'd held off posting about it because I thought it was an accidental leak, but this comprehensive (Flash-based) Nokia N96 interactive demo has been online for a while now and not removed, so presumably it's 'final', especially as we're now within a month or so off seeing the first N96 in the shops.
Nokia's free Mobile Web Server started out as a 'what's the point in that?' project, but with v1.4 released, including GPS and network location support, it has reached the 'hmm.... now that has potential' Bluesky-thinking stage. Worth checking out, though (as usual) watch your data use/tariff. (via Symbian Guru)
PyS60 (or Python for S60) has been evolving nicely and it now extremely useable as a 'quick' programming language for smartphones. And there's a shiny new version for wannabe developers to play with. See the announcement and changelogs at the usual place at Forum Nokia.
Of course Rafe's upcoming E66 review will be even more informed(!), but in the meantime, I've been very impressed by the thoroughness of Alfredo Padilla, in this exhaustive multi-page E66 review. Well worth a read if you're weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of this replacement for the popular E65.
The 3D simulator Midnight Pool is now available in the N-Gage application's showroom. If you can't see it, click on the headline for instructions on how to make it appear. You can see some screenshots and the official trailer on AAN's Midnight Pool game page.
This is going to sound like I'm on some sad, geeky maps-watch, but... I've been on a sad, geeky maps watch and have noticed that there's a new version of Nokia Maps online, v2.0.2402 - and no, I've no idea what's new. There's also a new MapLoader, v1.3.12, promising 'improved compatibility'. Just thought someone out there might like to know.
Something we've heard and talked about over and over again recently is that Nokia and others have all recognised that the future belongs to 'services and software' and that the hardware has become 'a commodity'. This is all a bit jargonistic and in this feature Steve explains these phrases in plain english from the point of view of the consumer.
In another of our regular podcast interviews, Ewan Spence talks to David Wood, EVP Symbian, on some of the finer details on the Symbian Foundation. Launched ten years to the day after the announcement of Symbian, Wood discusses a number of issues around the new strategy of the Symbian partners.
In all the excitement over the Symbian takeover, we missed another announcement by Nokia yesterday, that the Nokia N78 is now officially available in the USA including 3.5G HSDPA support for American phone networks on 850 and 1900 mhz. The press release mentions the unlocked SIM-free version, but presumably locked operator versions should come along soon too.
The first over the air firmware update for Nokia N78 (is this the first one on a S60 device ever?), v11.043, is now available. This new release 'brings more Bluetooth stability, has improved the Music Player refresh time, and includes optimized camera performance and Navi-scroll sensitivity. The update is approximately 2MB and is also available to be downloaded over Wi-Fi. Note that this may not be available for all operators or regions.' More details below. (via kflyer)