The Samsung i8910 HD (a.k.a. Omnia HD) has been left for the last couple of months in firmware limbo, with some showstopping bugs - but today sees the launch of 'XXII1' firmware (the 'II' refers to 'September 09'), with my observations below. You can get the update for your own i8910 HD by hooking it up to PC Studio (version 7.2.24.8, please!) and using the built-in Updater tool. This update has been made available by Samsung Italy, so your phone will need to have an existing Italian firmware installed before you can get the update. Note that there's no User Data Preservation, so backup and sync first - you know the drill by now, just make sure your PIM data, email settings and registration codes are all safe.
After the morning keynotes and interviews at Nokia World 2009, I decided to take a quick look round the 'experience lounge' at Nokia World. Following on from part 1 of the video, the tour of the show floor continues in part 2. You'll see the Nokia X6, Nokia X3, Nokia N97 Mini, Nokia 5230, Bounce Evolution running on the N900 and more software and services. There's also a quick look at some of the show floor features including a Twitter screen and side theatres.
In All About Symbian Insight 86 (AAS Podcast 148), Rafe, Steve and Ewan talk about the devices unveiled at Nokia World. Symbian devices include the Nokia N97 Mini and the capactive sreen enabled Nokia X6. There are also mentions for the X3, N900 and Nokia Booklet, plus some general discussion on Nokia World. You can listen to AAS Insight 86 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
After the morning keynotes and interviews at Nokia World 2009, I decided to take a quick look round the 'experience lounge' at Nokia World. In the video below you can join me on my first tour round the show floor, where I share my first impressions and analysis. You'll get a feel of the atmosphere on the show floor and there's a quick overview of some of Nokia's new service solutions, the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia Internet Stick (CS-18) and some third party software.
So my white Nokia N97 was returned to me after Ewan's extensive video diaries and after Tzer2's Finnish experiments on it. It's a little battle scarred in places, but hey, phones are designed to be used(!) I'm well aware of all the N97's pros and cons, but was relishing a chance to really get to grips with some of its - ahem - quirks, a couple of months on from my initial look. Read on to see how I got on, and to learn how to set up and optimise the N97 in this 'waiting for v20 firmware' probationary period.
As you'll see from the photo below, 12 megapixel camera phones are now starting to be sold on the High Street. On the face of it, more is usually better in a specifications battle, so why should I be so irritated by the latest battlefront? Read on for my thoughts on why the entire phone market is being somewhat misled.
Nokia's next S60 music device, the X6, has been announced at Nokia World in Stuttgart this morning. It's going to be marketed as a music phone and the 32GB of storage is going to allow a huge amount of music to be downloaded, and is only available in a Comes with Music variant. But the 16:9 ratio capacitive touch-screen (at 3.2 inches in size) is going to be great for video playback and media browsing. More details to follow.
Nokia has now officially announced the N97 mini at Nokia World 2009, with smaller screen and overall form factor, full-width keyboard (no d-pad) and a focus on social media ('life casting'). Significantly, they're also talking about a whole new memory map and kinetic scrolling across the whole interface, all of which is also to come to the N97 itself in October. More details, images and videos below.
Red Bend, the company behind the Firmware Over The Air update system in most of the smartphones covered here (with the notable exception of Samsung, which doesn't appear to have FOTA yet), has just announced that its FOTA software is now used by just over half a billion mobile devices worldwide, over 413 different devices. This represents a 60% share of the FOTA-enabled mobile phone market. See Red Bend's site for more information.
It's the final part (7) of Ewan Spence's 'real world' test of the Nokia N97 at the Edinburgh Fringe and it's embedded below. He rounds up his experiences, explaining that he had to overcome his initial lack of excitement but that, once in use, the N97 performed really well when out and about at the Festival and did everything required of it. Ewan's fearful that the N97 will get overlooked now that the N900 has been announced and admits that S60 on the device seemed 'mature' and that backwards compatibility has proven something of a limitation, but overall I think he genuinely liked the Nokia N97 - to the point where he'd buy one if he didn't already own the qwerty-equipped E75. Happy watching - and suggestions welcome on what you'd like to see Ewan tackle next!
In All About Symbian Insight 85 (AAS Podcast 147), Rafe, Steve and Ewan discuss the glut of Nokia news ahead of this week's Nokia World. We cover the Nokia Booklet 3G, Nokia 5230, Nokia Money (an under appreciated announcement) and the Nokia N900. There's also some discussion of Maemo 5, service strategy and the Sony Ericsson Satio. You can listen to AAS Insight 85 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Steve Litchfield explores the Nokia N95's continuing legacy in something of a tribute to the original dual-sliding smartphone... In terms of features, build quality and longevity, how do its successors stand up? And is there an 'ultimate' N95? Find out here. I look at the N95, the N95 8GB, the N96, the N85 and the N86 8MP - it's a veritable N95-fest!
Following on from my review of the Nokia E52, it transpires that Nokia do intend to make a black(ish) version (with less keypad visibility problems) - here's their official photographic proof. Also, although Internet Radio isn't in the firmware, the version for the 6210 Navigator apparently works perfectly (official download here). Now, what about Podcasting, ladies and gents? (thanks to kazutoyo and WizzMob)
Nokia has announced the Nokia N900, a Maemo 5-powered device. Maemo 5 is the evolution of Nokia's previous generation of Internet Tablets and aims to occupy the space created by the convergence of mobile phones, laptops and the Internet. The N900 features a horizontal slider design with a three line QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5 inch WVGA (800 x 600) touch screen, ARM Cortex-A8 600 MHz processor with 256MB of RAM (and 768MB of virtual memory), 5.0 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, tri-band WCDMA and WiFi connectivity, integrated A-GPS, 3.5 mm AV jack (audio and TV-out), and 32GB of flash storage and a microSD card slot. The N900 will be available in select markets from October 2009 at a cost of €500 before taxes and subsidies. Read on for further details and comment.
