Users of the popoular content sharing service, Pixelpipe, may have noticed the absence from the Ovi Store recently. While Pixelpipe has been active (e.g. the Gmail Apps Browser), their blog hasn't been updated for over a year. There has been no announcement about the fate of their popular sharing app via their Twitter account either. Fortunately, Pixelpipe has answered direct queries, which have revealed the status of their "Send and Share" application. Read on for more details.
This may seem like something you kind of knew already, but just in case... the mass of 'official' Anna themes appearing regularly in the Ovi Store (i.e. with all the new icons, animations, background and transitions) also work fine with many of the older S60 3rd Edition (i.e. non-touch-driven) smartphones. See below for an example.
You'll remember I found GPS Toolbox a useful little utility for looking at what the GPS receiver in my smartphone was actually doing? Well, here's GPS Info Qt, a free replacement that does much the same thing, but with the advantage that you don't have to dip into your pocket. Plus it's implemented (as the name suggests) in Qt and not Java. Screens and some comment below.
Google Plus is the latest addition to the ranks of social networks. Unsurprisingly, Android was the first platform to be catered for with an application, followed recently by iOS. As you might expect, there is no sign of a Symbian application. Just as with other Google services, there are several HTML versions for mobile devices, provided you know the right URL. Asri Al-Baker, our friend from i-Symbian.com, has come to the rescue with a web runtime widget for the HTML5 mobile version of Google Plus. This widget provides an attractive icon which will always launch the correct URL. So now we can at least pretend that Google loves us! Read on for more.
The latest addition to Gameloft's Asphalt series of racing games has been added to Nokia's Ovi Store for most Symbian^3 devices. Asphalt 6 Adrenaline HD, which weighs in at 305MB, is an arcade style racer with impressive cut-scenes, gameplay graphics, backing music and sound effects. Also new from Gameloft is Dungeon Hunter 2 HD, a continuation of the 3D RPG series set in the fantasy world of Gothicus.
An update to the Ovi Store client for Symbian^3 phones is now being rolled out. On starting the Ovi Store application you will be prompted to update to version 2.12.033. The previous major release was version 2.08.042. The focus in this release is performance improvements, with item and index pages loading more quickly than in earlier releases.
Announced today is Facebook for Every Phone, an application that promises to allow access to the social network for over 2500 different mobile phone devices. Now available as a free download (direct from Facebook, as well as a number of App Stores, including Getjar), it includes your news feed, messaging and photo uploads. A number of international carriers will provide free data for this application for 90 days, making it attractive for people to try it out.
Nokia Live View, an augmented reality browser, has been released by Nokia Beta Labs for Symbian^3 devices. It works as an add-on for Ovi Maps, giving a new way to search for and explore Places around you. Place icons, drawn from the Ovi Maps database, are overlaid on a 'live view' (from the camera) to represent their physical location, providing a connection between the digital and physical world. As you pan the phone around, the live view changes and new places appear.
An updated version of the the Symbian Design Guidelines, recently published on Nokia Developer, shows the future look and style of the Symbian UI, which is scheduled to be delivered as part of the next Symbian update. The update, which is likely to be called Symbian Belle, offers one of the biggest visual changes in Symbian's history (for AVKON UI at least), although, in UI terms, it is more of an evolution than a revolution.
Thanks to Yash for the heads-up that Nokia has added the much-respected Joikuspot Premium to its 'Gift' section in the Ovi Store for some S60 3rd Edition phones, the E52, E55 and E72. Screenshot proof below - essentially, Joikuspot Premium turns your phone into a full Wifi-tethering solution for hooking up your tablet and laptop. The usually free 'Lite' version is restricted to just 'http' traffic (i.e. web browsing), so it's great to see this full solution, also without cost.
A new beta version of Nokia Maps, 3.08, has been released through Nokia Beta Labs, which brings a number of changes to the Drive (car navigation) functionality of the application. The most important of these is the ability to use live traffic information to automatically route you around traffic jams and other delays. There's also a new look and feel to the user interface (including a "Just drive" mode), the ability to set a contact as a destination and an easier to use Settings menu. The new beta also marks the brand switch from the Ovi Maps to Nokia Maps.
Not a big enough application to warrant a full review, but I still wanted to highlight GPS Toolbox as a cheap utility that satisfies a very specific need: looking under the hood at what your Symbian^3 smartphone's GPS is doing. How good or bad is your satellite lock and where exactly are you in terms of latitude and longitude?
Yesterday Nokia released Qt Quick components 1.0 for Symbian, a UI component (widget) set for Qt Quick application developers and designers. The set provides a ready made set of QML based UI building blocks, that are designed to have the same look and feel as the standard (native) UI. The 40+ components cover the major UI elements including toolbars, buttons, sliders, lists, dialogs and many more.
Having recently started updating the browsers and Maps of many older devices, running S60 3rd Edition and S60 5th Edition, Nokia has now released a performance update across the board for the Ovi Store client for all (most?) pre-Symbian^3 smartphones. Version 1.12(5) is an optional (rather than mandatory) update and replaces v1.10 in most cases. There's no official changelog yet, but I did see noticeably snappier performance on my test devices.
Another week, another experimental application from Nokia Beta Labs. Nokia 3D World Gaze looks very interesting and innovative. Available initially for just the Nokia E7 and N8, it offers a look through the 'transparent' globe around you, at maps and photos. Some quotes below, see also the download page, available after signing into Beta Labs.
