We've teamed up with Nokia N-Gage to give away a Nokia N96, a license for the N-Gage game Million Dollar Poker and a few Nokia goodies. All you need to do is answer a simple question and give us your name and contact details. Million Dollar Poker is the most recently released N-Gage game.
With the advent of the N86, James Burland, host of the N95 Nokia Creative Awards, has just published the very last set of superlative photos taken on the most iconic smartphone of our time. Clever stuff, the winning entry is nothing short of sheer genius...
Slightly off topic, in that the main device covered isn't powered by Symbian OS, but The Phones Show 85, now online, should be required watching for any smartphone fan in that James Burland demonstrates somewhat emphatically the huge graphical processing power inside the Apple iPhone 3GS. Yes, yes, we know that Nokia for one have chosen not to go down this route, so consider this a look at what might have been if the N95 had been a taste of things to come in the S60 world...
The (seemingly) device-of-the-week, the Nokia N86 8MP has just received a big firmware upgrade, to v11.043. This brings official Ovi Store compatibility (with Ovi web site shortcut and option to download the dedicated client), camera tweaks and the usual early firmware bug fixes and improvements. Try updating over the air (*#0000# on the home screen, though it didn't seem to be on the servers for the UK yet) or via Nokia Software Updater. No need to back up (but hey, it can't do any harm). Watch this space for any extra comment or reports.
With Rafe indisposed, Insight #78 could have been a double header between Steve and Ewan, but that wouldn't be rock and roll enough, so James Whatley (The Really Mobile Project) joins us to chat firmwares, betas, messaging and travelling technology. Listen in on the fun or subscribe via the AAS Podcast Feed.
You'll hopefully have been following our review series on the Nokia N86 8MP - here's part 3: "Other features and Wrap-up" for your enjoyment and education. It's fair to say that the N86 is a stonkingly good camera phone, but how well does it fare as a top end smartphone, where are its weak points and can it compete with the touch-heroes of summer 2009? See also Part 1 and Part 2 of this review.
Just a short note to say that, as expected, the E71's cheaper sister, the E63, has also gotten itself a firmware update, this time to v200 firmware update (via Nokia Software Updater), adding in Ovi Contacts. Screens and comment over at The Symbian Blog.
An updated firmware, version 300.21.012, is now available for both the Nokia E71 and E66 (previous version was 210.xx.xxx). This is a major firmware update for the Nokia E71 and E66, it includes updates to Mail for Exchange software and email wizard, adds Internet Radio and social networking bookmark widgets, and improves overall performance. The new firmware can be downloaded and installed via Nokia Software Updater.
Faced with a dead Nokia N86 that refused to charge, I didn't panic - armed with the luxury of some of other devices to hand, I was able to get the N86 and its battery revived and working properly. And, in the process, learned that all Nokia's batteries are electrically interchangeable. Maybe these concept will save the day when your precious S60 phone appears to have died? At the very least, add this to your 'Things to try' check list!
Nokia has also released v400.34.011 firmware for the diminutive E51, bringing "improvements and increased stability in Mail for Exchange and SMS reception". It also "improves stability and usability for VoIP and WLAN" and "robustness improvements when pressing the Home key". 'Stability improvements' and 'Robustness improvements' are of course Nokia speak for fixing bugs(!), but we're not complaining. Do note that the E51 is old enough not to have User Data Preservation, so do a full backup to memory card before using Nokia Software Update and then restore again afterwards. And make a note of any critical email or application settings - you know the drill.
The Phones Show 84 is now public (embedded below too), with a reprise commentary on the Nokia E75, a hands-on review of the Nokia N86 8MP and a interview with the Symbian Foundation's Executive Director Lee Williams, asking him some of your questions, on the subjects of robot duck overlords, LTE, touchscreens, open source OS and, of course, which phone does he personally use(!)
Not as sexy as the N97's update, no doubt, but the Nokia N96 has always underperformed and I'm hoping that v30.033 firmware, also released today, will help the beleaguered flagship-of-2008 come up to par. v30 is a 6MB over-the-air update and installed smoothly on my N96. The previous firmware version was v20, by the way. Some brief comments below.
For many people anyway, e.g. here at N97 enthusiast Gerry Moth's. See also his Twitter feed for his comments through the day. Rafe and Tzer2 both have N97s here at AAS and I'll try to get some comments out of them through the day!
In All About Symbian Insight 77 (AAS Podcast 137), there is news of Truphone's extended support for Nokia and the 5800 continues its best selling streak. Rafe talks about Nokia and Intel's strategic tie up and reports back from the launch of the HTC Hero. Ewan shares news of AdSense for applications, which leads to a general monetisation discussion. You can listen to AAS Insight 77 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Rafe and I present part 2 of our extended review of the new Nokia N86 8MP, in which I look in detail at the improvements made in the camera hardware, directly affecting still photo and video capture in a wide range of lighting conditions, and with special reference to the output of the N95, of which the N86 is something of a spiritual successor. See also our Nokia N86 8MP Review - Part 1 - Overview
