I'm not a lover of cute and cuddly image filters, Instagram-style, as many of you know - why bring the mighty cameras of today's smartphones down to 2003 levels of quality and resolution? However, PhotoFunia promises to work and act differently - the idea here is to take a photographed face and do 'interesting' composites with it, with the heavyweight processing working server-side. Nice idea, with fun results, but don't go looking for anything of useable quality.
Predating NFC in mainstream use by a year or two, and with some definite areas of overlap, QR codes still haven't taken off fully, I'd argue. You don't see them on every shop window, on every publication, even though they're easy to generate and free to present to the world. Regardless of take-up, there will be times when you want your Symbian smartphone to read both QR codes and the older, linear barcodes - so what software is currently available to read these and how well do all the titles work?
The balance between an application simply being an on-device advert and being genuinely useful is often a hard one to strike, but AA Breakdown & Traffic has got it slap, bang on right. Holding your details, providing an obvious action to take in the event of a breakdown and advising on incidents are all part and parcel of this useful little applet... even if you're not actually an AA member.
When it comes to mobile-accessible cloud-synced file backup, Dropbox is usually the name that springs to people’s mind; but it’s by no means the only option. Over the years, SugarSync has earned a loyal following in the Symbian world, thanks to its official application for our so-called dead platform. It supports everything you would want from a SugarSync mobile client, but are the pros and cons of the platform compared to other backup services right for you?
Somewhat bizarrely being yet another application with two names (also filed as 'Unwanted Item Remover'), PhotoPatcher is the prolific Oleg Derevenetz's attempt at a photo retouching utility, cloning parts of a photo to replace unwanted detail somewhere else. The interface and general concept is beautifully realised, but ultimately PhotoPatcher cripples itself in terms of output resolution - and that's the only real reason why this application isn't a must-have.
When writers dismiss the depth of the Symbian ecosystem (c.f. iOS), they're usually referring to 'branded' applications - there's certainly no shortage of utilitarian apps to suit most purposes. Scientific calculators being a prime example: there are dozens in the Nokia Store. I've picked a handful here from the latest new releases, but can any of them replace my 1977 Casio?
You know me, Mr Smartphone Photography - and you'll also know that my Nokia N8 takes pretty darned good photos already. But I couldn't resist having a look at Noise Autofix, claiming to process photos on the phone, reducing digital noise and correcting exposure problems. Is it worthwhile on the N8? Heck yes, the results can be stunning. [NB. Review text updated 10th March 2012]
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Just because Quickoffice comes pre-installed on Symbian doesn’t automatically make it the best mobile office software. That’s the position taken by the Scottish software house, Picsel, with its Smart Office suite. It’s a favourite among many users for its impressive PDF rendering ability, but how does the rest of the suite stack up against Quickoffice’s free and paid for offerings? Find out in our review as we put not just one, but two versions of Smart Office to the test – version 1.8 for Symbian Anna, and version 2.0 for Nokia Belle!
Guitar playing and fiddling with tech seem to go hand in hand, judging from the number of fellow strummers I've come across. Many worse than me and a greater number a lot better. But we all have to tune our guitars every time we get the 'ol six string (or in my case the 12-string) out - which is why there's a booming cottage industry on every mobile platform in guitar tuning aids of every type. Here's a free option for Symbian....
Way back in the last decade, around 2003 or 2004, with a creative four year old daughter who was just taking her first steps on one of my PCs, I discovered a wonderful application, Electronic Colouring Book, an old DOS application, I believe, which kept her happy for ages. Rather than requiring super-precise mouse skills for proper computer artwork, the idea was to present line drawings and have the painter pick which colour to fill each enclosed section with. Worked a treat, and now today's four year olds can do the same with their parent's Symbian smartphone, thanks to Coloring Fun.
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