In All About Symbian Insight #35 (AAS Podcast #88) Rafe, Steve and Ewan chat about the launch of the N-Gage's Reset Generation, carbon offsetting from your phone, the continuing importance of voice and the Nokia Music client/store.
The Nokia 5320 XpressMusic has the lowest launch price so far of any S60 device, and is squarely aimed at the mainstream market. It's a music-oriented device, with external playback controls, a dedicated audio chip and a 3.5mm headphone socket. It will also become a slightly gaming-oriented phone later this year, when the N-Gage application becomes available for it. All About Symbian has put it through its paces, and you can find out how it did by reading our review. If you have any questions about the device, post them in the comments thread of this news item and we will try to answer them.
Rafe's epic three part review of the Nokia N78, the first Nseries phone to have S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, comes to its end with a detailed look at its application bundle. Rafe also summarises the N78 and explains its strengths and significance.
It's... another All About Symbian Insight podcast, number 34, with Rafe and myself discussing Google Maps 2.2, Skyfire, Missing Sync for Symbian, plus the Samsung i560 and G810. Then we move onto the Nokia 6650 and the Samsung L870 and INNOV8.
It's the hottest ticket in town and Rafe and I were able to spend a whole afternoon with the Samsung INNOV8, due for availability in September. With slick black styling, 8 megapixel camera, GPS, UPnP, Wi-Fi and every other acronym you can think of, including DivX and WMV compatibility, the INNOV8 is the highest specified phone in the world - and it runs S60 3rd Edition FP2. You'll find thoughts, details, screenshots, photos and a video in our exclusive hands-on INNOV8 (p)review. And as a bonus, there's also more close-up photos of the device in Rafe's INNOV8 gallery.
The 5320 XpressMusic has finally gone on sale in Finland, and is the cheapest S60 so far (the SIM-free model is launching for 195 euros plus taxes). All About Symbian has managed to get one of the first retail units, and we've written some first impressions and done some preliminary photos with annotations, which you can see by clicking here. We can answer any questions you have about the phone if you post them in the thread of this news item. The full review is coming soon.
Over on All About N-Gage, we've been taking a look at using games from the new N-Gage platform on television sets through the TV Out feature found on some compatible devices. As well as a video demonstrating the platform in action on a telly, we present an editorial assessing which games work, which don't, and what the future might hold for TV Out on N-Gage.
Well worth waiting for is Rafe's part 2 of his definitive Nokia N78 review. This time he looks at all the multimedia aspects of the N78, from camera to video to music to UPnP. Including a test of the unique FM transmitter, Rafe leaves no stone unturned. See also Part 1 of the review. Part 3 will feature all the other applications and Rafe's concluding thoughts on the N78.
In AAS podcast 86, a.ka. AAS Insight 33, Rafe and Ewan talk about N-Gage's Brothers in Arms and Reset Generation, Samsung's 8 megapixel Innov8 device, the challenges behind device comparisons and open source in relation to Symbian.
Living near a big city, it's all too easy to think of my phone/smartphone experience as being typical of the norm. During the course of a week away in the country, I made several observations which show that we should never take 'our' mobile environment for granted or assume any level of capability in other mobile users. And, along the way, I managed to crash an 'iPhone' and get a couple of people to go all dizzy while explaining what I was doing with the N95 8GB...
Nokia's N93 seemed to be blazing a trail for a new generation of phones equipped with 3D graphics acceleration, with the N95 and N82 strengthening this assumption. However, this year's flagship device the N96 doesn't have any 3D hardware, so has Nokia changed its mind? In a special editorial, AAS's sister site All About N-Gage takes a look at what Nokia's options are for 3D chips with particular regard to their recently launched N-Gage platform. Will they get together one day, or is this a doomed romance?
Widgets on mobile seem to be a hot topic this year; we have already covered the technology several times on AAS. But now that the first S60 Widgets are becoming available what is the reality like? In this feature Ewan takes a look at some of the Widgets he finds most useful.
Spec-sheet comparisons are all very well, but how good are the Nokia N95 8GB, the Apple iPhone 3G and the HTC Diamond in real life? The AAS team has come up with a dozen things that we all like to do with our phones and Steve was then set to accomplishing all of them on all three devices. Can the sheer usability and likeability of the iPhone triumph over Nokia's N95 design and S60? Is the HTC Touch Diamond a competitor here? Find out in the full usability feature.
In the second and final part of Rafe's definitive review of the new Nokia E66, he looks at the device's business credentials and multimedia capabilities, before wrapping things up with the AAS verdict. See also part 1 of his E66 review.
After four review parts from Ewan, prodding the new Motorola MOTO Z10 from most angles, I finish off with a detailed test of its crowning glory, its camera. Although, mid-2008, this isn't as cutting edge as it once would have been. Despite this, there are numerous unique selling points, including a fabulously fast multishot mode and an initial focus in video recording mode. Plus, I summarise the Z10 as a whole: it might still be great, but needs a lot more work on its firmware.
