Nokia's marketing teams do seem to be very good at this sort of thing. "Non-stop living" is a multimedia extravaganza showing off their range of Bluetooth headsets. So, forget everything Ewan and I said a few days ago about how A2DP doesn't really work and immerse yourself in the Non-stop living site. (via Adverblog and IM)
The Samsung SGH-i450, a music focused S60 3rd Edition smartphone, has been officially announced by Samsung as part of its new line up of music phones. The SGH-i450 is billed as a dual slide with touch wheel music navigation. Features include support for HSDPA connectivity, metallic speaker supporting ICEpower (developed by Bang & Olufsen), and a microSD card slot support for SDHC cards. Read on for more.
Nokia are piling on the firmware updates this week, ahead of next week's show, I'm guessing. No sign of that N95 or E90 update yet, but.... This time it's the Nokia N73 - firmware 4.0735.3.0.2 (/ 4.0736.3.2.1) is released and available on NSU and includes Nokia Maps 1.0 (edition 1.2), plus updates to the Music Library and music downloads system.
Jaiku, the activity streaming and presence service (also referred to as micro blogging), has been acquired by Google. The terms of the acquisition has not been disclosed. While Jaiku is often used via the web it also has strong mobile features (including a native S60 client) and the idea of presence is a very important part of the Jaiku message.
Telefónica and Nokia have announced that the two companies are to work together on Internet services. Nokia will customise its multimedia menu on Nseries devices to enable easy access to both Nokia (e.g. Nokia Music Shop, N-Gage) and Telefónica services. The announcement is significant because its puts Nokia's own service offering on an equal footing to those provided by an operator. Read on for more.
There's a new firmware on the loose for the Nokia N93i. v30.0.013 is on Nokia Software Update and includes "Nokia Maps 1.0 (edition 1.2)" (eh?), plus faster opening of downloaded video files, MP4 editing improvements, better 2nd camera image quality and support for more Bluetooth stereo headsets.
There's a new S60 blog in town. The Mobile Web Server blog will keep you up to date with the Mobile Web Server (MWS) service and application. MWS lets you run a web server on your phone and interact with some of the features on the phone such as the contacts store and camera. In one of the first posts on the blog Jukka mentions that a new version with new features is coming soon.
Nokia Beta Labs has released an interesting application, Device Status, which lets you access a variety of information and which can be helpful in solving support issues. There is an application for S60 devices which collects information about your phone and a companion PC application which allows you to more easily view the information about your phone as well as collecting information about your PC.
Ewan's got a fairly honed sense of hearing, which is why Rafe and I packed him off with a Bluetooth stereo headset to investigate wireless sound quality and reliability. Did A2DP pass the test and is it ready for the prime time? A qualified yes for low grade pop listening, but an emphatic no (for several reasons) for anyone serious about their music...
I have to confess to not being that excited by Nokia's MOSH - yet another social network, albeit this time with a dedicated S60 client. Phil from S60 has been chatting to MOSH's Communications Manager, James Waterworth. What were the thoughts behind MOSH, what can you do with it, and where's it going?
Another week, another acquisition for Nokia. This time it's Enpocket, a "global leader in mobile advertising providing technology and services that allow brands to plan, create, execute, measure and optimize mobile advertising campaigns". Comments welcome. The press release follows.
Guest writer Asri al-Baker has been trialling the brand new CorePlayer ports for both UIQ 3 (on his Sony Ericsson P990i) and S60 3rd Edition (on his Nokia N95). How well does this hallowed media player stand up to video and audio tests on both Symbian interfaces? Can it really play any media file in any format, codec or resolution? Find out in his CorePlayer Mobile review.
Ewan's got a fairly honed sense of hearing, which is why Rafe and I packed him off with a Bluetooth stereo headset to investigate wireless sound quality and reliability. Did A2DP pass the test and is it ready for the prime time? A qualified yes for low grade pop listening, but an emphatic no (for several reasons) for anyone serious about their music...
Guest writer Asri al-Baker has been trialling the brand new CorePlayer ports for both UIQ 3 (on his Sony Ericsson P990i) and S60 3rd Edition (on his Nokia N95). How well does this hallowed media player stand up to video and audio tests on both Symbian interfaces? Can it really play any media file in any format, codec or resolution? Find out in his CorePlayer Mobile review.