Yep, it's all in the latest All About Symbian Insight podcast, number 25. Specifically, we look at the Asus M930 vs the Nokia E90, the Cost of SMS and a discussion around messaging costs, Maps on Ovi, Nokia's new Music PC application, and some top software picks.
In this feature article on location based search services and software (also known as searching the world around you) Steve gives a round up, with real world examples, of the current state of the market. With options from Nokia, Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Yell he asks what software or service options performs best? Read on to find out.
Nimbuzz, the all-in-one communication software which we mentioned a few weeks ago, has now formally launched. In addition to its own network, Nimbuzz supports instant messaging and voice calls for Skype, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM and Jabber. Recent additions include support for true VoIP when making voice calls on S60 devices. The functionality is used when you use NimBuzz to make a voice call to one of your IM contacts. Read on for screens and more.
For UIQ 3 users who fancied using the alternative contact manager DreamConnect 3 (see our review here), there's a new version available (3.60) which adds extra touch support, plus feature and performance enhancements which make the already intuitive DreamConnect 3 even more user-friendly. Read on for more info and screens.
GooSync's beta test for full Contacts sync through to Google Contacts just went live. It's a closed beta, so please don't email me for extra links or privileges. Below, I've tried to illustrate how it all works and some of the implications of syncing with the big G. The beta test, if the Tasks beta was anything to go by, should last a month or so.
If you're a retro fan, you'll be pleased to know that Krisse has done a huge update of our feature on emulators for S60 3rd Edition devices (and quite a few of them work on UIQ3 too). If you're hankering after having a Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC, NES, SNES, ColecoVision, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Game Gear or MAME arcade machine in your pocket... you've come to the right place.
Nokia Music PC Client is now available in early beta form from the Nokia Beta Labs website. The application is designed to help you manage your music collection on your PC and then transfer it your mobile device. The software has been designed with mobile users in mind and includes the ability to directly rip a CD to a mobile device, to easily sideload music from a PC and to use bi-directional playlists and music sync.
Opera has formally updated Opera Mini, the proxy-based web browser, to version 4.1. With a speed increase compared to v4.0, and the addition of URL completion and the saving of web pages, the little browser that lets the server at the end of the connection do all the heavy lifting continues to improve in leaps and bounds. While the built in browsers on S60 handsets have significantly improved over the years, Opera Mini, while targetted at lower-powered phones, still packs a feature set that makes it a contender.
Yesterday at Where 2.0, Nokia announced Maps on Ovi, a Web component designed to to complement Nokia Maps 2.0. As part of the Ovi brand, Maps on Ovi will allow users to plan their trips on their desktop and then synchronize (automatically or manually) it with their smartphones. Conversely, if you're already out on the road, you can record routes and points of interest on your handset and then upload them to the Ovi service when you return home to share with family and friends. More details and a screenshot below. Comments welcome!
It's... Insight number 24, aka AAS audio podcast 73, in which the usual team discuss the news of the week, including N-Gage and Nokia Communication Center (sic), three new S60 3rd Edition smartphones (black N82, Samsung i450, Nokia 6122c) and we introduce the idea and state of play in the world of Location Based Search.
Guest writer Arjen Broeze has been trialling the new Route 66 Mobile 8 for over a month now and here's his very detailed review. The only real problem seems to be over-stubborn clinging to originally-calculated routes - apart from that Arjen gives this sat-nav solution a green light on all fronts. I was sceptical about the way search matches are still shown in alphabetical order, but Arjen argues that the search match filtering is good enough to do without location-sorted results.
It's always interesting to see what real world uses people find for their smartphones and which software they zero in on. In this post, Mark Guim discusses his use of Mobipocket Reader, Quickoffice and GooSync in his studies at college.
CoreCodec just announced the availability of version 1.24 of its CorePlayer Mobile for all platforms including S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3. The YouTube support might not be interesting for some S60 3rd Edition users but for the UIQ 3 community, it is the icing on the cake because for the first time, FLV videos can be played on UIQ 3 smartphones without conversion. See below for UIQ 3 screenshots, links and comments.
Master theme maker PiZero has made all his 'premium' themes available at half price until the end of May. Paying for themes may sound a bit odd when most other themes are free, but having tried some of these, I can testify that they're very high quality, being fast, RAM-efficient and 100% SVG-based, so they'll work on anything. Err.... advert over!
I guess this had to come, given that Nokia's Sports Tracker already contained an accelerometer-driven pedometer. But as Sports Tracker has widened its scope, there's room for a cut-down little brother, Step Counter. From the Step Counter page: "It determines the distance you have covered and your energy expenditure. You can even compare your activity levels on different days by looking up the summaries stored in a handy diary."
