OK, so they're a trifle basic, but it's a start. Google Mobile Help is the name of a new (official) YouTube channel, with videos helping newcomers to use Google Maps for Mobile and YouTube for mobile. There are four videos to watch at the moment (not counting an old GMail test one), mainly demoed on S60 and UIQ 3 hardware. Worth adding to your YouTube subscriptions list?
Oh yes, from this, Smartphones Show 56 onwards, there's both a traditional QVGA version to play and a hi-res VGA version as well. And they each have their own RSS feeds, so you can decide which one to pug into your feed reader or aggregator. Show 56 has News, a show FAQ, a photo tutorial and a brief video review of the Nokia N81 8GB. See below for all the links.
Kudos to the Symbian World team for a simultaneous triple play of super articles, all published this morning. There's a photo gallery of the brand new Nokia 6650 clamshell, a detailed and fairly conclusive demonstration of the importance of a protected camera lens in their N95/N95 8GB comparison, and finally a long and interesting interview with one of the S60 world's heroes, Jukka Silvennoinen, author of Y-Browser, among others.
That's User Data Preservation to you and I. This nugget is from a normally reliable industry insider, mik3, over at My-Symbian. We already know that new firmware v20 is coming for the Nokia N95 8GB, bringing screen auto-rotation, but mik3 makes a point of mentioning UDP. I'm guessing that v20 will bring the UDP code, ready so that UDP happens properly for the next firmware update after that. If you see what I mean...
With Rafe at CTIA, Ewan at Over The Air and others all on holiday, it's time for a little Friday catchup, with some links you may have missed. All-Format Writer is a freeware Java application that can create documents in the various competing ‘next-generation’ electronic document formats (ODT, DOCX, UOF and PDF) (via The Symbian Blog). Antony Pranata has a great tip for cleanly uninstalling PC Suite under Windows Vista. Al at the Nokia Blog has a great post about creating photos with High Dynamic Range (evening out extremes of light and dark). Finally, the insane(ly great) N82-toting Stavros has addressed the world. Again. Listen and learn!
Turning out to be a busy day! N-Gage just went live. Phew. There's a 7MB .sisx client to install via the usual PC Suite route. Here's the English Download link. (via p@sco). Initial observations, device compatibility and screenshots of the only new game, Brain Challenge, below. All other announced games are still shown as 'coming soon' on the web site. All comments welcome, of course.
Recently added to Nokia's Download! for some devices, Brain Genius is actually widely available for all phones and smartphones. How does this daily mental exercise work and how has it been implemented on the Download! version? Find out in my review of Brain Genius.
Users of non-network branded Nokia E90s should check NSU right now. There's a new firmware update, v200.34.72, with Flash Lite 3, a new Quickoffice, and more. More details below. No idea why they should jump from v7.4 right up to v200, though! Read on.... [Updated: the update seems to have been pulled]
Ewan and I look at MosKillto, a new commercial demo of an accelerometer-driven shooting game. In our review, we look past the simple gameplay to appreciate the genre's history and its future. Oh, and add in a flamethrower and some zombies and you've got us hooked...
JoikuSpot, the phenomenal little utility that turns your smartphone into a Wi-Fi hotspot for your laptop and other hardware, just got significantly better, with the release of a new beta (1.2) that supports WEP encryption. Previously, your little Wi-Fi hotspot had to be open to allcomers, with predictable results. (via The Symbian Blog)
Fed up waiting for N-Gage to go live? Console yourselves with this brand new games compilation from PDA maestros Astraware. After yesterday's announcement, and after a week or so of actual pre-release gameplay, Ewan presents his review of Astraware Boardgames, for both S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3. Summary: classic games, well pitched and well implemented, Boardgames only falls short of Megagame status by a gnat's whisker.
It's.... AAS Insight 19 (aka AAS audio podcast 68), mainly concentrating on the news of UIQ 3.3 and what it will mean, but also chatting about the split of Motorola, the v21 update for the Nokia N95 Classic and the usual software spots. Here's the Insight 19 listening link, here's the RSS feed for you to subscribe for the future.
Astraware, arguably THE top name in PDA gaming, has finally started releasing titles for Symbian OS, with the simultaneous launch of "Boardgames" for both S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3, supporting all the usual devices. The games include Chess, Reversi, Backgammon, Snakes and ladders, Nine Mens Morris and Checkers. Ewan's been playing with an advance copy for a while and he'll have a full review tomorrow, hopefully. See below for some screenshots and the full press release.
Trippo popped its head above the software parapet a few days ago when it got added to Nokia's Download! service for the N95 8GB. But it's available to all and is in the AAS software shop. The big question is, can it live up to its claims? Ewan's been reviewing Trippo and both he and I were gobsmacked at how good the service is - and also at how expensive it might work out.
Download! has been significantly recorganised by Nokia for some devices, with increased use of folders and many new games (N95 8GB screenshots shown below). It's still a mile away from how comprehensive Apple's iPhone AppStore is going to be though. Can Nokia use its headstart to improve Download! across the board in time? Comments welcome. Also, do please comment if you've spotted similarly interesting Download! additions on any device.