The Ovi Store and other Ovi services have been transitioning to the new name, i.e. just "Nokia" for a few weeks now, but it's important to note that there's a new URL for the main storefront on the web. Yes, store.nokia.com just went live, though obviously the old store.ovi.com will be supported for a long time to come.
You'll remember my popular feature "There's a Bookmark for that"? The mobile-friendly sites in that feature were all taken from my much larger home-compiled (and slightly UK-biased) directory. Which I just updated, removing sites which no longer worked and adding over a dozen others. The idea is that you bookmark this one page on your small-screened smartphone and then you've got all the mobile versions on tap, without having to remember the 'mobile' syntax for each.
As every other news outlet is reporting this morning, we awoke with the announcement that Steve Jobs had passed away after a long battle with cancer. Although not a Symbian story per-se, there's a lot about Jobs which affected the way the industry and even the world of Symbian in recent years. Here are a few short thoughts.
Nokia has appointed Henry Tirri as Chief Technology Officer, he also becomes an executive vice president and becomes a member of the Nokia leadership team. Since Rich Green stepped down in June Tirri has been acting CTO; previously he was the head of Nokia Research Centre (NRC). Tirri will be based in Sunnyvale (California) and will report directly to CEO Stephen Elop.
As noted by Nokialino and others, Nokia has a page dedicated to the attractions of Symbian Belle, including a number of well done videos (one is embedded below). Each of the three new smartphones are featured in detail and there's even a shout out to the likes of the N8, C7 and E7 as being fully Symbian Belle compatible, with the update to come 'later'.
Thanks to Yash for tipping us off about a useful, official resource put together by Nokia to answer just about every question someone might have following problems updating their Symbian^3 phone to Symbian Anna. The answers go into considerable detail, even if, hopefully, you'll have updated smoothly already and these tech-heavy solutions aren't necessary.
Nokia today announced Symbian Belle, the latest software update for the Symbian^3 platform. In Belle, the focus is on UI improvements, with extensive changes to key elements such as the homescreen, widgets, status bar, dialogs, notifications and menu system. Belle also delivers further application updates (Web), improved NFC functionality and streamlined software updates.
Symbian Belle will be available first on the trio of new Symbian smartphones that Nokia announced today: Nokia 600, 700 and 701. It will also be made available for the Nokia N8, E6, E7, X7, C7 and C6-01 by download via PC and over-the-air. Nokia will announce the timing of the updates for existing devices closer to availability.
Mac owners who enjoy bullet-proof syncing from iCal and Address Book with their Nokia/Symbian smartphone(s) should note that upgrading to the latest (and new) OS X Lion operating system will yield at least one unpleasant surprise: Apple has removed all trace of iSync, the phone-sync application that has had wide manufacturer compatibility. Happily there's a workaround.
Nokia has launched NFC Hub, to help businesses begin using Near Field Communications solutions. Businesses (or, indeed, anyone) can buy generic NFC-tagged posters which direct users with NFC-enabled phones to Facebook, Foursquare, etc, as needed. NFC tags start at £3 each, business cards at £11 each, and posters and stickers with tags embedded run from £20 to £25 each, all ordered through the Hub.
This may seem like something you kind of knew already, but just in case... the mass of 'official' Anna themes appearing regularly in the Ovi Store (i.e. with all the new icons, animations, background and transitions) also work fine with many of the older S60 3rd Edition (i.e. non-touch-driven) smartphones. See below for an example.
Phones Show 144 is out this morning - and I mention it only because the main feature is my hands-on video review of the Nokia E6. Rolling in all my thoughts on this device into one easily-digested nine minute chunk of your time. Summary: it's the best built phone I've ever handled - yet I still can't recommend it to everybody. See below for the embedded video and salient links.
The much publicised demotion of the Ovi brand name has started to take effect with maps.ovi.com becoming maps.nokia.com as of now. To accompany the switch, there are some updates to the data set and appearance in its Web incarnation, including 'heat' maps of night life, shopping, eating, etc., plus more cities available in 3D, hotel bookings, a user review facility and a new blue design.
Thanks to Yash for the heads-up that Nokia has added the much-respected Joikuspot Premium to its 'Gift' section in the Ovi Store for some S60 3rd Edition phones, the E52, E55 and E72. Screenshot proof below - essentially, Joikuspot Premium turns your phone into a full Wifi-tethering solution for hooking up your tablet and laptop. The usually free 'Lite' version is restricted to just 'http' traffic (i.e. web browsing), so it's great to see this full solution, also without cost.
Nokia today announced a raft of updates coming soon for many S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition phones (listed below), giving them an updated version of the browser (Web v7.3 - the same as Symbian Anna), updates to Ovi Maps and the addition of emoticons for use in SMS and MMS messages. The browser update is the most significant and should breathe life into many older Symbian smartphones.
I just couldn't resist another short link of interest, to the May edition of the Nokia Creative N8 awards, if only because the winners that get picked are nothing short of jaw-droppingly stunning. I've included one of them below, but please click through to the awards themselves for the full rundown and comments by James Burland. And all taken on a phone, remember...!
