Two interesting Friday tech stories from the good old BBC: the advance of GPS into smart mobile devices (bringing us back to the Nokia N95 and its successors), and the takeover of the Internet by botnets, with 50% of all warez apps containing trojans (yes, the Beeb is mainly talking about PCs, but take note if you frequent the same sites and think twice before downloading cracked Symbian OS apps)...
Nokia's results are in for the last quarter of 2006, you can read the full press release here. In short: Nokia's sales are up to record levels, their market share has remained at 36%, S60 models are increasingly playing a part in the entire company's lineup, not just from its Multimedia division (who sold over six million Nseries smartphones in Q4 alone) but also the main Mobile Phone division (the 5500 and 6290 are mentioned in the report as highlights of the quarter) and the business-oriented Enterprise division (who make the Eseries).
It's All About Symbian podcast number 11, in which Rafe chats to Ewan about his experiences at CES 2007 in Las Vegas, along with comment on the iPhone and a brief look ahead to 3GSM in three weeks time.
Thanks to the E-series blog for spotting that Nokia Team Suite (an office contact manager/facilitator, previously only on the E50) is now available for free for other S60 3rd Edition devices through Nokia's over-the-air app system, Nokia Catalogs. Comments welcome on compatibility/availability with various devices...
In case this isn't already bookmarked in your RSS reader, my video podcast the Smartphones Show now has programme 22 live, with a video review of the Sony Ericsson W950i, my thoughts and video of the Apple iPhone and a shortened version of Rafe's N76/N93i video snippets.
Nokia today announced an extension of its relationship with Sony Ericsson, bringing Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email to two additional devices, the M600 and P990. The product allows users a fully synchronized, real-time email, calendar and contacts solution. It's available immediately. The full press release follows.
Rounding out our CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2007 coverage in style, we (well, mainly Rafe) present AAS video podcast number 6, 11 minutes long and featuring plenty of video of the new Nokia N76 and N93i, plus extensive photo sets for general CES, the N76 and the N93i. Full text reviews of both devices will be along in due course.
OK, so you're all going to laugh at my expense, but necessity is the mother of invention and I needed a tripod mount for my Nokia N93 video filming work. With the prototype DT-22 having been reclaimed by Nokia, it was back to cardboard skills and duct tape....
It's AAS audio podcast no. 10, in which Rafe sat down for an in-depth interview with Antti Vasara, Nokia's Eseries enterprise manager, for a wide ranging discussion on the marketplace, Nokia's viewpoint and some of the specific areas in business that these devices can address.
AAS chief Rafe Blandford weighs in with his official predictions and challenges for 2007, along with an assessment of what he got right and wrong from last year's predictions piece. Essential reading for anyone in the industry or who is interested in where the Symbian OS world is going. Plus, a bonus preview of the front cover of Symbian magazine, Dec 2007...
Having now had a day or so to mull over the iPhone launch and the media frenzy surrounding it, I've been pondering the fact that in one important way, the iPhone definitely IS a 'break through' device, while Ewan refutes Jobs' 'Five years' boast by casting a satirical eye back five years instead and then describing what we have today.
