Every month I tell myself that I'm not going to add the N8 photo awards as a link of interest and then every month one of the winning entries blows me away so much that I simply have to write about it. The '1st' pick this month is quite simply staggering - I've included a cut down version below so that you can nod your head and agree with me. This was captured on a phone? Here are the rest of the winners and other info.
There's a fascinating look, from Laptop magazine in the USA, embedded below, at a new solar charging technology from Wysips. Using an ultra-thin (less than 100 microns) photo-voltaic layer on top of the usual smartphone touchscreen, it can deliver up to 250mW of power. Although it's unlikely that such a layer could eliminate the need for traditional charging, the extra top-up factor could well double effective battery life. The technology will be launched officially in 2012 and may be in devices within a couple of years.
A definite link of interest of for all Nokia users is the Nokia Support Videos channel on YouTube. We’ve posted before about support videos having been posted for individual phones. Now though, Nokia have compiled all of these into a well presented, cover flow-like, custom YouTube page. Digging further into the standard YouTube video listings reveals support videos for other Nokia devices such as the E72 and N900.
You'll remember that over the last year or so, I've helped champion the HX series of custom firmwares for the Samsung i8910 HD, stepping into the shoes of Samsung, who effectively abandoned their own device. All good things come to an end though and HyperX himself, the guy who assembled these firmware has announced that he's moving on and that there definitely won't be another release. Of note here is that the final HX-V11 firmware (which had been 'temporarily' withdrawn) is now back up for download, along with all its associated goodies. Download 'em while you can, folks!
We do like to highlight bargains every now and then and, thanks to a tip off from reader Gary Moncrieff, it seems that most of the Smartphoneware titles in the Ovi Store have been reduced from their usual $10 (or so) tickets to just 1 pound (or local equivalent). If you've been eyeing up any of the following: Best Safe, Best Reminder, Best Crypto, Best TaskMan, Best SpamKiller, Best Jotter, Best Converter, Best Blacklist or Best Full Screen Message (among others), then grab them now rather than later. A few titles remain at higher prices, so do please check, etc.
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.
In the last few days, a new email client has appeared in Sw_update on the Nokia E72 and E5, labelled Nokia Email 3.9. The description refers to 'See your emails the way they are meant to be seen', implying HTML 'rich' views of all emails by default, plus there's (in theory) better Gmail and Yahoo! integration. Screens and some cautionary comments below.
The story so far. The N8 and other Symbian^3 phones came with Nokia Social networking 1.1, which was limited and slow. Version 1.2 was auto-detected and added limited social media sharing, but it was up to the 1.3 update to improve performance, insert status updates in Contacts, and extend sharing to full resolution uploads. Sadly, 1.3 was pulled after 3 days by Nokia for unspecified stability reasons, but the good news is that it's now available again, improved, fixed and facelifted, for all Symbian^3 phones over at Nokia Beta Labs and, presumably, available to a wider public on-device or in firmware at some point thereafter. Read on for new screenshots, comments and links.
I was impressed by Peter Krass's write-up over on the Ovi Daily App blog, looking at three free weather forecasting solutions for Symbian smartphones. He reviews ForecaWeather Free, AccuWeather and Weather Touch, all free or ad-supported. In particular, I had a 'duh' moment when he revealed that Weather Touch has a second, forecast screen that you only see when you rotate your phone into landscape mode. How the heck didn't I spot that before?
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.
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.
Snaptu, the startup company which produces the well-known J2ME mobile app, have agreed to be acquired by social networking giant, Facebook. Snaptu is the first Israeli start-up company to be acquired. According to Israeli news site, Calcalist, this buy-out has brought investors approximately a six-fold return on their investment. The Snaptu application has a massive reach by targetting Java compatible mobile phones, most of which lack any sort of app store. Furthermore, the wide range of social networks and content offered by Snaptu bring services to feature phones which are otherwise restricted to more advanced smartphones. Read on for more.
Corning, the company that makes the Gorilla Glass used in the recent Nokia handsets, has released a concept video that I just couldn't resist embedding below. Entitled "A Day Made of Glass" it shows the complete integration of technology and the glass displays it powers, including numerous instances where the smartphone is a vital tool in the information chain. It's five minutes long but well worth watching - it's a glimpse into the future, probably five to ten years away.
Now available as an 'experimental beta' for all S60 5th Edition and Symbian^3 phones, Nokia Shoot & Tag is a camera-centric utility that allows video capture with automatic scene detection and then lets you browse through scenes later on. The idea, as usual, is to get the public to try the interface and ideas before the concept is (or isn't) rolled out into device firmware. Links and a video below.
Our friend, Asri Al Baker, brought my attention to a discovery he made about how to access one's Google Docs account as a WebDav drive. This is thanks to an experimental service, the "Dav-Pocket Lab". This services uses Google's API, providing a WebDav portal into one's account. Other sites have reported a method which requires one to log in with their Google credentials. However, since the news originally broke, the Dav-Pocket blog has announced an OAuth addition. Read on for more details.
