Nokia Beta Labs has a graduate! Gizmo for S60 an application that allowed you to access the Gizmo5 service for IM and VOIP functionality on your handset is no longer in beta test – it's all grown up, left the program and is now available as a regular application in the Nokia Download! Store, although interestingly it is not yet in the Ovi Store.
Three years ago I wrote an article comparing text input speeds using various devices and form factors from the PDA and smartphone world. Here's the update, with some modern devices (including the iPhone 3G, HTC Touch Pro 2 and Nokia N97) included and tabled, plus a rogue's gallery showing Communicator keyboards through the ages. Am I obsessing too much? Is raw text input speed that important to you? Comments welcomed.
Forum Nokia has announced an update to the plug-in that enables WRT widget development in Aptana Studio and added new plug-ins for Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft Visual Studio. WRT widgets are clearly seen by Nokia as a mechanism to accelerate the availability of add-on features for S60 devices. Recent news, such as the availability of a Facebook widget, suggests it may be a good strategy.
ZingMagic's conversions of board games are legendary and Gomoku Pro 2 doesn't disappoint in our Ovi Gaming review - Ewan's been keeping not one, but two games on the go (moku) simultaneously. Think of it as 'five in a row' for adults. It's a tidy game, with intuitive UI and plenty of customisation options, as you'd expect.
Should anyone be in a hurry for this (as if...), the YouTube version of The Phones Show 82 is now up and embedded below, with my video review of the N97. There's also a news section with shots of the iPhone 3GS in action, plus a no-doubt-controversial June 2009 'Top 5 phones'...
Ovi Store had capacity problems on the day it launched as demand for the service apparently far exceeded Nokia's estimates, but they seem to have cured that and Ovi Store now loads reliably. However, another problem has appeared which is rather annoying and frustrating: some items seem to be disappearing and reappearing at random. All too often people click on a game, app or other content and are greeted with the message "Sorry, this item is no longer available." even when it should be available. Let's take a look at the availability problems one by one, hopefully someone high up at Nokia is reading this.
In All About Symbian Insight 74 (AAS Podcast 134) Steve, Ewan and Rafe round up recent news from the Symbian world including ST-Ericsson's SMP demo, Google's 'new' S60 Mobile App, the commencement of Nokia 5630 shipping and more. In the second part of the show Steve gives a few N97 impressions and the team answer a few listener questions. You can listen to AAS Insight 74 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Another Ovi Store game, this time surreal gather-em-up Java title Katamari Mobile has been reviewed by Ovi Gaming, and wins a Recommended award (the review also includes a 10 minute gameplay video of it running on the 5800 and lots of screenshots too). The mobile version of Katamari is perfect for anyone longing for a return to the simpler days of abstract arcade gameplay, and it also provides a nice slice of unhinged Japanese humour.
In browsing the Ovi Store, Ewan has come across some new (to him) applications and lots of indications that the the Store is “more than just apps” and that it will prove to be one of the most useful resources to developers and consumers alike. So what delights has he found? Read on for a 'magnificent seven' of examples from the Ovi Store.
Another new batch of games has appeared in Ovi Store, the full list is below. (Incidentally, if anyone from Nokia is reading this, could you please take a look at the Ovi Store servers and find out why some games are constantly appearing and disappearing!) Anyway, on with the new games, you can see them listed below in alphabetical order. Most of the new games seem to be from the publisher Playfon, who are apparently making their Ovi Store debut.
The quirky and charming Java-based arcade puzzle game Go! Go! Rescue Squad! is available in Ovi Store and we've been taking a look at it on the Nokia 5800. To see our review, along with a ten minute gameplay video and lots of screenshots, head on over to the Go! Go! Rescue Squad! game page on Ovi Gaming.
A sequel to the original N97 Q&A, this includes all the original answers and adds those from questions asked in the last 48 hours. If after reading these and my initial Nokia N97 review, you still have questions, then ask away in the comments to this news item. Read on... [further updated 10am Monday]
We've added a review, screens and a video to ZingMagic's WordSearch game page on Ovi Gaming. We've based the review on the installment called Alphabet WordSearch, but it applies to all the WordSearch games as they're practically the same with just different word packs to distinguish them from each other. Alphabet WordSearch and Starts With WordSearch are free while the other editions cost 2 euros each, so this is very much a low-budget impulse purchase game series.
Google's incredibly popular social network, Orkut, is now available through a java based smartphone client, which is optimised for S60 phones. Orkut has a presence with as much, if not more, impact than Facebook or MySpace in both Brazil and India and providing greater access to the network.
If you have a look at the Cooking Mama game page on Ovi Gaming, you'll see we've added a brief review of the game, several screenshots and a 7 minute video of the game in action on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. We'll be gradually adding more and more to the game pages over time, so that they build up into a place where you can find out what Ovi Store games are really like.
