OK, so I made the last three words up, but the extensively titled Nokia 5530 XpressMusic Games Edition has been sighted by CJ in the USA, equipped apparently with "20 Full version games (10 from Gameloft, 10 from EA Mobile)". It's a nice idea, is available from Nokia USA and only costs $10 more than the standard phone. Even with a number of Java titles, that can't be bad value.
Nokia's Betalabs have another curious little app available. Gig Finder, for S60 5th Edition phones, allows you to build up a profile of bands, and search for gigs that you should like that based on your location (or wherever you feel like searching). While I'd love to know where the data is coming from, and a little bit more explanation on how to tailor the recommendation engine, this could grow into a nice little tool.
Ewan continues his multipart look at the new Nokia X6 Comes with Music. Part 1 of this review looked at the X6's externals, while part 2 was heavily critical of the core Music player and performance. In this, part 3, he looks at the X6's camera and photography functions - can even the X6 transform Ewan into photographer of the year?
Nokia have released a new firmware for the popular 5800 XpressMusic device. At least on the AAS unit, it's available via the Nokia Software Updater in the PC Suite package, but not yet as an over the air option. Additions to the smartphone's software include kinetic scrolling in menus and a reworked active standby screen to match that found on the 5530.
An Evernote client has been a constant request in the Symbian ecosystem for many months now and, late last year, a Web runtime version turned up, optimised for the Nokia N97 and compatibles. This has been regularly updated and, with version 1.0.70302, released last night in the USA, has reached the point where I can start to recommend it to the wider world. See below for screens, comments and some links.
It seems that new ideas and elements of upcoming Symbian incarnations keep getting backported and prototyped into existing products. Well done to Rita el-Khoury for noticing how the new Nokia X6 handles incoming Bluetooth-beamed files - straight to a folder on memory card rather than clogging up the Messaging inbox and disk C:. Very neat, and should save quite a few Symbian newbies from clogging up their internal disk in future....
Last week at CES Nokia showed of Ovi Racing, but they also showed off another game: Bounce Boing Battle. The game has pong-inspired gameplay, with two players bouncing a ball between themselves. However rather than moving a paddle, the player must draw a line for the ball to bounce off. The game, which includes two player support (presumably over Bluetooth), will be available, for free, from Ovi Store in due course. Read on for more.
Peter-Paul Koch, writing on the QuirksBlog, shares the results of a usability test comparing 10 different phones. What's most interesting is that the user in question might be considered the 'average' user rather than a tech-influencer (as is typical in online media). Consequently many of the observations offer insight into what matters in the real world compared to rarefied atmosphere of the 'media bubble'. Read on for more.
In another of my periodic hardware head-to-heads, I pitch a variety of full-screen, full-qwerty hybrid smartphones against each other, ranging from the 3 year old Nokia E90, still supported but hard to find for sale now, through to the N97 mini, the HTC Touch Pro 2 and the spanking new Motorola Milestone. Which devices punch the heaviest when the rubber really hits the road?
S60 has long been without any form of Wikipedia application besides the mobile web site. There are now two applications in early development, but do either of them significantly add to the mobile web site experience? David Gilson has been comparing all three and answers that question in this feature.
Kudos to Jon at tehkseven for a couple of beautifully done 'simple' themes. Just White (in 5th Edition, 3rd Edition and Eseries-tailored versions) and Just Black (again in 5th Edition, 3rd Edition and Eseries versions), the latter with full Ovi icons. Recommended if you just want something clean, clear and efficient.
Following on from the first three review parts: Sony Ericsson Satio - part 1: Form, Design, Build Quality and Sony Ericsson Satio - part 2: The Camera and Sony Ericsson Satio - part 3: Applications and interface, here's my last look at the new Sony Ericsson flagship, rounding up its media suite and overall worth. It's fair to say that bugs and inconsistencies rather ruined my overall Satio experience, but hey, at least I've got photographic proof. Yet another manufacturer living with a buggy flagship? Gah.
In All About Symbian Insight 100 (AAS Podcast 164), we first look back at the decade just gone and consider how far we've come, before looking ahead to what will happen in the next decade. Steve brings news of an i8910 firmware update, Ovi Maps Racing and more and the teams answer questions relating to N97 Exchange support and briefly discuss what to expect at MWC You can listen to AAS Insight 100 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Ewan continues his multipart look at the new Nokia X6 Comes with Music with, appropriately, a look at its music playing prowess - and sometimes the lack of it, with bugs, memory leaks, missing functions and unwanted clicks... See also part 1 of this review, looking at the X6's externals.
We're having an embedded video day here at AAS, at seems. Anphase, the guy who did the i8910 HD petition and then met with Samsung, has now done a video showing most of the changes for the upcoming big new firmware update and I've embedded this video below. Summary: similar partial implementation of kinetic scrolling as on the Nokia X6 and 5530, but improvements as well in Camera and Web. Anphase also shows some of the Qt and native OMAP3 demos.
