A Mobile TV headset has been announced via Nokia Conversations that will allow any USB On-The-Go enabled Symbian^3 device to receive DVB-H TV signals. The accessory has controls for volume and channel changing, as well as for accepting incoming calls, and will require installation of a mobile TV application from the Ovi Store. The headset should retail at €40 before taxes and should appear in Q4 2010. Taking advantage of Symbian^3's USB hosting feature means that users will no longer to be restricted to a limited number of models (e.g. N77, N92, N96); as long as USB OTG will become standard in Symbian^3 devices. Read on for commentary.
The Nokia N8, the first first Symbian^3 device, is now available for pre-order in Nokia's UK web store. It is priced at £429 SIM-free, with availability scheduled for the end of September. The store is also offering the N8 for free on a £35 18 month contract (Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2). The UK is a key market for Nokia and is expected to be one of the very first countries to get the N8, which is, perhaps, reflected in the pricing being at the upper end of expectations.
We don't normally link to official manufacturer user guides going online, but I'll make an exception in this case, since both the Nokia N8 and Symbian^3 itself are going to contain items that are new to even hardened Symbian watchers. The N8 user guide is a 4MB, 122 page PDF file and, although still briefer than we'd like it to be (to mention every function), does contain instructions for using things like WebTV and USB-on-the-go.
In All About Symbian Insight 134, we start with news of new, community created Samsung i8910 firmware, which leads to a discussion of Samsung's mobile platform choices. Rafe discusses the Ovi Files closure and talks about how the thinking behind Nokia's Ovi service strategy has evolved. David shares his PixelPipe Send and Share experiences, before bringing news of UK operator Orange's HD Voice service. Ewan talks about Swype, an alternative text input entry system, which is now available in beta. Finally, Steve gives his first opinion on the Nokia E5.
In a report from the IFA Consumer Electronics show, Reuters quotes Y H Lee, Samsung Mobile's head of marketing, as saying that the company is concentrating on "Android and Bada for its mobile devices". Samsung see that there is some "specialised demand" for Windows Mobile, but is "not seeing visible demand for Symbian". Reuters further reports that, although the company remains ready to introduce Symbian devices, it currently has has none planned.
Having been a smartphone owner for longer than most, I suspect, as an All About Symbian reader, you'll be very used to the daily routines of charging and power management. Even with some of Nokia's S60 devices (think 6650, E71, E52, E55, E72) running happily for several days at a time on a charge, the reality is that (especially when talking about large screened touch-driven devices) most of us need to charge every night. Or suffer the consequences. Acceptable for us, this requirement is something of a deal breaker for many 'normobs', those for whom mobile technology is merely a tool and not something they're prepared to nurse maid through the week....
David Gilson reviews the free Pixelpipe Send and Share, the new incarnation of the popular uploading service that works independently of Nokia's Share online and thus works more seamlessly, using a wider range of file types and (presumably) on more devices. It's all win, win, win until David points out a few caveats, including less flexible authentication and a greater need to do some of the set up using your desktop's web browser.
Nokia's marketing campaign for the upcoming Nokia N8 is starting to kick off. Released today is a (potentially) viral video showcasing a prototype hamster-powered charging accessory for the N8. The charger in question was the result of Peter Ash's GCSE coursework. Originally it was powered by Elvis the hamster, but we suspect, five years on from the original construction, that Elvis might have left the building. So it's Elvis mark 2 in the hot wheel.
In All About Symbian Insight 133, we start with news of the Nokia 5250, Nokia's cheapest ever smartphone, following which, Steve shares some more detail from his recent reviews of Let's Golf and Mommax's Mains Battery Charger. Rafe talks about Nokia and Intel's new joint laboratory for 3D mobile user experiences. Finally Ewan gives us his commentary on the the re-branding of Nokia Music to Ovi Music. You can listen to AAS Insight 133 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Applications are rarely completely static. Anything with a decent amount of functionality is bound to have either flaws - which then hopefully get fixed - or planned improvements. The big question is how to best to get these new versions out to users. In this news editorial, I look at how application updates work for the three big smartphone platforms of the moment, Symbian, iPhone and Android. What can those in the Symbian world learn or implement?
Released a day or so ago and looking mightily interesting is a detailed promo video for FX Studio on the Nokia N8, embedded below. An add-on through the Ovi Store (similar to the way iMovie is an add-on for the iPhone in its App Store), FX Studio superimposes 3D animated special effects on real world videos, using augmented reality-style black and white markers to control the integration. Watch the video below and you'll see what I mean.
Nokia Care, which provides support and help for Nokia's complete product range, has opened a Twitter account @NokiaHelps. They are inviting people to send in their queries, to which, they will, if possible, provide a reply. Support by Twitter is necessarily limited by the short messages involved, but for some will be more convenient that posting to a forum or calling a support line.
Presenting part 2 (of 2) in my Support catchup. Thanks to my kind editor at Smartphone Essentials magazine, he's let me republish a truck load of my Q&A mini-articles from 2008 and 2009's issues right here on All About Symbian. I've been adding these to our Support section and a summary of the questions in part 2 of my big update is listed below, with links. All part of keeping AAS a definitive resource!
Thanks to my kind editor at Smartphone Essentials magazine, he's let me republish a truck load of my own Q&A mini-articles from 2009's issues right here on All About Symbian. I've been adding these to our Support section (what do you mean, you didn't know we had one?) and a summary of the questions in part 1 of my big update is listed below, with links. All part of keeping AAS a definitive resource!
