NTT DoCoMo, Renesas, Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Sharp, and Sony Ericsson today announced that they plan to jointly develop a next-generation mobile phone platform based on the SH-Mobile G3, a single-chip system solution for mobile devices. The platform will include software for basic operations and an advanced OS (such as Symbian). In addition to the Japanese market Renesas also plans to make the platform available to the worldwide WCDMA market.
It seems that after a gentle kick from yours truly Nokia N93 firmware updates via Nokia Software Update are finally back online after 3 months downtime. Moreover, the next-gen (masses more RAM, WLAN wizard, Search, Download!) v20.0.58 firmware is finally available, though watch out for a nasty camcorder bug. (Via Symbian Freak)
In another superb and comprehensive piece, our very own Krisse analyses the successes and (mainly) the failures of the original Nokia N-Gage, then looks at the way the new next-gen gaming platform will directly address each problem. It's all looking rosy - apart from the name! Krisse explains...
Rounding up our big review of the Sony Ericsson W950i music smartphone, Ewan delivers the big verdict and wonders whether to adopt the device full-time.
NTT DoCoMo started shipping the D703i (Mitsubishi) and the F703i (Fujitsu) phones yesterday. The phones run on MOAP on Symbian and are only available on NTT DoCoMo's FOMA network in Japan. They take the total number of phone models based on Symbian OS shipping in Japan to 47 .
Another Nokia N95-related link - I've just added it to my interactive smartphone-selector Grid. Plug in your personal preferences and see which are the most suitable devices for you. And if the N95 wins - well, you've only got another month or so to wait!
Just a note that I've now updated my big one-page S60 device comparison table over on 3-Lib to include this year's new Nokia S60 3rd Edition smartphones. As usual, comments and corrections welcome!
If you really want to overdose on N95 goodness and full-blooded Symbian enthusiasm, watch Symbian Freak (run by apocalypso from the AAS forums) over the next week, who has just taken delivery of his pre-production N95 and who promises 'not to sleep' during testing(!) His comments are especially interesting as it's all from a strict power user perspective.
TalS of Howardforums posted a video today apparently showing the forthcoming Nokia E65 smartphone, which seems to match all the unofficial photos floating around the internet. Although there's still been no official word from Nokia about the phone, Finnish retailer Lohenette.fi already has the E65 available for preorder with a Q1 2007 release date and a €458 price tag (that's €357 when you take away Finnish sales tax).
