In All About Symbian Insight 58 (AAS Podcast 111) we talk about the recent release of Quickoffice version 6, Rafe reports back from Betavine's birthday bash, and Steve talks about T9Nav. The team then moves on to discuss Samsung S60 application compatibility, followed by a few thoughts on the capacitive versus resistive touch debate.
Nokia's Podcasting application for S60 phones has some default podcast directories included, but these aren't very comprehensive and only include a tiny number of BBC feeds. However, if you add the BBC's online podcast directory to the app you can browse all current podcasts and subscribe to any of them with a single click. Adding the directory is very VERY easy to do, almost the same as adding a bookmark in a browser. See below for more details on how to do it (this should work on all current Nokia S60 phones including the 5800 and N95) ...
If you own (or have been eyeing up) a Nokia N95 or N82 (or similar, e.g. the 6220 Classic) but also hanker for iPhone multi-touch and App Store goodness, then you might be interested in an editorial of mine over at All About iPhone (still no relation!) in which I muse on the possibility of letting both a camera-centric Nokia smartphone and Apple iPod Touch play to their strengths in order to complement each other nicely. Please use the comment thread over on AAI etc. if you violently disagree(!)
Guess these are official now, seeing as they're up on Nokia's web site. The E71 page now includes a Flash gallery showcasing the new red/silver and black colour choices. The online shop still limits purchase options to silver or white, though that will change once stock is received. (via BGR)
More stats out recently, this time from ABI Research, showing worldwide phone market share for 2008, just about the grandest metric of all, even if it does include devices right down to bargain basement level. Nokia tops the list again, with a world share of 38.6%, while Samsung reached 16.2%. Sony Ericsson, Motorola and LG are hovering at around 8%, with newbies RIM and Apple getting to 1.9% and 1.1% respectively. I wonder where we'll be at the end of 2009? Predictions on a postcard....
The strongest freeware contenders in the S60 world are quite well known. But, as you may know, there are certificate issues on occasion when installing this freeware on a Samsung INNOV8 or i7110. There are also issues to do with using S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. In this feature, I look at ten top picks for new Samsung INNOV8 users that won't cost a penny and are also guaranteed to install and work properly.
Not that anyone's actually been hit by the nuisance SMS exploit the 'Curse of Silence' yet, since most networks block these deliberately malformed messages, but should anyone fear being sent one by a prankster, there's an official Nokia 'cleaning' tool available now. Info and download over at Nokia's web site. (via Vaibhav)
Symbian OS office stalwart Quickoffice has just gone live with its long awaited version 6.0, incorporating password protected documents, ZIP file support, word count in Quickword (finally!), Quicksheet improvements that include Excel 2007 chart viewing and a 'Go to cell' function, plus a much improved file manager interface. There's also a new version of the Quickoffice-written Adobe Reader. Details, screenshots and link below. [updated for upgrade pricing]
Fring, the all-in-one instant messaging and VoIP messaging application, has added Last.fm streaming to its list of functions. It allows you to stream music, based on a key word search, from the Last.fm service. Last.fm makes a note of what you listen to (and your likes and dislikes) and customises the stream to your personal tastes.
The puzzle game DChoc Cafe Sudoku has arrived on the N-Gage platform, you can download it from the N-Gage application if you go to the Showroom tab on the far right of the screen, select "Options" and then "Update Now". It's from the same people who did DChoc Cafe Solitaire, and you can see a video trailer below.
More Nokia N82 photo madness from the fiends on Flickr, courtesy of the six monthly award from Nokia Creative. I suspect that the images have each had something of a loving touch-up in Photoshop as well, but it still props the N82 up well as a capture device for good source photos.
Nokia today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire bit-side GmbH. Bit-side is a small (39 employees) software and service development company that is privately owned. Nokia say the acquisition will help speed up its mobile development for Nokia Maps. Bit-side is known for its imaging (Panoman) and entertainment applications (Marble Revolution). It is also the development house behind a number of well received mobile applications including Plazes for the iPhone and Pixelpipe for Android.
Kudos to W Seto from Forum Nokia for rolling up his sleeves and knocking up a WRT (Web RunTime) widget for our phones that links into Google's excellent Translate service. Although the latter is quite useable on S60 Web, this widget adds copy and paste support, as well as source language auto-detection.
Take a dash of Irish charm and mix it with the classic puzzle game Bejewelled. What have you got? Lucky Coins, a new S60 game that has been quietly charming Ewan Spence. SBSH have added a few twists of their own to the genre and each seems to have genuinely paid off.
In All About Symbian Insight 57 (AAS Podcast 110) Rafe reports back from the UK launch of the Nokia 5800 launch at Nokia's flagship store on Regents Street, London. The team discuss Q4 finanical results from Nokia and other consumer electronics company before Ewan updates us on two recently announced N-Gage games and Steve highlights Jomtris.