All About Symbian - News

Navteq True demo at MWC 2010, next-gen digital maps

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:32:08 +0100

Navteq, at Mobile World Congress 2010, showed off their new mapping collection system called Navteq True. The system, which is placed on top of a vehicle, combines a LIDAR system, multiple panoramic cameras, and positioning (GPS and IMU) sensors. Navteq is part of Nokia and its digital mapping products underlie numerous location products and services, including Ovi Maps. In this video we get a closer look at the system, see some of the data it collects and find out what implications it has for digital maps.

Vivaz and Satio belatedly get music equalizer

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 09:46:02 +0100

Thanks to Norman John for spotting online that at least one of the existing holes in the functionality of the Sony Ericsson Satio and Vivaz has now been plugged, semi-officially. 'Equaliser' is now a free download in the PlayNow store and is a tiny 17kb standalone utility whose music chip presets are honoured by the main Media/Music player. Hopefully this will become more integrated in future firmwares?

Ovi Maps free navigation now available for N86

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:02:33 +0100

Ovi Maps 3.3, with free navigation, is now available for the Nokia N86. The new version is available via the SW Update application (listed as 'Ovi Maps with free navigation') and is 8240kb in size. As stated previously, Nokia are making Ovi Maps 3.3 available across selected S60 3.2 devices, step-by-step, either via direct download or via firmware updates. Read on for a few screenshots and a compass tip.

YouTube mobile clients may now require different password

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:02:56 +0100

Having linked your YouTube and Google accounts last year, YouTube has now enforced the use of the latter's password for signing into YouTube from mobile clients such as the Symbian/S60 version (available in, for example, the Ovi Store and on m.google.com). Screens and more info below.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz - part 2 (camera and camcorder)

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:20:07 +0100

In the second part of my review of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz (here's part 1), I look at the Vivaz's unique selling point, its much-vaunted camera and camcorder capability. Just how good is it in practice (compared to previous champion devices like the Nokia N86 and Samsung i8510) and is there anything else you should know about the Vivaz's camera arrangements? Included are numerous samples and a montage of demonstration video footage highlighting the continuous autofocus.

All About eBooks?

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:15:28 +0100

eBooks have been a part of the Psion/Nokia/Symbian scene, on and off, for 15 years now. Admittedly, it's more 'off' than 'on' at the moment, but that's absolutely no reason for you not to take a hot drink and 30 minutes to read Michael Mace's epic feature on 'The Future of Publishing: Why eBooks Failed'. He looks at the topic from every angle and in terrific depth. What I'd now like to see is for a commercial eBook platform really take off on Symbian: suggestions for current contenders welcome if you agree?

Tour of Qt stand at MWC - Qt everywhere

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:14:10 +0100

Our latest MWC video is a tour around the Qt stand, looking at some of the Qt-enabled devices - from phones to printers and appliances. Mobile developers and users have been hearing more and more about Qt in the last 18 months. It is the future application framework for both Symbian and MeeGo (Nokia's two open platforms going forward). However, as this video demonstrates, Qt is already a well established technology and the 'Qt everywhere' slogan has already been realised.

Samsung i8910 HD modding scene gets new champion

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:16:53 +0100

Much as All About Symbian doesn't encourage the hacking of Symbian smartphones, we do feel that the Samsung i8910 HD is a special case - a super-high-spec smartphone that has been somewhat under-curated by the manufacturer. And the device has attracted those who want to mod, not for installation of illegal software, but for genuine improvement of the device. Which is why I'm happy to link to the industrious Andy, aka 'HyperX', who has been beavering away to produce firmware HX-V3-16, details and link below.

Symbian Foundation's Scott Weiss on UI

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:23:00 +0100

In this video interview, recorded just before MWC, we speak to Scott Weiss (User Interface Technology Manager at the Symbian Foundation and Chair of the Symbian Foundation UI Council) about the Symbian Foundation UI and some of the initiatives and projects that Symbian is undertaking around UI topics. You'll hear about some of t he key user experience changes, the UI workshops and the UI pattern library.

Ewan around America with a $250 phone budget - part 4

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:06:00 +0100

Some say he's secretly part of Finnish Rock band Lordi. Some say he only needs 5 minutes sleep a night. All we know is, he's called Ewan Spence. Part 4 of a series of short videos from Ewan is embedded below, along with some of his 'diary' commentary, as part of his gaming and blogging spring trip to San Francisco (GDC) and Austin (SXSW). Rafe set him a series of challenges (also known as a real world test of the Nokia 5230 / Nokia Nuron). In part 4, Ewan takes on the Stig-delivered challenge of finding a party, having a drink and messing around with FourSquare.... [Hmm... sounds like a 'jolly' to me.... Ed]

Nokia Conversations release "Design by Community"

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:17:23 +0100

Nokia have opened a crowd sourcing initiative, "Design by Community", to find out what form customers would like future Nokia phones to take. Each week, members of the public can vote on different aspects of mobile phone design. See below for all the details and links.

Opera Mini & Mobile finally leave beta

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:51:30 +0100

The native Opera Mobile 10 and the Java-based Opera Mini 5 have finally graduated from their long standing beta status, with Opera Software officially announcing that the two applications are now "consumer ready". There's a quote and introduction video embedded below. Both work on all Symbian smartphones.

Microsoft Silverlight for Symbian Beta

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 23:09:34 +0100

As part of the activities at its MIX10 conference Microsoft has announced that the Beta of Silverlight for Symbian is now available. Microsoft describes Silverlight as 'a cross-browser, cross-platform implementation of the .NET Framework for building media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web on desktop computers'. The current Beta lets you run Silverlight applications and content in the standard Symbian^1 (S60 5th Edition) web browser.

The old pearl (Nokia N95 8GB) still rocks....

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:04:02 +0100

Always good to read of older (but classic) devices still being put through their paces. Diogo Neves has penned a lovely 8 point comparison between his trusty Nokia N95 8GB and his newer N97 mini and N900, looking at different functionality in daily life. It's fair to say that the older device is outgunned overall, but the margin is surprisingly small, bearing up my own opinion for years that the N95 8GB was the most powerful phone in the world.

SPB Quads arrives fully formed

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:46:00 +0100

New from SPB Software, arriving both fully formed and touch-only from day one, Quadronica clone 'SPB Quads' sees you trying to reveal and mark rectangle corners of the same colors in a field filled with color bricks. Sounds predictable, but there are six different types of bonuses, from Atom Bomb to Dynamite... Which sounds somewhat more fun! Screenshots and link below.