In recent years the USB flash disk has become the ubiquitous way to carry files around with you. But what about getting files from a USB flash disk to your mobile phone when you're out about? In his review of the Mobidapter, an accessory which offers a solution to this issue, Steve considers whether this is a really useful solution or a really bad idea.
After three days of delays (FX: looks meaningfully at YouTube's system manager and the programmers of S60 Podcasting), The Phones Show 86 is now online - and available via RSS from the usual addresses. Subjects covered: News, Qwerty phones, my N86 video zoom demo and my verdict on the Samsung i8910 HD. See here for the video, RSS links and more info.
The Nokia 5800 has just gotten its v30 firmware update (actually v30.0.011). It's currently available Over The Air (*#0000# from the home screen) for some product codes, including my APAC one, as
a 4MB download. Perhaps not the 'mega' update that many people had thought was coming, tying in with the upcoming 5530 XpressMusic, this is still a recommended update, bringing bug fixes and performance optimisations.
After months of delay, the 'Ambassador' programme for the Samsung i8910 HD (used to be called the Omnia HD) has kicked off, with the production devices now delivered to contacts across the world. This means that SIM-free, unlocked phones are now in mainstream English reviewer hands for the first time. See below for some first impressions and, most importantly, sample HD video footage from the i8910 HD's camera. [Updated with new video sample, new compatibility notes]
Nokia have updated the Nokia Music PC app to version 1.3, adding in software to ease connection difficulties between the S60 handsets and the music client. The app will now offer to switch the connection modes of a connected device to ease transfer of music, and the caching of the contents of a smartphone has now been tweaked, allowing faster connections to be made.
This afternoon, Google has quietly released an updated version of the S60 version of its Google Maps for Mobile application. The new version, 3.2.0, adds a 'Layers' feature which helps organise the information displayed on top of the map (including the existing Latitude, Driving Directions and Traffic functionality). However, Layers also gives access to some entirely new information including Transit Lines (e.g. London Underground), Wikipedia and My Maps (user generated content) overlays. Read on for more details and screenshots.
Google has officially declared its S60 YouTube client compatible with the Nokia 5800, with the release of v2.2.9 (it was 2.2.6) on m.youtube.com (i.e. you no longer have to intercept the one offered to S60 3rd Edition phones and transfer manually - you can just go to Google's mobile site in Web on your 5800). There's also a new 'Flag' (as inappropriate) menu function, but still MIA are login/favourites/commenting - surely a version 3.x version will be needed for these? Curiously, there's no 'official' compatibility yet with the N97. Watch this space.
In All About Symbian Insight 80 (AAS Podcast 142), we discuss Nokia's Q2 results and the announcement of the Nokia Surge. We follow up with news of Symbian's Horizon program, before talking about the latest set of software updates for the N97. Finally we answer some questions from our listeners. You can listen to AAS Insight 80 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Ho yes. Every news network worth its salt has to have its share of iPhone and S60 widgets. ITN is the latest to join the throng, with its News widget now in the Ovi Store for all S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition phones. It's free, of course, and has sections for 'Headlines', 'Sport', 'Business' and 'Fun'. Many of the stories have attached ITN videos, which pop up in fairly low res (176 by 144 pixels) 3GP format in RealPlayer. Some screenshots below.
