In a splurge of activity over at Nokia Beta Labs in the last day or so, here's a roundup of news: Nokia Email has graduated from Beta Labs to become Nokia Messaging, though the full announced functionality (e.g. IM) still isn't in place. Nokia Communication Center 2.0 has graduated and is now part of the latest PC Suite (7.1.18). Finally, Enhanced Calculator has been 'archived' and will at some point be reworked and brought into devices - meanwhile you can still grab it as-is if you like.
Image Exchange is here! A new beta application from Nokia, promising to make browsing and sharing images easy and fun is available from the Beta Labs. Image Exchange is more than just an uploader to a service (such as Flickr or Ovi Share), but an experiment in tying the handset gallery and the on-line gallery much closer together. Think of it as one pool of pictures constantly synchronised between your mobile and the web server, reflecting changes and interactions instantly. More information and comment below.
Ewan's back from his travels and takes the time to get set up with third party email app ProfiMail, now into a push-email-like IMAP-ready version 3. With the very nature of email changing and with Nokia's Ovi Message about to hit, is version 3 of ProfiMail still worth stumping up for?
Epocware's Handy Safe is no longer the only secure database with a synced PC version - SBSH just announced SafeWallet Pro, which comes with a 'PC companion'. The launch information and a screenshot are below the break, but your comments welcome if you want to give this a try. Note that SafeWallet Pro is currently on special offer, at $15.
Mac owning S60 fans might like to note that OS 10.5.6 is just out, with one of the highlighted features being 'improved reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices', so if you've been having trouble syncing S60 Contacts using iSync then it's well worth a try updating. Use the Apple menu 'Software update' feature to grab 10.5.6.
Buddycloud, a location aware social networking client with a difference, is now available in native S60 3rd Edition form. The difference is that it's built on open standards, so will chat to anything that talks XMPP, as well as automatically updating your Facebook and Twitter feeds. Location is apparently via a mix of cell towers, Wi-Fi and GPS. Some screenshots are shown below. (Thanks to MIR for the heads-up)
Thanks to master detective Friedbrains, the world has just discovered a little stash of dedicated touch-designed S60 5th Edition software for the 5800 XpressMusic, courtesy of Nokia Hong Kong, including a virtual piano and a virtual guitar, a dice roller and a card memory game. We'll have a 5800 XpressMusic with full production firmware here early next week and will report back further on dedicated touch-enabled apps then (via Symbian Guru)
So PC Suite's working OK on your PC at the moment? Better not rock the boat. But in case you fancy doing just that, or if things have got rocky and you think a fresh install might do the trick, note that there's a new non-beta version of Nokia's PC Suite now available, v7.1, with the previously beta Communication Center product built-in. If you do install, let us know how it looks! (via Symbian Guru)
According to the BBC, their popular iPlayer service is now available for the Nokia N85 (and not just the N96) - they've quoted the URL www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ for N85 owners to go (on their phones) to get the new widget. Comments welcome if you can try this. It's also worth noting that the BBC are looking into releasing iPlayer for other Nokia Nseries devices in the near future, plus two Windows Mobile smartphones and the uber-camera-phone, the Sony Ericsson C905.
Google Maps, their native client for S60 3rd Edition is now out, taking us up to v2.03(0). It's bigger now, at 1.3MB. The main changes are the addition of StreetView, for selected locations (in the USA, France, Italy, Spain, Japan and Australia), walking directions and expanded search and user review features (e.g. at tourist attractions). I've put up lots of screenshots below. To get Google Maps, go to m.google.com on your favourite S60 phone etc.
Yes, so many of us have been playing with the new proxy-based, video-friendly, S60-native browser Skyfire over the last few weeks. It has now gone official though, with links, press release extracts and an official Skyfire FAQ below.
We mentioned the availability of early versions of this a few weeks ago, but Handy Safe Professional Edition has now been formally released for all S60 3rd Edition phones, with a slicker desktop companion application. Features, changelog and links below the break.
Popular IM client deluxe Palringo has had an S60 client for a while, but as of now (v0.97) it's properly Symbian Signed, it's got cell tower location, GPS support and Wi-fi beacon detection built-in, plus a mountain of bugs have been fixed, settings added and the interface has been massively overhauled. Screenshots and download link below the break.
