Following on from availability for the Nokia E52, now available over the air is v34 firmware for the Nokia E55 as a 620k download, a minor bug-fix update but worth grabbing anyway as it doesn't affect any of your apps or data. It's also available as a full firmware image via Nokia Software Update, but over the air is so quick that it's the way to go.
In Insight 117, Rafe and Steve talk over the latest industry Q1 2010 figures and other news items, including the newly-arrived Nokia 6700 slide, Own Voice for Ovi Maps release, the new Qt SDK releases, Ovi Store adverts, Microsoft Communicator for Mobile and we cover the plethora of App Wizard widgets, including ones for All About Symbian and The Phones Show.
With summer upon us in the UK and the sun burning down (well, some of the time, at least), I've been somewhat shocked at how bad all of the touch-screen-equipped Symbian-powered smartphones are when it comes to actually being able to see what's on screen clearly. Whether a map, a photo or an important email, surely you need to be able to read your device's screen in all light conditions? With this in mind, I went back to my store of older devices and could then feel another of my famous infamous comparisons coming on.
Nokia has placed a number of full page ads in UK newspapers (see photo, below, in full story) promoting the Ovi Store on what the ad says is 'a big day for news' (it is election day here in the UK). The AP News, Evening Standard and Reuters apps are mentioned by name. The advert is notable because it is one of the few Nokia print ads I've seen dedicated solely to the Ovi Store.
Nokia has today released beta versions of Qt 4.7 and Qt Creator 2.0. Qt 4.7 brings a number of important enhancements, including Qt Quick (easy UI creation) and update to Qt WebKit (increased stability and performance). The beta of Qt Creator 2.0 offers an early preview of Quick Designer (a WYSIWYG editor to layout application UI), which is built on top of the Qt Quick technology. Nokia has also released an updated version of the Nokia Smart Installer for Symbian, which aims to ease the installation of Qt-based programs on existing Symbian devices. Read on for further details.
Probably a minor bug-fix update (unless eagle-eyed readers can spot something I haven't), but note that Google Maps for Symbian just got an small bump from v4.1.0 to v4.1.1. As usual, grab it from m.google.com. Google Maps for Android also got a 4.1.1 update a couple of weeks ago, and this was given a big boost by a server-side switch-on of real time route instructions and voice navigation. Here's hoping we're just a few days away from the same being true of Symbian/S60?
The Nokia 6700s (6700 slide) is one of Nokia's newest smartphones and is one of the best examples of how the line between smartphones and featurephones has become increasingly blurred. It is an S60 3rd Edition device with a slider form factor, aluminium casing and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss optics. Our Nokia 6700s hands-on gallery runs through the major design features and includes a number of comparison shots with other Nokia smartphones.
Pizero's Earth theme has been downloaded more than one million times from the Ovi Store. Earth is an artistic and lightweight theme (default icons), with full support for portrait and landscape orientations, and is compatible with both S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition devices. The one million downloads were achieved in 86 days, with an average of 11,600 downloads a day.
The first fruit of the enterprise alliance between Microsoft and Nokia, which was announced in August last year, is now available. Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia, a 'unified communications client', is now available in Nokia's Ovi Store for the Nokia E72 and E52. The application ties in to Microsoft's Office Communications Server 2007 product; it offers the ability to view a colleague's status and then choose the most appropriate communication method - instant messaging, email, text or voice call. More below.
HipLogic has been a name that has floated around S60 circles for the last year or so. Ostensibly a Web-aware homescreen replacement, it turns out to be something more ambitious, albeit with a few minor caveats. I set out last week to intercept HipLogic's 'Chief Action Figure', Mark Anderson, and quiz him on the vision behind, and the implementation of, HipLogic on Symbian. Read on for more.
Forum Nokia has released a tool, Flowella, which allows designers and developers to easily create design prototypes (mock-ups of how an application will look), without using a single line of code. Prototypes are built by using images of screen mock-ups and defining links between them (i.e. what happens when you click of a given area). The information is then used to create a Flash Lite application or WRT widget, which can be run on a Nokia phone or in the included simulator.
A new firmware, version 210.12.15, is now available for the Nokia E75. The new firmware is a relatively small update, but does improve the responsiveness of the keyboard, updates the underlying email software and contains the usual bug fixes and optimisations. The firmware update is available via both OTA and the Nokia Software Updater.
Ovi Music Unlimited, which is branded as Comes with Music in some markets, has launched in India. The service, which can only be purchased with a new device, allows unlimited music downloads from the Ovi Music Store for 12 months. Music is DRM protected, but users are able to keep the music after their subscription period has ended. The service has been customised for India with a smaller Ovi Player (desktop client), local content from more than 150 labels and the ability to download music using different PCs.
DreamLife, a popular S60 5th Edition 'Activity manager' (think Contacts/Calendar replacement) for S60 5th Edition, has now been released for S60 3rd edition FP1 and FP2. The new version features "clear display of contact information in business card format, key match and global find contacts, planner calendar view, context activity editor and hierarchical sub-categories". More info and links below.
In All About Symbian Insight 115 Ewan, Steve and Rafe share their thoughts on the China bound Nokia C5-01 and Nokia X5 (TD-SCDMA handsets for China Mobile). We also take a detailed look at Nokia's Q1 2010 financial results with discussion of Nokia's Symbian^3 plans. Finally we cover Offscreen's 25 million Ovi Store downloads. You can listen to AAS Insight 115 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.