The C64 emulator Frodo for S60 3rd Edition has been updated to version 1.5, and now includes support for accelerometers in selected phones, which lets you tilt the phone to simulate a joystick or steering wheel (you can see a demo video below). There's also an on-screen keyboard and vibration support. Frodo comes in versions available for older Symbian devices too such as S60 1st and 2nd Edition, Series 80 and UIQ, just scroll down the same page. Apparently Frodo for S60 3rd Edition should work in theory on the 5800, though it may run very slowly as the application hasn't been optimised for S60 5th Edition yet. (For more S60 3rd Edition emulators, see AAS's special feature.)
The arcade racing game Asphalt 4: Elite Racing is now available on the next gen N-Gage platform. To see it, go to the Showroom tab on the far right, select "Options", then "Update Now". It should be visible in the "Latest Games" section, or alternatively click on "Available Games". (Also worth noting that the prequel, Asphalt 3, is still available on N-Gage and has been reduced in price to 7 euros.)
If you've been wowed by the 'find things as you type' technology shown off in the forthcoming Palm Pre, note that you've been able to do this for ages on S60 with a third party utility, SkyeQuiKey. But now there's a new challenger, T9Nav, claiming more functions and more speed. Matching contacts, bookmarks, applications, web services and more all by typing in T9-style on the standby screen, and currently free, it sounds too good to be true. I investigate in my review of T9Nav.
The Nokia N95 8GB has now had its v31 firmware update, too. This (the full ROM, around 130MB) went live today for unbranded phones. Estimated changes are noted below the break. The usual backup and sync precautions apply - the N95 8GB does not have UDP (user data preservation).
In All About Symbian Insight 56 (AAS Podcast 109) Steve, Ewan and Rafe discuss the news of the two N79 variants (Eco and Active), touch on the LGPL license option for Qt before discussing hands-on experience of the Nokia E63. In the second half of the show we talk about the issues around music DRM and consider the perfect mobile user experience.
Nokia and Securitas today announced a collaboration that will bring mobile services for personal security and safety to Nokia's S60 platform. The service bundle, Securitas Safe-2-Go, consists of four components: Assist (security alert), Find (locate person), Zone (SMS boundary alerts) and Friends (general friend locator). Safe-2-Go will launch in Sweden in the first half of 2009, with other European markets following later in the year. Read on for more.
I can't resist linking to this. Just about my favourite version of Tetris, all programmed in Python for S60 (amazingly) and working on almost all modern S60 devices (no need for graphics acceleration here) in this, the very latest version 1.60. It seems that Jomtris really is paving the way for other heavyweight games and apps all written in Python (a modern day object-oriented equivalent to Psion's old OPL, if readers remember this).
Our smartphones have a lot of features in them, yet this is causing a divide. When we as power users look at a new device, we're expecting our favourite features to be there, yet this depth of power can be daunting to new users. A survey from Mformation (see here on the BBC), linked to earlier by Tzer2, reports high numbers of users having problems with setting up a new phone and accessing the available services. Read on for my take on the issue...
You remember the Nokia E63, which I started to review a couple of days ago? UK residents might like to note that it's the subject of one of Expansys lightning sales today. Between 11am and 4pm, it's £180. Which, for a qwerty-driven S60 phone is definitely good value. Part 2 of my review will be published on Sunday.
Following in the footsteps of the N79 Active comes another N79 variant, the N79 Eco, which is available for pre-order through Nokia's UK online shop and ships without a charger. Customers are expected to retain the charger from their previous Nokia device. The concept is part of a trial to save energy and reduce waste and is part of Nokia's power of we: strategy. Read on for stats and the full scoop.
It's good to see Resco active again in the Symbian OS world. And even better to see that their latest, the game Resco Bubbles, is both original, addictive and has a superbly crafted learning curve for a mobile device, or so reckons Ewan in his review. Note that it does require a Nokia N95 or N82 though (both of which have an accelerometer and graphics hardware/compatible 'sensor framework')
Nokia's having a productive 2009 so far on the firmware front. v300.34.56 is now available for some product codes (previous was v220.34.37). No idea on changes at this stage, comments welcome. And usual backup/sync precautions apply, the E51 does not have UDP.
Nokia, in a strategically significant move, has announced that it will add a LGPL 1.4 (Lesser General Public License) open source licensing option for the Qt UI and application framework from the release of Qt 4.5, which is scheduled for March 2009. The new licensing is more permissive as it allows the use of Qt for proprietary commercial development at no cost, thus offering greater flexibility to developers. Read on for more.
Nokia has announced the N79 Active, a "healthy twist on Nokia's smallest Nseries". The standard N79 is being bundled with a Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate belt, arm-band case, and a brand new version of Sports Tracker (which will also be released independently). The N79 Active is expected to ship shortly in "selected territories".
