As Ewan puts it, it's another madcap show - All About Symbian Insight number 30 right here, in which we talk about Missing Sync for Symbian, the launch of the Nokia E71 and E66, plus first thoughts on the Motorola MOTO Z10. Note that this show was recorded last Thursday and so predates Tuesday's Symbian announcements - we'll bring you audio content to do with this very shortly.
For many people, the Nokia N95 remains the best camera phone in the world - here's more evidence, the latest batch of winners from the N95 user group on Flickr - as usual, some stunning work by all.
Right on schedule (for a change), Smartphones Show 61 is out, with a video version of my hands-on review of the Nokia E71, plus news of an impending change of a name for the show. It's worth pointing out that show 61 was recorded before yesterday's big news, by the way...
The Symbian Foundation website is now online, and carries a few more details on the project. The big news is the commitment to move the platform to be open source (using the Eclipse Public Licence) and have this freely available to all. The foundation itself is set to commence operations in the first half of 2009, and the annual membership fee will be $1500. Until the open sourcing, membership will be the route to obtain the platform royalty free for device manufacturers. Naturally, membership is not required to develop for the platform, that remains open to all, just as it is now.
With the release of the 2.4"-screened, QVGA E71, some naive bloggers were shouting down Nokia for not putting in a VGA display. Here's why the bloggers got this one wrong - in my humble opinion, of course! Comments welcome. And at what point in the future do you think VGA will become practical and affordable in 'phones'?
Money management software remains perennially popular and there's now a fully fledged bank account/finance manager for S60 3rd Edition, with the appearance of Flying Money Manager. The developers claim it 'gives you access to your accounts' balances, credit limits, all your payments, deposits and transaction histories'. Flying Money Manager was already available for UIQ 3 smartphones.
Mobitubia wizard Sittiphol is at it again - amazingly. He's gone from ingenious to magical with his new creation - you'll have to watch the video below the break, but essentially a Nokia N95 appears to be able to extrapolate matter from thin air.... Very Star Trek. Watch and see....
Neither are huge updates, but Google Mobile completists like me might like to note that Google's native S60 search utility is now updated to a full 1.01 release and (the Java-based) Google Mail is now up to 1.5.0.1193. Search 1.01 does feature extensive help screens and extra informational menu options, but I can't see anything different in terms of functionality. As ever, m.google.com is your friend...
Surely one of the most popular game genres in the mobile world is that of solitaire collections - Astraware Solitaire is the very latest and looks to be comprehensive and slick. Ewan's been reviewing the S60 3rd Edition version, but it looks exactly the same under UIQ 3 for all those of you with compatible phones, and I've included try/buy links for both platforms.
Arguably starting to be as much in need of a name change as Sports Tracker, Nokia's Map Loader tool just got a big 2.0 upgrade (though still nominally 'beta') and now includes a built-in web shop for browsing and purchasing voice guidance and real-time navigation functions (plus city guides, etc) all using a credit card rather than having to buy on the device through operator billing. What a good idea. Comments welcome if you've grabbed this and given it a try.
The E71 may be first and foremost a business messaging tool, but the Nokia E71 also manages to packs in a lot of multimedia functionality too. In this addendum to our original review Steve has a detailed look at the multimedia capabilities of the Nokia E71. There are camera performance comparisons and a focus on video capabilities.
Missing Sync, a sync tool for Mac OS X, is now available as a beta preview for S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3 phones. Missing Sync for Symbian can be used to synchronize / copy contacts (Apple Address Book), calendar entries (iCal), photos (iPhoto), videos (Quick Time) and music (iTunes) to and from the phone. The current version is a beta preview and as such should be used with caution.
Rafe and Ewan are joined this week by Ricky Cadden as they take on the week's news and hot topics (recorded before Monday's announcements, but don't let that put you off) in Insight 29, a.k.a. AAS podcast 80. They cover the 'Evening with S60' in Boston, the LG KT610 clamshell, iGoogle and the new Google Reader for S60, Cloud Computing and Social Services, plus more N-Gage musings. Oh and they covered some new update from an American manufacturer in Cupertino...
Chinese Checkers? Rafe and I threw up our hands in horror: sounds complicated, we thought. Let Ewan review it! It turns out that the game itself isn't difficult and, moreover, is superbly implemented, with an intuitive and colourful interface. Here's the full review of Five Deers' Chinese Checkers, which gets a solid thumbs up on all fronts.