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Recent News Headlines - S60 5th Edition
Handy PhoneGuard launches
Epocware just released Handy Phoneguard (for S60), described as "an advanced smartphone protection solution that allows the phone’s data to be locked or completely wiped to prevent unauthorized access and use, as well as sending SMS notifications with the new phone number in case the phone becomes stolen or lost." Screenshots (for 3rd Edition and 5th Edition) and press release extracts below.
AAS Podcast #155: Live from SEE 2009
At the SEE 2009 show, Ewan chats to representatives from Qt (the cross-platform runtime destined to become the default environment for Symbian^4 and beyond), Navteq (the mapping data guys now owned by Nokia) and Opera (makers of the popular Opera Mini proxy browser). It's all in AAS Podcast 155.
Video titbits from SEE 2009
To give you a taster of SEE 2009, here's a little video selection (embedded below), with three interviews I did at the event: with Tieto (Qt developers, in this case), TAT (demo of '3D' interface) and Stantum (demoing their resistive multitouch testbed). Watch out for Rafe's video tour of the whole event and for various (longer) audio podcasts in the coming week.
The Phones Show 93 and Phones Show Chat 10
Just a quick note that The Phones Show 93 and The Phones Show Chat 10 are both now live, with plenty of Nokia/Symbian content that you might be interested in. In particular, you might like to note my 'top 5' choices in the former... See also the RSS feeds for the MP4/video and MP3/audio shows.
Ovi Store Re-downloads go official
Nokia's Ovi Store re-download policy just got a whole lot clearer, with an official post on the matter - essentially, you can re-download purchased apps provided you're logged in with the same user name and on the same physical phone as was used for the purchase. It's a touch more restrictive than we're used to on other platforms, but hey, at least it's now officially possible. Oh, and you'll need the very latest version of the Ovi Store client - v1.5 (387) or higher. If you have to switch devices, presumably you'll still be calling Nokia's support people though... Video and more below. And comments welcome, how well does this new system work for you? Update: strikethrough text because of official clarification in the comments below.
emTube evolves into Open Video Hub
Do you remember emTube, one of the first YouTube video clients for S60? Well, it's back (after a fashion), in the form of Open Video Hub, available* for S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition and with additional support for Daily Motion and Metacafe videos. It's also now Open Source, which is great news. The only catch is that, currently, Open Video Hub needs (*)signing for a user's phone - see the screenshots, press release snippet and links below.
The Nokia N97 gets v20 and a new lease of life
[Story updated] Yes, it's out. For some product codes at least, with a changelog below. The next-gen Nokia N97 v20.x.019 firmware (a.k.a. PR 2.0), the biggest, most ambitious and most eagerly awaited firmware update in Nokia's history, is now available via Nokia Software Update. In short, RAM management is better and you effectively get a lot more flash memory on C: (provided you go through a little wipe/update/restore data effort) - plus the delights of kinetic, intuitive scrolling in all applications, transforming the S60 5th Edition experience, and a mountain of smaller fixes. See below for the changelog and comments.
Symbian Foundation opensources EKA2 microkernel
Yesterday the Symbian Foundation announced the release of the EKA2, together with supporting development kit, under the Eclipse Public License (EPL). This marks a major stepping stone is the process to opensource the entire Symbian platform, which the Symbian Foundation is currently undertaking. The microkernel is the heart of the operating system and comprises of a 'robust, fully multi-tasking architecture', which 'manages all system resources and frameworks necessary for the co-existence of the processes and applications that make up the complete system'.
Sports Tracker runs out of Nokia to become a new start-up
Good news for fans of Nokia's Sports Tracker application – the technology is being spun out of Nokia and into a new company. Sports Tracking Technologies Oy (STT) has been started by Jussi Kaasinen and Yka Huhtala, the core developers behind Sports Tracker. Nokia will continue to have access to the app, and will be a client of STT.
A survival guide to Linux and S60
Guest writer David Gilson talks about his switch from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu) and his (successful) struggles to keep his desktop-S60 connectivity going, from PIM data to music to backups to tethering. Could you make the same switch? Are there any showstoppers for you? Comments welcome.
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