Despite expectations that Ovi Maps 3.3 with free navigation would hit the Nokia N97 in a firmware update, it has popped up on Software Update (in the Applications folder) anyway as a 8MB download. Obviously, it's not recommended if you're starting off with less than about 30MB of free space on disk C: - in which case, you're better off waiting for it in a firmware release. Do please comment if you spot this for another Nokia phone that wasn't previously covered!
I have to admit that, like Rita el-Khoury, when I saw the proud boast by a Palm Pre Plus reviewer that they had managed to run 50 apps at once in its 512MB of RAM, I'd thought: well, some Symbian devices of yesteryear and a few from today could match that. Rita's taken the time to demonstrate this on the Samsung i8910 HD, managing 50 apps (and more) at once in only 256MB of RAM. Cool little post. Though I reckon I could get close to 50 on the unmodified Nokia N95 8GB, E90 or E71, for example. Anyone care to try?
Coming on the eve of Apple's big tablet release and Nokia's Q4 09 results announcement, IDC gathered all their numbers, analysts and (ahem) runes and produced a forecast for the smartphone market in 2013. Unusually, for an American data analysis firm, there's surprising understanding of the worldwide scene, with the headline stat being that the smartphone market will exceed 390 million units per year by 2013, with Symbian holding on to its world marketshare lead over the next three years. Quotes from the IDC press release and my own predictions below.
When it comes to Twitter applications (perenially popular, it seems), Symbian and S60 have no shortage of choice. Guest author David Gilson has done a mass review of all the Twitter applications he could find for S60, and presents us with a detailed feature comparison, along with a number of recommendations.
With the launch yesterday of a cheaper, CwM-less Nokia X6, with lower capacity, Ewan assesses its chances of success, with reference to his own existing multi-part review of the device. The original was underpowered and overpriced - can its successor fare better?
Nokia today announced the X6 16GB device. The X6 16GB comes in a range of new colours: black, white, white with pink highlights and white with yellow highlights. Compared to original X6 there's no Comes with Music included and the internal memory has dropped from 32 GB to 16 GB. The X6 will be available in shops this quarter. Read on for further details.
The latest roundup in a long series, Steve Litchfield looks at a number of commercial case designs for the Nokia N97 mini. Can any of them please the undisputed case-meister of the Symbian world? Which slip on and off with ease and which ones need chiselling off with a screwdriver (no, really)?
In All About Symbian Insight 102 (AAS Podcast 166), the team start with news of Sony Ericsson's Vivaz and its continuous focus HD video capture capabilities. We move on to an in-depth discussion of Nokia's Ovi Maps announcement last week. The final item in this weeks podcast is a quick mention for the new beta version of Ovi Suite. You can listen to AAS Insight 102 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Another writer whose opinions I trust is Rita el-Khoury and here she reflects back on four months with the Sony Ericsson Satio and on the imminent arrival of the new Vivaz. She writes about the evolution of Sony Ericsson's take on S60 5th Edition and Symbian - it seems that she too sees the Satio as a testbed handset (as I'd argue are Nokia's N97 classic, N900 and Samsung's i8910 HD) with the Vivaz being the one that will make an impact on the market.
The social networking application, Fring, has been updated to version 4.1. Notable additions include fast switching of your status (offline, online, busy or invisible), the addition of DTMF tones in VoIP apps, and an improved GUI for their Twitter section. This sits on top of their multi-platform solution that covers not just a wide range of smartphones, but different online services as well. The latest version can be found at Fring.com/download.
There's a certain swashbuckling look to this game, from Electronic Arts. With a chisel-jawed hero and the 'exciting adventure' font on display (plus the all important sequel number), this has all the hallmarks and subtle signals of a Hollywood blockbuster from the 1950s. Which, of course, is an age ago in the motion picture, and is the perfect metaphor for Jewel Quest 3, finds Ewan Spence.
Guest author Matt Radford (of All About iPhone) borrowed my Nokia N97 mini for a few weeks recently. His aim? To see if he could switch to it from his beloved Apple iPhone. Matt was a hardened Symbian user in times past with a love of the S60 2nd Edition-powered Nokia N70, so this was an especially interesting experiment.
Everyone has been wondering why Ovi Maps hasn't been offered, for convenience, through the Ovi Store client - and, with the release of the new all-free, official v3.3, that's exactly what Nokia has done, indicating a high degree of confidence on its part. Great to see it heading up the store, anyway, and now merely a download away. And a side note for those for whom this doesn't appear - many other S60 3rd Ed FP2 phones will work fine with Maps 3.3 - just grab the closest version via your desktop and side-load it.
Last year, David Gilson compared Google Maps and Ovi Maps, controversially finding that Google Maps (for Mobile) had the edge. However, Nokia has now announced that voice guided road navigation for Ovi Maps no longer requires a subscription fee and is available to all. Read on to see how this game-changing move effects the battle of the maps! (Note that this article is a rewrite and does contain some of the original text.)
As the Symbian Foundation finish transitioning the OS and its applications over to the EPL (Eclipse Public License), various individuals and companies are responsible for different 'packages' - two such are the Image and Video editors. In the first such move, these two packages have just been transferred from one 'owner' to another. In this case, it's respected company Ixonos who has taken on responsibility and there's an interesting interview with Mikael Laine from Ixonos here on the subject.
