All About Symbian - S60 News

Ovi Share Gets Geotagging

Mon, 12 May 2008 19:07:18 +0100

Nokia's Ovi Share just acquired geotagging! From now on, any new images that are uploaded will get their EXIF data checked for location information. As you can see if you read below the break, this means that images can be automatically addressed and mapped. This brings Ovi Share into the same ballgame as Flickr and Picasa Web. Comments welcome on what's needed next in Ovi Share.

Here's an image from a trip to London, correctly addressed by Ovi Share and correctly mapped:

Is there a way to display all media from a trip overlaid on a larger map? If so, please forgive my naiveity and share the info!

Steve Litchfield

Reset Generation slideshow video

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:56:45 +0100

Apologies to those who feel we're covering N-Gage a bit much lately, but this is something special: over on All About N-Gage we've put together a video of many brand new screenshots from the bizarre upcoming online strategy game Reset Generation (formerly Project White Rock), along with the game's main theme as a soundtrack. The game is an affectionate parody of gaming history, with every character making fun of someone much more famous. Watch it and see what you think...

Insight 24 - Devices, News, Location-based search

Mon, 12 May 2008 11:49:25 +0100

It's... Insight number 24, aka AAS audio podcast 73, in which the usual team discuss the news of the week, including N-Gage and Nokia Communication Center (sic), three new S60 3rd Edition smartphones (black N82, Samsung i450, Nokia 6122c) and we introduce the idea and state of play in the world of Location Based Search.

Nokia N96 and N78 hands-on

Sun, 11 May 2008 21:26:18 +0100

Yeah, yeah, more hands-on with prototypes by other sites - you can tell we're a tinsy bit jealous - but then on the other hand devices like the N96 don't seem anywhere near finished yet and we'd rather wait for the real thing. Still, the N78 seems fairly complete, according to this latest hands on by PhoneReport, which provides lots of photos and makes a few new observations. (via Symbian World)

I'm still VERY wary about those light up keypad legends - didn't Nokia learn ANYTHING from the horrible white on silver labelling system on the N82?? What happens when you take the N78 outdoors into the sunlight? Shudder.

Route 66 Mobile 8 gets a serious test drive

Sun, 11 May 2008 16:40:25 +0100

Guest writer Arjen Broeze has been trialling the new Route 66 Mobile 8 for over a month now and here's his very detailed review. The only real problem seems to be over-stubborn clinging to originally-calculated routes - apart from that Arjen gives this sat-nav solution a green light on all fronts. I was sceptical about the way search matches are still shown in alphabetical order, but Arjen argues that the search match filtering is good enough to do without location-sorted results.

Read on

An N95 a day...

Sun, 11 May 2008 07:19:18 +0100

It's always interesting to see what real world uses people find for their smartphones and which software they zero in on. In this post, Mark Guim discusses his use of Mobipocket Reader, Quickoffice and GooSync in his studies at college.

CorePlayer Mobile updated. Now supports YouTube!

Sun, 11 May 2008 03:37:42 +0100

CoreCodec just announced the availability of version 1.24 of its CorePlayer Mobile for all platforms including S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3. The YouTube support might not be interesting for some S60 3rd Edition users but for the UIQ 3 community, it is the icing on the cake because for the first time, FLV videos can be played on UIQ 3 smartphones without conversion. See below for UIQ 3 screenshots, links and comments.

Users can now search and watch YouTube videos directly on our UIQ 3 smartphones using CorePlayer Mobile latest version (1.24), there’s YouTube support which, during my test, worked beautifully (on 3G and WiFi connection).

This is one of the most requested functions from the UIQ 3 community and, although there is no support to play YouTube through the internet browser yet, the current function is useable and makes my P1i a true mobile workhorse and entertainment device. Commenting on the new release, Dan Marlin (aka Betaboy), CEO of CoreCodec, in his email to me said that this is only the beginning. “In future versions we are adding full YT support that includes video uploading, account login, related, more, email link, bookmarks. So this is really just the beginning of what our ‘Channels’ page will be…. Channels will list our current ‘HOT’ websites (like Veoh)”.

Here are some screenshots of CorePlayer Mobile's YouTube browser in action on my Sony Ericsson P1i :

Here's the changelog of the new version :

Version 1.2.4 build 4204 (4187 for Symbian) (20080509):

- FIX: YouTube seeking issues
- FIX: YouTube navigation on small screens
- FIX: Busy indicator on Palm and Symbian
- FIX: Revision3 RSS reading (watch out for the huge bandwidth needs)
- FIX: Keyframe issue on some rare AVC streams
- FIX: OS X: fix some display issues
- FIX: OS X: Conversion of some UTF16 strings
- FIX: Symbian: TCP/UDP connections are less blocking and more stable
- FIX: Symbian: Audio handling is more robust
- FIX: Symbian: UIQ3 backlight issues
- FIX: Symbian: Possible crash when playing MP3 and AVC
- FIX: Win32: File association on Vista
- ADD: FLV playback support (no VP6)
- ADD: F4V file extension
- ADD: Get the duration from RSS feeds
- ADD: Option to keep the screen on when playing audio files (too)
- ADD: Reading cover art from Zune folders
- ADD: Symbian: Keep the preferred access point in the preferences
- ADD: Symbian: Show the currently selected item in enums

Here's the CoreCodec announcement. And read my review of CorePlayer HERE

Asri al-Baker, All About Symbian

Which phone are you using N-Gage on?

Sat, 10 May 2008 08:45:57 +0100

The N-Gage platform has now been officially launched for several weeks, but which phones are people actually using it on? Take part in our survey and let us know which N-Gage-compatible model you use to access the service.

So far the platform is available on the N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 and N95 8GB, with support to be added to the N73, N93 and N93i very soon.

New phones will also be added to the platform as they're released, for example the 5320, N78 and N96 are all due to be N-Gage compatible.

PiZero premium themes direct and at half price...

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:51:40 +0100

Master theme maker PiZero has made all his 'premium' themes available at half price until the end of May. Paying for themes may sound a bit odd when most other themes are free, but having tried some of these, I can testify that they're very high quality, being fast, RAM-efficient and 100% SVG-based, so they'll work on anything. Err.... advert over!

Every Step You Take

Fri, 09 May 2008 15:20:42 +0100

I guess this had to come, given that Nokia's Sports Tracker already contained an accelerometer-driven pedometer. But as Sports Tracker has widened its scope, there's room for a cut-down little brother, Step Counter. From the Step Counter page: "It determines the distance you have covered and your energy expenditure. You can even compare your activity levels on different days by looking up the summaries stored in a handy diary."

Comments on battery life while running welcomed! Compatibility is obviously limited to just those devices with accelerometers...

IoUYoM - no, it's not a code...

Fri, 09 May 2008 08:54:19 +0100

The availability of a mature Python interpreter is gradually producing mainstream applications and not just novelties. Witness the acronymically-named IoUYoM (I owe yoU, You owe Me), which was just released and lets you keep track of what you've lent and to whom, plus what you've borrowed, etc.

All About N-Gage reviews Mile High Pinball

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:17:56 +0100

Over on All About N-Gage, we've been putting one of the games of the year, Nokia's first party title Mile High Pinball, through its paces. Those of you who remember the original gen N-Gage version may want to check out the new high res graphics, as there are lots of screenshots. Click here to read Tzer2's in-depth review on AAN and find out how Mile High Pinball did. UPDATE: We've now added a gameplay video at the beginning of the review.

Nokia Software Update loses Vista support

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:55:39 +0100

In a shocking move, Windows Vista support has been officially (but temporarily) removed from Nokia Software Update, with Nokia citing instability. This will slam an awful lot of users, including me. Let's hope they iron out the problem sooner rather than later.

The Samsung i450 - a wolf in sheep's clothing

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:09:27 +0100

The Samsung i450, at first glance a Nokia N95 wannabe, has hidden strengths that come from its more unassuming appearance and lower price. Ewan brings us part 1 of his review of the i450, looking at the hardware, form factor and target market. Parts 2 and 3 will cover music and applications.

Read on

Maps 2.0 update

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:32:44 +0100

Well, you certainly can't accuse the Nokia Maps team of rushing things.... Still, the latest (and possibly last) beta of Maps 2.0 is available today for anyone with a S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 device (e.g. the N95), although there's no changelog that I can see. Comments welcome.I've been really impressed by Nokia Maps 2.0 so far and use it as my day to day sat-nav with no reservations. It's not perfect, but it's as good as any of the other systems out there and I like the way you can choose to pay for actual voice navigation on an as-needed basis.