Channel 5 (in the UK)'s 'Gadget Show' has done a web-only video review of the Sony Ericsson P1i, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses in the four minutes of detailed footage. Quite critical in the end, but it's good to see some mainstream coverage of a UIQ 3 device.
Kudos to programme Barak Harel for coming up with a viable way for mere mortals to 'sign' low level utilities for S60 and Symbian OS. Having started trying to sign RotateMe a week or two ago and given up in frustration, this sort of Windows utility is extremely welcome. You'll still need a Symbian 'key' and 'cer' file, but other than that it's supposed to be totally automatic. Anyone tried it yet?
Nokia has agreed to buy out Avvenu, a supplier of Internet services that "allow anyone to use their mobile devices to securely access, use and share personal computer files, even if their host computer is turned off." Avvenu will become part of Nokia's new 'Services and Software' reorganisation, starting on January 1st. The full press release is below.
Nokia has announced an official beta of 'Internet Radio', curiously only initially officially compatible with the N95 variants, N82 and N91. It works brilliantly and immediately, with no fiddling with (or searching the 'net for) Shoutcast playlists and comes with a full directory of hundreds of compatible stations. The full press release follows, with some screenshots.
Adobe has finally made its Flash Lite 3 beta available for S60 3rd Edition, although both it (and I) stress that this is intended to be for developers only and isn't a consumer-focussed browser-integrated player. Comments welcome below on what Flash Lite 3 can and can't do in its current state (e.g. playing multimedia content). (via SymbianOne)
Hmm.... other bloggers keep reading my mind. I had an editorial on Nokia N95 firmware half done and now Stefan Constantinescu has not only produced a very interesting article detailing this and throwing in other observations of N93 and N95 8GB, but he's also given the power user's verdict on the brand new N82, with which he declares himself 'in love', despite a number of design defects.
Forum Nokia has released a tool, primarily aimed at developers but of interest to power users trying to work out where that extra 10% of battery capacity is going. Nokia Energy Profiler works with all applications, built-in and third party and should identify any culprits!
Aha! Nokia PC Suite just added Vista Calendar sync, along with a more 'modern' (read "slower and uses more RAM"!) interface and extra drag and drop file capabilities, plus the usual bug fixes. Get the new v6.85 here. (via Vaibhav)
It seems I just can't keep up with the news today! Google just upgraded their free Maps for Mobile client (www.google.com/gmm on your smartphone) to v2.0.3, adding a 'virtual GPS' feature (thanks Stefan), in which your location on non-GPS devices is estimated based on cell tower information. Google is an amazing company. Also (unrelated), they're investing in green energy in a big way, yet more brownie points from me.
The traditional landline phone is dying in Europe, according to a new study reported by the BBC. On average, 18% of European households now have no landline phone but do have a mobile phone. This figure rises as high as 48% in Lithuania and 47% in Finland. It also reveals that there are 95 mobile phones for every 100 people in Europe.
We reported that this didn't work at first when we tried with the new v20 firmware for the Nokia N95 Classic. They've flicked the switch at the Nokia Music Store (UK beta) now and N95 owners can join in the browsing and downloading fun. Even if I did spot far too many 'N81' references flashing through the URL popups 8-)
We mentioned the RAM-hungry Widsets in our RSS piece above, but thanks to Stefan for pointing us towards a fascinating tutorial on how to get started with next generation widgets, those that are pure XHTML, CSS or Javascript and which run on top of S60's Web runtime. This is how widgets should be done. Recommended.
Smartphones Show 48 is out (in YouTube and H.264 MP4 form), the highlight of which is a real world head to head challenge between the two black and silver flagships, the Nokia N95 8GB and the Apple iPhone (on O2). Watch Matt Radford of AAS and I as we try and assess the devices on common, every day tasks. Oh, and here's the RSS and iTunes feeds.
Encompassing both phones and (UIQ) smartphones, Sony Ericsson has announced the nominees for its 2007 Content Awards, winners to be announced on Dec 18th. Some familiar names in the press release below. Of interest also is Sony Ericsson's lavish Flash site showcasing each nominee.
