Recent News Headlines - Miscellaneous
The Phones Show 93 and Phones Show Chat 10
Just a quick note that The Phones Show 93 and The Phones Show Chat 10 are both now live, with plenty of Nokia/Symbian content that you might be interested in. In particular, you might like to note my 'top 5' choices in the former... See also the RSS feeds for the MP4/video and MP3/audio shows.
Ovi Store Re-downloads go official
Nokia's Ovi Store re-download policy just got a whole lot clearer, with an official post on the matter - essentially, you can re-download purchased apps provided you're logged in with the same user name and on the same physical phone as was used for the purchase. It's a touch more restrictive than we're used to on other platforms, but hey, at least it's now officially possible. Oh, and you'll need the very latest version of the Ovi Store client - v1.5 (387) or higher. If you have to switch devices, presumably you'll still be calling Nokia's support people though... Video and more below. And comments welcome, how well does this new system work for you? Update: strikethrough text because of official clarification in the comments below.
AAS Podcast 154, 'live' from SEE 2009, rounding up Day One
It's the official All About Symbian 'live' podcast from the SEE 2009 show, including: Ewan interviews with Lee Williams, a virtual audio tour of the show floor, Rafe interviews Jan Ole Suhr, the guy behind Gravity, Ewan interviews Bill Ray, from the Register, about the challenges facing the Symbian Foundation, plus Ewan, Steve, Rafe and Stuart (Clark) round up Day One of the show.
The Nokia N97 gets v20 and a new lease of life
[Story updated] Yes, it's out. For some product codes at least, with a changelog below. The next-gen Nokia N97 v20.x.019 firmware (a.k.a. PR 2.0), the biggest, most ambitious and most eagerly awaited firmware update in Nokia's history, is now available via Nokia Software Update. In short, RAM management is better and you effectively get a lot more flash memory on C: (provided you go through a little wipe/update/restore data effort) - plus the delights of kinetic, intuitive scrolling in all applications, transforming the S60 5th Edition experience, and a mountain of smaller fixes. See below for the changelog and comments.
The Camera Gap turns out bigger than expected
In the run-up to SEE 2009, I'd been mulling over which smartphones to take for blogging purposes - and one of my requirements, obviously, had to be something with a camera that was good enough. Below are my thoughts and findings, in which I discover that one of my own theories wasn't necessarily true...
All About Symbian mini-meet
The Monday evening before the Symbian Show, branded SEE09 this year, traditionally provides fertile ground for mobile related 'fringe' events - and this year is no exception. Fitting around other events, we will be having a small, informal pub get together. So from 5:30pm or so until around 8:00pm we'll (Rafe, Ewan, Steve) be in the Windmill pub, which is just a few minutes away from Oxford Circus. More below, including a map, if you're in London and want to come along!
A survival guide to Linux and S60
Guest writer David Gilson talks about his switch from Windows to Linux (Ubuntu) and his (successful) struggles to keep his desktop-S60 connectivity going, from PIM data to music to backups to tethering. Could you make the same switch? Are there any showstoppers for you? Comments welcome.
BBC Radio RealMedia streams to be phased out?
The BBC has announced that its old RealMedia radio streams, still bookmarked/used by some knowledgable S60 phone owners to listen to the BBC's network of stations, are to be phased out at the end of March 2010, to be replaced by iPlayer/Flash solutions. The decision isn't without controversy, as you'll see from the extensive comments thread - if this affects you then I suggest you get involved.
There's more than one perfect smartphone form factor
From the Nokia N900 to the HTC HD2, I'm seeing a groundswell of opinion turning against smaller, slightly simpler smartphones - but I contend that what you're seeing and reading isn't even close to being representative of the mass market and that, as usual (and I know because I'm one of them) the geeks are skewing all the analysis towards faster, bigger, flashier...
The Top 5 Phones that aren't actually IN the Top 5
Regular viewers of The Phones Show will know that I periodically run down my 'Top 5' phones in the world. Astute viewers will also have spotted that I haven't done one for a while. The problem is, as indicated by the headline above, that I'm having problems recommending a single phone or smartphone, let alone five of them. Things were simpler a year or so ago, I'd simply pick the Nokia N95 (or one of its cousins, the N95 8GB or N82) and that'd be the number 1 spot sorted. The phone world has moved on though, with greater variety, greater complexity and, yes, greater disappointments. Read on... [updated with extra comments]
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