Now live is The Phones Show 87, also embedded below, featuring (since I've been away on holiday) 24 testimonies from my audience, sharing their current choice of phone/smartphone and why. Plenty of Symbian representation in the choices, with the all-conquering Nokia E71 being most 'picked'.
HanDBase, the database system for S60 and other mobile platforms, just got itself a 4.1.5 'development' upgrade. This is significant because it's the first version to support devices likes the N96, N97 and N86 which have a mass memory disk as well as a memory card. See here for the full details. Also of note is that there's a special offer on whereby you can get 20% off the purchase price before 20th September by using the coupon code 'backtoschool09'. See also our 2006 review of the first release of HanDBase for S60 3rd Edition.
Over on Ovi Gaming, Ewan Spence has been putting Nokia's exclusive music game Dance Fabulous through its paces, and apparently it is rather good... The game was developed for Nokia by Digital Legends, the same people who did the excellent fighting game ONE, and features exclusive new music created by Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics) and Cindy Gomez. You can also use your own music if you prefer.
Over on All About Symbian's sister-site Ovi Gaming we've been reviewing some big-name titles recently, and also added our usual gameplay videos and screenshots alongside the reviews. See below for the complete list of links...
The Ovi Macintosh Files Connector, writes Tam Huynh on the Ovi Blog today, is now available. It will allow OS X 10.5 users to remotely access files on their Mac from a Nokia handset, or the Ovi Files web interface , send the files directly to friends and colleagues and build up a mirror of your useful files on the Anytime Files archive that comes attached to your Ovi account. And don't forget that Ovi Files recent dropped the subscription charge and is now available as a free web service.
Nokia are looking to find out what you think about the Share on Ovi service, and are offering five people who take their survey a share of 1000 euros (that's 200 Euros each). You can take the survey here. It should take around ten minutes. And even if you don't win, you will have helped the service.
Quickoffice today announced the official release of latest version of its Microsoft Ofiice compatible document viewing and editing software. With the release comes the news that all existing S60 on Symbian Nokia devices will receive a free upgrade to the latest version, Quickoffice 6. Users will receive an upgrade in line with the version that shipped with their device. This means that Eseries devices will receive an upgrade to the viewing and editing version, while other S60 Nokia devices will receive an upgrade to the viewing only version. Read on for more information.
The head to head that all Nokia camera phone fans wanted to see - Damian Dinning, the guy behind both the N82 and N86 8MP, has been doing controlled tests at Nokia's Southwood test centre, and the results are his presentation, embedded below. See also the original Nokia Conversations accompanying article, helping explain what you're seeing. Make sure you click to go full-screen, by the way, if you want to see everything!
In All About Symbian Insight 81 (AAS Podcast 143), we share the news that Ovi Files is now free to use and talk about its potential uses. We follow up with discussion of the latest Google software updates, the most notable being the addition of Layers to Google Maps. There's comment on Apple's recent result, Accenture acquisition of Nokia's Symbain Professional Service unit and answers to some listener questions. You can listen to AAS Insight 81 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Over on Ovi Gaming we've got lots of new vids: How to install the Ovi Store application on the Nokia N95, a more general look at how to use the Ovi Store application, a gameplay video of old-style arcade shoot-em-up My Little Tank, and a gameplay video of plasticine-based scrolling shooter Platypus (think Wallace & Gromit crossed with R-Type).
In recent years the USB flash disk has become the ubiquitous way to carry files around with you. But what about getting files from a USB flash disk to your mobile phone when you're out about? In his review of the Mobidapter, an accessory which offers a solution to this issue, Steve considers whether this is a really useful solution or a really bad idea.
Two little software items of general interest. The rather lovely (you know I like clear, white themes) 'Nseries White' theme, as featured in the firmware of the N86 8MP, is now up for download here (is copying themes from one device to another legal? - discuss!). You'll spot that the theme is RARed up, but that's OK because there's also now a freeware UnRAR tool for S60 and no, you don't have to fiddle about signing it (unless you want a file recognizer too).
In which I reprise my 'Gotta have QWERTY' theme and explore the currently available options for anyone wanting Symbian OS and a 'proper' keyboard... I look at Eseries, Nseries and numbered S60 phones - it's safe to say there's no runaway winner either. (Oh yes - and I promise not to mention 'Psion'!)
Nokia have updated the Nokia Music PC app to version 1.3, adding in software to ease connection difficulties between the S60 handsets and the music client. The app will now offer to switch the connection modes of a connected device to ease transfer of music, and the caching of the contents of a smartphone has now been tweaked, allowing faster connections to be made.
Another year, another design iteration of Proporta's bestselling mobile charger range. This is 2009 and we now have the USB TurboCharger 1200 and the USB TurboCharger 3400, with the numbers helpfully telling us how many mAh of charge are stored within. I've been reviewing the (physically and electrically) smaller version - is it worth sacrificing charge for size?