ZOMGitsCJ.com is reporting that their E75 (made for the Asia-Pacific region) has had a firmware update available both OTA and through the PC software updater. According to CJ the update seems to be mainly a bug-fixing one with some speed improvements on menus too.
A sequel to the original N97 Q&A, this includes all the original answers and adds those from questions asked in the last 48 hours. If after reading these and my initial Nokia N97 review, you still have questions, then ask away in the comments to this news item. Read on... [further updated 10am Monday]
As well as a new promotional video targeted at developers that would make Terry Gilliam proud, the Symbian Foundation announced on their blog that the Symbian OS is now running under a symmetric multiprocessor system. Simply put, more than one CPU can connect to the main memory of a computer at the same time, allowing for any processor to work on any application thread, and have the tasks passed around the processors to keep everything running efficiently.
Nokia's much anticpiated N97, which combines the key hardware trends of touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard, started shipping this week. In his first impressions review of the Nokia N97 Steve takes an initial look at Nokia's summer flagship and offers an initial indication of how the N97 measures up to its competition.
Plenty of good questions are starting to come from readers, so I thought I'd gather them together here and answer them more formally. See below. And add extra questions about Nokia's newest flagship to the comments on this thread and Rafe and I will do our best to answer them in the main body of the piece. [even further updated]
The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic (Symbian S60 3rd FP2, 3.2 mp autofocus camera, Wi-Fi, 3.5G, 600mhz CPU) has quietly become available through various channels in Europe including the official online shops of Nokia Finland, Nokia Germany and Nokia Italy, it's starting to appear in normal retailers too, and is available to pre-order in areas and shops where it isn't yet on sale. The 5630 is designed for S60 users on a budget, and the unlocked SIM-free model in most places seems to be around 200 euros plus taxes, which is among the lowest launch prices so far for a smartphone. (Note that the Nokia Germany shop currently only stocks the Comes With Music edition which costs more due to its unlimited music downloads bundle.)
In this special edition of the All About Symbian Insight podcast we offer an audio unboxing (you'll see!) of the Nokia N97. We recorded this podcast in Regents Park (London) a few hours after receiving the full retail version of the N97. Rafe and Steve run through their first impressions of the device, the in-box contents, thoughts on software updates and on a homescreen that's alive... Plus bonus 'footage' of the keyboard 'clip-clop' sound(!)
Nokia's Back N82 has been cut to £199 in their UK Online Shop from the original £295 and most importantly is actually being shown as 'in stock'. Yes there are some new models on the way, but the N82 is still a high spec and respected smartphone; even Steve has belatedly come round to its charms after his initial review.
Hot off the presses from the recent Sony Ericsson launch of the Satio, Rafe has put together a gallery of this pretty glorious touchscreen device. Sporting a 16:9 touchscreen, a 12 megappixel camera, xenon flash and a spec sheet that hits most of the modern high water points, the Saito is expected during Q4 this year.
A Chinese website has posted screenshots and video of the N97 running the N-Gage application, see the third video for N-Gage. It seems the N-Gage app has been redesigned somewhat for horizontal use on the N97's large touch-sensitive screen, but the only game shown (Asphalt 4) seemed to be running at 4:3 aspect ratio rather than the full 16:9. (via brainimpact on Twitter)
The Nokia 5800 has a very large high res screen which is compatible with many touchscreen Java games in full-screen mode, for example Cooking Mama works on the 5800 in full screen. Unfortunately the default setting for many Java games and applications (including Cooking Mama) seems to have the on-screen "virtual keypad" switched on automatically, which makes the game or app shrink into half-screen mode. However, there is an easy solution to this problem which should let touch-compatible Java software use the 5800's entire screen. See below for a quick step-by-step guide...
In All About Symbian Insight 73 (AAS Podcast 132) Steve, Ewan and Rafe discuss SkyFire's 1.0 release, introduce Ovi Gaming and offer some perspective on the Ovi Store 3 days after the formal launch. In the second part of the show Rafe talks about the launch of the Sony Ericsson Satio (formerly Idou) and then the team discuss the E75 in 60 seconds. You can listen to AAS Insight 73 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Nokia today announced the BH-905, a high end stereo Bluetooth headset with active noise cancellation. The headset has a 'band-over-the head' with ear-muffs' form factor with music, volume and calling controls on the two ear pieces. The headset has ten microphones; two for capturing speech and eight for capturing sound for the active noise cancellation functionality. The headset can be connected via Bluetooth or a wired 3.5mm connection with adaptors for 2.5mm, 6.5mm and airplane connectors included in the box.
Today, June 2nd, marks the official shipping date of the N97, but, as usual, it will take a few weeks for it to get into most retail stores. In the UK the N97 will go on sale Friday 19th June, via the Nokia Regent Street store and at the Nokia Shop (Black N97 and White N97) for £499 SIM free. The Nokia N97 will also be distributed by 3, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U from Friday 26th June, i.e. a week later.
One of the most commonly-asked questions about the 5800 from advanced users is "Where the flipping heck is that flipping blue blistering blarndarsted flipping Sync flipping application on this flipping thing?" Well you'll be glad to know there is Sync on the 5800, and it is also very easy to access but you have to know where to look. As a special tip-of-the-day we've got a guide to finding Sync on the 5800 below.
