AAS friend Asri al-Baker has been first out of the blocks with an opinion on the new OfficeSuite for Series 60. Watch the slow server, though.... I'll step up to the plate with an official AAS review in a couple of weeks when they've shaken out the initial bugs!
Steve's been reviewing BePlumbed, a clone of the classic Pipemania for S60, and comes away rather impressed by the gameplay and desperately hoping noone calls him mid-game...
Balancing the needs of high resolution, for later printing, and low/mid resolution and quality, for photo-blogging over an expensive GPRS connection, has always been a real head scratcher. Steve's been reviewing a new utility, PhotoFix, which claims to solve the problem once and for all.
PhoneScoop have put up a news piece delving into the FCC database, revealing a stripped down Nokia E61, dubbed the E62, without 3G/Wi-Fi or Pop-Port (mini USB instead). The phone operate on the 850/1900 GSM bands and appears to be aimed at the US market. External photos available here, and the manual here.
With lots of new software being announced every day, it's easy to miss something. Freeware remains a favourite, so here is my latest roundup of some of the S60 freeware released in the last fortnight. Read on...
Nokia's still-unavailable N91 and Sony Ericsson's recent W950i have a new smartphone competitor in the WinMob-powered Samsung i310, just announced, with (wait for it) a 8GB hard disk. The world's gone mad....
Steve Litchfield whips out the photographic proof from his multimedia smartphone round-up from a month or so ago, including direct comparison of the output from the Nokia N90 and N70, plus two top smartphones from the WinMob world...
After much, er.... discussion, SymbianWare (now rebranding itself as Rock Your Mobile) SmartphoneWare have sorted themselves out and divided up the portfolio of former SymbianWare products. See here for the full list of products and support details.
Some quick links for weekend surfers. AAS's Ewan Spence is off on a mad three week trip around the USA, podcasting as he goes on all matters techy. Follow his progress on his blog. Also, several more new entries on my definitive S60 freeware directory, happy downloading. Finally, there's a new Carnival of the Mobilists, to get you thinking...
MobiSystems has announced the availability of OfficeSuite for S60 which allows for the viewing and editing on Word and Excel documents on your phone. Features of interest include reading and writing Word and Excel formats, spell checking, support for the RTF and CSV document format (which should be good for non Word users), support for undo / redo operations and support for embedded images and tables.
The Nokia E61 has been approved by the FCC bringing the first QWERTY keyboard equipped S60 device one step closer to the market. Inidcations are that it should be available by the end of the month, though operator availability may take longer. The devices looks set to make an appearance in most major markets via various carriers. Read on for some highlights from the user manual.
Microsoft has joined the group of industry leaders (including Nokia, Intel, Motorola and TI) in formally backing DVB-H, the already-favourite digital TV standard for smartphones, reports Engadget. You may remember Nokia has been a champion of DVB-H for ages, including trials on their 7710 smartphone in the UK, and with the N92 to come this summer.
Mobipocket Pro is now available for free (the standard version no longer exists). The Pro version includes extra features such as auto scrolling and configurable text-orientation. You can download the latest version from the Mobipocket web site. Also of interest is the new beta version (5.2) of Mobipocket Reader Desktop which changes the way the eNews system works (becoming effectively an offline RSS reader for mobile devices) as well as being a comprehensive system for managing and transfering eBooks to your mobile device.
There's another Google beta on the streets for all smartphones. Google News Mobile brings together all the mobile-friendly news sources from the main Google News desktop site, but in your smartphone's browser.