All About Symbian - S60 News

Spotify music service launches Symbian S60 client

Spotify has arrived on Symbian - the music service du jour is now complementing its Android and iPhone offering with a Symbian S60 client. Available only to premium subscription members (£9.99 a month), the client will let you stream music on request to your handset, or you can download music to listen to when you are offline and out of coverage (ie on the London Underground).

Celebrating the Dozen Best Built Symbian-powered smartphones - ever

Following on from the E52 thread, and in a clarion call for higher build quality among Symbian OS-powered smartphones, I've pooled my own and other people's comments, to produce a Top Dozen Best Built devices. With the current E52, E55 and N97 perhaps near the top of a 'Worst built' list, I think it's fair to say that terrific build quality is something to be cherished in models of all vintages. Read on.

Rita's love hate relationship with the Nokia E52

You've got to love the way Rita el-Khoury splits her reviews into an unusual 'love' and then 'hate' list format. She's been trialling the Nokia E52 and here presents her '6 things she loves' and '6 things she hates'. Some of them I found somewhat shocking - specifically the build quality/light leakage photo.

Ovi Store downloads rise by 70%

Bill Perry, one of the senior services managers for Forum Nokia, has blogged about the Ovi Store and some of the numbers driving the growth. Over 100 devices, in 20 countries, with the N97 and the 5800 being the top devices. The average user has downloaded 8 items and there's been 70% growth in October's downloads compared to September.

Phones Show 95 and PSC 13

Just to let people know that The Phones Show 95 is now live, with the main Symbian interest being in the 'user story' and in the 'top 6 eBay smartphone bargains' - you can watch it here or subscribe via RSS (QVGA/phone version and VGA desktop version). Also, Phones Show Chat, the audio followup show, no. 13 is also now live here. Happy watching/listening!

Swiss Manager Pro launches

CellPhoneSoft, UIQ specialists until a year or so ago, have launched their new flagship title for S60. Swiss Manager Pro 3.0 is a 'task manager, system information tool and file manager in one' (I've pasted the feature list below, along with a screenshot). It also includes a 'memory cleanup function' which sounds interesting. Comments welcome if you've tried this and/or want to review it formally for AAS(!)

Nokia's weekly guide to the best of the N86

Cherry picking Flickr photos taken on a particular phone has been a popular pastime for a while, but Nokia's official 'Conversations' team has been so impressed by results from their N86 on the popular photo-sharing site that they've started a weekly 'best of' roundup. No idea whether the ecosystem will be able to keep up this sort of quality, but check out the first photo set and be prepared to view the N86 in a new light.

Personalising your apps and the mystery of the missing apps

If your smartphone is all about personalisation, why is it that we are left with the manufacturer's default choice of applications in the firmware? Years ago you checked the memory size and radio frequencies, now it's interrogating the firmware load-out. It's a given that no matter what Symbian OS product comes out, there are caveats in the review as to why application (a) was left out while application (b) made the cut. With the example omission of Podcasting from Nokia's recent Eseries smartphones, I've been musing...

AAS Podcast #159: AAS Insight #95 - The Way We Live Next, Q&A

In a longer-than-usual Insight podcast, Rafe, Ewan and Steve cover all things Symbian, including a detailed report from The Way We Live Next, coverage of news from Gartner, Google/AdMob, discussion of Samsung dropping/not dropping Symbian, plus an extended reader/listener Q&A session. Listen here to AAS Insight number 95.

Maps Booster enhances GPS performance in urban areas

Skyhook has launched a plug-in for the Positioning system in S60 phones, dubbed Maps Booster and illustrated/reviewed below. Essentially, Maps Booster hooks into the Location sub-system in Symbian OS and adds WiFi-based location services, especially useful in urban areas, where GPS struggles on account of tall buildings and lack of sky coverage. Read on for more.

Nokia Music (PC Client) now Nokia Ovi Player

Nokia Music (PC Client), Nokia's software for managing and transferring music to Nokia devices, has been renamed Nokia Ovi Player. With the name change comes a small update: there's official support for Windows 7 and the addition of 'Recent' to the navigation/filter tabs (joining the existing Albums, Artists and Genre tabs). Nokia Ovi Player is a relatively resource hungry application, but it does offer a one-stop-solution for managing, buying (from the Nokia Music Store), and importing (burning from CD) music as well as transferring music to MTP compatible mobile devices.

Nokia E52 and E55 gets Firmware Update to v22

Firmware version 22.009.202.01 now available for the Nokia E52. It appears to only be available via NSU, not OTA at this time in the UK, at least. The update most likely consists primairly of bug fixes. For example, there are no noticeable additions like the Podcasting app or Internet radio are present. It may be worth upgrading if you're having problems, but beware - take your backup and restore as the NSU wipes the device clean. Update: of course the E52 should have UDP but just a warning that this one was wiped well and truly back to factory! A similar update is also available for the E55.

Rafe's SEE 2009 walkabout (part 2)

SEE 2009 (Symbian Exchange and Exposium) is Symbian's annual big show. In part 2 of my walkabout video you can join me on a amble around the show floor at SEE 2009. I share my impressions and analysis in an unscripted, one-take, walk and talk. Part 2 covers the remaining stands and concludes with some general thoughts on SEE 2009.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic gets v101 firmware

According to a detailed report by Norman John, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic has been updated from version 100.48.122 firmware to v.101.48.128. There's UDP, so your data is safe, of course, and the update is available over the air.

AAS Insight 94 - Google Mobile Search, Opera 10, Symbian UI

In All About Symbian Insight 94 (AAS Podcast 158), we round up a few loose items from SEE 2009 - the Nokia 6788 and the open sourcing of the EKA2 kernel. Then there's discussion of the official enabling of Ovi Store downloads, live tests of Google voice recognition in its Mobile Search product, thoughts on Opera 10 Mobile for Symbian from Ewan, news of a Symbian UI concept video from Rafe and details of the new version of BBC iPlayer from Steve. You can listen to AAS Insight 94 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.