There's a nice long video from SymbianWorld, recorded at Nokia World 09, looking in detail at the upcoming Nokia N97 v20 firmware update (kinetic scrolling in all lists, more memory and much more), the same as the launch firmware in the N97 mini. The video is embedded below in high quality mode, for your convenience.
Over on Ovi Gaming we've sighted the first video of a hardware-accelerated version of Bounce (on the N900), and reviewed a selection of games from Ovi Store for the 5800 and N95. See below for links.
More updates from Nokia (although there seem to be more betas than Google to be honest!) as Ovi Suite 2.0 receives an updated beta. It now includes support for installing applications on your smartphone via .jar or .sisx files on your PC, better use of memory and various tweaks and fixes to the syncing of photos and music.
More betas in from Nokia World, with Communities, billed as a 'Social Messaging' beta. The idea is that this can handle all your friends and updates for all social networks - an über client. This early version is quite limited though and only compatible with Facebook and the N97. I've explored it with screenshots below and there's also an official video to enjoy.
Quietly launching yesterday during Nokia World is the Forum Nokia powered My Daily App, which will be showcasing a new application in the Ovi Store every day. Yes it is a list decided by Nokia, "let's be honest: We're biased. OK, we admit it. We have a point of view, and we're not afraid to use it." but why not shout about the third party support of their devices? And they're so hip it hurts, because they're on Twitter as well (@mydailyapp). Seriously though, great idea, chaps.
Filmed by Mark Guim and embedded below is a Nokia employee demonstrating the kinetic scrolling in all applications in the upcoming v20 firmware update for the Nokia N97. They also talk about memory improvements - as I understand it, C: disk space will be partly improved by optimisations and partly by building into the ROM items which are currently extras. We're all hoping for more free RAM, too.
The latest beta version of Ovi Maps, demonstrated at Nokia World this morning, is now available from the Nokia Beta Labs. New additions include a new menu with one touch access to popular features and improved searching. Compatible with S60 v5 devices, including the newly announced N97 Mini, be aware that this is an early release, but you can download it direct from Nokia.
If the Nokia World presentation on lifecasting caught your eye, then you should head over the the Nokia Beta Labs where an early version of this N97 widget is now available. It will allow you to share your current location via Facebook, and allow your friends to see where you are, as well as any pictures or status messages that you upload. It might be a small idea, but it looks well implemented and easy to use.
Bah, who need planes, taxis and hotels? You can watch the presentations from Nokia World in the comfort of your own living room or office, thanks to Nokia's events team, with a live page to bookmark and then keep an eye on throughout tomorrow and Thursday. The first keynote kicks off at 8am BST, 9am CET, so you might want to set an alarm if you're in the UK! See also the main AAS Twitter account, which is worth following and which will be feeding you updates straight from Rafe's keyboard....
In Phones Show Chat episode 2, AAS's Tim Salmon and I chat about software issues in the Nokia N97, have a few jibes at the iPhone (always a somewhat easy target, I know, but...) and manage to bring quite a bit of Android to the party as well. See also the RSS feed for this new audio podcast.
It seems that when you're trucking along (in the USA, UK, France or China, at least), navigating using Google Maps on your smartphone, you're actually helping crowd source traffic data for Google, i.e. the application is reporting back to Google on your position and speed, a process described here in detail. While there are possible privacy implications in this, it does seem an interesting approach - or at least it would be if there were enough people using the system - so far in the UK, only motorways seem to be tagged for traffic status. Comments welcome.
Credit where credit's due, here I am procrastinating about my full review of the Samsung i8910 HD because of all its current software imperfections, and Jonathan Bruha goes and writes the device up as-is, and very much in my 'style', pulling no punches for either pros or cons, and with many deft turns of phrase. The Symbian device of 2009? Or a desperately flaky orphan? There's plenty in the review to support either argument, fascinatingly.
The Nokia Music Store India was formally launched today at the Music Connects conference. More than 3 million tracks are available and, as with Nokia Music Stores in other countries, there is a heavy emphasis on including local music. Nokia has signed up India's major independent labels including Tseries, Yashraj Music, Saregama, BIG Music and Venus; it has also partnered with India's leading music body, the Indian Music Industry. Nokia also announced that its Comes with Music service would be arriving in India later this year.
Sequence Point Software's ARound project is now in beta, a free download for the Nokia N97 and compatible S60 3rd or 5th Edition phones. The project's aim is to incorporate feed data from Twitter, from geonames.org and from landmarks databases, combining the live camera viewfinder and compass and GPS information to produce an augmented reality solution for Symbian. Screenshots and links below.
Google's native S60 YouTube client has just got itself a significant update, to v2.2.17, now working in full-screen mode (at last!) on S60 5th Edition phones like the N97, 5800 and Samsung i8910 HD and with new countries and languages added to its officially supported list: Brazil, Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Sweden. You can get the update by going to m.google.com in Web on your phone. Screenshots below the break.