All About Symbian - UIQ News

Sony Ericsson Launch Their Music Service

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:36:19 +0100

In partnership with Sony BMG, Warner Bros and EMI, Sony Ericsson have announced the launch of PlayNow, an online music store to be stocked initially with one million DRM free tracks, and the goal of carrying up to five million tracks available to all of Europe by the end of 2009 (Washington Post and Sony Ericsson).

NS Basic now released for Symbian

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:26:27 +0100

In case you hadn't gathered from the RMR news piece, NS Basic has now been formally released for Symbian. It's a Visual Basic-like development environment which "makes it easy to create apps for S60 3rd Edition and UIQ3 devices". The full press release is here. Comments welcome if you give this a try.

Insight 36: Services and N78 vs N82

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:48:47 +0100

In All About Symbian Insight #36 (AAS Podcast #89) Rafe, and Steve chat about the web as a platform for services and follow on with a discussion on whether Nokia should make its services available on competing hardware. There's also a debate on the relative merits of the N78 and N82 for those looking to make a purchase decision.

From a UIQ enthusiast's perspective

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 07:25:28 +0100

It was fascinating to read Malcolm Lithgow's very detailed real-world head to head between some budget Symbian smartphones, the Nokia 6220 Classic and the Sony Ericsson G700 and G900. Mainly because Malcolm has been (and still is) a big fan of UIQ 3, which gives him a novel perspective on the strengths and weaknesses of the two platforms (and individual devices). Some good points in here, even though most of us would have wanted to see a higher spec S60 device used for the comparison. (via Carnival of the Mobilists 135)

Bringing the Grid up to date

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:46:02 +0100

It's been a while since I updated my (smart)phone-choosing Grid, but I bit the bullet and this now has the iPhone 3G, the Nokia E71, the Nokia N78 and the HTC Touch Diamond, among others. How does it do for you?

Missing Sync for Symbian ships

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:52:58 +0100

Mac developers Mark/Space have released Missing Sync for Symbian, providing (among other things) automatic Bluetooth syncing of data between phone and Mac. Here's the TUAW write-up. More on this next week when I'll be starting a new series of features looking at S60-Mac connectivity and compatibility.

UK rail times to Calendar

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:11:11 +0100

Lifted from the comments to a previous story, I wanted to highlight an addition to the excellent traintimes.org.uk. When accessed from your phone browser, the site now has the facility to add a UK train journey (via a vCal file, don't worry, it all happens seamlessly) into your phone's Calendar. Very cool, and the site only needs just over 100K of data per lookup, much less than the full Nation Rail equivalent.

Tweak Peaks UIQ 3 version 1.30

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:58:06 +0100

These guys dont know how to stop! CellPhoneSoft are still actively releasing new and interesting UIQ 3 apps, despite the prevailing mood in the industry. If you think your P1 or P990 is starting to be slow and can't cope with daily chores, then it’s time to get Tweak Peaks into action. Screen and notes below.

Some super USPs but still unfinished - the MOTO Z10

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:16:09 +0100

After four review parts from Ewan, prodding the new Motorola MOTO Z10 from most angles, I finish off with a detailed test of its crowning glory, its camera. Although, mid-2008, this isn't as cutting edge as it once would have been. Despite this, there are numerous unique selling points, including a fabulously fast multishot mode and an initial focus in video recording mode. Plus, I summarise the Z10 as a whole: it might still be great, but needs a lot more work on its firmware.

Sony Ericsson "to axe 2000 jobs"

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:27:56 +0100

The BBC News website is reporting that Sony Ericsson is to cut two thousand jobs over the next year, in order to cut operating costs. The company was making a profit this time last year, but in the last quarter it reported a small loss.

A Z8/Z10 theme for a true Tifosi

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:49:04 +0100

If your eye was caught by the release of a Motorola Z8 "Ferrari Edition" late last year, you might like to note that our related site, Moto Smartphones, has now made the official Ferrari theme available for any other UIQ 3 smartphones. Some screenshots below for other Ferrari fans!

The MOTO Z10 as a music smartphone

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:38:27 +0100

In part 4 of his continuing review of the UIQ 3-powered Motorola MOTO Z10, Ewan tests out its music capabilities. Might the Z10 make it as a music device if all else fails? Here are parts 1, 2 and 3 of the Z10 review, in case you missed the story so far. Part 5, covering photogaphy and video, plus the wrap-up will be down to me...

E71 and MOTO Z10 in PDA Essentials 77

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 12:21:22 +0100

I see PDA Essentials magazine has renamed itself as "PDA Esssentials, Smartphone & GPS"... Anyway, issue 77 of this UK-based newstand magazine, out today, has full reviews of the Nokia E71 and Motorola MOTO Z10, along with a multi-page feature on '10 things to do with GPS on your smartphone' and the inclusion of the Sony Ericsson W960 and the Nokia N82 in a 'budget' group test.

Going online with the MOTO Z10

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:02:26 +0100

Continuing his extended test (this is part 3) of the Motorola MOTO Z10, Ewan tries out its Internet applications. In summary, Messaging and Opera are adequate, but there's little else to shout about and the lack of RAM is crippling. Here are parts 1 and 2 of the Z10 review.

Dataviz announces Documents to Go Premium v4 for UIQ

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:27:03 +0100

Dataviz have announced the immediate availability of Documents to Go Premium Edition version 4. The new version, among other features, brings full viewing and editing of Office 2007 documents to the UIQ3 platform. The full press release follows the break.