Ewan surveys the freeware multi-service chat and calling client, Nimbuzz, from from its big v2.4 update. Logging you in and integrating contacts from multiple social networks and chat systems is its speciality and it sounds like it did Ewan proud. It's also not only for multiple mobile platforms, but also for just about every S60 phone currently in use, so there really is no excuse for not keeping it installed and ready for action.
As part of the invitation to spend a morning with the Nokia N8 (ok, quite a lot of N8s - in various colours and states of readiness) on Monday, I grabbed Damian Dinning, Nokia's imaging supremo, to chat about the device and specifically its media capture capabilities. See below for the video interview and accompanying notes - there are several interesting points which I hadn't appreciated before.
Mark Skrebels, Senior Release Manager at the Symbian Foundation and Chairman of the Release Council, posted a short tweet today noting that Symbian^3 has been declared functionally complete. This is an important milestone for the Symbian Foundation as it marks the first time this point has been reached for a fully open source release and the time at which Symbian^3 is considered ready for community 'use'. Read on for more.
With the imminent arrival of both the Apple iPhone 4 and the Symbian-powered Nokia N8, I thought it high time to pitch the two head to head. In fact, while doing so, why not widen the comparison to include the other non-Nokia Symbian flagships, the Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung i8910 HD, both of which have similar specifications, plus throw in the Android flagship (in the UK) as well - the HTC Desire? The result is hopefully a comprehensive cross-section of the top end smartphones of 2010.
Steve and I were in London yesterday to get our first full hands-on with the Nokia N8, the company's first Symbian^3 phone. We'll be bringing you a range of coverage, including our detailed first impressions and some extra analysis, but to kick things off we have a 'first-look' hands-on video. The video offers a quick look through many of the key applications, demonstrating the single tap interaction model and other Symbian^3 UX changes. It is also an opportunity to get a feel for the responsiveness and performance of the device, although it is important to note that the N8 is still running pre-production software.
In All About Symbian Insight 122, we share the best of the previous week's news: Expedia hotel booking in Ovi Maps, Nokia 5228, Nokia Notifications and Tesco's Clubcard application. Steve shares his thoughts on the visibility of various screen technologies in bright sunlight, including a hands-on with Super AMOLED, and Rafe explains last week's Symbian Baidu tie up. Finally, the team discuss the launch of the iPhone 4 and the high-end device landscape. You can listen to AAS Insight 122 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Nokia Connection is an annual event in Singapore where Nokia showcase their current device and service portfolio and address the SEAP (South East Asia and Pacific) market. This year it is being held on Monday June 14th (tomorrow) at Conrad Centennial Singapore. Asri al-Baker is attending the event on behalf of the Malay language SymbianKu blog, but will also be reporting back for AAS and AAM.
As part of its promotional activities for the N8, Nokia is releasing a series of overview videos presented by Chris Bennetts, a Senior Product Manager at the company. The third video covers the Music application and the N8's HDMI out functionality; rather than just linking to it or embedding it, we've broken this video down in detail to offer you some insight into the N8's music software and HDMI-out feature. Read on for further details.
Did you notice the launch of the 5228 yesterday? Hopefully you did, but did you pay it much attention? I suspect that in the rush to cover more exotic devices announced in San Francisco, that the geek circles will have skipped over what could easily be labelled as “yet another 5800 variant”. I just want everyone to stop and think for a moment.
It used to be just receiving a call, or picking up an email via a push SMS (good old email-to-text gateways back in the nineties). Now, to impress people with your phone in the pub, you need something a little bit better - and it tends to be a game. So what should your Symbian-powered touchscreen smartphone be ready to show off when called into action? Ewan and I run through the Top Ten contenders...
As part of its promotional activities for the N8, Nokia is releasing a series of overview videos presented by Chris Bennetts, a Senior Product Manager at the company. The second video covers the Photos, Photo Editor and Videos Editor applications as well as USB On-The-Go functionality; rather than just linking to it or embedding it, we've broken this video down in detail to offer you some insight into the N8's photo and video software. Read on for further details.
Around 36 hours ago, Apple unveiled its latest iPhone 4 to the world - excellent build materials on it, but I believe that they - and Nokia - and others - are missing an important trick: what happens when you take your oh-so-portable smartphone out into the world. A world where the birds are singing, the people are smiling and the sun is shining. And you can't see a blessed thing on your smartphone's display. Returning to a theme from exactly a year ago, I compare some recent device displays to prove a very, very important point.
Forum Nokia, Nokia's developer portal, has unveiled a new look for its website. The structure of the site has changed; it is now divided into three key areas: design, develop and distribute - matching the three key parts of mobile application and service development. The website aims to provide access to a wide range of learning resources, tools and technical documents. However there's also an emphasis on helping developers connect with each other, which is achieved through the community section of the site.
The Symbian Foundation and search engine Baidu have announced a strategic initiative that will see the two companies establish a joint laboratory to stimulate the development of 'box computing' on mobile devices. 'Box c omputing' is Baidu's vision of the future of search - one that allows a more direct presentation of what a user has searched for. In related Symbian China news, Monotype Imaging announced it was contributing the MYuppy Chinese font to the Symbian Foundation. Read on for more.
A post on the Qt blog explains that Nokia is planning to move Qt towards a more open governance model. The move would see the community having shared control over decisions about Qt and its future roadmap. It follows on from the move to the LGPL license and opening up of the Qt contribution process last year. The planning for the move is at an early stage, but the Qt team are keen to have an open discussion with the community about the details and implementation of an open governance model.
