The Nokia N85, the latest edition to Nokia's Nseries range, was announced today. With AM OLED screen technology, tri-band WCDMA (3G) cellular radio, USB charging, and preloaded Ovi content and services, the multimedia-centric N85 delivers the latest evolution of Nokia's dual slider form factor.
The N85 boasts the usual impressive Nseries specification list: 5 megapixel camera (with dual LED flash and lens cover), integrated GPS, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, FM transmitter and TV-out. The N85 will be available from October at a price of €450 (£350) before taxes and subsidies. Read on for more.
The Nokia N79, a new monoblock (candybar) Nseries handset, was announced today. It features a 5 megapixel camera (with LED flash and protective lens cover), automatic screen rotation via an accelerometer, touch sensitive NaviWheel, Xpress-on smart covers, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, TV-out, FM transmitter and integrated GPS. The N79 has out of the box support for the full range of Ovi services: Photos, Music, Maps, Video and Games (N-Gage). It will be available from October at a cost of €350 (£280) before taxes and subsidies. Read on for more.
It might be flagged up heavily as a mix of rumour and speculation, but Stuart Dredge's column over on Pocket Gamer makes a certain amount of sense. In it he puts forward the idea that Nokia will launch a 'Comes With Games' service, similar to 'Comes With Music' that we know is coming. The rumor was repeated by many at the recent Leipzig Game Developers Conference, with one major label allegedly signed up.
A round of quick updates for you to note: Nokia PC Suite is now at v7.0.8.2, Nokia Maps (for FP1 devices) is at v2.0 Build 3204 and Share Online is at v3.0.08.23. All no doubt mainly bug fixes and optimisations, but I'm a version junkie and am grabbing them anyway (via Ricky Cadden)
Over on All About N-Gage we've reviewed the new adventure game Dirk Dagger And The Fallen Idol, a noir detective story with a good sprinkling of humour done in the style of the classic Lucasfilm and Sierra adventures. Has Nokia resurrected this long-forgotten genre? Click on the link to find out...
You've got to love these virtual device launches. Tuesday, 9am BST (11am Finnish time) sees Nokia throwing a virtual event that anyone can get involved in. The devices being premiered have been widely leaked, admittedly, but you'll be able to see the full details, with videos and chat, on Tuesday, right here. And of course on All About Symbian, too.
Yahoo has released a native Symbian application which puts a shortcut to its oneSearch service on the Idle screen of your phone (N70, N95, N73, 6120, and E65). The stand out feature is Search Assist that suggests terms and phrases as you go and aims to save you time and provide related concepts for more refined results.
Steve Litchfield reports back from a week of family holidays, enlightened by plenty of chances to learn more about using a smartphone productively. Seven days away and seven things learnt! Steve ranges from network connectivity and practicalities of GPS to the terrors of sand.
Phonelocator is a real-time GPS tracking application for S60 phones. It send location information to the Phonelocator website where you can view the phone's current position and a trail of where it has been. The software includes some intelligent algorithms designed to minimise data and power usage so you should be able to run it over relatively long periods.
Nokia has extended the deadline for entries to its Mobile Games Innovation Challenge to the 8th of September. The contest is looking for innovative game concepts (actual code isn't required) for S60, Java or N-Gage, with the top 3 concepts getting money and contracts to actually create the games. The concept can take the form of text, mockup images and optionally video too. It's only open to professional development companies though, private individuals cannot enter.
This month Ewan has been running around the Edinburgh Festival making recordings for his Fringe Podcast. To keep him in communication range (voice and Contacts), organised (Calendar) and on track (Nokia Maps) he's been using a Nokia E71. In this editorial he describes his E71 enabled Fringe experience.
The N-Gage platform's first ever adventure game Dirk Dagger And The Fallen Idol is now available to download through the N-Gage application. If you can't see it in the app's showroom, click on "Options" and then "Update Now". If you still can't see it, click on "Available Games".
