I'd been hearing some very good things about the new beta client for Jaiku for S60, but the beta was closed and I seemed to have missed the boat. Well, it seems to be fully public and open again. Sign up and grab the free S60 beta of Jaiku here.
Keeping a close eye on the goings on at Smart2Go (now Nokia Maps, to all intents and purposes), it seems that MapLoader 1.1 is now online and is allegedly ten times faster than the old version. But the Maps software itself is still showing only a tiny compatibility list. If you do chance a version on an 'unsupported' handset, do please report back, etc.
The beta of Opera Mini 4 is now available from the Opera website. The new version renders a full page overview from which you can then zoom in to read the page (very reminiscent of S60's browser overview / minimap mode). Other new features include the introduction of a mouse and power scrolling making it easier to move around pages and a quick access context menu. Read on for more and screenshots.
Projekt, the only genuine 'outliner' for Symbian OS, recently hit S60 3rd Edition. Now that it's available for both current Symbian-based platforms, Asri al-Baker reviews the UIQ 3 version of Projekt and shows how it can be used for everything from project management to shopping lists... And in the second part of a UIQ 3 double bill, Asri explains his top 10 wishlist for UIQ 3 - any developers fancy a challenge?
[Updated] Smart2Go, in beta for months, is 'final', or as final as a first version can be. Although we were told that it's not available yet, the Smart2Go web site seems to show it. See the comments below, for example. Listed in the full story are most of the improvements, applicable to both the generic version and the 'Nokia Maps' brand within the N95 and E90. Lots that's new - I've made a few screenshots below...
As predicted last week on AAS, the long-awaited Nokia E90 has finally launched on the 12th/13th of June. The first Nokia E90s have been spotted in stock in various Finnish retailers including the electrical chain Gigantti and the online store Verkkokauppa. Nokia phones often appear in Finland first for obvious reasons, but the E90 should be available sim-free across Europe very soon if not right now. Network Operator locked versions may take some more time to appear however as the operators tend to alter the firmware before releasing a phone. The availability in non-European regions is still unclear.
The split between Nokia's Nseries and Eseries worlds keeps getting that little bit wider, with the release of an Eseries version of PC Suite, following the Nseries version released earlier this week. Presumably the door is now open for specific N or Eseries features to be grafted in.... (Via Darla)
Not content with making Opera Mini 3, the hands-down best way to browse real world sites on a slow GPRS connection, the folks at Opera want beta testers for their newest project, a complete rewrite of Opera Mini to make it faster and richer, code-named Dimension. You can sign up here.
Nokia has today published the support pages for the upcoming E90. Going by past experience, this means the sim-free E90 will probably become available in European shops within the next week or two (many Finnish retailers have guessed at a launch date of 12th June). The release dates for network-locked and non-European markets are less predictable.
Here's another big piece of news. Nokia has finally revealed the second half of its Mac OS connectivity strategy, with the release of Nokia Media Transfer 1.0 beta, adding to the existing iSync plugins with full sync of your iTunes music and videos, and your iPhoto images, to your S60 smartphone. There's full file transfer support too, for adding apps and games. Cool, cool, cool..... (via Tommi)
...that you've all been waiting for. I lost count of the number of people wanting this and have bitten the bullet. Photos, details and opinions are here in my blow-by-blow comparison of the Nokia E61i and Nokia E90.
Krisse takes similarly-pitched Nokia S60 and Series 40 phones through a round-by-round battle to the death - is 'smart' better? - what are the downsides of S60? And what does Krisse think the future holds? As ever, battery life is a key differentiator - as Scotty used to say in Star Trek: 'Ye cannae change the laws of physics!"
Here's another big piece of news. Nokia has finally revealed the second half of its Mac OS connectivity strategy, with the release of Nokia Media Transfer 1.0 beta, adding to the existing iSync plugins with full sync of your iTunes music and videos, and your iPhoto images, to your S60 smartphone. There's full file transfer support too, for adding apps and games. Cool, cool, cool..... (via Tommi)