All About Symbian - Series 80 News

Communicator head to head: The Nokia 9300i, E90, E75 and N97

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:51:10 +0100

The single biggest form factor for true smartphones in Western Europe in the last five years has arguably been that of the 'Communicator', a term coined by Nokia for its 9000 series, initially running on GeOS and then on Symbian OS 6 and (later) Symbian OS 7 with the likes of the 9500 and (here) the 9300i. Then came the oddball E90 and a slightly more mainstream E75, while Nokia's Nseries picked up some similar action in the shape of the N97. But how do they compare, head to head? Is there a true modern day successor to the Psions and Nokia 9210s of old?

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The fastest smartphone in the west? Text input speeds compared

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:50:16 +0100

Three years ago I wrote an article comparing text input speeds using various devices and form factors from the PDA and smartphone world. Here's the update, with some modern devices (including the iPhone 3G, HTC Touch Pro 2 and Nokia N97) included and tabled, plus a rogue's gallery showing Communicator keyboards through the ages. Am I obsessing too much? Is raw text input speed that important to you? Comments welcomed.

Psion Series 5mx - the (obsolete) gold standard in this area!

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The Quest for the Perfect Form Factor

Tue, 19 May 2009 13:12:45 +0100

Hopefully pulling no punches, I've been mulling over all the different form factors seen in the smartphone world in the last half dozen years. Is there a common consensus 'perfect' form factor? No. Could there be one in the future? Yes, I argue in The Quest for the Perfect Form Factor. And, to the point, at least one of 2009's smartphone contenders is achingly close, at least in terms of hardware, to the ideal. This being something of a contentious subject, your comments more than welcome of course!

"Over the years, personal and mobile computing has taken many, many forms, and, fifteen YEARS after Psion (with the Series 3) and Apple (with the Newton) started the whole thing off, we STILL haven't reached a point of agreement as to the 'perfect' form factor."

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More Agenda: a tale of Psion, Nokia 9300 and iPhone

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:51:16 +0100

Reader Andy Cook is another of us wistfully looking back to Agenda on the Psion palmtops. Will it ever be matched? Certainly not so so far. His Nokia 9300 (running Symbian OS and the Series 80 UI) has a slightly stunted version but it's still ahead of all competition, according to this review of the iPhone's Calendar and the third party app Pocket Informant over here on one of my stomping grounds.

New version of Commodore 64 emulator Frodo, now with accelerometer support

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 23:07:06 +0100

The C64 emulator Frodo for S60 3rd Edition has been updated to version 1.5, and now includes support for accelerometers in selected phones, which lets you tilt the phone to simulate a joystick or steering wheel (you can see a demo video below). There's also an on-screen keyboard and vibration support. Frodo comes in versions available for older Symbian devices too such as S60 1st and 2nd Edition, Series 80 and UIQ, just scroll down the same page. Apparently Frodo for S60 3rd Edition should work in theory on the 5800, though it may run very slowly as the application hasn't been optimised for S60 5th Edition yet. (For more S60 3rd Edition emulators, see AAS's special feature.)

Here's Frodo's accelerometer support in action on a Nokia N95:

ProfiMail: A look at the cutting edge of S60 email

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:58:40 +0100

ProfiMail has been around on all the Symbian OS sub-platforms for longer than I can remember. But did you know that the developers have been making great strides recently with full on IMAP Idle support and better integrated file and attachment browsers? Nick Anstee's been using ProfiMail for ages on his Nokia E90 and presents details of his personal email client quest, together with a detailed list of pros and cons for this quirky application from Lonely Cat Games.

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How to make your own ebooks

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:19:43 +0100

You may have gathered, over the years, that Ewan's a bit of a Mobipocket Reader fan. Personally, I sit there fuming wondering why the developers still haven't got round to programming a 'Find' function, but that's another rant for another day. Anyway, Ewan's penned a useful beginner's guide on how to make your own ebooks, for reading on the move and for saving huge amounts of excess book-weight when travelling.

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Communicator software garage sale and first real Style Tap Symbian app?

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 14:44:00 +0100

Two bits of news from RMR Software - if anyone's still using an older Series 80-based Communicator then note that all RMR's software is now reduced by between 45% and 70%. Also, more 'cutting edge' is that RMR has put together what's possibly the first real Style Tap-based app for S60 (i.e. Palm OS app running within Symbian OS). More on this below the break.

Alan at RMR has sent over a beta (you'll be able to grab it yourself very shortly) of his flagship RMR Bank suite running under NS Basic and the StyleTap (Palm OS) emulator. If that sounds like a bit of convoluted development chain then I think you'd be right. What's of most interest are that the end result does work but that simply porting a stylus-based app to S60 isn't always a good idea. As you'll gather from the screens below, operation partly involves driving a cursor (Web browser style) around the screen. Also of note is that the application menu is on the right soft key and the Style Tap menu sits independently on the left function key.

It's early days for StyleTap on Symbian though, so don't take current behaviour as proof of how it'll end up.

Steve Litchfield

Trivopaedia 2008

Fri, 30 May 2008 14:31:08 +0100

I know quite a few of you rely on my definitive pub-quiz-helper, Trivopaedia. It's now been brought up to 2008 levels, with up to date stats for v2.3 . It's available in Mobipocket reader and iSilo formats (i.e. compatible with any portable device or any platform), in addition to being fully online as well - and of course it's still free.

The Traveller's BFF - WorldMate Professional

Mon, 19 May 2008 19:44:37 +0100

MobiMate recently added extra real-time flight information and facilities to their flagship traveller's app WorldMate Professional. Luckily our own Ewan knows a thing or two about travel utilities and so I threw the app in his direction. The result? We now have ourselves another (though fairly rare) All About Symbian 'MegaApp'. Here's the full review.

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Introducing Hexxagon Labs

Fri, 16 May 2008 09:19:54 +0100

You've got to admire some developers for the way they manage to release their titles across the range of smartphone platforms, in this case at least five varieties on Symbian OS. Attila Katona has been reviewing Herocraft's new Hexxagon Labs strategy game (think Othello but six-sided) on S60 and comes away quite impressed.

How to: Get push GMail for free

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:39:23 +0100

Do you use GMail or a service like it on the web? Does your email server have an IMAP option? If so, why not set up Messaging on your S60, UIQ or Series 80 smartphone for IMAP access and get pseudo-push email, simply and for free? I investigate what's involved. And how does GMail via IMAP/Messaging compare with GMail via the dedicated Java application?

"But for single user, home or semi-pro use, I really can't see much point in complicating your email handling by inserting a third party provider or service between you and your mailbox. Like many people, I standardised on a single GMail account last year and have been supremely happy. There's a GMail mobile client, but it's Java-based, which means slower startup, unnecessary RAM overheads (important on some devices), and a manual 'refreshing' of your inbox."

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Eggstreme: Sizzler Supremacy - a free Symbian game for Easter

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:59:49 +0100

The makers of the free Xmas game Snowed In have come up with a similar Easter-themed free game called Eggstreme: Sizzler Supremacy. It's available for every Symbian platform (S60 3rd, S60 1st/2nd, UIQ3, UIQ2, Series 80 and Series 90). The S60 3rd version supports all screen resolutions including the N80 and E90. You can download the relevant game file by going here, and you can get the free unlock code by going here.

The Nokia E90 takes on allcomers

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:59:26 +0100

I've been taking a look back and forward at four of the competitors to the Nokia E90. What's it up against in the market for qwerty-keyboarded clamshells? And how does it compare, spec for spec, blow for blow? It's certainly an interesting form factor and one which is apparently increasing in popularity.

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Handy Weather v5 keeps up the same high standard

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:48:29 +0100

You'll remember that we've looked at Epocware's Handy Weather before, giving both the original S60 3rd Edition version and that for UIQ 3 well deserved AAS MegaApp awards. And now they've gone and improved it again, adding weather maps and streamlining the interface. Still a MegaApp? You bet, it's still one of the stars in the Symbian OS firmament - here's my review of Handy Weather version 5.01.

"It's not often that I get to review an application that's nigh-on perfect in every detail. Yet Handy Weather is such a program - admittedly it only really does one thing (check the upcoming weather for a small number of locations) but it does it so smoothly and unobtrusively that it just had to earn a coveted Mega-App award. Available for almost every handheld platform in the world (really), Handy Weather impresses under S60, shown here, by not only working as a standalone application but also making its functionality available as a screen-saver."

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