Another few tit-bits about the upcoming Sony Ericsson P990i. The folks at Esato have been trying the Business Card Scanner and also the auto-text features built into the text input system.
Symbian will be exhibiting at CTIA in Las Vegas from April 5th to 7th. EMCC, Visto, Zi and UIQ will be among those helping out. CTIA Wireless is the leading trade show for mobile and wireless for the Americas market.
I was intrigued to see Mobile Review's four-part, two month test of the P990, given that the firmware isn't even finished yet and that the smartphone isn't due until some time in July, but there's still plenty of interesting facts and screenshots if you're waiting patiently for this device. Watch out for the dodgy English throughout though, the whole review's one big translation from the native Russian!
SmartMovie, always a competent (though quirky) video conversion system for Symbian-based devices, has recently embraced the terrific CoreMP4 codec and boasts much better performance. Steve Litchfield reviews the result, tested in this case on the Nokia 9500 and N70.
Six Apart, the blogging software and service provider, has acquired SplashBlog. Six Apart have acquired the technology and development team including John Chaffee. Chaffee will lead the mobile group at Six Apart and will be responsible for integrating the SplashBlog wireless sync protocols and mobile technologies into the Six Apart product line.
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.
Here's the official All About Symbian review of Symbian's "How Smartphones Work" book. Warning: the title's accurate, but it's not quite about what you think it's about...
In an open letter to developers, Steve Litchfield muses on the unique requirements of software on the smartphone (compared to the limited restrictions when run on a standalone PDA). Nobody ever said this would be easy, but hard work will reap rewards.
Nokia today announced the AD-42W Audio Gateway which allows you to stream music wirelessly (using Bluetooth) between compatible devices. The device plugs into the back of a stereo/HiFi using standard audio cables and enables audio in and out via the A2DP Bluetooth profile. It has two usage modes, either to listen to music stored on your future smartphone via your HiFi or to listen to music from your HiFi with a stereo Bluetooth headset.
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.
Steve's been reviewing Mine-Fields for the Sony Ericsson P800/P900/P910 and finds a good game completely ruined by poor cooperation with the rest of the smartphone. Developers coming in from other platforms, take note.
Mobipocket Pro is now available for free (the standard version no longer exists). The Pro version includes extra features such as auto scrolling and configurable text-orientation. You can download the latest version from the Mobipocket web site. Also of interest is the new beta version (5.2) of Mobipocket Reader Desktop which changes the way the eNews system works (becoming effectively an offline RSS reader for mobile devices) as well as being a comprehensive system for managing and transfering eBooks to your mobile device.
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.
