All About Symbian - UIQ News

The Smartphones Show take on the MOTO Z10

Smartphones Show 62 is now up, with a hands-on review of the UIQ 3-powered MOTO Z10, plus my Top 5 (Smart)Phones for mid-2008 - a personal choice, with reasons!

Files on Ovi now available in beta

Files on Ovi, which provides access to files on remote computers, is the latest Ovi service and is now available in beta form. After installing a software 'connector' on your PC you can then access files on your computer from any web enabled device (e.g. another PC or your phone). Files on Ovi is the results of last year's acquisition of Avevnu by Nokia.

Process Explorer hits for UIQ3

Cellphonesoft, those brilliant UIQ 3 developers, strike again with the release of Process Explorer, for all UIQ 3 smartphones (including the new SE G900 and Moto Z10). It's a utility to list all programs running on the phone, including server processes that (normally) run invisibly in the background and are not shown by task managers. And Process Explorer gives users the ability to terminate unwanted processes (ouch!!!). Screenshot after the jump.

The AAS Insight #31 - Here Comes The Symbian Foundation

There was always going to be one big topic for in-depth discussion in the latest AAS Insight Podcast - the announcement of the Symbian Foundation. Rafe and Steve are joined by Stefan and Ewan to talk over the ground-breaking news, and shoot a bit of Midnight Pool into the bargain.

Motorola MOTO Z10 - Form and function get a qualified thumbs up

The Motorola MOTO Z10 represents a very different side of UIQ 3 (and Symbian) to the more familiar devices from Sony Ericsson. In his inimitable style, and in part 1 of our full review, Ewan looks at the Z10's form and general design, finding quite a bit to like in the process. Future review parts will cover built-in software, media handling and camera functions.

The Commoditisation of the Smartphone

Something we've heard and talked about over and over again recently is that Nokia and others have all recognised that the future belongs to 'services and software' and that the hardware has become 'a commodity'. This is all a bit jargonistic and in this feature Steve explains these phrases in plain english from the point of view of the consumer.

AAS Podcast #82: David Wood (Symbian EVP) on the Symbian Foundation

In another of our regular podcast interviews, Ewan Spence talks to David Wood, EVP Symbian, on some of the finer details on the Symbian Foundation. Launched ten years to the day after the announcement of Symbian, Wood discusses a number of issues around the new strategy of the Symbian partners.

Insight 30 - E71, E66, Z10 and more...

As Ewan puts it, it's another madcap show - All About Symbian Insight number 30 right here, in which we talk about Missing Sync for Symbian, the launch of the Nokia E71 and E66, plus first thoughts on the Motorola MOTO Z10. Note that this show was recorded last Thursday and so predates Tuesday's Symbian announcements - we'll bring you audio content to do with this very shortly.

UIQ Announce Plans To Layoff 200 Employees

In the wake of today's news of the Symbian Foundation being set up, UI company UIQ have announced plans to layoff of 200 employees (reports BLT.se). Currently the majority of the 375 staff are employed in the Ronneby offices, with the balance of staff in two foreign offices in London and Budapest. These offices will probably close. Further details will be announced by UIQ this afternoon.

Symbian Foundation Says "Open Source Over The Next Two Years"

The Symbian Foundation website is now online, and carries a few more details on the project. The big news is the commitment to move the platform to be open source (using the Eclipse Public Licence) and have this freely available to all. The foundation itself is set to commence operations in the first half of 2009, and the annual membership fee will be $1500. Until the open sourcing, membership will be the route to obtain the platform royalty free for device manufacturers. Naturally, membership is not required to develop for the platform, that remains open to all, just as it is now.

Symbian Foundation to be created

The future of Symbian is the the Symbian Foundation. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and NTT DOCOMO have announced their intent to unite Symbian OS, S60, UIQ and MOAP to create one open mobile software platform. Partnering together with AT&T, LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone they plan to establish the Symbian Foundation to extend the appeal of this unified software platform. The platform will be provided under a royalty-free license to all members of the Symbian Foundation.

This moves sees a re-unification of the Symbian OS UIs (S60, UIQ and MOAP-S). While the new platform will use elements of all three UIs the core technology will be derived from S60. A key intention is to provide a complete, consistent and compatible open software platform. More details below.

Gomoku surfaces for UIQ 3

Originally written back in March as an exercise project for the Symbian Academy, Gomoku, also known as "Connect Five" or "Pente", is now available for free to anyone with a UIQ 3 smartphone - with full source code if you're that way inclined. The game offers a rather challenging AI to play against - in addition to a mode to play against another human opponent on the same device.

From Freecell to Klondike via Clock

Surely one of the most popular game genres in the mobile world is that of solitaire collections - Astraware Solitaire is the very latest and looks to be comprehensive and slick. Ewan's been reviewing the S60 3rd Edition version, but it looks exactly the same under UIQ 3 for all those of you with compatible phones, and I've included try/buy links for both platforms.

Up close and personal with the MOTO Z10

Yup, at long last the Motorola Z10 is in the house and here's the first fruits: a hands-on Gallery for this camera/camcorder-focussed UIQ 3 smartphone. I'll be shooting my video review for the Smartphones Show and then this is going to Ewan for an in-depth review: is the Z10 too late to make a splash in the smartphone market? The hardware's certainly of high quality, as you can see in the MOTO Z10 gallery itself.

Digia @Web first beta available

This new Webkit-based internet browser for UIQ 3 is now available for download from the developer's official web site (free registration required). Digia @Web is bringing a new level of web experience to UIQ 3 as the first finger-optimised web-browser for the platform. More information and screenshots after the break.