Widely reported in the media today is the leak of an internal Nokia 'memo', penned by Nokia's CEO Stephen Elop. It lays out the problems facing Nokia, most notably around its software strategy, and argues that Nokia is "standing on a burning platform" with a choice to be made about the future. And what is that choice? That's what we'll be finding out on Friday, when Nokia holds its Analyst and Financial event (Capital Markets Day).
Mbuntu is a flash based application launcher available for all flavours of Symbian, aimed squarely at Ubuntu fans. The application simulates the GNOME-based Ubuntu desktop, with the Jaunty Jackalope wallpaper. From the Ubuntu application menu, users can access all of the phone's core applications, such as: contacts, messages, Bluetooth, USB mode, Web, etc. There are also indicators for WiFi and battery level. Read on to find out more.
Nokia has announced that "The highly anticipated Nokia E7 will begin arriving in stores in select markets this week, with broader availability building up quickly in several markets." Many readers have said that they've been texted by Nokia to say that their order is ready for collection in-store and we also now have (as you'll see from the review adjacent) a full retail E7 of our own, which Rafe has been testing intensively for a few days. More from the press release below.
Nokia have released a promotional video that features the Nokia E7's lead industrial designer, Shunjiro Eguchi, explaining the inspiration behind the device's design: 'making the complex simple'. It explains some of the thinking behind the keyboard, the mechanics and physical properties of the new high end Symbian^3 device. There's also a behind the scenes look at the E7's factory production line, concept sketches and more.
Without word of mouth, the success of an application depends on getting into an App store, and making it easy to find. The approval process of application stores is a frequently complained about issue in the developer world, and the Ovi Store is not immune from these complaints. Therefore, if you are a developer looking to get into the Ovi Store, there are a few things you should bear in mind... Read on to find out.
A couple of links of interest from Mike Macias that I've just stumbled across and thought you'd like. Firstly, a piece from Mike himself in which he reminds us that there's a one-tap way to bypass Nokia Messaging service and thus gain reliable access to your Gmail account. And secondly, a pointer to a super (and comprehensive) Purple theme from the wonderfully named (for a computer guy) Logon Aniket that's available in customised versions for everything from S60 3rd Edition FP1 onwards.
Open up the Ovi Store client on your Symbian^3 smartphone and you should have a mandatory update available, which offers 'full Arabic Support, better installation support for Qt-based apps and numerous fixes', plus a new blue/green startup screen, miscellaneous other small fixes and, significantly, for all phones of all vintages, an upgrade (at Nokia's end) to their Search algorithms.
The Ovi Daily App blog has posted today about their new Appitype questionnaire, which is a novel way of helping people with application discovery. By answering a series of questions about your usage pattern with your phone and applications, Appitype will recommend six applications for you to try, as well as what should be your 'ideal' Nokia phone. The latter point may make for some awkwardness if you'd received a different phone at Christmas! Appitype complements work that Nokia is doing with Trevor Pinch, professor of science and technology studies at Cornell University.
The N8 has been something of a landmark device for Nokia. It was proclaimed at Nokia World that the fight back started with the N8. As part of this fight back, Nokia have thrown a lot of marketing muscle behind the N8, of course focussing on its outstanding 12 megapixel camera. Specifically, there has been the Nokia Push N8 contest and the N8 Producers competition. Besides those official adventures of the N8, its users and reviewers alike seem to continue to put the phone through its paces in the most unconventional ways. It is surely a testament to the admiration people feel for the device. Read on to see what some people have been up to with their N8.
One of the more interesting comparison videos I’ve seen comes via Daily Mobile and Macintosh Morrison. It’s the Google Nexus Sand the Nokia N8, strapped together and playing Need for Speed Shift. The point? Well it’s a direct match up of the game to compare speed, control and fluidity. Who do you think will come out on top?
Figures are now in, according to IDC, for overall phones sales worldwide for Q4 2010, for all manufacturers (we're still waiting for further breakdown into smartphone stats, though see Rafe's own chart in the Nokia Q4 results story for his (usually accurate) take on this. Quotes and a table below. Summary: Nokia down 2% year-on-year, but still selling almost as many as the companies in second, third and fourth places put together, Apple slip to 5th, but still almost double Q4 sales, YoY.
There's an exhaustive and interesting look, nicely pitched, by long term AAS reader Eugen Diskin here, looking at 16 (count 'em) reasons why the mood of bloggers, analysts and users all seem against Nokia right now. There are some good points in here, some left valid but most vigorously defended. You'll have to excuse the occasional broken English, the author isn't a native speaker - but well worth ten minutes of your time over coffee this weekend.
You may remember Ewan reviewing Barclaycard's promotional extravaganza, Rollercoaster Extreme, here on AAS a few weeks ago? We're giving you double review value now though, with Rafe guest writing for the Ovi Daily App blog and reviewing Rollercoaster Extreme from his own perspective, concluding that it's "pitched perfectly". See the title here on the Ovi Store for all Symbian^3 handsets.
O2 has launched "O2 WiFi", offering free WiFi to anyone, whether or not they are an O2 customer. O2 now takes the view that the service can be better paid for by advertising on the hotspot landing pages rather than getting revenue from specific subscribers. In Q1, 2011, O2 is rolling out 450 free hotspots and by 2013 they 'aim to have approximately 15,000 hotspots'.
Gizmodo, famously, refused to even review the Nokia N8 because it was so 'irrelevant'. Thankfully, most other sites actually have brains behind them and are prepared to put in a little work. Fellow USA-based, and renowned, tech site AnandTech has put together a wonderfully comprehensive eight-part review of the N8, complete with multiple tables and galleries. And comes out the other end recommending the N8, with the usual caveats about needing the imminent browser (etc) update.
