AAS member macwhu has started a "Hello N96" blog detailing experiences with a brand new N96 bought on day of release, with a quick look at various features including the BBC iPlayer and a "fat test" against the N95.
The Nokia N96 is now in stock on the Finnish electronics website Verkkokauppa.com, with the unlocked SIM-free version retailing for about 600 euros plus taxes. We've also heard from the forums that the N96 is also available in Britain, with the British version preloaded with the BBC's iPlayer and three programmes. Nokia UK's shop does indeed show the N96 as "In Stock - Ready to Ship". Looking at Nokia's other shops, it seems to be in stock in France and Italy, with other countries marking it as coming soon, so this is presumably a continent-wide rollout.
In the third part of my Camera 'Nitty Gritty' series, I look at the so-called Megapixel Myth. Are more 'mp' necessarily better in a camera phone? What other factors are involved and what's the base specification that I'd recommend? I illustrate my points with test photos from 2, 3, 5 and 8 megapixel S60-powered phones.
In an appropriately 'over the air' day (ref the HTC G1 announcement), Tzer2 looks closely at how divorced S60 is from a desktop computer. In other words, do you need to be tied to a PC or Mac at all these days? The answer is largely 'No'. Tzer2's article will make you think and challenge the way you've viewed Symbian OS and S60 phones up until now.
NeuroSky has demonstrated, in the USA, using a Bluetooth mind sensor to control software on a Nokia N95 8GB, by detecting changes in brain wave patterns. Game interaction has been shown to be possible, too. (via The Earth Times)
For those following AAS's Nick Anstee and his Nokia N96, you might like to note that he has his own Ovi channel for uploading his N96-shot photos (and screenshots). You can contact him via AAS or here.
In All About Symbian Insight #40 (AAS Podcast #93) Rafe, and Steve discuss SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) on Symbian OS and what some of the key benefits might be. Steve gives us his first impressions of the Nokia N79 and finally there's some chat about gaming on the N-Gage versus the iPhone.
I'd been holding off on this until it was fully available - but now the Nokia N82 just got its v30 firmware upgrade too, following on from the v30 upgrades for N95 and N95 8GB, with similar (but not identical) improvements, namely more stable Flash Lite 3, Maps 2.0, new Music player visualisations and increased speed and overall performance, less sensitive auto-screen rotation, Share online 3.0, plus numerous other detailed fixes and improvements, including better battery life. Sadly, the dim display 'feature' hasn't been fixed. But with UDP (User Data Preservation) in place you shouldn't need to restore data or apps or settings. But - you know - an extra sync of your PIM data might be a good idea - just in case?
The Phones Show 65 is out now (used to be The Smartphones Show), with a surprisingly positive (I didn't think I'd like it from the initial photos) video review of the Nokia N79, more generic musings on the advisability of Xenon flash and a review of iPhone-wannabe, the Samsung Tocco.
For any UK readers champing at the bit over the Nokia N96, it's now officially available on the Nokia UK shop, for £535 inc VAT, in stock on the 24th Sept, plus "3-5 days delivery". If you're in a hurry, this seems a good way to go?
In the second part of my 'Camera Nitty Gritty' series, I look at the relative advantages and disadvantages of the different flash technologies used in phone cameras: Xenon, LED and dual LED. With examples, I demonstrate the increased illumination from LED to Xenon and also show the differences in the speed of capture.
After my recent look at using S60 with Apple Mac computers (see 'Features|How to'), Tzer2 now starts a new series of articles looking at using S60 with Linux-based computers. First off is a how-to guide on connecting the Linux-based EEE PC to the internet using an S60 phone as a modem.
As you know, AAS's guest Nick Anstee is now well over a week into his 'exclusive' Nokia N96 experience. Seeing as production N96s seem to be a couple of weeks away, this is as close as most of us will get for a while. Below are more thoughts from Nick, along with an invitation.
The 6220 Classic was officially released several months ago, but in real life there seem to have been severe supply problems in many countries including Finland, and it's actually been relatively difficult to get one compared to other recent S60 models. However, the Finnish online electronics shop Verkkokauppa now has the 6220 Classic listed as in stock for the first time, which possibly signifies the end of the shortages.
Guest writer Nick Anstee is pleasantly surprised by the audio quality from Nokia's latest Bluetooth accessory - the pair of MD-7W speakers. Here's his full review. We hope you're enjoying seeing Nick's writings - if you have acquired something interesting that you'd like to vent about in a formal review, do get in touch!