Red Five Labs have announced a Community Technology Preview of their .NET Compact Framework for Symbian OS. Aimed at developers it allows mobile applications targeting (written using) Microsoft's .NET Compact Framework 1.0 to run unchanged on Symbian OS. The preview version is for S60 2nd Edition, but other versions will be supported in later releases. More information is available on the Red Five Labs website and blog.
There's a new version of Nokia's PC Suite on the streets (thanks Darla). PC Suite v6.82 includes more network operator support, bug fixes, an improved Nokia Music Manager and Nokia Software Updater integration.
Helping prove that their business ambitions at least are getting somewhere in the USA, Nokia's Enterprise Solutions group has received the 2007 Frost and Sullivan North American Mobility Award for Mobile Device Management. The press release follows.
With a slew of games appearing in the last few weeks for Symbian OS smartphones, I've been trying out Arcade Park for UIQ 3. Summary? A mixed bag, but good for a quick diversion and certainly worth the $12 the developers are asking.
Announced around six months ago, the Nokia N73 Music Edition is finally becoming available. What's new for this revamp of the popular high street best seller and is the whole Music Edition thing worthwhile? Read my review of the N73 Music Edition to find out.
Ikona, one of the big cheeses over at the N-Gage Arena, posted to the N-Gage Blog recently about an unannounced (first party?) game codenamed Project White Rock for Nokia's next gen gaming platform. Details were scarce, but it's being produced by Scott Foe, who produced the N-Gage's biggest hit Pocket Kingdom (which was the world's first mobile MMO). White Rock also appears to involve RedLynx, the Finnish developers who produced the N-Gage's most critically acclaimed game, Pathway To Glory, and another acclaimed title called High Seize. Ikona hinted that White Rock might be released for the PC as well as N-Gage.
Danish website Mobilsiden.dk has a video interview (in English) with the designers of the Nokia 5500, Rachel Sleight and Marja-Leena Nurmela. Product designers rarely explain their decisions in public, and it's interesting to hear the philosophies behind the 5500's design and materials. The interview is split into short chunks for some reason, but they're all on the same page one below the other.
Attempting to analyse the smartphone market, from HTC's diminutive Star Trek design to Nokia's all-embracing E90 communicator, was never going to be easy. I've had a crack at it, with the help of a few coloured pens - are we getting enough smartphone bang for our buck?
My Opera, one of the first proto-blogging systems, has now been extended to work well with both Opera Mini and Opera Mobile, enabling text and photo blogging directly from your mobile browser. Extra support includes chat groups and widget management. Opera's press release is below.
Nokia has released details of a 'realignment of its North America sales and marketing organization'. Which, as far as I can see, basically means moving all its staff to New York. I see Stefan has a similarly sceptical view on the announcement...
Nokia has announced that Nokia Software Update is now available from many Nokia local support web pages and that it's also now available in almost 40 languages. So far, over three quarters of a million people have updated their Nokia smartphone using the service. Kudos to their NSU team. Read on for the Nokia press release.
