Perhaps stung by criticism of the slow frame rate of previous versions, Lonely Cat Games has released a whole new generation of SmartMovie for all Symbian-based devices, with a new MPEG-4 codec and claims of far better performance, up to 25 frames per second in some cases.
After much, er.... discussion, SymbianWare (now rebranding itself as Rock Your Mobile) SmartphoneWare have sorted themselves out and divided up the portfolio of former SymbianWare products. See here for the full list of products and support details.
Microsoft has joined the group of industry leaders (including Nokia, Intel, Motorola and TI) in formally backing DVB-H, the already-favourite digital TV standard for smartphones, reports Engadget. You may remember Nokia has been a champion of DVB-H for ages, including trials on their 7710 smartphone in the UK, and with the N92 to come this summer.
Trivopaedia, beloved of so many for (ahem) checking answers in pub quizzes, is now updated to v2.1. A free download in iSilo and Mobipocket formats for any PDA or smartphone.
It seems those sneaky(!) OggPlay developers have been coding without telling anybody. While everybody's links have been to the project home page, there have been lots of updates going onto the downloads page. Why not upgrade your S60, S80 or S90 version of OggPlay now?
I've updated the 3-Lib smartphone comparison Grid again - see which device it recommends for you! Also updated is my A list page, with a surprising winner. At least I give my reasons...
Interesting to see quality software still being developed for Nokia's somewhat orphaned Series 90 platform. Best TaskMan is something of a must-have for 7710-owners because of the lack of built-in task switching/reporting.
Programme 5 in the popular TV-style Smartphones Show is now online, with a feature on what makes smartphones smart and cool things to do with them, a look at the competition, in the form of the Orange SPV C600, video from our Rafe from 3GSM and some basic Symbian UIQ/generic tips.
Steve Litchfield explores the goodies that Google Local for Mobile brings to any Symbian (or Windows Mobile, come to that) smartphone. Free mapping, aerial photography and route planning for anywhere in the world? Yup, but watch your GPRS bill...
[Huge personal plug alert] Programme 1 in a new 'TV' series looking specifically at smartphones has aired. The show covers all software platforms and is currently free to download online. Read on for details...
MetrO is a freeware tube routefinder that works for many cities around the world, on all Symbian-based smartphones. Steve's been putting it through its paces on his Nokia 7710 to let us know what it's like.
Steve Litchfield's discovered that Opera Mini's now alive and working and has been playing with it for a couple of days. Here's his review. Summary: it may change the way you browse on your smartphone - it will certainly chop your GPRS bill down to size...
Ewan goes in search of an Internet Relay Chat client that will work on all his Symbian smartphones and finds it in the free JmIRC. Here's the full review.
3-Lib's grid of mobile/smartphone solutions is now fully interactive! You can apply your own weightings for any smartphone functions and the grid will recalculate scores as needed.
Monday night's Gadget Show on Channel 5 in the UK (5 Dec 2005) hit viewers with a barrage of Symbian-powered smartphones. Topics covered by the show included getting online using GPRS/3G and TV on your mobile. The Nokia 7710 mediaphone, in particular was given a lot of close-up coverage, playing back video segments and shown streaming live TV. Also spotted were the Nokia 6680, 6630 and even the Series 80-powered Nokia 9300. Plus there was quite a bit of footage of Symbian's 'Smartphone Show'. What else did you spot? Comments?
Steve Litchfield explores the goodies that Google Local for Mobile brings to any Symbian (or Windows Mobile, come to that) smartphone. Free mapping, aerial photography and route planning for anywhere in the world? Yup, but watch your GPRS bill...