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.
Guest writer 'Snoyt' takes us expertly through the wonderful world of music compression, to explain how you can get thousands of music tracks on your smartphone, efficiently and in CD quality, using the eAAC+ codec rather than bog standard ol' MP3... Who needs an Apple iPod?
Just a short note that we've heard that Nokia Software Update will be down for 24 hours, as from 19:00 GMT tomorrow (Saturday). Presumably it's something to do with fixing Windows Vista compatibility, let's hope for a problem free solution on Monday!
With the concept of over-the-air syncing hotter than ever (e.g. GooSync), thanks to the guys at SMS Text News for the scoop that Vodafone just bought Zyb, another of the top SyncML hosts on the 'net. Keeping your PIM data in the 'cloud' is obviously something Vodafone now gets and for which it has got plans. Good news for everybody.
Around a year ago, I first reviewed the Nokia E90 Communicator. I was quite positive though others in the industry (famously) weren't. Amazingly, it's still picking up first time reviewers today in 2008, with Ricky Cadden getting his first hands-on this week, in his regular video podcast (MP4 link). He's generally blown away but misses support for USA 3G frequencies and misses some of the 'Nseries-only' extras from his N95.
For UIQ 3 users who fancied using the alternative contact manager DreamConnect 3 (see our review here), there's a new version available (3.60) which adds extra touch support, plus feature and performance enhancements which make the already intuitive DreamConnect 3 even more user-friendly. Read on for more info and screens.
Did you know that Nokia has a free recycling scheme for all their hardware? Here's the UK page, but there's probably one for each country. Never mind travelling to a Nokia Care Point either, you just pop the hardware in a jiffy bag and send it to the free address. This was spotted by the Nokia Conversations team, talking about the similar USA page. Of course, there's always eBay - whereby the kit will actually get used again and you make a few dollars... but for the rest, there's now Freepost!
GooSync's beta test for full Contacts sync through to Google Contacts just went live. It's a closed beta, so please don't email me for extra links or privileges. Below, I've tried to illustrate how it all works and some of the implications of syncing with the big G. The beta test, if the Tasks beta was anything to go by, should last a month or so.
The See Into S60 blog at S60.com is currently running a competition which asks you to 'Show your S60 smarts' by recording a video of your favourite application of favourite S60 tip. There are already some great videos showcasing S60 applications and S60 tips; you can view all the entries on the YouTube website. Read on for more.
Fun in the world of Linux Mobile OS today as Google's Android sees too potential partners, Verizon and Firefox makers Mozilla, put their weight behind the LiMo Foundation (reports BetaNews). Having hardware, software and suppliers working on your ecosystem is key to any mobile endeavour, and it is perhaps one of the quiet strengths of Symbian that so many companies are involved in Symbian OS, and all publicly pulling in the same direction.
UIQ Technology today announced that Dr. Colin Tucker has been appointed to the position of Non-Executive Independent Chairman of the Board of Directors of UIQ Technology. Other members of the board come from UIQ's owners, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. Dr. Tucker has previsouly held executive positions at a number of mobile companies including Orange and Hutchison.
If you're a retro fan, you'll be pleased to know that Krisse has done a huge update of our feature on emulators for S60 3rd Edition devices (and quite a few of them work on UIQ3 too). If you're hankering after having a Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC, NES, SNES, ColecoVision, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Sega Master System, Game Gear or MAME arcade machine in your pocket... you've come to the right place.
In the second part of his review of the Samsung i450, Ewan explores the music functionality of this unashamedly music-focussed smartphone. How do the dual slide and rubber music 'arc' work out in practice? And what about the fancy Bang and Olufsen '3D' equalisation electronics?
As Denis Norden might say, file this one under "Useful things we hadn't noticed until now", and apologies to those who had already seen this: the Ovi Share service has a support forum including Troubleshooting, Mobile, Developer and Feedback sections, which replaces the old Twango boards. As long as you've already logged into Ovi Share using your usual username, an identical forum username will be created automatically when you first visit. If you need to get there within Ovi Share, there's a teeny-tiny "Forums" link at the bottom of the screen.
In the second part of our look at Nokia's upcoming N-Gage flagship game, there is further chat with producer Scott Foe and reflections on how Reset Generation's free embeddable web-based version could attract new people to N-Gage, even people who don't currently own a mobile. Oh yes, and we also get to see those legendary Pac-Man biscuits...
Nokia Music PC Client is now available in early beta form from the Nokia Beta Labs website. The application is designed to help you manage your music collection on your PC and then transfer it your mobile device. The software has been designed with mobile users in mind and includes the ability to directly rip a CD to a mobile device, to easily sideload music from a PC and to use bi-directional playlists and music sync.
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TIP: Check out our feature article on recommended software for some of the best commercial software available for your phone.
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