Nokia is continuing to push the photo capture abilities of the Nokia N8. In the HD Horizons project, sponsored by Nokia, Jason Hawkes, who has specialised in taking aerial photographs for twenty years, has been capturing UK landscapes and landmarks from the air. We've got access to some of the early images, which offer a remarkable demonstration of the N8's capabilities.
NAVTEQ, the Nokia-owned company behind Ovi Maps, have announced a new product called “Destination Maps”, which aims to provide the data that would enable guidance services inside public buildings. Initially, the data will cover more than 200 shopping malls in the U.S. One of the possible indoor location technologies that could use this data was previewed at Nokia World 2010, where I interviewed one of the development team about this technology. Read on for more information on its background and implementation.
Released for UK product codes of Symbian^3 devices is a "DRM DLA iPlayer plugin", apparently to solve a problem acquiring licensed for downloaded TV programmes. It's only a tiny update, 12k and installs in seconds. Photo proof below. Comments welcome if this solves a problem for you!
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.
Every year Ewan disappears to South by South West (SXSW) in Texas with his podcaster's hat on - and every year we give him something interesting to road test. This year, the kilted road warrior is taking his turn with the Nokia E7 Communicator and in this fourth video in the series (embedded below), he looks at Layar, Dropbox, USB on the go and a novel way of charging your smartphone. All delivered in inimitable chatty Ewan style.
Every year Ewan disappears to South by South West (SXSW) in Texas with his podcaster's hat on - and every year we give him something interesting to road test. This year, the kilted road warrior is taking his turn with the Nokia E7 Communicator and in this third video in the series (embedded below), he looks at Food, File Formatting and Finland. All delivered in inimitable chatty Ewan style.
Every year Ewan disappears to South by South West (SXSW) in Texas with his podcaster's hat on - and every year we give him something interesting to road test. This year, the kilted road warrior is taking his turn with the Nokia E7 Communicator and in this second video in the series (embedded below), he looks at social networking on the device. All delivered in inimitable chatty Ewan style. Fans of Emu will be delighted to learn his feathered friend has now joined him in Austin, having taken a longer flight (it's a lot of flapping to get to the USA) and may well appear in an upcoming video....
As I write this, Jason Hawkes, one of "the world’s most respected aerial photographers", is flying round some of the UK's most stunning (large) locations on a 5 day 'shoot', attempting to capture some innovative aerial photos using just the Nokia N8, to show what can be achieved with "the phone that's always with you". Well, yes, if you also have a helicopter chartered, in this case! Embedded below is an intro video to the project, plus some quotes from the press release. We'll have more from the 'HD Horizons' project in a week or so's time, complete with some of the photos captured on Jason's N8.
Nokia UK has just launched a photo competition for UK residents based around its N8 smartphone, with the theme of 'Life through your Nokia N8' and with the grand prize a 'huge' version of your winning photo on a billboard near your home. Plus - ahem - £1000 to spend, so not too shabby. Details are listed at Nokia UK's Facebook page and photos (as many as you like) can be sent in by email.
Read on For Four Fabulous Friday links of interest, for perusal over your morning coffee or orange juice. Firstly, over at the somewhat prolific Ovi Daily App blog, you may have noticed a few AAS writers guesting in recent months? It's my turn now with my comprehensive review of Sparkle. You'll recognise it - shooting coloured balls from a cannon - but don't switch off, as it's also one of the best implemented games I've ever played. Yes, EVER.
Well done to James Burland for not only coordinating the rise and rise of the various Nokia Creative photo awards but also arranging prize sponsorship, starting from this month's Nokia N8 Photo Awards, with a new Nokia N8 for a friend and a large framed print of your winning photo, should you be picked out by James. The N8-shot photos submitted are stunning, really, one is shown below - and that one didn't even win.... Why not get involved?
There's an interesting editorial over at The Telegraph, quoted below, in which the author questions, as I have done several times, the prevailing wisdom over whether the current craze for 'apps' (for accessing information and services) is a good thing. The editorial starts and ends in the pub, which is a good start to some decent left-field thinking. Why use 'apps' when we have the Web itself? Surely what we need is a better and more intelligent Web?
Somewhat ironic in the light of Nokia's imminent partnership with Microsoft to produce Windows Phone phones ("joining an ecosystem"), figures have been released showing that Nokia's Ovi Store revenues (much of which was from Symbian-based smartphones) were up 719% year on year and ahead of the Google Android Market. More stats below.
Just a heads-up that both my Phones Show video review of the Nokia E7 (also embedded below) and an edition of Phones Show Chat (post-that day) are now live. The former finds the E7 to perhaps be one compromise too many, while the latter sees David Gilson, Tim Salmon, Dan Carter and myself chewing over the Nokia-Microsoft news, plus the usual chit-chat, q&a and so forth. RSS and other links below.
Two days after its investor-focused Strategy and Financial meeting, much covered in previous stories, Nokia held a more consumer-focussed press conference just before Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. While the overall message was no different to Friday's event, Nokia did provide some additional details on its short-term Symbian plans. These include a wave of new devices and significant software updates for Symbian^3. [Story updated after Rafe got back from the event]
