Nokia's Ovi Store has been updated, with changes to both the mobile client and the publish tool used by developers. The client for S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition has been updated, from version 1.06(18) to v1.07(12). The key changes are the introduction of 'continuous' pages for content lists (behaving more like the Android Marketplace or Apple App Store), improved search and an updated category structure. The Ovi Publish tool has also been updated with changes to meta-data that developers would be well advised to pay attention to. Read on for more.
In All About Symbian Insight 123, the team discuss the news of the Nokia X5-01 and X6 8GB, which were launched at Nokia Connection in Singapore. Ewan gives us an overview of the Nimbuzz application, before Rafe explains that Symbian^3 is now functionally complete. Finally, Rafe and Steve discuss their thoughts on what they learned at the recent Nokia N8 hands-on event. You can listen to AAS Insight 123 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Starting with a throwaway line from a US podcast, Steve Litchfield works up a head of steam over the ever-slipping battery life standard in our smartphones. How long is long enough when it comes to keeping a modern smartphone going on a single charge? Are we destined to need to carry around mobile chargers in our pocket in 2011 or is there a better way to go? Surely making it through the day is a fundamental that should never be compromised?
Time Out, best known for its events listings and city guides, has been added to Ovi Maps. The location aware listings are found under the 'More..' section of the main menu (similar to the recently added Qype and Expedia hotel booking). The key benefit of Time Out is its focus on short duration events (e.g. a concert that's on for a single night) and its detailed reviews of events, venues and related services. Time Out listings in Ovi Maps currently cover Chicago, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
Ewan surveys the freeware multi-service chat and calling client, Nimbuzz, from from its big v2.4 update. Logging you in and integrating contacts from multiple social networks and chat systems is its speciality and it sounds like it did Ewan proud. It's also not only for multiple mobile platforms, but also for just about every S60 phone currently in use, so there really is no excuse for not keeping it installed and ready for action.
Zahir Mahmood is, I suspect, a big Phones Show fan, partly because he links to my video podcast, but also not least because he's come up with his own take on the idea of postulating a number of smartphone use cases and then delivering a winner (or, in his case, a winner, a mid-level alternative and a budget suggestion) for each. His use cases are 'Photography and media capture', 'Entertainment and games', 'Office and work' and 'Internet world'. So familiar territory for me then, but his choices are both interesting and very Symbian-relevant.
Multiple IM client application Nimbuzz has been updated to v2.4. This client now has closer ties with your smartphone’s address book, adds kinetic scrolling throughout the interface for touch enabled devices, has finer options to control Twitter update, and the ability to limit usage while roaming. More below.
David Gilson brings the Nokia E72 story right up to date, giving his own review take on the device now that it has received the first two rounds of firmware updates from Nokia. What has been fixed, what's still broken and who can the E72 be recommended for? With links, photos and opinion, this is a definitive summing up of the E72, mid June 2010.
At the Nokia Connection event in Singapore Nokia announced the social messaging and music focused Nokia X5-01. It's an S60 3rd Edition handset in a vertical slider, with QWERTY keyboard, form factor, which gives it square shape when the slide is closed. The Nokia X5-01 is currently scheduled to be launched in Indionesia in Q3 at a price of €165 before taxes and subsidies.
The website for Sports Tracker, an application which turns your phone into a GPS sports computer, is now accepting pre-registrations for its online service. The online service will allow you to upload workouts (tracks) from your phone to be visualised, analysed and shared on the website. By registering now you can reserve the username you wish to use, get a notification when the site will goes live, and import your existing Nokia Sports Tracker data.
Thanks to a heads-up, we've learned that TV CatchUp, a free, on-demand all-channels system for UK residents, is now working with Symbian OS and Web. It's a public beta, so expect a few things not to work properly. Point Web at m.tvcatchup.com, sign up for a new account, and away you go. More details below.
With the football World Cup 2010 (eh, what, is something happening today?) starting this evening and going on for all eternity a month, you'll be wondering how you can keep track of the goings on in South Africa on your smartphone. Whether out and about or on the sofa, there are plenty of options to keep you informed and entertained. Read on for some suggestions.
Good news from Furtiv, the makers of plug-ins for Nokia's Share Online application. According to their blog, they have passed the 250,000 downloads mark through the Ovi Store, and are now beta testing plug-ins for MySpace, LinkedIn and TwitPic, due to popular demand. More below.
Around 36 hours ago, Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 4 to the world - excellent build materials on it, but I believe that they - and Nokia - and others - are missing an important trick: what happens when you take your oh-so-portable smartphone out into the world. A world where the birds are singing, the people are smiling and the sun is shining. And you can't see a blessed thing on your smartphone's display. Returning to a theme from exactly a year ago, I compare some recent device displays to prove a very, very important point.
