I'm sure some of you will be wondering about the software supplied by Samsung for the i8510 CD - it turns out it's a tweaked version of Nokia PC Suite. There are several things worth noting though, so I sat down to grab screenshots and give you a quick walkthrough of PC Studio - Samsung's way.
Just another quick note from Nick Anstee that the N96 has now been added to Nokia's Mac support site, meaning that Multimedia Transfer and iSync are now a reality for Mac-owning N96 purchasers.
Whoa. Some UIQ 3 news? I'm stunned. It's good news too, with the remote TV/video-watching solution SlingPlayer now available for all UIQ 3-based smartphones. You'll have to buy a SlingBox too, of course... (via MIR) Anyone out there got the kit and inclination to find out how well it works?
Every S60 3rd edition handset will now be able to run the Mail for Exchange application, Nokia have announced. That's a total of 43 handsets,across the Nseries, Eseries and regular S60 range. With MS-Exchange a popular corporate mail and syncing solution, removing the software barriers to any S60 device being able to run this application is a sensible move, and should help in a number of markets, including the USA. Read the full story for a video discussing the news.
Today, in an online event, Nokia summarised and demonstrated its recent additions to the Ovi.com service offering: Ovi Suite - a PC software offering media management and phone sync, Files on Ovi - an online file storage and remote access to PC files, and Ovi Sync - a service which syncs contacts, calendar events and notes to Ovi.com. Read on for more details.
Our daughter site, All About N-Gage (AAN), has launched a new section: Unofficial Games. It is a listing of some of the best stand alone S60 games. Each entry has a brief description, download link, and, in most cases, link to an in depth review. Don't forget, you can also find all sorts of in-depth N-Gage focused content in the other sections of AAN.
Hotelzon, a corporate hotel online booking company, has launched a native S60 search and booking tool, Hotelzon Mobile, with GPS integration. All very swish, and well implemented, if a little over the top for something with less than 300 UK hotels in its portfolio. Still, a good effort, and a pointer, for others, as to the way things should be done in the future. Screenshots and links below.
Theme supremo PiZero just launched what he calls his 'Premium' theme pack. All gorgeously understated and 100% SVG, so as to scale onto any device, I set Ewan to try them all out and deliver a verdict as to whether they're worth paying for. Although he sits on the fence slightly, he's sorely tempted and ends up recommending them. And at only ten Euros, for many of us is it not also a good way of saying thanks to PiZero for all the free themes over the last 2 years?
Salling software has announced the release of Salling Media Sync. The software allows you to sync playlists, songs and podcasts from iTunes to Nokia and Sony Ericsson mobile phones. Salling Media Sync is available for both Mac OS X and Windows PC. The basic version is free, the premium version, which costs 15 EUR, adds sequential intelligent sync (only new or changed files after first sync).
In All About Symbian Insight #38 (AAS Podcast #91) Rafe and Steve chat about where the Nokia N96 lines up, firmware updates to the Nokia N95 and N95 8GB, look forward to Comes with Music announcements and touch on Symbian's Q2 results. The main part of the insight covers the newly released Samsung I8510 and our first impressions of its 8 megapixel camera.
TapRoot Systems have announced the general availability of WalkingHotSpot. Similar in nature to JoikuSpot, this app will take a Wi-Fi enabled Symbian smartphone and turn it into a 'mobile' Hot Spot for other devices to connect through and get on-line. WalkingHotSpot is available for a seven day free trial, before switching to a monthly subscription of $7 (or $25 for 12 months).
Several sites are reporting that a BBC iPlayer application will soon be available for the Nokia N96. Some N96's will ship with the application preloaded, but it will also be available for download from the BBC website. The application will support both the downloading and streaming of BBC TV and radio programmes. Read on for more.
Some folks are gonna love this. Others will hate it. But Handy Shell is coming, taking over the whole S60 standby/menu/control key schema and making it remeniscent of a Windows Mobile home screenadding new functionality. Ricky Cadden's been playing with the Handy Shell beta and you'll find his thoughts and screenshots right here.
Shazam have been at the music recognition game for a while - and we look here at the native S60 version of their flagship Shazam ID utility, which samples music snatches from the radio and then lets you know where it's from. Ewan's been trying to catch it out but ended up quite impressed.
...In which I am impressed by a couple of examples of superbly 'joined-up' applications from the iPhone world. Can the Symbian ecosystem compete? What advantages does the iPhone have to help the creation of joined-up apps and is there hope for similar software for S60 users? Comments welcome - can you think of any similarly impressive Symbian examples?
