Published a few minutes ago (MP4s will be up shortly) was The Phones Show 112, including a spot on The Great Outdoors (starring the black Nokia N82) and my tips on taking better video with your Nokia N96 (or other camera-smartphone). It's embedded below, for watching convenience.
In this first part of his definitive, two part, long term review, David Gilson looked at the hardware on his trusty Nokia E55, at his side now for eight months. In this second part, he looks at the E55's software in detail and also draws a number of long term conclusions for this diminutive qwerty smartphone, with comments aimed at both end users and Nokia's product managers.
In this first part of a two part long term review, David Gilson looks at the hardware on his trusty Nokia E55, at his side now for eight months. From design to materials to typing to camera, David covers the E55 in detail. Part two will follow later in the week and will both look at the E55's software and also draw some long term conclusions for this diminutive qwerty smartphone.
In All About Symbian Insight 119 Steve, Ewan and Rafe share their thoughts on NTT DOCOMO's latest MOAP-S (Symbian phones) and Gartner's Q1 figures for mobile phones. The second half of the podcast includes news of Ovi Maps 3.04, Google Latitude API (leading to some thoughts on the future of location services) and Ewan's and Steve's summary thoughts on the Nokia X6. You can listen to AAS Insight 119 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
In an entirely self-centric link-of-interest, I thought these brief items might be of interest: The Phones Show 111 is now out, with a tour round my Psion collection and a commentary on how these led to the modern Symbian age, and with a feature on getting better photos from your smartphone camera; there have also been three new devices added to my smartphone-choosing Grid; and don't forget the Phones Show Chat audio podcast, about an hour each week - PSC 39 featured Andy Lee, a Blackberry expert, Tim and I were keen to talk to him about comparisons with the Nokia E72.
In All About Symbian Insight 118 Ewan and Rafe share their thoughts on a visit to Nokia's design HQ in London, the release of Sports Tracker and memory performance on Ewan's X6. The second half of the podcast features an outside broadcast recorded at the recent #NokiaNav event in Richmond. Rafe and Steve are joined Julien Fourgeaud and discuss the event and related accessories and activities. You can listen to AAS Insight 118 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
I was asked a very good question last week: "Why do you stay with Symbian when there's a world of wonder with iPhone and Android?" I have to admit to finding a number of positives in these other platforms, sometimes accompanied by positives in their hardware, but it's true that I do keep coming back to Symbian as the OS powering my smartphone-of-choice. Investigating my own leanings and trying to justify them, here are the top 10 reasons why I stay with Symbian.
Following on from availability for the Nokia E52, now available over the air is v34 firmware for the Nokia E55 as a 620k download, a minor bug-fix update but worth grabbing anyway as it doesn't affect any of your apps or data. It's also available as a full firmware image via Nokia Software Update, but over the air is so quick that it's the way to go.
With summer upon us in the UK and the sun burning down (well, some of the time, at least), I've been somewhat shocked at how bad all of the touch-screen-equipped Symbian-powered smartphones are when it comes to actually being able to see what's on screen clearly. Whether a map, a photo or an important email, surely you need to be able to read your device's screen in all light conditions? With this in mind, I went back to my store of older devices and could then feel another of my famous infamous comparisons coming on.
The Nokia 6700s (6700 slide) is one of Nokia's newest smartphones and is one of the best examples of how the line between smartphones and featurephones has become increasingly blurred. It is an S60 3rd Edition device with a slider form factor, aluminium casing and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss optics. Our Nokia 6700s hands-on gallery runs through the major design features and includes a number of comparison shots with other Nokia smartphones.
A new firmware, version 210.12.15, is now available for the Nokia E75. The new firmware is a relatively small update, but does improve the responsiveness of the keyboard, updates the underlying email software and contains the usual bug fixes and optimisations. The firmware update is available via both OTA and the Nokia Software Updater.
In All About Symbian Insight 115 Ewan, Steve and Rafe share their thoughts on the China bound Nokia C5-01 and Nokia X5 (TD-SCDMA handsets for China Mobile). We also take a detailed look at Nokia's Q1 2010 financial results with discussion of Nokia's Symbian^3 plans. Finally we cover Offscreen's 25 million Ovi Store downloads. You can listen to AAS Insight 115 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Today Nokia introduced the Nokia C5 for TD-SCDMA (C5-01), an affordable and classically styled candy bar smartphone. It runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 on Symbian OS 9.3 and features a 5 megapixel camera and stainless steel materials. It ships with support for a number of services including 139 mail box, Fetion IM, MM Ovi Store and a range of pre-loaded content. The C5 for TD-SCDMA will be available, in China, from Q3 2010.
Nokia today announced the Nokia X5 for TD-SCDMA, a mid-range music focused handset for the Chinese market. It runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 on Symbian 9.3 and features a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, a dedicated music key allowing one touch access to CMCC Music and ships with a range of services including MM-Ovi Store and Fetion IM. The Nokia X5 for TD-SCDMA will become available, in China, during Q2 2010.
A major new firmware, version 31.023, is now available for the Nokia E72. The update introduces several new pre-installed applications: Ovi Sync, Advance Communication Manager, Smart Connect, and Internet radio. Additionally, a number of the core applications have been updated including Ovi Maps (free navigation and location sharing version), Web (to version 7.2), and Ovi Store. There are also the usual bug (e.g. the spacebar bug) and performance fixes. Read on for further details and screenshots.