Nokia Beta Labs today released Nokia Bots, a collection of 'mini-utilities' which monitor how you use your phone and try to improve your user experience either by making suggestions or automatically changing configurations. Or as Nokia puts it 'add-ons that make daily routines easier by learning from your behavior'. Nokia Bots, which runs as a homescreen widget, is available for the Nokia N97 and N97 mini from Beta Labs. Read on for further information and screenshots.
Following on from his tour of the USA with the Nokia 5230/Nuron, Ewan delivers his final verdict on Nokia's newest and cheapest S60 5th Edition smartphone. There's no Wi-Fi, only a mono speaker, a cheap 2mp fixed focus camera and no flash, but the 5230 still wins out overall by representing enormous value for money for smartphone newcomers.
The Phones Show 106 just went live, now with an audio-only version (by popular demand), featuring 'Optimising the Nokia N97', plus a User Story with a very happy Nokia E55 user. There's also my review of the HTC Legend. And don't forget Phones Show Chat each week, the audio podcast where Tim Salmon and I chat about smartphones around a pint cup of coffee...
T-Mobile UK are having a one day sale on their range of PAYG (Pre-Pay) mobile phones. As a result, the Nokia 5230 is available for £79.99. As part of the package you'll also get an 8GB microSD card and six months of Internet access. The 5230 is also one of Nokia's Ovi Maps free navigation phones, so you'll also be getting worldwide free sat-nav too. We think this represents fantastic value for money for those looking for a low cost smartphone or for a backup phone. But you've only got til midnight. More analysis below.
Two years ago the Nokia N95 8GB was on top of the world, the N96 was the newest offshoot, the E61i was the best bet for the common man in the business world, and their 2.8" screens were deemed massive. And, the oddity of the E90 notwithstanding, we were happy. Weren't we? These phones did all we asked them to and the the world was good. And yet, less than 24 months later we find the smartphone world dominated by 4" screened, touch-only devices that bear little resemblance to the champions of 2008. Is it all the iPhone's fault, or is there more to the change? And where do smartphones go from here?
Here and Now has formally graduated from Beta Labs and is now available for selected devices. Here and Now finds weather, movies and restaurants (etc) around you and has been in an extremely long Beta Labs test, but has now been released for S60 5th Edition and selected 3rd Edition smartphones via Ovi Store and Software Update, restricted because of the version of Web needed. Wider device compatibility in the future is promised. Some details below.
In a departure from traditional All About Symbian conservatism, Steve Litchfield goes exploring the world of firmware modding, specifically looking at the Samsung i8910 HD, a flagship smartphone in terms of specifications that has been under-curated by its manufacturer. Can a third party, armed with no source code whatsoever, really mess around with the files in the firmware to produce a better device? Short answer? Yes. Four times the free disk space on C:, focussing in video capture, and more. Here's the tale of how the i8910 HD gets transformed with HX 3.17...
Shazam announced today that its music recognition application has been downloaded by over one million Nokia users from the Ovi Store since its launch in August last year. The Shazam app has been downloaded in more than 200 different markets onto over 40 different handsets. Read on for further details, a video interview and a demo with Shazam's Iain Dendle at MWC 2010, together with some additional App Store commentary.
What's super-simple to understand, super-addictive to play and available right now in the Ovi Store? Phit Droid is the answer and has been giving Ewan some serious puzzling fun on his recent travels. The only negative is the unpolished opening menu, but otherwise it's positives all the way in this 80%-scored review here on AAS's Ovi Gaming.
Mobile Documents was one of the star performers at today's DEMO conference. Richard Bloor takes a first look at this mobile email and documents solution from Sweden’s Visiarc. The application implements patent pending “cherry picking” technology, which promises a better way to manage email and their attachments on your mobile device. Read on, in our feature article, for more details.
If you've been following my continuing review of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, you'll know that it has a small but perfectly formed body and a great camera/camcorder. But what about its new custom homescreen and media suite? It's pretty enough, but I look at all the options and weigh in with opinion on what Sony Ericsson could have done better. Could the Vivaz have presented a more unified user interface? Here's part 3 of my Vivaz review.
In All About Symbian Insight 110 (AAS Podcast 174), Rafe and Steve share news of the arrival of Ovi Map's free navigation on the N86, and the release of the Silverlight for Symbian Beta. Steve tells us about a community firmware release for the Samsung i8910 and introduces a discussion on the death of Wayfinder; Rafe talks about Navteq True (next generation digital mapping data collection) and shares some initial thoughts on Windows Phone 7 Series. You can listen to AAS Insight 110 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Some say he can light a fire in the wild just by staring. Some say his favourite food is sprouts. All we know is he's called Ewan Spence. Part 6 of a series of short videos from Ewan is embedded below, along with some of his 'diary' commentary, as part of his gaming and blogging spring trip to San Francisco (GDC) and Austin (SXSW). We set him a series of challenges (also known as a real world test of the Nokia 5230/Nokia Nuron), all delivered by the Stig. In part 6, Ewan answers all the questions that have been either emailed in or left in the comments for previous videos.
OK, so Steve has a new favourite theme - and it seems that PiZero is experimenting with new ways of distributing his excellent themes: Earth is a new addition to the Nokia Ovi Store and appears for S60 5th Edition (touch) phones only. It's artistic and yet lightweight, with default icons to save RAM. Worth a look - there's a graphical preview below.
Some say he can shout across the Forth Bridge and be heard on the other side. Some say he can't pronounce the word "badminton". All we know is, he's called Ewan Spence. Part 5 of a series of short videos from Ewan is embedded below, along with some of his 'diary' commentary, as part of his gaming and blogging spring trip to San Francisco (GDC) and Austin (SXSW). We set him a series of challenges (also known as a real world test of the Nokia 5230/Nokia Nuron), all delivered by the Stig. In part 5, Ewan accepts a photographic challenge and goes seeking tips from a 'pro'.
