Just a little weekend link of interest: a writer with the marvellous name of Hagop Kavafian for the NokiaLB site has produced a detailed and fairly insightful review of the Nokia E55. Do take his opinion of the E55's camera with a pinch of salt though - I don't think he really understood the idea behind EDoF (Extended Depth of Field) and I'm tempted to suggest that there might have been dirt on his E55's camera glass....
According to the official Ovi Blog, the enormous HRS system is beginning to appear in the homescreen of Ovi Maps 3.3 (and beyond), offering hotel searching by proximity to your current location, with navigation to a hotel handled within the application. There's also integration with other phone functi ons, to allow real time availability checking and booking. Initially HRS is appearing in just Germany and Finland, but other countries should see this rolled out quite soon too. Some quotes and screens below.
Armed with the new HP iPrint Photo utility, Steve Litchfield walks you through the process of printing photos directly from your Nseries phone - no wires, no fuss. What could go wrong? See also the PS for those without a Wi-Fi-enabled printer.
Yes, yes, we know that Quickoffice, like all good carpet and furniture showrooms, have always got some offer or other 'on'. But I notice that the full editing version of Quickoffice Premier for Symbian is only £6 in the Nokia Ovi Store today, plus a similar amount ($9) on the main Quickoffice web site. Anyway, if you've been putting off the upgrade to the editing version then maybe today's the day?
Synchronising your PIM data can be a treacherous prospect at the best of times. David Gilson has been risking the safety of his PIM data to show you how you can use the commercial service Memotoo to synchronise your S60 phone with not only Google, but the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn too.
Alpine Electronics today announced a strategic partnership with Nokia and Navteq to bring a new car integration technology called 'Terminal mode' to car 'infotainment' systems. It integrates Nokia smartphones with in-car systems allowing, not only the usual call functions, but also the use of smartphone-based services (e.g. Ovi Maps navigation) and content (e.g. music) via the high resolution screens and audio systems embedded in the car. The integration also offers the opportunity for automotive-specific widgets on the phone, including fuel levels and engine status.
Nokia and Skype today made the formal announcement of the availability of Skype for Symbian. The application, which was released last month, is now available in the Ovi Store. The application implements a full Skype client including full support for instant messaging, account management, sending text messages and file sharing in addition to the Skype voice calling features (Skype to Skype and Skype Out).
The Symbian world's answer to 'Brain Training', SPB Brain Evolution has received a major update, bringing support for S60 5th Edition touchscreen-based devices with OS Symbian S60 v5. The title includes a set of "addictive mini-games which have to be played in sequence: only good results in a game unlock the next one". The game allows you to "improve your mental awareness and maintain your newly achieved brain fitness". Or you could just read a good book. Only joking - more details below.
Phones Show 104 just went live, with three Top 3s, i.e. my (and the rest of the Phones Show team's) assessment of the top 3 phones in the world, in each of three categories. Overall, three Symbian handsets make the 'chart', out of nine slots. There's also a demo of Vlingo voice recognition on the N97 mini.
In an epic tale of heroism and 'making do', I lead you through a series of hopefully thought-provoking segments, showing that perhaps there's more to a smartphone than feeling compelled to buy the latest £400 hardware. In the process, I point out the potential benefits of one of Nokia's unsung heroes, the E61i, my main smartphone through the summer of 2007 and a device to which I was recently reintroduced. Reality bites home in the end, though, and I conclude that there's an equal acknowledgement to be made in terms of progress made by Nokia and Symbian over the last few years.
Today, at CeBIT, Nokia announced the Nokia C5. It is a S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 handset, in a candy bar form factor with a 2.2" screen and a 3.2 megapixel camera. It is the first in Nokia's new Cseries range, which represents the 'core portfolio' range of products, and will ship in the second quarter of 2010 at a price of €135 (about £122) before taxes and subsidies.
In All About Symbian Insight 107 (AAS Podcast 171), Rafe, Ewan and Steve chat about some the information from the Anssi Vanjoki interview. We respond to some of the questions around what Nokia could have done, the implications of device families, and the awareness of the issue. Steve then reports back on Ovi Maps 3.4, before we finish with a discussion of how Nokia is like Batman (thanks Ewan). You can listen to AAS Insight 107 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
US tech blog Engadget has done a head to head of GPS navigation and maps of the leading contenders in the US, namely Google Maps, Ovi Maps and VZ Navigator for Windows Mobile and Blackberry. Google Maps comes out on top with some very strange caveats (“if you're staying domestic and won't need to be navigating out of any coverage gaps, its hard to find fault in Google Nav”) but it's worth reading the whole article to get a balanced view.
It’s taken some time, but Nokia are reporting that the Helping Haiti charity single, a cover of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” is now available in the Nokia Music Store. Proceeds from the single are split between two funds in the UK – which is great if you pay for the download, but what happens if you use Comes with Music?
In part 3 of our MWC interview with Anssi Vanjoki, EVP of Markets at Nokia, we discuss the future. How "for the great masses of the world, the first computer they will have will be an extension of the phone based on Symbian". How MeeGo's rich contextual crossing of the real and virtual world will use a map-based user interface and will create "the possibility for people to live in the media."
In the second half, we hear about the three "buckets" (types) of competitors, the importance of open standards and ecoystems, and a three-fold answer to how we should judge Nokia's future business performance (KPIs).