All About Symbian - News

Utility triumph or UI disaster?

2008-09-05T08:25:46+01:00

Some folks are gonna love this. Others will hate it. But Handy Shell is coming, taking over the whole S60 standby/menu/control key schema and making it remeniscent of a Windows Mobile home screenadding new functionality. Ricky Cadden's been playing with the Handy Shell beta and you'll find his thoughts and screenshots right here.

Catching Shazam ID out

2008-09-05T08:13:11+01:00

Shazam have been at the music recognition game for a while - and they've come up with a native S60 version of their flagship Shazam ID utility, which samples music snatches from the radio and then lets you know where it's from. Ewan's been trying to catch it out but ended up quite impressed.

"Ever in the situation when you hear a piece of music and wonder what it was? Then Shazam's new application, Shazam ID, is just what you need. Hold it close to your radio speaker and let it listen for ten seconds or so, and it'll come back with not only with the song, but the artist, album, and the option to purchase the track - or an associated ringtone. It sounds almost magical (which it is) and unless you're Paul Gambacinni, it's going to answer a lot of questions when not knowing a piece of music is driving you mad. Or is that just me?"

Read on

N95 classic firmware v30 now available

2008-09-04T18:03:00+01:00

An updated firmware, v30.0.015, has been made available for the Nokia N95 classic. Updates include the latest versions of Nokia service applications (Nokia Maps 2.0, Share online 3.0), inclusion of the full N-Gage client and smaller updates to a number of applications. The updates also adds automatic screen rotation to the N95 classic. Read on for more details and screenshots.

NOTE: Please be aware we have updated this from this morning's news story.

The update is available for users to download and install themsleves via the Nokia Software Updater (part of PC Suite).

There are a number of changes under the hood according to the changelogs. The most important is, probably, the upgrades to the Music DRM capabilities of the handset, but there are also the usual bug fixes and optimisations.

The new firmware provides the latest versions of Ovi service applications. While these were available to download separately, it is nice to see them integrated into the firmware (good for new devices, but also saves valuable memory space).

Share online (version 3.0) is now available and includes Idle screen integration.

The full N-Gage client is also installed by default.

Nokia Maps is updated to version 2.0. This version supports pedestrian navigation in addition to car navigation.
There are also numerous tweaks to the user interface and improvements in routing.

Google is now an option in the Nokia Search application. The Download! application has also been updated.

Automatic screen rotation is now supported by the N95 classic.

The last major firmware update for the N95 classic was v20. v21 added Web runtime and Flash Lite 3.

Here's the change log we reported on this morning (via via p@sco).

Nokia Maps 2.0 built-in
Full N-Gage client
Nokia Search 4.0 with Google plug-in
Share online 3.0
Enablers for Comes With Music
Download! application updated (v 3.1.50)
Upgrade to Music Player
Update for Flash Lite 3 (improved viewing of sites like YouTube)
Current consumption improvements (for e.g. WLAN scanning)
New baseline for VoIP (with significant error corrections)

Equivalent v30 firmware is expected for the N95 8GB in the next few days.

Nokia N96 starts shipping, in shops soon

2008-09-04T16:35:55+01:00

Nokia yesterday announced it has started shipping the Nokia N96, which means it will become available, SIM-free, in shops over the next few weeks. Availability via operators will take a little longer; the UK launch on the 3 network is scheduled for October 1st. The N96 is a high-end Nseries device with a focus on mobile TV and video (large 2.8 inch screen, video stand, DVB-H receiver, and preloaded movie content). It also features a 5 megapixel camera and integrated GPS. Read on for more details.

Here's an extract from the Nokia press release:

Nokia today announced the availability of the much anticipated Nokia N96, its flagship multimedia computer in the iconic Nokia Nseries range. It boasts live TV, 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, turn-by-turn voice navigation, 16GB of internal memory that can be increased to 24GB with an optional microSD card, superior sound and music, N-Gage gaming and a stunning 2.8" display. First shipments of the Nokia N96 have started and it will be available with an estimated retail price of EUR 550 before taxes and subsidies.

"The Nokia N96 is mobile entertainment at its best, a fitting flagship for our Nseries range. It defines convergence by blending phone and multimedia options seamlessly with the unique Nokia Nseries dual slider that makes discovering and sharing experiences easy. Watch live TV and video, take high quality photos and geotag them to specific locations or directly upload them online via the fast internet connection - it is all about taking mobile entertainment and communication to the next level," says Jonas Geust, Vice President, Nokia Nseries.

Supporting live TV as it happens using DVB-H technology, the Nokia N96 delivers advanced television viewing across a number of channels. It is even possible to record favorite programmes to watch back whenever suits, be it on a train, in an airport lounge or in a café over a drink.

In many markets, the Nokia N96 comes pre-loaded with a blockbuster movie (title varies by region). Feel part of the action as it erupts through the vivid 2.8" display and built-in 3D stereo speakers. Sit back, watch the plot unfold and enjoy the special effects hands-free, practically anywhere, thanks to a cleverly designed 'kickstand' on the back cover.

The Nokia N96 has the ability to store up to 40 hours of video content transferred from a PC via hi-speed USB 2.0 connection or found online with WLAN and HSDPA support. The Nokia Video Center offers access to a variety of content ranging from movie trailers and comedy to news from world-leading providers such as YouTube, Reuters and Sony Pictures. The Nokia N96 supports the most common video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video.

You can read our preview of the Nokia N96 here.

The Nokia N96 is the latest in Nokia’s Nseries line up. It has the familiar dual slide design from the N95, but this is a TV and video focussed mobile device. As such it is not a replacement for the N95, although it does share many of its attributes and features and is, of course, a very high-end handset.

Here's our video preview of the N96 that we recorded as MWC in February this year. We'll do an updated review once we have our hands on some production hardware:

As a bonus here's a picture, sent in by a reader, of the special edition N96 that was being sold through FaceTheTask.com

Sauna Talk returns!

2008-09-03T16:59:21+01:00

There's a new episode of Sauna Talk on the N-Gage developer site, where once again host Arnold Faber discusses mobile gaming with Nokia's Miikka Skaffari while not wearing any clothes.

Samsung Confirms Last of Symbian Shares to be Sold to Nokia

2008-09-03T16:25:29+01:00

Samsung will be taking up Nokia's offer to bring the last of the Symbian Shares under the Finnish roof (reports Reuters). With Nokia now in receipt of acceptances from all the shareholders, they will gain 100% control of the company, and will be able to implement the Symbian Foundation plan, and we suspect a major reorganisation of the Symbian staff.

Joined-up applications and The Way Ahead

2008-09-03T07:59:14+01:00

...In which I am impressed by a couple of examples of superbly 'joined-up' applications from the iPhone world. Can the Symbian ecosystem compete? What advantages does the iPhone have to help the creation of joined-up apps and is there hope for similar software for S60 users? Comments welcome - can you think of any similarly impressive Symbian examples?

And no trolls or platform bigots please - let's keep the discussion intelligent and open minded!

Jumping ship back to the Nokia N93?

2008-09-03T07:30:25+01:00

And I thought it was just me. James Burland's written an eloquent rant about how he keeps wanting to go back to his trusty Nokia N93, which still outperforms allcomers on the video recording front (stereo sound, optical zoom). With photo and video capture being critical to many people's phone use these days, is he right to criticise Nokia's direction? Although agreeing with him in a way, I'd also point to GPS, larger screens and 3.5mm audio output as modern boons.

(I picked the N93 as my classic Symbian smartphone a few months back, if you remember)

Internet Radio for the E71

2008-09-03T07:08:21+01:00

Ah - you see, Nokia do keep tweaking their apps and compatibility lists after all - the E71 finally has a proper version of Nokia Internet Radio made especially for it. (via the E71 blog)

Is WebKit going to take over the browser world?

2008-09-02T16:31:01+01:00

As you may have already seen, Google has launched a new web browser for Windows PCs called Chrome. According to their comic PR site, it's based on the WebKit open source browser engine, which is also used as the browser engine in the Symbian S60 browser and OS X Safari browser. WebKit currently powers the default browsers on Nokia, Samsung and Apple smartphones as well as Macintosh computers, and Google is taking it onto Windows PCs as well as its own Android. It seems there's now a potential for WebKit to dominate almost every major computing platform, could this be game over for Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer?

Update: It's also worth mentioning that Nokia is going to bring a WebKit-based browser to Series 40 devices, which could mean hundreds of millions of new WebKit users every year.

Hands-on preview of the Nokia N79

2008-09-02T14:13:06+01:00

Rafe gives his first impressions of the Nokia N79, along with detailed analysis on exactly who it will appeal to and where it fits into Nokia's burgeoning Nseries range. The hardware is the main focus as Rafe takes an early look at a prototype of Nokia's latest Nseries 'candybar' handset.

Read on

Comes With Music to Debut in the UK via Carphone Warehouse

2008-09-02T11:51:18+01:00

Nokia have announced that Comes With Music will make its debut in the UK, through an exclusive deal with The Carphone Warehouse. Available with the the S40 based 5310, the deal is an exclusive for Carphone Warehouse pre-pay customers until Dec 31st 2008. As advertised, the service will allow users to download as much music as they can from the Nokia Music Store for a year. Pre-orders can now be made at www.carphonewarehouse.com.

No word yet on Comes with Music arriving on an S60 device, but we're fully expecting them to arrive before Christmas. Given the above exclusivity statement, it should be for new contract customers, although I suspect there may be people thinking about picking up the pre-pay 5310, and then using the personal subscription on an S60 device - if you are one of those, then be aware that DRM is involved in the Music Store so this may or may not be possible.

Comes With Music sees Nokia partner with the 'majors' to provide what they hope is a credible alternative to Apple's iTunes store. Currently Universal, Sony BMG and Warners are on board. In late March the final publisher of the four, EMI, indicated they'd be ready to join, although there hasn't been any updates since then. There's also been no indication on the participation of smaller 'indie' labels as yet - an important area as between them all they are a larger slice of the music publishing pie than any of the major labels on their own.

The timing of this announcement is also interesting, given that a press event for Comes with music scheduled for October 2^nd in London. Rumours around the Internet are that Apple are looking to announce something next week, just before CTIA, and the iPod music players are in line for an update. If that's going to include a Music Subscription service for iTunes, then it makes sense to get this news out there so Nokia don't look like they are playing catchup in commentators minds.

All About Symbian will be keeping a close eye on Comes with Music, and the upcoming October event. In the meantime, Nokia's full press release can be found here.

Symbian Releases Q2 2008 Results

2008-09-02T09:48:16+01:00

Symbian's report on their business in the second quarter of 2008 makes some good reading. The Headline number of shipped Symbian OS units is an impressive 225.9 million units over 249 different models, and compared to Q2 2007, there's been an increase in sales for that period of 5%. Digging a little deeper, the royalty received peer unit has dropped from an average of $4.30 to $3.40, leading to an 18% drop in income from royalties.

It's clear that Symbian is still moving forward strongly, and the drop in income and handset royalties is expected as Symbian gains popularity and market share. Of course the royalty issue is something that the Symbian Foundation won't have to deal with when the OS goes Open Source, and part of me thinks that if the income from the handsets continues to drop then the impact of going open source in terms of lost licence revenue is not going to be as drastic as once thought. There is growth in the income derived from consulting, from £2.6 million in Q2 2007 to £4.2 million in Q2 2008.

Symbian's CEO, Nigel Clifford commented:

In ten years we've achieved an enormous amount. Together with our customers we have invented, built and continue to lead the smartphone market. We are particularly pleased that our customers have reported that Symbian mobile phones are strong contributors to their financial performance and that each of our licensees has shipped at least one new Symbian mobile phone model since the beginning of 2008.

The report also notes the intention to form the Symbian Foundation, and the upcoming Symbian Smartphone Show in London on the 21^st and 22^nd of October. The full report can be read here.

Why Do We Expect What We Get On A New Smartphone?

2008-09-02T09:03:02+01:00

What was once the latest hot feature on our smartphones has become the 'without that I'm not buying it' necessity. Ewan takes a look at the features that were once the hot news but have become little more than requirements in the spec list and why this march of progress isn't going to stop in the near future.

While recording this week's All About Symbian podcast, the topic of the firmware in the latest Samsung devices popped up, and Steve argued that until there was an option for an over the air firmware upgrade (or a Nokia Software Update clone), the Samsung would be a challenging choice for a switched-on consumer.

This has got me thinking about the number of features that we now expect from our smartphones. Is it right that we ask for more from each phone? And when these aren't delivered, are we ignoring those phones simply because they're not better than the last phone?

The short answer is yes.

Read on for the full article.

Nokia 5320 Review - updated to take account of N-Gage compatibility

2008-09-01T18:30:53+01:00

As the N-Gage platform has recently been released for the Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, All About Symbian has updated its review of the phone to take account of this expanded functionality. It definitely adds a great deal of value to an already-inexpensive device, and you can find out more (including the new score) by clicking on the link.