Tim Salmon and I (in Phones Show Chat) often remark that if the perfect smartphone came along then we'd have nothing to debate and nothing to write about - but the current situation in terms of what I've tried and rejected is starting to get ridiculous. Am I too fussy in wanting something that's remotely close to perfect? Having seen, tried and rejected 101 smartphones, what the heck do I recommend to others?
In All About Symbian Insight podcast no. 112, Ewan returns with a bang and, together with Steve and Rafe, brings you up to date with developments in the Symbian world. We start with news of the WordPress Symbian client, the beta release of Nokia Bots and the recent upgrades to Nokia's Ovi Store. In the second half of the podcast there are hardware thoughts on the Sony Ericsson Vivaz (Steve) and Nokia 5230 (Ewan). You can listen to AAS Insight 112 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
It's true that the accessory title rather gives the game away and isn't inspiring, but this is an accessory that's much needed in the smartphone (and general camera phone) world. Steve Litchfield muses on a predecessor and and reviews the latest product that claims to be able to hold your phone while it snaps or videos away.
You'll have seen my previous 'retro' article, looking at pimping the Nokia E61i, an early 2007 device that can now be picked up for pocket money but which still has a unique form factor. The same applies, but 'in spades', to the Nokia E90, released only a few months after the E61i but sporting the full Communicator form and also S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, plus SDHC support. Like the E61i, it too had a few performance bottlenecks, so how did I get on pimping the Nokia E90 to 2010 standards and might it possibly challenge the mighty (ahem) N97?
Two years ago the Nokia N95 8GB was on top of the world, the N96 was the newest offshoot, the E61i was the best bet for the common man in the business world, and their 2.8" screens were deemed massive. And, the oddity of the E90 notwithstanding, we were happy. Weren't we? These phones did all we asked them to and the the world was good. And yet, less than 24 months later we find the smartphone world dominated by 4" screened, touch-only devices that bear little resemblance to the champions of 2008. Is it all the iPhone's fault, or is there more to the change? And where do smartphones go from here?
In All About Symbian Insight 110 (AAS Podcast 174), Rafe and Steve share news of the arrival of Ovi Map's free navigation on the N86, and the release of the Silverlight for Symbian Beta. Steve tells us about a community firmware release for the Samsung i8910 and introduces a discussion on the death of Wayfinder; Rafe talks about Navteq True (next generation digital mapping data collection) and shares some initial thoughts on Windows Phone 7 Series. You can listen to AAS Insight 110 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Navteq, at Mobile World Congress 2010, showed off their new mapping collection system called Navteq True. The system, which is placed on top of a vehicle, combines a LIDAR system, multiple panoramic cameras, and positioning (GPS and IMU) sensors. Navteq is part of Nokia and its digital mapping products underlie numerous location products and services, including Ovi Maps. In this video we get a closer look at the system, see some of the data it collects and find out what implications it has for digital maps.
Google's drive for world domination around your country has been going nicely, judging from the fact that Street View just went live for virtually all the UK. Yes, every last track, every last estate road - it's all there in glorious technicolour on your smartphone. Google Maps for Mobile itself is available from the usual m.google.com/gmm and to see Street View you need to long tap on any location and pick 'Street View' from the pop-up menu.
Nokia is currently transforming itself from a hardware company to a hardware+services (solutions) company. At MWC 2010, we spoke to Tero Ojanperä, EVP of Services, in order to get an insight into current progress. Over a wide-ranging interview we cover a number of topics around Nokia's service strategy including how Ovi fits into Nokia's software platform strategy, the thought processes that led to free navigation, the importance of services compared to phone hardware, getting content onto the Ovi Store, the importance of partners and much more.
As noted in Rafe's Maps interview thread, Nokia isn't keen to put resources behind creating a version of Ovi Maps 3.3 with free voice navigation for older S60 3rd Edition FP2 and FP1 (and vanilla 3rd Edition) phones. A good question is why Nokia doesn't then just make existing navigation licenses free, thus having much the same effect. It seems that they've gone much of the way to 'free' for older devices, with even a full 'Drive Europe' license now only costing 10 Euros for a year - this presumably to help cover admin and server costs. Photo proof and more below.
Armed with the new HP iPrint Photo utility, Steve Litchfield walks you through the process of printing photos directly from your Nseries phone - no wires, no fuss. What could go wrong? See also the PS for those without a Wi-Fi-enabled printer.
Synchronising your PIM data can be a treacherous prospect at the best of times. David Gilson has been risking the safety of his PIM data to show you how you can use the commercial service Memotoo to synchronise your S60 phone with not only Google, but the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn too.
Alpine Electronics today announced a strategic partnership with Nokia and Navteq to bring a new car integration technology called 'Terminal mode' to car 'infotainment' systems. It integrates Nokia smartphones with in-car systems allowing, not only the usual call functions, but also the use of smartphone-based services (e.g. Ovi Maps navigation) and content (e.g. music) via the high resolution screens and audio systems embedded in the car. The integration also offers the opportunity for automotive-specific widgets on the phone, including fuel levels and engine status.
In an epic tale of heroism and 'making do', I lead you through a series of hopefully thought-provoking segments, showing that perhaps there's more to a smartphone than feeling compelled to buy the latest £400 hardware. In the process, I point out the potential benefits of one of Nokia's unsung heroes, the E61i, my main smartphone through the summer of 2007 and a device to which I was recently reintroduced. Reality bites home in the end, though, and I conclude that there's an equal acknowledgement to be made in terms of progress made by Nokia and Symbian over the last few years.
It’s taken some time, but Nokia are reporting that the Helping Haiti charity single, a cover of REM’s “Everybody Hurts” is now available in the Nokia Music Store. Proceeds from the single are split between two funds in the UK – which is great if you pay for the download, but what happens if you use Comes with Music?