Forum Nokia has annouced details of the Designed for S60 Devices Logo program for Developers. The program features a logo that developers can use in their application marketing. For end users the logo shows the application is designed for S60 and that the application provider will tell you which devices the application will run on.
The Nokia N series includes smartphones that have the potential to replace yet another home gadget - the camcorder. Steve Litchfield muses on the current abilities and where the technology will undoubtedly go.
Six Apart, the blogging software and service provider, has acquired SplashBlog. Six Apart have acquired the technology and development team including John Chaffee. Chaffee will lead the mobile group at Six Apart and will be responsible for integrating the SplashBlog wireless sync protocols and mobile technologies into the Six Apart product line.
Yet another neat Internet-hosted idea that fully supports Series 60 smartphones - Orb lets you view your pictures, videos and Media Center TV channels, from your smartphone, anywhere in the world. But yet again, it's only practical on an unlimited data plan. Sigh....
JJL Software have changed the license on all their software to freeware which means there are no less than six newcomers to the S60 freeware scene, including Message Saver and Today View. Thanks to Cyke64 for the heads-up.
Perhaps stung by criticism of the slow frame rate of previous versions, Lonely Cat Games has released a whole new generation of SmartMovie for all Symbian-based devices, with a new MPEG-4 codec and claims of far better performance, up to 25 frames per second in some cases.
Smartphones Show 6 is now live, although from a Symbian point of view, the content's more limited than normal, as all the really interesting hardware has been on Nokia and Sony Ericsson's 3GSM and CeBIT stands! Still, hopefully interesting watching; quite a bit of the CeBIT hardware should make it into Show 7...
Here's the official All About Symbian review of Symbian's "How Smartphones Work" book. Warning: the title's accurate, but it's not quite about what you think it's about...
The eagle eyed among you may have spotted that we reviewed Best Desk a while back, when it first appeared. It has now been updated and so has our review. Summary: still a cool way to take in your pre-6680 smartphone at a single glance.
In an open letter to developers, Steve Litchfield muses on the unique requirements of software on the smartphone (compared to the limited restrictions when run on a standalone PDA). Nobody ever said this would be easy, but hard work will reap rewards.
Darla's got her ears peeled today, spotting that ROK TV has relaunched itself for all and sundry (provided your S60 device is compatible). Good and impressive stuff, but note that my ROK TV review also contained warnings over the GPRS bandwidth that you'll need! I'm also planning a whole feature on 'TV on your smartphone' for late next week...
The first version of EMP-compiler has been released, which is based on the prototype of the EMP-language. EMP-language is a new easy-to-use programming language for developing independent Symbian OS applications. Currently it can be used for creating simple applications such as simple games with bmp-graphics for Series 60 1st edition.
Nokia today announced the AD-42W Audio Gateway which allows you to stream music wirelessly (using Bluetooth) between compatible devices. The device plugs into the back of a stereo/HiFi using standard audio cables and enables audio in and out via the A2DP Bluetooth profile. It has two usage modes, either to listen to music stored on your future smartphone via your HiFi or to listen to music from your HiFi with a stereo Bluetooth headset.
Thanks to Darla, who reports that Nokia's released the next generation of their Lifeblog shareware suite for PCs, with a new N-series-designed mobile client available by the end of April. New features include support for audio notes and intelligent 'tagging' where information from your calendar is used to add context to your Lifeblog items.
