The Nokia N81 has a firmware update available via Nokia Software Update in many regions today. The new version is 10.0.058 for the N81-1 and 10.0.035 for the N81-3, with improvements in WLAN performance, memory transfer and camera stability. Thanks Nokia, but please don't forget about the N93 and, dare I say it, the N95...
Ewan Spence now has the editorial N81 8GB and begins his multi-part review with a look at the hardware, in particular the innovative naviwheel and the way it controls (or doesn't control) the S60 interface. Part 2 will look at the extensive (and high quality) music functions of the N81.
If you don't know what a 'Flurky' is then head for Krisse's great review of a great game. Flurkies is a platform puzzler and aside from a few colour oddities comes up trumps in almost every department. And the game is available for all S60 and UIQ platforms, so what are you waiting for?
A new version of mBrainSoftware's Pdf+ is on the way. The highlight of the new version is printing support and the ability to create PDF files (via a printer driver) on the phone itself. The new version will be available in three different editions: basic standard, and professional with differing functionality and price points reflecting different use cases for different sets of users.
After one of the longest beta test programmes I can remember, Opera Mini 4 finally got finished. Head for mini.opera.com on your phone or www.operamini.com on your PC. Highly recommended. Some more details below, but essentially it's a proxy-based web browser that runs under Java but compresses content hugely and thus saves time and money.
Nokia Audiobooks beta, which allows you to listen to compressed audio books on your S60 3rd Edition phone, has been added to Nokia Beta Labs website. Nokia Audiobooks comprises the Audiobook Plater for S60 and the Audiobook Manager for Windows PCs.
In one of the most significant announcements of the year Nokia and Vodafone today stated their intention to launch a range of Nokia handsets with both Nokia's Ovi services and Vodafone's own integrated suite of service. Nokia's Ovi services include Nokia Maps, Nokia Music (including the Music store), Nokia Photos and the N-Gage gaming platform. Additional web based services are also likely to emerge over the next 6 months.
PDA Essentials issue 68 hits the streets today (in the UK, at least), with a special section on their prestigious annual awards (in conjunction with the likes of Clove and Expansys). Of interest here is that the Nokia N95 got voted the 'Best Smartphone', in a hotly contested category (beating the Sony Ericsson P1i, among others). The Nokia E90 lost out to the HTC TyTN II for 'Best PDA' and, curiously, there wasn't a category for best 'communicator' or 'business/email' device. For more detail, go buy your own copy!
Mobility blogger Russell Beattie often comes up with really insightful articles and this one is a must-read. Coming to the Nokia N95 8GB as someone who's technically literate but not a hardened S60 fanboy, he comes up with some very apposite and constructive criticisms of the modern S60 interface. Plenty there that I'm in total agreement with, too.
Symbian today announced its latest set of figures. In Q3 2007 20.4 million Symbian OS handsets were shipped representing 56% year on year growth (13 million in Q3 2006). The total number of Symbian OS handset shipped has now reached 165 million. The average royalty per handset is now $4.80 (down from $5.20 last year following license fee reductions).
You'll have spotted some of Krisse's recent game reviews for AAS - now there are video 'walkthrough' reviews as well, hosted on the NeonCherry site. Here are the links for the video reviews of CrazySoft's The Final Battle, Croker and the freeware classic S-Tris 2.
Both Ewan and I caught up with David Quin from ALK at the recent Smartphone Show, to find out about the new CoPilot Live 7, becoming available for both S60 and UIQ. My video podcast was something of a lighting disaster and has been scrapped, but fear not for Ewan has a complete interview with David in AAS audio podcast 44.
From Jukka Silvennoinen, author of the famous Y-Browser, come two new utilities, both free and both hosted on his MOSH account. There's an N95 'Inclinometer' (no, really, it uses the accelerometer!) and a dedicated AllAboutSymbian RSS-based newsreader, for the real AAS addicts among you(!)
