Recent News Headlines - Software
Google Maps 4.0 for Symbian includes Google Buzz
Following the announcement earlier this evening of Google Buzz, the extension of GMail into social networking, Google Maps 4.0 has been released, advertised with the feature: "Post and view real-time messages & photos at places around the world". Buzz is implemented as another Layer in Google Maps' existing system. For the system to work, you'll have to click the link on the Google Buzz web site and then hope that your GMail region has been Buzz-enabled (it's being rolled out). Screenshots, video and more below. Comments welcome if you've got it working yet.
Review: TouchCalc Lite
The calculator genre has been a popular one in all handheld and phone ecosystems over the years. Here I look at TouchCalc Lite, a recent addition to the genre explicitly for S60 5th Edition phones, finding that an austere interface hides an evaluation engine which is surprisingly powerful.
Nokia Social Network tool gets another beta release
Following up from user feedback, the team behind Nokia Messaging for Social Networks has released a second beta of the application. Improvements in the handling for both Twitter and Facebook are included, plus support for S40 based devices. You can download from the site, but caveat emptor, this is clearly a beta and will have rough edges.
AAS Insight 104 - Symbian goes open source
In All About Symbian Insight 104 (AAS Podcast 168), Rafe and Steve start with a quick look ahead to Mobile World Congress and then round up a number of small news items, including multiple firmware updates (N97 mini, X6, 5730, E52), details of a new version of the Ovi Store client, information on Greystripe and the Ovi Store and the lowdown on 1.4 million Ovi Maps downloads. In the second half of the podcast we discuss the big news that the the open sourcing (EPL) of the Symbian platform (40 million lines of code) has been completed four months ahead of schedule. You can listen to AAS Insight 104 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Nokia X6 Firmware updated to v12
It’s been making its way around the various territories in the last few days, and now we’re happy to say that we have the updated firmware running on the Nokia X6 here at AAS (link to our review). The update to v12.0.091 can be installed (once available) either Over the Air or via the Nokia Software Updater on your PC. Even though your data should be preserved during the update, we would always recommend backing up any phone before an update is started.
WebKit still receiving contributions from Nokia, Apple, Google and Rim
While you can argue about what the numbers actually mean, it’s nice to see that the main players in mobile browser are all feeding back changes to the WebKit open-source project. Alongside Nokia (and Trolltech), Apple, Google and RIM are all contributing in some form, as shown in Evan Martin's blog post to the Chromium web
Extended Twitter Round-Up (Ultra Plus Pro Deluxe)
David Gilson recently performed a big feature on Twitter applications on Symbian and S60. Mind you, thanks to the feedback of AAS readers, he has now expanded his survey to now cover an eye watering seventeen Twitter options for S60 users wanting to get more out Twitter. Gulp. Read on!
Review: Snaptu
Something of an oddball in the mobile world, Snaptu is a Java application that attempts to provide a cosy environment into which you can bring a plethora of online services (Flickr, Facebook, TV listings, News, etc). Ewan, as the main reviewer, wasn't too impressed by the limited functionality within each service or by the clunky Java text input. I was somewhat more positive, as you'll see from my 'PS' - but your comments welcome - are you a Snaptu fan?
YouTube for S60 gets a minor (and patchy) update...
Google's YouTube client for S60 has had very patchy availability recently. The official version on m.google.com was 2.2.17, while the version on the Ovi Store varied from 2.2.21 to 2.2.29, depending on which device you were downloading it for. Version 2.2.30 has now popped up on m.google.com for most devices. There are no feature additions that I can see and there's still no explicit N97 version on the web (though 2.2.29 is available for the N97 on the Ovi Store), but completists may want to install it anyway. Phew! Wish Google would just maintain the one version/SIS file... (via Mauku)
Video: Symbian's journey to EPL
Continuing our coverage of Symbian EPL news we offer this video were we talk to Chris Davidson, a Program Manager at the Symbian Foundation, about the journey to EPL. Chris talks about the processes involved in the transition, some of the challenges and the opportunities for device manufacturers and developers. We've also added an extra bonus video where Chris explains the #symbiancountdown and the story behind it.
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