There have been enough ports across from the Symbian world to the iPhone one, it's about time an iPhone app made its way in this direction. ZooZBeat (which I reviewed on the iPhone here) is an accelerometer-driven music app, now available for the N82, N95 and N95 8GB. More please, like this. (via S-F)
Nokia has often given away a 3-day trial of voice-guided, real time navigation in Nokia Maps, but it seems that this has now become a full week's free trial, courtesy of an official page here. Just enter your details and get a license code etc. Good move, Nokia - let's hope this page stays up permanently. (via Jay and others)
Python for S60 has been almost totally rewritten, it seems (around the Python 2.5.1 core), with a huge version number jump to v1.90, available here. The most obvious changes are for developers, including a new GUI-driven SIS packaging tool and far better support for 'standard' Python libraries. Here's the download page, here's the readme that you'll want to scan over (it looks like it's something of an interim release before v2.0) and here's where I read about it.
What happens when you have regular releases, and everyone expects a game on a certain day? You have a good feeling building around your platform. Will Nokia continue the regularity of the N-Gage game releases in 2009? Ewan think aloud on what could happen in the New Year.
Yes, we know we're very late in reporting this, but better late than never... The new installment of Capcom's infamous franchise Resident Evil: Degeneration is available on the N-Gage platform. Based on a recent CGI film of the same name, RE:D is a horror survival game where you have to fight zombies in an airport. Not very seasonal, but there you go! You can get the game from the N-Gage application's showroom section, if you can't see it select "Options" and "Update Now" and then "Available Games", and you may also see it in the "Latest Games" section.
Continuing Nokia Beta Labs current splurge, Nokia Audiobooks has today had a big update, with a simpler installation procedure, wider compatibility, UI improvements (including a clock), different time intervals in the sleep timer, plus a better audiobook manager with tighter integration with a PC, better audio book 'ripping', plus the usual bug fixes.
Vodafone has release their own Last.FM client (in conjunction with their Vodafone Music product no doubt). Available directly from Last.FM (and thanks to CJ for the heads-up), the application is geared towards the scrobbling side of Last.FM, ie letting the web server know what you are listening to, and to recommend other artists you might like. It doesn't have an option to stream music, perhaps that's coming in a later version.
In a splurge of activity over at Nokia Beta Labs in the last day or so, here's a roundup of news: Nokia Email has graduated from Beta Labs to become Nokia Messaging, though the full announced functionality (e.g. IM) still isn't in place. Nokia Communication Center 2.0 has graduated and is now part of the latest PC Suite (7.1.18). Finally, Enhanced Calculator has been 'archived' and will at some point be reworked and brought into devices - meanwhile you can still grab it as-is if you like.
Image Exchange is here! A new beta application from Nokia, promising to make browsing and sharing images easy and fun is available from the Beta Labs. Image Exchange is more than just an uploader to a service (such as Flickr or Ovi Share), but an experiment in tying the handset gallery and the on-line gallery much closer together. Think of it as one pool of pictures constantly synchronised between your mobile and the web server, reflecting changes and interactions instantly. More information and comment below.
In AAS's latest beginner's tutorial, I explain how to use Mobitubia, a popular third party video tool to archive your YouTube favourites for later offline viewing and as part of a long term archive. You'll never be bored on a train journey again...
Ewan's back from his travels and takes the time to get set up with third party email app ProfiMail, now into a push-email-like IMAP-ready version 3. With the very nature of email changing and with Nokia's Ovi Message about to hit, is version 3 of ProfiMail still worth stumping up for?
Epocware's Handy Safe is no longer the only secure database with a synced PC version - SBSH just announced SafeWallet Pro, which comes with a 'PC companion'. The launch information and a screenshot are below the break, but your comments welcome if you want to give this a try. Note that SafeWallet Pro is currently on special offer, at $15.
Buddycloud, a location aware social networking client with a difference, is now available in native S60 3rd Edition form. The difference is that it's built on open standards, so will chat to anything that talks XMPP, as well as automatically updating your Facebook and Twitter feeds. Location is apparently via a mix of cell towers, Wi-Fi and GPS. Some screenshots are shown below. (Thanks to MIR for the heads-up)
So PC Suite's working OK on your PC at the moment? Better not rock the boat. But in case you fancy doing just that, or if things have got rocky and you think a fresh install might do the trick, note that there's a new non-beta version of Nokia's PC Suite now available, v7.1, with the previously beta Communication Center product built-in. If you do install, let us know how it looks! (via Symbian Guru)
According to the BBC, their popular iPlayer service is now available for the Nokia N85 (and not just the N96) - they've quoted the URL www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ for N85 owners to go (on their phones) to get the new widget. Comments welcome if you can try this. It's also worth noting that the BBC are looking into releasing iPlayer for other Nokia Nseries devices in the near future, plus two Windows Mobile smartphones and the uber-camera-phone, the Sony Ericsson C905.