Every so often, Rafe lets us 'moonlight' over at other sites, in this case the Ovi Daily App blog. Which is where I've been reviewing Headlines, an innovative way of subscribing to and presenting news feeds in a visual and user friendly manner. It's fair to say that I encountered a number of limitations along the way, but at least some of these can be fixed in a future version and my review is, overall, optimistic.
Qt is the open source application framework that Nokia has been promoting for over a year. While more and more Symbian applications are being built in Qt (pronounced "cute"), you may or may not realise quite how many you're actually using. Indeed, some are more apparent than others. However, thanks to a list compiled by Rita El Khoury over at Fonearena, you can find out how many high-profile applications are actually made in the Qt framework. Read on for more details.
Updated for the 2011 Season, the official F1 timing application is one of those must-have applications for a niche group – the smartphone users who are also Formula 1 fans. Last year’s review (here) covers all the relevant ground, but with Symbian^3 handsets now available, can you still keep up to date with the hectic pace, fastest sectors and lap times during a race weekend?
The Qt labs team has just announced the release candidate (RC) for its Qt Software Development Kit (SDK) 1.1. This follows from its recent beta release. The final release, following this RC, will allow developers to take advantage of all the latest Qt features and submit Qt 4.7 based applications to the Ovi Store. However, it should be noted that Qt 4.7 will not support S60 3rd Edition, which sadly, but predictably, points to a deprecation of that version of Symbian. Read on for more details.
Nokia Beta Labs has announced yet another experimental project, called Nokia Drop. This project sets out to push content from your desktop browser to your phone. Pushed content comes in the forum of URL's, files, images as files, or images as wallpapers. The desktop end requires a browser plugin; Firefox and Chrome are currently the only supported browsers. The phone application is available for S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3. Read on for more.
You'll remember that over the last year or so, I've helped champion the HX series of custom firmwares for the Samsung i8910 HD, stepping into the shoes of Samsung, who effectively abandoned their own device. All good things come to an end though and HyperX himself, the guy who assembled these firmware has announced that he's moving on and that there definitely won't be another release. Of note here is that the final HX-V11 firmware (which had been 'temporarily' withdrawn) is now back up for download, along with all its associated goodies. Download 'em while you can, folks!
Nokia has officially 'graduated' Ovi Maps 3.6 (the version with Social check-ins, live traffic services and on-device country map loading) from Beta Labs and into the Ovi Store. This doesn't preclude further updates of course, but the application is stable and complete for now. If you want to check what version you have installed, tap on the "?" icon, then "About Maps" and then "Versions". The version of Ovi Maps now in the Ovi Store is v3.06 11wk10 b01.
We do like to highlight bargains every now and then and, thanks to a tip off from reader Gary Moncrieff, it seems that most of the Smartphoneware titles in the Ovi Store have been reduced from their usual $10 (or so) tickets to just 1 pound (or local equivalent). If you've been eyeing up any of the following: Best Safe, Best Reminder, Best Crypto, Best TaskMan, Best SpamKiller, Best Jotter, Best Converter, Best Blacklist or Best Full Screen Message (among others), then grab them now rather than later. A few titles remain at higher prices, so do please check, etc.
As a hardened (and probably wizened) AAS reader, you've been with us through the ups and downs of the last decade, of course. And I was interested to read Alvin Wong's 'Symbian Story', taking him through many of the devices that we too have loved and hated over the years - it's a good read. And yet, here's the kicker, Alvin is still only 17. Which means that he started his Symbian Story when he was only 12, incredibly.
I was impressed by Peter Krass's write-up over on the Ovi Daily App blog, looking at three free weather forecasting solutions for Symbian smartphones. He reviews ForecaWeather Free, AccuWeather and Weather Touch, all free or ad-supported. In particular, I had a 'duh' moment when he revealed that Weather Touch has a second, forecast screen that you only see when you rotate your phone into landscape mode. How the heck didn't I spot that before?
Opera has announced the new versions of its mobile browsers, Opera Mobile 11 and Opera Mini 6. These bring an updated user interface, improved text wrapping, and most significantly, multi-touch zoom. Overall performance is improved too, with native handling of heavy sites appearing to load faster in Opera Mobile 11 than with Opera Mobile 10. Read on for more about the update.
An official PayPal mobile application, written in Java, is now available for download in the Ovi Store. It allows you to send and receive money, review your recent transactions, set a mobile PIN for easy mobile log-in and carry out other common PayPal tasks. The application is available in select markets for most S60 5th Edition devices and some Symbian^3 devices.
Joy unbounded. It seems that the mythical, legendary, v22 firmware for the Vodafone-locked Nokia N97 has just become available. A mere eight months after SIM-free N97 classics received the update. If ever there was an example of why you should buy SIM-free smartphones where possible then this is it - network variants have to be approved by the network in question and it can take.... ages. Anyway, as shown in the screenshot below, my Vodafone-locked N97 has now been upgraded to v22, so frustrated 'classic' users everywhere can at last relax.
A group of companies, drawn from both the consumer electronics and automotive industries, today announced the formation of the Car Connectivity Consortium, to help develop, maintain and promote in-vehicle connectivity solutions such as Terminal Mode, NFC and wireless charging. The stated goal of the organisation is to have "a seamless, safe, effortless and delightful user experience when using a smartphone in a car".
Now available as an 'experimental beta' for all S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3 phones, Nokia Shoot & Tag is a camera-centric utility that allows video capture with automatic scene detection and then lets you browse through scenes later on. The idea, as usual, is to get the public to try the interface and ideas before the concept is (or isn't) rolled out into device firmware. Links and a video below.
