Own Voice for Ovi Maps, an application that lets you record and share your own voice instructions for turn by turn navigation, is now available on the Ovi Store. Once you have recorded your voice pack you are able to share it with other Own Voice for Ovi Maps users by uploading it to Nokia's servers. Alternatively you can browse and download the voice packs contributed by other users; there are already contributions from a Cylon Centurion and the Grim Reaper. Read on for further details.
HipLogic has been a name that has floated around S60 circles for the last year or so. Ostensibly a Web-aware homescreen replacement, it turns out to be something more ambitious, albeit with a few minor caveats. I set out last week to intercept HipLogic's 'Chief Action Figure', Mark Anderson, and quiz him on the vision behind, and the implementation of, HipLogic on Symbian. Read on for more.
Ewan investigates Moove, a unique music playback utility for S60 5th Edition phones that claims to offer contact-less music control. Does it work and is the solution ready for the real world? It would seem not, but find out for yourself in his brief review.
Forum Nokia has released a tool, Flowella, which allows designers and developers to easily create design prototypes (mock-ups of how an application will look), without using a single line of code. Prototypes are built by using images of screen mock-ups and defining links between them (i.e. what happens when you click of a given area). The information is then used to create a Flash Lite application or WRT widget, which can be run on a Nokia phone or in the included simulator.
This week Nokia announced the launch and beta availability of the Nokia Qt SDK, a single 'easy-to-use' software development kit (SDK) for Symbian and MeeGo application development. The SDK is, effectively, an evolution of the Qt SDK, with specific focus on, and support for, Nokia's mobile devices. It provides a complete tool chain for creating, developing, testing, packaging and deploying Qt applications. The SDK is available for both Windows and Linux (Mac support is being investigated) and can be downloaded from the Forum Nokia website. Read on for more details.
If there's such a thing as a popular whipping bag in the mobile world, the Nokia N97 surely has to be it. The original S60 5th Edition flagship has undergone so many troubles and humiliations in the last 12 months that it should surely be six feet under by now. And yet, despite having ready access to any phone in the world, my main SIM card is currently in... the Nokia N97. Here's why it sucks... and why it still rules. In an understated, misunderstood, jack of all trades way....
Ovi Music Unlimited, which is branded as Comes with Music in some markets, has launched in India. The service, which can only be purchased with a new device, allows unlimited music downloads from the Ovi Music Store for 12 months. Music is DRM protected, but users are able to keep the music after their subscription period has ended. The service has been customised for India with a smaller Ovi Player (desktop client), local content from more than 150 labels and the ability to download music using different PCs.
Nokia’s Point and Find service has has an update, a short three months from the initial release. The latest build of the Beta Labs product improves the flickering problems some users encountered, and brings official support for the X6 and the 5230.
The touch screen budget smartphone that is the Nokia 5230 has had a major bump in firmware, from v12 to v20. Adding in new applications, updating others, and bringing kinetic scrolling to the main menu, it shows that while the price of the unit is low, it’s getting the same support as more popular and expensive Nokiasmartphones.
Sports Tracker isn't the only game in town when it comes to GPS-tracking your workouts. And especially not when it comes to sharing these with others, either for interest sake or to provoke healthy competition. Here, Ewan reviews Endomondo, a largely server-side solution that has a wealth of social features, in addition to the traditional mapping and logging summaries.
This morning's announcement of the Nokia N8 marks, for me, the end point of a five year journey that Nokia has taken us on in the smartphone world. Yes, other manufacturers pop up in this field every now and then, but Nokia's path has been more consistent. Read on for more, including my thoughts on how the N8 finally replaces every previous smartphone camera champion. Xenon flash, stereo audio capture, intelligent digital zoom and more...
Now online is the second of my beginner's guides to smartphones - Getting started with the Nokia 5530. Again, it's not aimed at hard core AAS readers. This is one to point new 5530 owner/friends to. Also updated is 'Getting started with the Nokia 5230', following your comments and feedback. I hope this growing series will prove useful to newbies throughout 2010.
In All About Symbian Insight 115 Ewan, Steve and Rafe share their thoughts on the China bound Nokia C5-01 and Nokia X5 (TD-SCDMA handsets for China Mobile). We also take a detailed look at Nokia's Q1 2010 financial results with discussion of Nokia's Symbian^3 plans. Finally we cover Offscreen's 25 million Ovi Store downloads. You can listen to AAS Insight 115 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Version 50 firmware, that is! Guest writer Jon Satherley has been a long time user of the Nokia 5800 and below he puts into print his summary and brief thoughts on the version 50 firmware that has given the device yet another new lease of life, along with his intentions to try another smartphone platform.
