The application/service Nokia Friend View, which has been made available on Nokia Beta Labs today, is a combined location and micro-blogging application. It allows you to share your location (automatically using GPS or network-based location or manually) with your friends and see where they are, or at least where they were when they last posted a status update/post. Screens, details and thoughts below. Of particular note is that it has both a Web component (for desktop access) and also that it works on any S60 phone and not just Nokia devices.
Rafe's had Nokia's 'Tube' for around three weeks and has been using it day in, day out. In this, part one of a hugely in-depth two part (p)review of the 5800 XpressMusic, he introduces the device, explores the hardware and, most importantly, looks at how well S60 and touch work in daily life. With photos and copious screenshots, Rafe tells all, and I think it's fair to say that the 5800 XpressMusic has pleasantly surprised us.
The latest in my continuing voyage of discovery in the world of camera-toting smartphones, I look at the difference optical zoom makes and ask the question "Is it better to have optical zoom or can you get away with just much higher resolution?" I illustrate my points with test shots from the Samsung G810 and INNOV8, plus a guest appearance by the Nokia N93, which also has an optical zoom lens.
In All About Symbian Podcast 98 (Insight #45) we are back from last weeks Symbian Smartphone Show at Earl's Court. There some discussion on the feel and size of the show, Symbian Foundation related announcements, and the start of our run through of some of the devices and demos we saw.
My Phones Show 67 just went live, with a hands-on preview and thoughts on the S60 5th Edition-powered Nokia 5800 XpressMusic ('Tube'), plus a cross-platform feature analysing 'Which phone should you buy?'. Note also the RSS feeds for the standard and hi-res versions of the show, for your feedreader, browser or iTunes. And yes, Rafe's official AAS preview of the 5800 is coming soon, don't worry....
It's all very well standing there smugly with your new Nokia N or Eseries phone, knowing that it's functionally superior to your friend's Apple iPhone. But when you both turn on your devices, it's the iPhone that people gather round, partly because of the larger screen, but also partly to watch its party tricks. Watching these tricks, you might well ask: 'Why can't my S60 phone do that?' Chances are, it can, with a few software caveats...
While we were sitting in the AAS Editorial Chat room yesterday, mulling over the last minute tweaks to Rafe's review of Comes With Music review (see here), Rafe started talking about setting up the referral fees. Turns out that this was to make sure the 5310 CWM package was in the AAS Phone Store (you do realise we have one and that you help the site when you buy through it?), but for a moment I thought that there were referral fees passed onto sites that recommended music tracks. Which got me thinking...
Back at last year's AAS Pub Meet (was it really that long ago?), Julie agreed to help me with a comparative review of Sat Nav applications for S60. We've produced odds and ends during the year, but you may be wondering where the promised head-to-head mega-review is. Good question. Read on if you're not offended by the sight of a grown woman (Julie) having a really good rant....
Rafe's been trying out Nokia's newest Music service offering, Comes with Music - for real, with a full retail package. There may be some caveats with the system (PC/MSIE-only, DRM-heavy), but overall he comes away very impressed. How is the PC client to use and what's the overall experience like for a new music-loving phone user? Can you retro-fit CwM to an existing handset? What can you do and what can't you do with the downloaded music? Find out in Rafe's definitive Comes with Music review.
Argh! It's another press release promoting another new application and service for your pocket computer. Many years ago the joke was, that of the ten thousand Palm OS applications available, six thousand of them were on-screen digital clocks - the more advanced ones had an alarm feature as well... Reading about yet another 'innovative product connecting your mobile phone's video to the web' might have pushed me over the edge.
Now this is pretty trivial, but bear with me. Am I so unusual in matching a phone's theme to its body colour and styling? Below the break I've illustrated the idea with the silver Nokia N82, but I'd welcome your comments and feedback. What other device/theme pairs work very well?
Mobile Industry Review have just announced the winners of their 2008 Awards, and in the incredibly competitive Best Mobile Blogger category, the All About Symbian team have come out as winners. While Rafe, Steve and myself were named in the show, we couldn't have managed it without all our other contributors and readers throughout the year. This one really is for you all.
