As the N-Gage platform has recently been released for the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, All About Symbian has updated its review of the phone to take account of this expanded functionality. It definitely adds a great deal of value to an already-inexpensive device, and you can find out more (including the new score) by clicking on the link.
In All About Symbian Insight #37 (AAS Podcast #90) Rafe, Steve and Ewan chat about Nokia's new Nseries devices - the N79 and N85. Also in this Insight: Steve reports back on his Samsung G810 experience, there's discussion of Sync on Ovi and how it points the way for three pronged future of Nokia's service platform.
In the fourth and (probably) last part of my series investigating whether a Windows-using S60 user should consider switching to an Apple Mac, I look at tethering, installing applications, backing up and updates. I also sum up my Mac experience and end up perched in a painful position right on top of a fence...
It may not be a full production, boxed unit, but you won't believe how much detail Rafe has been able to get into in this, his hands-on with Nokia's latest and greatest, the N85. Look out in particular for the comparison photos between the N85 and other recent Nseries handsets - including the N79.
Following on from the launch of the N85, Ewan mulls over the use of a consistent design language in the N81/N96/N85/N78. It may not be to everybody's taste, but he reckons that it'll help a lot in the High Street, with quicker recognition of the brand by potential purchasers.
The gradual roll out of Ovi.com and Ovi services continues. Newly available is Ovi Sync which syncs contact, calendar, to-do and notes between your handset and the Ovi.com web site. The front page of Ovi.com is now personalised to show synced information and, optionally, images streams from Flickr and Share on Ovi. Read on for more.
Until now, commercial software has generally been based around the traditional business model of selling a product directly to the user. Piracy is seen as a threat to direct sales, and many commercial publishers have responded to this with various kinds of DRM, but are there alternatives to the model which could make piracy irrelevant? Tzer2 takes a look at some candidates...
Over on All About N-Gage we've reviewed the new adventure game Dirk Dagger And The Fallen Idol, a noir detective story with a good sprinkling of humour done in the style of the classic Lucasfilm and Sierra adventures. Has Nokia resurrected this long-forgotten genre? Click on the link to find out...
Steve Litchfield reports back from a week of family holidays, enlightened by plenty of chances to learn more about using a smartphone productively. Seven days away and seven things learnt! Steve ranges from network connectivity and practicalities of GPS to the terrors of sand.
This month Ewan has been running around the Edinburgh Festival making recordings for his Fringe Podcast. To keep him in communication range (voice and Contacts), organised (Calendar) and on track (Nokia Maps) he's been using a Nokia E71. In this editorial he describes his E71 enabled Fringe experience.
Continuing Steve's series of 'S60 Mac virgin' walkthroughs, he tackles the thorny subject of video, both transferring it to the phone and doing useful editing on footage from the phone. Do any of the Mac video solutions play better with Nseries MP4 video files than the current crop of PC editors? In previous parts, he connected up and synced via Bluetooth, and he transferred media and bookmarks using the USB cable.
Nokia currently has three platforms in development simultaneously, for their smartphones (S60), normal phones (Series 40) and internet tablets (Maemo). They all have their good and bad points, but in this feature krisse looks at how S60 could learn from its two sister-platforms. We would like to hear what you think S60 can learn from Series 40 and Maemo in the comment thread.
Steve has been thinking about the lure of Apple's iPhone to normal users. In this editorial he looks at screens and compares Apple's technology with that found in the N95 8GB. How important, for the average consumer, are screens in the all-important first impression period?
In All About Symbian Insight #36 (AAS Podcast #89) Rafe, and Steve chat about the web as a platform for services and follow on with a discussion on whether Nokia should make its services available on competing hardware. There's also a debate on the relative merits of the N78 and N82 for those looking to make a purchase decision.
In this video review Rafe looks at the Nokia 6650, the clamshell S60 device that is exclusive to the T-Mobile network (and which I reviewed in text last week). In the video (embedded below) you can see the T-Mobile and Nokia services running on the device, a run through of the 6650's cover UI and a demonstration of the customisable keypad lights.
