Attempting to analyse the smartphone market, from HTC's diminutive Star Trek design to Nokia's all-embracing E90 communicator, was never going to be easy. I've had a crack at it, with the help of a few coloured pens - are we getting enough smartphone bang for our buck?
Nokia has released details of a 'realignment of its North America sales and marketing organization'. Which, as far as I can see, basically means moving all its staff to New York. I see Stefan has a similarly sceptical view on the announcement...
Announcing the inaugural ForumOxford: Future Technologies Conference to be held on 13 April 2007 at Rewley House, Oxford, UK. Sponsored by Google, Alpheus, Admob, Horizon Channel and Mi-Pay, this one-day conference includes speakers from Symbian, Google and AdMob. More details below.
So... I had one last fling with the prototype Nokia E90 before it was sent away to be updated - and I'd had numerous requests to try using it to browse various web sites. Here's my account of my final hour with the big-screened E90.... online (via Wi-Fi). Make sure you read to the end for some important talking points and technical notes.
According to a recent report on Gamesindustry.biz, the mobile games publisher Glu Mobile has announced its support for Nokia's Next Gen games platform. EA and Gameloft have already officially committed to the platform, and a document seen by All About Symbian last year suggested that Sony, Square Enix, THQ and Activision would also publish games on it. A Pocket Gamer report earlier this year revealed that Disney, Sega, Sony, Universal, Square Enix, Capcom, THQ, Glu Mobile, Digital Chocolate, EA, Tecmo and Namco all attended a secret Nokia Next Gen games platform workshop in January 2007.
Rather (ahem) delayed, the Carnival of the Mobilists is now back on track, this week at Software Everywhere. Read it for the usual mix of mobile musings!
It's.... AAS Podcast #14, (almost) live from 3GSM 2007, in which Rafe Blandford interviews CEO Johan Sandberg about the new MOTORIZR Z8, and about UIQ Technology's aims and mission.
Krisse explores the myths and deceptions involved with selling phones 'locked'. When is a free phone not really free? What about the so-called advantages of buying through a network operator? And how can you and I change the situation? Read on in another thought-provoking Krisse rant!
Rafe Blandford looks in detail at the Nokia E90 Communicator. A legend reborn? It's undoubtedly feature packed and technically impressive - but is there still a market for the qwerty clamshell form factor? Rafe and Steve include plenty of hands-on observations, photos and screenshots of this, Nokia's upcoming flagship.
S60 and Vodafone last week announced the release of the first Vodafone specific software package for S60 to all S60 licensees. The customised version includes Vodafone specific applications, services and branding. The first two handsets that will receive this software are the Nokia N95 and the Samsung SGH-i520. S60 and Vodafone first announced their collaboration a year ago at 3GSM in 2006.
Remembering Michael Mace's excellent generic positioning (in the handheld industry) diagram from last year, I wondered where the current and upcoming crop of Symbian OS-powered hardware might sit in his Entertainment/Communications/Information chart. Comments are welcome as always.
Symbian's success story in Japan continues with the launch of the 50th handset to feature their MOAP platform and interface. The FOMA D903iTV is made by Mitsubishi and is available immediately. The Symbian press release follows.
Rafe Blandford looks in detail at the Nokia E90 Communicator. A legend reborn? It's undoubtedly feature packed and technically impressive - but is there still a market for the qwerty clamshell form factor? Rafe and Steve include plenty of hands-on observations, photos and screenshots of this, Nokia's upcoming flagship.
Remembering Michael Mace's excellent generic positioning (in the handheld industry) diagram from last year, I wondered where the current and upcoming crop of Symbian OS-powered hardware might sit in his Entertainment/Communications/Information chart. Comments are welcome as always.
Symbian's success story in Japan continues with the launch of the 50th handset to feature their MOAP platform and interface. The FOMA D903iTV is made by Mitsubishi and is available immediately. The Symbian press release follows.
