AAS's month of trying to destroy Nokia smartphones concludes with me taking an unscheduled fall and hurting myself rather nastily. An N82 helped break my fall, yet still works perfectly. After Rafe's attempts to drown an N95 8GB and an E71, how much more do we have to do to break one of these things? Summing up, I reckon that robustness is a factor often forgotten by other gadget blogs and reviewers.
Programme 70 of The Phones Show just went live and will hopefully be of interest. I do mini video reviews of the Samsung INNOV8 and i7110, deliver some comment on the Nokia N97 and then launch into a six minute critique of the N97, E71 and E90-competing Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - it's very well built but, like the Samsungs, could do with some fixing up and optimisation.
Forum Nokia has released a whole new generation of Carbide C++ software development kits, for creating native Symbian OS applications. V2.0 is now out and, significantly, all editions are now totally free, helping to reduce the barriers to entry to Symbian development.
According to Forum Nokia, Python for S60 1.4.5 is now officially released and more powerful than ever. Picking the SIS files to grab is now simpler and there are several important under-the-hood improvements, not least that a Python script can now control Python code in processes that the script didn't start. Oh, dash it, just install the thing, won't you? It'll make all those useful Python mini-apps smoother than ever. Hopefully...
Nokia continue their ultra busy week. Following the N95 v31 update (below), there's now a new version of Nokia Software Update (1.4.7) and new v11 firmware for the N85. Whatever next before the day's out? Source: p@sco (again, in Italian!)
Yes, the Nokia N95 Classic has had a firmware update, to v31 (from v30), two years after the phone was first available. Impressive. Screen proof and any observations below - a whopping 140MB update. More later (if I can spot any changes!) and the usual cautions over backing up to memory card (blah) and this not applying to network-branded devices (blah) apply....
We mentioned the availability of early versions of this a few weeks ago, but Handy Safe Professional Edition has now been formally released for all S60 3rd Edition phones, with a slicker desktop companion application. Features, changelog and links below the break.
In an All About Symbian exclusive, I present part 1 of my two part review of Samsung's brand new S60 3rd Edition FP2-powered i7110. An OLED-screened candy bar, it's incredibly well built and spoilt only by a silly video bug and a strange control key design. In this, part 1, I look at its hardware. In part 2, I'll go through its software and present my overall opinion of this latest device.
As a fellow mobile video show host(!), I can appreciate the efforts of others in the field. Stuff.TV's last two shows have some interesting bits for the Symbian world. The very latest show has a feature on the best mobile games, with the N82 shown many times and Reset Generation on the N96 starring as well, plus the last but one has a big head to head between the Samsung INNOV8 and Sony Ericsson C905. I've already slated the INNOV8's reflective display in our video podcast and Stuff.TV agreed - it's the single biggest downside of the Samsung flagship.
Popular IM client deluxe Palringo has had an S60 client for a while, but as of now (v0.97) it's properly Symbian Signed, it's got cell tower location, GPS support and Wi-fi beacon detection built-in, plus a mountain of bugs have been fixed, settings added and the interface has been massively overhauled. Screenshots and download link below the break.
While not directly S60 powered, the accessories announced at Nokia World yesterday certainly would sit happily alongside any smartphone. With a focus on 'enhancing the mobile experience,' the Finns presented a Home Music Station, the Internet Stick and the Nokia Extra Power DC-11.
Today at Nokia World 2008, Nokia has released (via Beta Labs) the latest version of Nokia Maps, v3.0, as well as a full personalized 'online mapping experience' on Ovi (also now available). The combination of Nokia Maps 3.0 plus Ovi is claimed to be "the first free service that allows people to pre-plan a journey at home and synchronize with their phone, giving access to pre-planned routes and favourite destinations while on the move." Nokia Maps has also been updated to include higher resolution aerial images, 3D landmarks for 216 cities across the world and terrain maps. Screenshots, info, download link (for selected devices) and notes below.
The Nokia Messaging Service, announced this morning at Nokia World in Barcelona, will open up popular email and instant messaging services and make them easily accessible both on your handset and via the Ovi web site. The on-device version of the Mail on Ovi service is due to go into beta before the end of 2008, with the web based version to follow in early 2009. Update; now with added YouTube demo video.
Store Number 12 for the Nokia Music service has gone live, and it's a first for the Middle East as the Finns bring their store to the United Arab Emirates (reports Marktoob Business). Alongside the Big 4 music labels of Universal, Sony BMG, Warners and EMI will be regional publisher Rotana and content aggregator Qanawat.
Ewan's well into his long term Nokia N85 review period now, and here he brings us a chatty overview of his experience with its hardware, looking in particular at the OLED screen, the fingerprint-attracting styling and the slightly hit and miss d-pad. Read his N85 review - part 1. Subsequent parts will take a look at some of the newer (FP2) features in S60, the camera and multimedia capabilities.