For those following the HX firmware saga on the otherwise neglected Samsung i8910 HD (aka 'Omnia HD'), note that the much-anticipated HX7 firmware, codenamed 'Black Pearl', just went live (video demo below). Among many other little fixes and tying up loose ends, HX7 offers a custom utility to le
t you adjust a mountain of interface settings on the fly, right down to microphone sensitivity and kinetic scrolling mechanics, without having to mess around with patch files and extra SISx installs. There's also a new 'tsunami' homescreen...
Damian Dinning, the designer of the Nokia N8's camera system, has been monitoring reactions to news about the N8's much vaunted camera, and has compiled a comprehensive set of FAQ's. In this, Damian covers topics ranging from why is there no lens cover to how to best hold the N8 while recording video, and discusses the performance of the N8's sensor, the largest ever used in a mobile phone. Also published today is an interview with Jonathan Jowitt from Dolby, which goes to equal amounts of obscene detail in looking at the digital audio capabilities that underpin the N8. Read on for some take-home points from each.
Rob Glaser has a new word – 'superphone' – to describe the latest batch of mobile phones on the market. Given the fun we’ve had defining the smartphone in the last few years, adding a new level to the nomenclature might seem a cheap marketing move, but it has allowed Glaser, chairman of RealNetworks, to expand his view on where mobile technology is moving. Read on for my thoughts.
Available now, Over the Air, through Ovi Suite and Nokia Software Update for the capacitive-screened Nokia X6 is firmware v21.0.004. A fairly major update, with upgrades to core apps, you're led through a backup-just-in-case cycle, though I didn't lose any data or apps. Of course, branded/locked handsets probably won't see v21 for a while - ask your network or vendor! Changelog and screens below.
Damian Dinning, as promised, has put up the second part of his tech/examples series on the Nokia N8's camera, over on the Conversations blog. This time, he concentrates on the video capture side of things and, as before, we've summarised his main points below.
Damian Dinning, the architect of Nokia's N8 and other top camera phones, posting on Nokia Conversations, has shared some further insights into the development of the N8's stills camera. He explains Nokia's approach on the N8 and why this differs from earlier Nokia products and from other camera phones on the market. Rather than using every trick in the book to fool the eye into thinking it is a great image, the guiding principle behind the N8's camera is go for reproduction that is 'as natural as possible' in both visual and audio elements. Read on for a summary of the key points from the piece...
Playing devil's advocate, but only to a degree, Steve Litchfield turns the entire smartphone world on its head by rejecting its latest darling - large touchscreens. Ask any pundit in the mobile world about smartphones and you'll get the answer that it's all about touch. About large displays that can be caressed and programmed and manipulated with your fingers. Except that traditional, non-touch form factors have these 2010 'flagships' well and truly beat in many ways - here are the Top 10 Reasons Why Touchscreens Suck.
We tend to ignore Nokia's cheap and cheerful Series 40 platform phones here on All About Symbian, but the launch of the new C3 brought, in theory, a handset slap bang into contention with a Symbian-powered smartphone, in this case the E63, itself over a year old now. Which means that a blow by blow comparison should be very interesting - can the £80 C3 (currently a Vodafone exclusive in the UK) threaten the lowly (for the smartphone world) E63?
I wonder just how much effect the proposed EU Antitrust law change would have on the smartphone scene? The new tweak in the law would change the wording from “Dominant” to “Significant” in regards to market positions of companies. Jason Mick (at Daily Tech) highlights the issue but I don’t think it would have the huge utopian effect that many are hoping for. Here's why...
In All About Symbian Insight 125, we welcome David Gilson to the podcast for the first time. This week we round up a lot of news including a rallying cry from Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki, details on SEE 2010, firmware updates for the E71, E66, N97 and N97 mini, SkyFire's market retreat, Nokia 5230 pricing and more. In the main part of the podcast David tell us about his experiences with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz Pro, Ewan talks about The Big Roll in Paradise and Rafe reports back from a 3UK briefing. You can listen to AAS Insight 125 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Here’s an interesting one for a Friday afternoon, as Jack Schofield argues at Trusted Reviews for mobile phone subsidies to be stopped. If this were to happen he believes that the true value of both the phone and the usage of the network would be clear, and this would (through market forces) result in more value for customers. What do you think?
Anssi Vanjoki, marking his first day as Nokia's Head of Mobile Solutions, and in the face of recent widespread criticism of Nokia's high end device performance and strategy, has come out with some hard hitting statements in a feature on Nokia's Conversations blog. He underlines the importance of Symbian for Nokia, suggests that a Symbian^4 powered Nseries device is 'a very strong possibility', says that, for consumers, MeeGo will mean having 'true computing power in your pocket' and that MeeGo gives Nokia the ability 'to take mobile technology beyond the smartphone'. Read on for further details.
In April, Nokia announced a raft of new phones, including the side-sliding C6. The first sign of this phone coming to market has appeared today with Play.com now taking pre-orders. Play have priced the C6 at £269.99 (UKP) which is £30 below the listed recommended retail price. As with most early orders there is an an early adopter premium. Nokia's original press release set the C6 at €220, which roughly translates to approximately £213 (UKP, including VAT) at current exchange rates. We recommend holding back for now, as lower prices should be appearing once the C6 is officially on the market.
