In All About Symbian Insight 72 (AAS Podcast 131) Steve, Ewan and Rafe round up an eclectic collection of news including Google Calendar Sync, Spore, recent MOAP devices, recent stats and Omnia HD availability. In the second part of the show discuss moments of change - times when we've seen a device of technology that marks a significant shift. You can listen to AAS Insight 72 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
In a special edition of our AAS Insight podcast, recorded today (launch day of the Ovi Store), Rafe, Ewan and Steve share their first thoughts on Nokia's content shop. We talk about some of the initial connectivity and load problems (but try not to dwell on them), plus the usability of the Ovi Store on-device client. We conclude, after kicking the store while it's down (literally), by sharing some of our positive impressions.
The Ovi Store roll-out just reached the UK in the last hour for many device product codes, it seems that the store availability is still proceeding around the clock today, around the world, for up to 50 devices and (estimated) around 50 million customers. Go into Download! on your Nokia S60 device and hitting 'Refresh content', Ovi Store is now showing up, for example, on my 5800 XpressMusic (and my N95) in the root folder of Download. Screenshots, observations and comments below.
Nokia's Ovi Store has soft launched in Australia; the information we recieved indicates that Ovi Store is now accessible on a Nokia E75 on the Australian operator Vodafone (see updates, in full story, for other markets). Ovi Store is Nokia's content store and download application for applications, games, wallpapers, themes, ringtones and video clips.
We're expecting the roll out of Ovi Store, in other countries, to continue over the next few hours and days. It is likely that a formal launch announcement will be made this week. We'll be updating this story, and will have full coverage of the Ovi Store once it launches in the UK. For now read on for more details and the first live pictures showing Ovi Store in the wild!
It's today's public service announcement: Nokia and Adobe have updated Flash Lite to version 3.1 on the Nokia 5800. It is available, not via a firmware update, but as a standalone update via the 'App update' utility. It's a 700k download and installs without even needing a restart, which is pretty cool. Flash performance in Web is doubtless smoother, comments welcome if you notice a site-specific improvement. (via the Nokia Guide)
At their recent developer summit Nokia described how it would be opening up the Ovi platform to third party developers. Apps on Maps was given as the initial example and now, at the Where 2.0 conference, Nokia has announced more of the technical details for the web side elements. The Ovi Maps Player API will allow developers to embed Ovi Maps on third party website and create 'mash-ups' by overlaying data and interacting with the map. As such it will be in direct competition with the Google Maps and its accompanying APIs. Read on for more details.
Launched today by code masters Spb Software is Spb TV for S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition. I've been using it for a day or two on my Nokia N95 and 5800 and here present a full and detailed review of Spb TV. Around 100 channels, 'picture in picture' channel switching, QVGA video streams, a TV Guide that in some cases works a week ahead, the works.
CellPhoneSoft, the UIQ software experts, are transitioning across to S60 and one of their first utilities has just arrived: Speedy Go! This claims to speed up all S60 3rd Edition and 5th Edition smartphones by "display acceleration and overall speed boost". Hmm.... Anyone brave enough to try this on an S60 device and report back in the comments?
In All About Symbian Insight 70 (AAS Podcast 128) Steve and Rafe talk about the upcoming N97 and the return of Comes with Music to the UK. However the main part of the show is taken up with answering questions from listeners. We touch on Ovi Store, Nseries branding, screen resolution and more. You can listen to AAS Insight 71 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
In the third of his tutorial series looking at Nokia Messaging, Asri al-Baker looks at the email setup process, using the Nokia 5800 as a guinea pig device. This guide applies for all users who are not using the E75 (at the moment) because this has a different (newer) version of Nokia Messaging. Asri explains the decision point about dropping back to S60 Messaging or deciding to press on with the (beta, but soon-to-be-commercial) 'push' service, the core of Nokia Messaging.
Many people have noted that the Download! client now gives a message saying that it will be "temporarily unavailable" today, while at the same time the Ovi Store site currently asks for a name and password to access it. Could something be stirring behind the scenes at Ovi Store?
A heads-up that both of my recent tutorials for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic have just been updated, for completeness and for posterity, building in some of the comment that AAS readers have made. Thanks again for your input. Here are the links again: How to use Google's Gmail application on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and How to free up space on disk C on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.
If you already have Nokia Messaging installed and working then this will seem old hat to you, but in the interests of completeness, and for newcomers to Symbian and S60, Asri al-Baker explains the different ways to get Nokia Messaging on your nearest and dearest. Asri's planning other articles in this series on Nokia Messaging, so do please give him some feedback.
DreamSpring, the developer of DreamLife, is running a "Buy One Get Another One Free" promotion to offer users who purchase a copy of DreamLife for UIQ a free upgrade to DreamLife for S60 when it's released. The offer is finishing at the end of May 2009. You can find more details at the official web site.
YouTube Mobile, the native S60 client for the video sharing service, has been updated and is now (almost) fully compatible with touchscreen phones running S60 5th Edition, such as the Nokia 5800. All main functions work perfectly, with touch-screen control and support for text entry fields and a virtual keyboard. See below for screens, comments and links.