Thanks to master detective Friedbrains, the world has just discovered a little stash of dedicated touch-designed S60 5th Edition software for the 5800 XpressMusic, courtesy of Nokia Hong Kong, including a virtual piano and a virtual guitar, a dice roller and a card memory game. We'll have a 5800 XpressMusic with full production firmware here early next week and will report back further on dedicated touch-enabled apps then (via Symbian Guru)
The much-anticipated N-Gage title Metal Gear Solid Mobile is now out in the 'Available games' section of the N-Gage client. Go look! The full game is £6 in the UK showroom, I've got some screens for you below the break...
So PC Suite's working OK on your PC at the moment? Better not rock the boat. But in case you fancy doing just that, or if things have got rocky and you think a fresh install might do the trick, note that there's a new non-beta version of Nokia's PC Suite now available, v7.1, with the previously beta Communication Center product built-in. If you do install, let us know how it looks! (via Symbian Guru)
After three days mostly in the dark (in terms of economical data), Ewan has a few choice words for manufacturers and software designers - don't assume that an Internet Connection is always present. Because there are times, especially when roaming, when an always-on data connection can be as much a curse as a blessing.
(Nearly) all of the keynotes and presentations made at Symbian's Smartphone Show 2008, over the two days of the event, are now online for you to watch/browse through. There are Powerpoints and/or Flash Video movies (of speaker or slides, as appropriate) and a lot to get through, so allow some time. Or just back fill from the interesting bits that you missed at the Show itself.
Well spotted that man. At Nokia World 2008, jet black and red versions of the E71 were spotted strutting their stuff. And it seems that there's a fighting chance that these will make it to market at some point. Photo proof here, courtesy of the E71 blog.
For the first time, BBC World Service in English and BBC World Service's 24-hour rolling news in English (plus their Arabic news) are now available through Nokia's free Internet Radio application, following an agreement between BBC World Service and Nokia. The stations are available for live streaming 24 hours a day.
According to the BBC, their popular iPlayer service is now available for the Nokia N85 (and not just the N96) - they've quoted the URL www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ for N85 owners to go (on their phones) to get the new widget. Comments welcome if you can try this. It's also worth noting that the BBC are looking into releasing iPlayer for other Nokia Nseries devices in the near future, plus two Windows Mobile smartphones and the uber-camera-phone, the Sony Ericsson C905.
Google Maps, their native client for S60 3rd Edition is now out, taking us up to v2.03(0). It's bigger now, at 1.3MB. The main changes are the addition of StreetView, for selected locations (in the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Australia), walking directions and expanded search and user review features (e.g. at tourist attractions). I've put up lots of screenshots below. To get Google Maps, go to m.google.com on your favourite S60 phone etc.
I apologise for yet another non-directly-Symbian link of interest, but Stephen Fry has just put up his latest multi-thousand word essay, returning to his favourite theme of smartphones, in which he cautiously praises the Blackberry Bold, assassinates the truly horrible Blackberry Storm and put the T-Mobile G1 into proper perspective. Good writing and I agree with most of what he says. And yes, there are loads of Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Symbian references along the way. And a few swear words too....
With Christmas fast approaching, it's high time for a detailed hands-on head to head between the three smartphone platform flagships: Nokia N96, HTC Touch HD and Apple iPhone 3G. Can I pick a winner? Do I need to? Plenty of opinion, facts and device lowdown here, but your comments most welcome.
I just can't resist linking to this story about a new French-designed 'luxury' handset in Nokia's Vertu line. The non-Symbian (of course) Boucheron 150 costs $30,000 and is made of pure gold, but it looks to me more as if it were run over by a truck. Is it just me? Give me a $600 E90 any day - and it'll probably survive BEING run over by a truck...
After being in closed beta for six weeks, Vringo Studio is now live. This is a new Web application that "lets anyone become a video ringtone producer". Essentially, you take video clips from Vringo’s 4,000-strong clip library or upload your own, customize it and the application then creates a personalised video ringtone, a 'Vringos'. What do you think of this service or the idea of video ringtones?
A couple of interesting links of interest for you from the N82 Blog - bringing news that Slick IM, a popular free Instant Messaging utility, has been updated with full theme support, plus news of a big update to MyPhone, a commercial iPhone skin/launcher that sits on top of S60 (though its use seems to be mainly novelty value in front of easily-swayed friends...)
Sony Ericsson today announced it is joining the Open Handset Alliance (OHA). OHA is the group behind the Android platform championed by Google. Sony Ericsson says its membership will 'complment its existing Open OS strategy which is based on Symbian and Windows Mobile'.
