Remembering Michael Mace's excellent generic positioning (in the handheld industry) diagram from last year, I wondered where the current and upcoming crop of Symbian OS-powered hardware might sit in his Entertainment/Communications/Information chart. Comments are welcome as always.
With 3GSM now subsiding, there's time to update my huge S60 device comparison table. If you can help fill in the few remaining blanks... There's also a new table of S60 3rd Edition freeware (previously integrated with that for older 'Series 60'). Enjoy.
Worth noting that the Python rapid app development system for S60 has been updated again, it's now up to v1.3.18. Anyone know if they've fixed the text display bug yet though?
Nokia's free Smart2Go maps and routing service for S60 and Windows Mobile smartphones has finally gone live, only 3 days late and it would be churlish to complain too much. There will be a review along fairly shortly, I'd expect, once any of the AAS team get a chance to draw breath...
SanDisk, the most respected manufacturer or add-on flash memory for smartphones and handhelds, has just announced the first 4GB microSD card (staggering, if you've seen the size of microSD media) and has also announced the first multi-adapter SD kit, the likes of which we'll be seeing more and more of in shops. Details below.
Ewan Spence has been watching the E65's launch today and remarks on similarities to last year's N80. With a certain core feature set now well established, is the E65 all about marketing?
What a busy time (but perhaps an appropriate one) to divulge a mass of stats from the smartphone world. Canalys' latest report shows that 64 million smartphones shipped worldwide in 2006. Symbian's world market share was up to 67%, of which Nokia accounted for 50% and Sony Ericsson 5%.
If you're heading over to 3GSM, perhaps it's not too late to add Symbian's new free utility AmiGO to your S60 smartphone (a UIQ 3 version is 'coming soon' - let's hope it arrives in the next couple of days!). AmiGO offers a map-based guide to bars, clubs, restaurants, plus handy Spanish phrases in audio format, a friend-finder functionality for other AmiGO users, plus news and a prize draw.
In this special feature Steve looks more closely at specific criticisms of the S60 UI and application set. He argues that some of these are answered in S60 3rd Edition's Feature Packs, some are down to user education, but there is still work to be done
Nokia has today announced that they will make their mapping and navigation solution (smart2go) available for free download. Initially available for S60 and Windows Mobile 5 it will later become available for other platforms. It is the same solution that is found in the Nokia N95. Mapping and route planning will be available free, but turn by turn voice navigation will be a premium service. Location is via any Bluetooth GPS. The download will be available from this Saturday.
Nokia has now integrated their long available Internet-based Search utility with the local (i.e. on your device) Search previously only (officially) available with the Nokia E50. Less confusion and more functionality all round. Mobile Search is available for every S60 3rd Edition smartphone. The full press release follows. Update: See comments below before visiting site...
Just as we're about to get our hands on the first 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 devices, Nokia go and announce S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2... In addition to ease-of-development benefits, this comes with "Usability enhancements supporting ease of use in (for example) messaging, multitasking and downloading. Feature Pack 2 also enables instant media playback during downloading and animated notification of inbound calls." More details and actual screenshots are available here on S60.com. The full Nokia press release follows....
Remembering Michael Mace's excellent generic positioning (in the handheld industry) diagram from last year, I wondered where the current and upcoming crop of Symbian OS-powered hardware might sit in his Entertainment/Communications/Information chart. Comments are welcome as always.
Just as we're about to get our hands on the first 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 devices, Nokia go and announce S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2... In addition to ease-of-development benefits, this comes with "Usability enhancements supporting ease of use in (for example) messaging, multitasking and downloading. Feature Pack 2 also enables instant media playback during downloading and animated notification of inbound calls." More details and actual screenshots are available here on S60.com. The full Nokia press release follows....