As a hardened (and probably wizened) AAS reader, you've been with us through the ups and downs of the last decade, of course. And I was interested to read Alvin Wong's 'Symbian Story', taking him through many of the devices that we too have loved and hated over the years - it's a good read. And yet, here's the kicker, Alvin is still only 17. Which means that he started his Symbian Story when he was only 12, incredibly.
Nokia is continuing to push the photo capture abilities of the Nokia N8. In the HD Horizons project, sponsored by Nokia, Jason Hawkes, who has specialised in taking aerial photographs for twenty years, has been capturing UK landscapes and landmarks from the air. We've got access to some of the early images, which offer a remarkable demonstration of the N8's capabilities.
The Nokia E7 is now available for pre-order in the UK through Nokia's online store, at a cost of £499, with delivery expected at the end of April. You can also buy the phone on PAYG (£469) or a contract (free from £35 per month). It will also be available through operators (O2, Vodafone, 3) and other online retailers. The E7 is already shipping in select markets, but is expected to become more widely available over the next month or so.
Released for UK product codes of Symbian^3 devices is a "DRM DLA iPlayer plugin", apparently to solve a problem acquiring licensed for downloaded TV programmes. It's only a tiny update, 12k and installs in seconds. Photo proof below. Comments welcome if this solves a problem for you!
Every year Ewan disappears to South by South West (SXSW) in Texas with his podcaster's hat on - and every year we give him something interesting to road test. This year, the kilted road warrior is taking his turn with the Nokia E7 Communicator and in this final video in the series (embedded below), he is reunited with Emu and he chats about DM and Email being aimed at different communities, plus he relates how the Americans were wowed by the E7 (no, really) and he summarises his time with the device.
Rolling out today (story updated) for the Nokia N8-00, C7-00 and C6-01, as well as the E7-00, is a minor firmware update, available over-the-air, which fixes a Mail for Exchange sync issue and adds in latest versions of Ovi Maps and Ovi Store, plus some other minor bug fixes. Some FAQ about this update were posted officially on the Nokia Discussions board here (and partially reproduced below). The update is for SIM-free devices in some markets, while some (and most network-locked variants) will have to wait for the big PR 2.0 update, now scheduled for "the summer".
With the tag sentence "Inspired by U.S. consumers who want an affordable smartphone that offers a simplified user experience and on-the-go entertainment", Nokia and T-Mobile USA have launched the C7 as the Astound, complete with much of the PR 2.0 software (including new web browser, portrait QWERTY etc) from day one, plus some extras, including Swype. We've got some quotes from the official press release and the Conversations blog post below, with relevant links.
Joy unbounded. It seems that the mythical, legendary, v22 firmware for the Vodafone-locked Nokia N97 has just become available. A mere eight months after SIM-free N97 classics received the update. If ever there was an example of why you should buy SIM-free smartphones where possible then this is it - network variants have to be approved by the network in question and it can take.... ages. Anyway, as shown in the screenshot below, my Vodafone-locked N97 has now been upgraded to v22, so frustrated 'classic' users everywhere can at last relax.
The Nokia E7 has received a minor firmware upgrade, from version 13.016 (PR 1.0) to version 14.002 (PR 1.1). The update, which is 907 kb in size, is available OTA (over the air) and can be downloaded using the 'SW update' application. This is a small update with minor performance improvements and a number of bug fixes.
Every year Ewan disappears to South by South West (SXSW) in Texas with his podcaster's hat on - and every year we give him something interesting to road test. This year, the kilted road warrior is taking his turn with the Nokia E7 Communicator and in this first video in the series (embedded below), he looks at typing, music and video playback. All delivered in inimitable Ewan style. Fans of Emu will be disappointed to learn that his feathered friend's passport had expired and so doesn't join him in the videos.
Nokia UK has just launched a photo competition for UK residents based around its N8 smartphone, with the theme of 'Life through your Nokia N8' and with the grand prize a 'huge' version of your winning photo on a billboard near your home. Plus - ahem - £1000 to spend, so not too shabby. Details are listed at Nokia UK's Facebook page and photos (as many as you like) can be sent in by email.
I'm with Devin (at The Nokia Guide) all the way when he lists his '13 Reasons Why I Love The N8', giving an overwhelming vote of confidence in the N8's build, specification and functionality, based on his usage of the device over the last few months. Worth a read, even if you're already an N8 fan.
GoodGuide, a company that rates products for their health, environmental and social impacts, has tested 576 world phones and smartphones, with Nokia making all of the top 26 models in the table, including Symbian smartphones like the C6-00, N8, E72 and E5. In case you were wondering, the bottom of the table is largely made up with RIM Blackberrys.
Thanks to Jay for highlighting a video demo of NFC on the C7 over at Mobile World Congress. Every C7 has a NFC chip but there's no software to drive it, at least not yet. What's demoed below is a prototype interface, showing how to find out more about a product that you 'touch' with your C7. Early days, obviously, though with Samsung also really getting into NFC for their 2011 smartphones as well, you have to think that this could be the year NFC emerges into the real world.
Since at least, the beginning of this year, there have been a growing number of reports about 'defective' screens with some models of the Nokia N8-00 and C7-00. Reports vary, but the key theme has been an errant (mainly red-purple) colour tint, which is more apparent in dim, or black areas of the screen, under specific circumstances. This fault is certainly not universal. Furthermore, as far as we can tell from our own research, there doesn't appear to be a correlation to any particular firmware version either. Read on for links and examples of the the fault.
