Ewokki on the AAS Forums has pointed me to his MIDP based winamp controlling software for the Nokia Communicators. Winamp Remote controls the MP3 playback application on your PC, while Winamp Remote Search allows you to look through your PC and build playlists and find tracks to load into Winamp's playlist. Still in beta, so you'll need to roll your sleeves up, but it looks to be worth it.
Steve reviews The Harpsichord Riddle, a photo-realistic scene-based adventure game around a musical theme. Don't expect Zork 2, but it's definitely worth the small registration fee.
With new UI features, sorting data in spreadsheets, bullets and numbering in Word documents, edit, insert and delete tables, and more support for external Bluetooth keyboards, Dataviz' Documents To Go UIQ has recieved a further update, and is available in the AAS Store now.
The N-Gage Arena sometimes has some massive holes in its gameplay - David Galbraith looks at one of the latest titles, 'One', and wonders why some things don't add up.
Futuremark has announced the new SPMarkJava06 benchmark for evaluating handheld devices performance in running Java applications. The benchmark includes test for the latest Java functionality (MIDP 2, CLDC 1.1, JSR 184). Read on for a quick overview and results from several Symbian devices.
Now up to v1.15, Domi Hugo's essential Series 60 file manager continues to blaze a trail for freeware applications. Changes in this version include better cursor control, more error checking for free RAM, progress bars and improvements to the hex editor. Download available at www.gosymbian.com.
Steve's been busy on some OPL applications again (that'll be the 'rapid' in rapid application developement), and has brought his Lifeguide app over to Series 80 - it's a freeware bible-based guide to 'life' based on the sections you usually find in the front of Gideon hotel bibles.
Only launched a couple of days ago, Steve snatched the review copy of Virtual Pool Mobile out of Ewan's jet-lagged hands and has been up all night trying to beat the pool hall bosses. Here's the full review. Summary: great physics, this is as real as it gets, though more work is needed on the sound effects.
Ever so quietly, Nokia has upgraded and updated its (free and fabulous) Mobile Search tool for all Nokia S60 smartphones from the 6630 onwards. The new version is 1.2.a and can be downloaded here. If you haven't heard of the tool before, see also Rafe's detailed analysis and in-depth test.
While off exploring the Brave New World himself, Ewan's had time to fire in this enthusiastic review of Settlers of Catan, an N-Gage conversion of a cult strategy board game. Summary: steep learning curve, but totally worth it.
Wolfstein 3D and Spear of Destiny for Series 60 enable you to play these classic games from the past on your phone. The game data files, as for Doom for Series 60, are also required as the SDL port consists only of the game engine.
Nokia has now shipped Asphalt: Urban GT 2, the sequel to the fantasy racing game, and Pathway to Glory Ikusa Islands, both on the N-Gage platform. Fans of Asphalt can also try before they buy, with a free downloadable demo available from the N-Gage Arena. PtG Ikusa Islands also has it's own new dedicated section on the Pathway to Glory mini-site.
As part of a new series in brief tutorials, Rafe's penned this how-to showing you how Mass Storage Synchronizer can be used to copy music from iTunes to a memory card (which you can then put in your Symbian smartphone).
Keeping track of Nokia's Open Source projects is a new site, opensource.nokia.com. It provides a single jumping off point for projects such as the new S60 browser, the Maemo Table Linux OS and S60 Python to name a few. Worth bookmarking if you're a developer.
Utilising the open-source WebCore and JavaScriptCore components from Apple's Safari browser (which itself s derived from the KDE Konqueror browser), Nokia will ship this new web browser to licencees of version 3 of the Series 60 platform. The full press release also notes that it will support RSS feeds, have a significant number of open API's for developers, and allow plug-ins such as FlashLite.
