SPB Mobile Shell has been a popular homescreen replacement for Nokia and Samsung S60 5th Edition phones, but the Sony Ericsson Vivaz's alternative front end was seemingly more of a challenge to displace. SPB have now officially released Mobile Shell for the Vivaz and Vivaz pro today. Both devices have graphics acceleration and plenty of RAM, so performance definitely won't be an issue. More below....
EchoEcho is a new cross-platform "where are you?" application and service, using SMS as its communications medium, to ensure compatibility with most phones. Reviewing it seemed like a job for Ewan Spence and he dived into with glee. Although he reckons it's "an answer in search of a question", both of us reckon it has potential. Comments welcome, no matter if you think it's a slice of genius or a complete dud!
In All About Symbian Insight 134, we start with news of new, community created Samsung i8910 firmware, which leads to a discussion of Samsung's mobile platform choices. Rafe discusses the Ovi Files closure and talks about how the thinking behind Nokia's Ovi service strategy has evolved. David shares his PixelPipe Send and Share experiences, before bringing news of UK operator Orange's HD Voice service. Ewan talks about Swype, an alternative text input entry system, which is now available in beta. Finally, Steve gives his first opinion on the Nokia E5.
Do you have a monthly, weekly or even daily data limit on your mobile account? I know I do, which is why we leapt at the appearance of Data Monitor as a utility to help keep track of usage. However, with barely more data-gathering functionality than the built-in Log utility and with an intrusive and hard-to-configure, always-on 'ticker', it seems that Data Monitor isn't ready for the prime time just yet, as you can read in David Gilson's review.
Steve has already taken an in-depth look at Polar Bit / Sports Tracker combination (see his review here), but now I’ve got my hands on the Bluetooth heart rate monitor so it can talk to my X6, it’s time for my opinions. But if you want the short answer, the Sports Tracker eco-system is growing and I’m loving every step they’ve taken. Read on...
The saga of continually improving user firmware for the Samsung i8910 HD continues with the release of two new firmware alternatives. From HyperX, featured before on AAS, comes 'HX-V8-32', rolling in faster application icon display, extra keyboard options, numerous small bug fixes and better compatibility with Nokia's Symbian software. From 'faenil' comes 'n2o4', nicknamed 'The Queen'(!), Read on for screens, links, changelogs and more...
Having been a smartphone owner for longer than most, I suspect, as an All About Symbian reader, you'll be very used to the daily routines of charging and power management. Even with some of Nokia's S60 devices (think 6650, E71, E52, E55, E72) running happily for several days at a time on a charge, the reality is that (especially when talking about large screened touch-driven devices) most of us need to charge every night. Or suffer the consequences. Acceptable for us, this requirement is something of a deal breaker for many 'normobs', those for whom mobile technology is merely a tool and not something they're prepared to nurse maid through the week....
Orange UK have announced a new service called HD Voice, which will give superior audio call quality over its 3G network on selected phones. Available free of charge, the service will initially be available to a small set of phones; Nokia's 5230, X6 and E5, plus the Samsung Omnia Pro. Having listened to test calls, it is a vast improvement, but not quite up to the claimed "Crystal Clear" quality as claimed. Click through to read our commentary.
And so we come to what we suspect will be the most contentious piece in Ewan's quest in comparing a £100 Android smartphone (the ZTE Racer) with an £80 Symbian smartphone (the Nokia 5230). Third party applications and the final decision, rounding up conclusions from the previous comparison parts. Which will triumph? Read on for the final instalment, plus links to the other parts.
Nokia Experts reports that Ovi Files, Nokia's remote file access and cloud-based file mirroring/storage solution, will be discontinued on October 1st. The announcement is a set back to Nokia's Ovi service ambitions, but with relatively few users and low awareness, the long-term impact is likely to be small. A number of third party services, such as SugarSync and DropBox, provide a similar service for those who need to move from Ovi Files.
Swype, an alternative text entry system, is now available, via Nokia Beta Labs, for most Nokia S60 5th Edition devices. Swype works by tracing one continuous finger (or stylus) movement, across an on-screen QWERTY keyboard, when entering a word. It provides, potentially, a much faster and more accurate way of entering text on touchscreen devices, albeit with a small initial learning curve.
David Gilson reviews the free Pixelpipe Send and Share, the new incarnation of the popular uploading service that works independently of Nokia's Share online and thus works more seamlessly, using a wider range of file types and (presumably) on more devices. It's all win, win, win until David points out a few caveats, including less flexible authentication and a greater need to do some of the set up using your desktop's web browser.
Heading out into the wilds of Devon a week ago, for my annual vacation, I wanted to try the smartphone equivalent of going 'commando' - travelling light, one device only, one SIM only, one chance to get it right for all my phone, communication and entertainment needs. No laptop, no iPad, just the smartphone. I had the choice of over 40 devices - and I ended up going with the much-maligned Nokia N97. Here's why the N97 is still almost good enough in its twilight years/months - and here's how it performed when put to the extremes of outdoor use. I wasn't trying to destroy it, per se, but it certainly survived some abuse. I'd trail the end of the tale here... but you can probably guess!
You may want to check 'Sw update' on your Nokia S60 3rd Edition or 5th Edition phone, as it seems that there's a pre-Nokia World 2010 update available for all phones, fixing minor bugs (including correcting and enhancing Nokia's Wi-Fi location system) and possibly preparing the way for additional services. It's a full 8 to 10MB update (depending on device) and installs over the air. There's no change in the basic version number (3.4) but the build number is (obviously) higher, now at '278'. More below.
In All About Symbian Insight 133, we start with news of the Nokia 5250, Nokia's cheapest ever smartphone, following which, Steve shares some more detail from his recent reviews of Let's Golf and Mommax's Mains Battery Charger. Rafe talks about Nokia and Intel's new joint laboratory for 3D mobile user experiences. Finally Ewan gives us his commentary on the the re-branding of Nokia Music to Ovi Music. You can listen to AAS Insight 133 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
