Having used a Nokia X6 for a few weeks, I became painfully aware of a few dozen dust particles and the odd small hair stuck under its capacitive screen. Read on for an explanation of how they got there and what was needed to both remove them and stop dust encroaching in the future.
One of the biggest blights on Internet forums in the last year has been a deluge of spam for commercial DVD ripping software - well, such products may just be even more redundant with Freepoc legend Malcolm Bryant's latest mini-project, DvdToSymbian, a special script for the freeware VLC (for Windows) that effectively offers a one-click route from (non-copyrighted) DVD to a nHD movie file for a S60 5th Edition smartphone. Link and quotes below.
If you've been wondering how to get started in developing serious applications for Symbian and weren't quite sure whether to knuckle down and get into the official C++-based Symbian SDK or head for the new programming wunderkind, Qt (pronounced 'cute'), then have a look at this interview with Lucian Tomuta, also embedded below. He gives an intro and then shows how easy it is to compile and test apps, right onto the phone.
Nokia has released their Q2 2010 results, reporting an operating profit of €295 million, with net sales €10.0billion (up 1% Year-on-Year). Nokia's device and service division's profits were €643 million, down 16% year on year. Margins in devices and services were 9.5% (down 2.7% YoY and down 2.6% QoQ). Converged devices sales (smartphones) were significantly up, at 24 million, compared with 16.9 million units in Q2 2009 (so up 42% YoY) and compared with 21.5 million units in Q1 2010 (up 12%, QoQ). As such, worldwide smartphone marketshare was 41%, stable sequentially and year on year. Full story and comments below.
Steve Litchfield takes Wikitude, the ambitious augmented reality browser for Symbian (plus iPhone and Android) for a spin in his local area. What sort of things can Wikitude help you find and is the app ready for mass market adoption yet? More to the point, just how many spare batteries would you take to pack in order to get through a day of Wikituding in the city?(!)
We don't normally link to many blogger device reviews, but 'srikapardhi's write up of the Nokia N97 mini (Comes with Music edition) excels in lots of ways, in that it comes across as fresh, opinionated and pretty comprehensive. It's certainly a reminder not to write off the N97 mini after bad experiences with its larger predecessor. Oh, and be gentle with his use of English (not his first language).
Guest writer Asri al-Baker reviews SyncLion, a new utility developed by a newcomer to the Symbian application market, Trismer Technology, designed to archive your SMS, MMS, Contacts and Notes into your standard email. Asri tests it to his Gmail setup and admires the innovative folder creation system that keeps this information separate from normal email.
Rafe reviews the updated version 2 of Klomptek's Track and Protect, which he describes as the 'Rolls Royce' of remote security, allowing not only the traditional locking and wiping functions but also super-cool recovery actions like getting the phone to report its own whereabouts to you over the web (even if the finder/thief puts in a new SIM) and taking photos of anyone trying to 'break in'. Read the review for a full breakdown of Track and Protect's capabilities.
One of the interesting points made in this week's Insight Podcast was the large number of applications (primarily in the Ovi Store) that are only targeted at S60 5th Editon devices, leaving behind a large number of 3rd Edition owners. There are also a number of notable incidents where applications or games are even more restricted, to certain handsets. Read on for some thoughts...
In All About Symbian Insight 127, we open with a discussion of Nokia's Terminal Mode, which is seeking to create an industry standard for the next generation of integration between cars and mobile phones. We follow this up with news of the Opera 10.1 beta, a sale of games in the Ovi Store, the announcement of furtiv's support for DropBox, the addition of Maps Reporter to Ovi Maps, and the opening of the Qt Developer Network. There's also a brief discussion of the number of software releases for S60 3rd Edition phones versus S60 5th Edition phones. You can listen to AAS Insight 127 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Ewan, with beard and a full head of hair to match, seemed perfect to set sail on virtual seas and go a-plundering for the day in a new S60 5th Edition virtual reality game, AR Pirates - out on the patio. If the thought of blasting ships off Caribbean islands in err... Edinburgh seems a lot to take in, then read the review for Ewan's explanation.
In leaps and bounds, the term 'smartphone' is being bandied about by manufacturers, analysts, journalists, developers and end users across the world. Which would normally be a good thing, except that there are many definitions, all totally different. What exactly defines a smartphone in 2010? What did it used to mean in 2007? Or 2003? With reports regularly quoting the word, it would be good to all agree what the word means, surely?
Can’t wait to get your hands on a Nokia N8? Why not while away the time before you can lighten you bank balance by creating your dream theme. Carbide.ui Theme Edition 3.0 has been released on the Symbian Foundation website, offering the final version of the tools for creating Symbian^3 device themes.
Opera have announced a new beta version of Opera Mobile for S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition devices. Version 10.1 boasts a new rendering engine (Presto), new graphics library (Vega), and new Javascript engine (Carakan), all of which are also utilised in Opera's desktop browser. The end result is a significant boost in overall performance. Also new is geolocation support, which allows websites to serve up location specific content. The beta can be downloaded from the Opera website (visit m.opera.com/next on your phone).
A Maps Reporter module has been added to the 'More' menu of Nokia's Ovi Maps. It allows users to submit manual reports about errors in the application's mapping and associated meta-data. These errors can range from a missing street or path, whether a street is suitable for walking, to an incorrect speed limit. You will need to be running the latest version of Ovi Maps (3.04) in order to see the Maps Reporter module. Read on for further details and example screenshots.
