News From Symbian Smart Phones World...

EyeMags Gets Support for For S60 5th Edition Devices

4 Nov 2009 11:48:33 GMT

Following our successful launch of the iPhone App Creation last week further work with the top end Smartphone market sees us launch support for these latest Nokia and SonyEricsson smartphones.

Both these technologies build on top of the mobile Java (J2ME) applications used for all other devices.

Now non developers can build their own content applications for most phones from low end to the top end Smartphones and make them available to the public immediately using the EyeMags technology. EyeMags believe this is a world first and ex... .. .

Nokia's Mark Ollila Discusses Death Of The N-Gage and Games on Ovi Store

4 Nov 2009 07:05:16 GMT

Mark Ollila, director of technology and strategy at Nokia Games Publishing, is responsible for setting the development of gaming on Nokia's mobile devices and probably the busiest person at Nokia after company has confirmed last week that its N-Gage platform will be phased out next year, with all the company's mobile games activities to be channelled through Ovi Store instead.

Mark is a well-known entrepreneur and highly respected authority in media technology, frequently hosting lectures and publishing research on the sector.

Mark has been involved in the setting up of a number of companies and research labs in media and mobile entertainment as well actively involved in advisory and awards for various industry events. Mark brings to bear an unrivalled knowledge of Mobile Enter... .. .

Mobile Browsing Revolution: Opera Mobile 10 Beta Now Available For Symbian S60 Smartphones

3 Nov 2009 07:40:15 GMT

Opera Software today unveiled the beta of Opera Mobile 10 for Nokia and other Symbian/S60 handsets. Most notable in the new Opera Mobile 10 beta is a sleek design, which Opera first introduced to the world in the recent release of Opera Mini 5 beta. The crisp, new look introduces the Speed Dial, tabbed browsing and the always convenient password manager to Opera Mobile.

Performance was prioritized in this beta. It is twice as fast as the previous Opera Mobile released for Symbian/S60, and users will discover significant speed improvement when downloading pages, zooming and panning. Opera Turbo is also integrated, saving end users both time and money with its server-si... .. .

R.I.P. Ngage: 2003 - 2010

30 Oct 2009 20:17:32 GMT

In a not so shocking twist of fate, Nokia has planned the removal of one of the services from its Ovi umbrella, officially ending the Ngage gaming community and service initiative by 2010 with an ever so subtle whimper. Via an understated post on the official Ngage blog, the Ngage community's are was let out of its balloon. The heartbreak was summed up with this statement:

"...the Ovi Store will be the new central place for all the mobile games that Nokia and other publishers offer from this point forward. We will no longer publish new games for the N-Gage platform."

In a conversation with correspondents at Mobile-Ent.biz, Mark Ollila, Nokia's new director of X-Media Solutions, Media & Games, reiterates the new strategy, stating, “Simplicity is impor... .. .

Second Version Of N-Gage Platform Will Die A Quiet Death Just Like Its Predecessor

30 Oct 2009 17:50:21 GMT

Nokia has finally and officially confirmed persistent rumours that widely-hyped but poor-selling 2nd version of N-Gage platform will die a quiet death just like its predecessor as it failed to live up to Nokia's and consumers expectations.

Nokia's online gaming service, opened last year, never moved beyond a niche audience and therefore it will closed next year, acknowledging failure in its first major services offering.

"N-Gage games will be purchasable until the end of September 2010. While the N-Gage.com site together with the N-Gage Arena and other community features will remain in operation throughout 2010, the Ovi Store will be the new central pl... .. .

Qualcomm Innovation Center Joins the Symbian Foundation

30 Oct 2009 17:10:05 GMT

Qualcomm Innovation Center, Inc. (QuIC) and the Symbian Foundation, today announced that QuIC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, has joined the Symbian Foundation and has been appointed to the Symbian Foundation board of directors. QuIC will support the Foundation with active participation on the board of directors and each of the four councils that govern the development of the Symbian platform.

QuIC's charter is to focus on optimizing open source software for use with Qualcomm technology. QuIC brings to the Symbian Foundation a wealth of knowledge and expertise in open source and, as a Symbian Foundation board member, QuIC is committed to working with its fellow board members for Symbian's cont... .. .

Nokia Has Rolled Out MAC iSync Plug-In For Nokia E52, Nokia N97 and 5530 XpressMusic

30 Oct 2009 16:35:26 GMT

iSync is the Mac's equivalent of ActiveSync, a software application published by Apple Inc. that runs only under Mac OS X and is used to synchronize data in iCal and the Address Book with Mac and with various devices including Smartphones.

Unfortunately, not all Smartphones are supported by iSync and Symbian devices cannot be used with iSync, but thanks to Nokia and just released iSync plug-in, Nokia E52, Nokia N97 and 5530 XpressMusic is now compatible with iSync and you can share data between phone and Mac, manages your contacts, and synchronises your diary entries in iCal

With iSync you can take the hassle out of managing data across devices by downloading changes and easily updat... .. .

Gartner: Worldwide Smartphone Sales To Outstrip Notebooks!?

29 Oct 2009 18:50:24 GMT

Personal computer (PC) vendors are eyeing up the booming smartphone market to offset a slump in computer sales, according to Gartner, Inc. Worldwide smartphone sales will grow by 29 per cent year-over-year to reach 180 million units in 2009, overtaking notebooks in total unit terms.

Currently smartphones account for 14 per cent of overall mobile device sales, but Gartner expects by 2012 they will make up around 37 per cent of global handset sales. Smartphone revenue is forecast to reach US$191 billion by 2012, higher than end user spending on mobile PCs, which is forecast to reach US$152 billion in 2012. From 2009, user spending on smartphones will start to surpass the forecast for consumer notebooks.

According to Gartner, PC vendors' cumulative share (Apple excluded) of the smartphone market has been static at less than 1 per cent for years. By the end of 2009, Gartner expects that all major PC vendors will have announced their aim to ha... .. .

Symbian Foundation Welcomes Fujitsu as New Board Member

29 Oct 2009 07:02:57 GMT

Fujitsu Limited and the Symbian Foundation today announced Fujitsu's appointment to the Symbian Foundation board of directors. Fujitsu joins wireless carriers AT&T, Vodafone, NTT DOCOMO, silicon providers ST Microelectronics NV and Texas Instruments, and handset manufacturers Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Nokia as an Appointing OEM Member on the Symbian Foundation board.

Fujitsu has accepted all rights and obligations of a foundation Appointing OEM Board Member that includes supporting the foundation with both a financial commitment and active participation on the four foundation Councils that govern the development of the Symbian Platform.

Fujitsu brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the open source community and many technological firsts on Sym... .. .

Redownloading Of Premium Content Now Available For Nokia's OVI Store Users

28 Oct 2009 18:38:19 GMT

Michael Bramlageon from Ovi store team has just announced that they've come up with solution that allows you to re-download premium content you already purchased from the Ovi Store.

Re-downloading is as simple as it sounds - it lets Ovi Store users, who previously purchased and downloaded content to their device, to re-download, recover, and restore the content in the event that something happens to it.

Every day, millions of users from more than 180 countries, using a wide range of Nokia devices have discovered, purchased, and downloaded cool new apps and games, like Shazam, Gravity, and Pac-Man (my personal favorite) from the Store. They use these apps and games to enhance their lives-to discover new music, to stay in touch with their friends and followers, or to sim... .. .

Nokia N97 Mini Makes Its Big Debut In Stores - Nokia N97 Shipments Passes Two Million Milestone!!

28 Oct 2009 12:31:43 GMT

Nokia N97 mini makes its big debut in stores. With its stainless steel cues, the Nokia N97 mini is designed for style-conscious people who are active with social networks.

The device features a tilting 3.2" touch display, QWERTY keyboard and fully customizable homescreen. The Nokia N97 mini features same software with the Nokia N97 and will be in stores with an estimated retail price of EUR 450 before taxes and subsidies.

"In September, 2009, we exceeded 2 million Nokia N97 devices sold, and now introduce the Nokia N97 mini, underscoring the success of the design. We have also listened to consumer feedback about the performance of the device. The Nokia N97 soft... .. .

DreamSpring Releases Contact Manager DreamConnect For S60 3rd Ed Smartphones

28 Oct 2009 08:30:19 GMT

DreamSpring announced the availability of DreamConnect, an innovative contact manager introducing ground breaking technologies, for Symbian-based Nokia, Samsung and LG smartphones.

DreamSpring today announced DreamConnect for smartphones running on Symbian S60 v3.1 and v3.2 smartphones, following the release of its 5th edition version 2 weeks ago.

The S60 version of DreamConnect inherits many of the ground-breaking technologies from its UIQ and Psion predecessors. It features a clear display of information in business card format, key match, global find and hierarchical sub-categories, designed especially for users who have a large contact dat... .. .

Symbian Horizon Lowers The Barriers Of Application Publishing And Discovery

27 Oct 2009 16:27:35 GMT

The Symbian Foundation announced today the launch of Symbian Horizon, the publishing program for Symbian developers, at the Symbian Exchange and Exposition 2009 (SEE 2009). Developers can now sign up for the program to have their applications listed in the Symbian Horizon Directory, processed through Symbian Signed, and published to a growing list of application store partners.

The goal of Symbian Horizon is to help developers bring their applications to the largest mobile market in the world in a cost effective way. This publishing program is now being scaled up to process thousands of applications in 2010.

Horizon demonstrates Symbian’s commitment to improving the developer experience, including helping developers build applications, place them in a variety of global stores, and provide marketing support. The Symbian Foundation crea... .. .

HOT: The Long Awaited Update For Nokia N97 Is Now Available And Confirmed As Hackable!

27 Oct 2009 16:10:04 GMT

This is just a quick heads up for those of you who haven't seen Esilance's forum post about the long awaited and highly anticipated firmware update (20.2.019) for the Nokia N97.

Latest firmware update for company's flagship device is now available as FOTA update and through Nokia Software Updater as well for most of the generic product codes from EMEA and APAC region and is expected to be available for the rest of the world as well as for NAM and branded devices shortly.

Firmware v20 improves touch screen usability, allowing you to scroll smoothly through content by flicking the screen. Ovi Maps 3.1 brings 3-D maps, more accurate positioning, and improved search. Nokia e-mail, Ovi Contacts, Ovi Store, and VoIP support have been added. This release also includes improvem... .. .

Nokia Launches Its First TD-SCDMA Device - Symbian Powered Nokia 6788

27 Oct 2009 07:16:34 GMT

Nokia today announced the Nokia 6788, its first device for TD-SCDMA - China's domestic 3G standard, at an event in Beijing. The Nokia 6788 is the result of close collaboration between Nokia and the world's largest mobile phone operator, China Mobile.

Speaking at the event, said Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, CEO of Nokia: "Nokia sees TD-SCDMA as being central to the successful evolution of 3G in China, and so is fully committed to this 3G standard.

With a wide range of integrated China Mobile applications, the Nokia 6788 marks a new level of collaboration with China Mobile and offers enriched experiences to China's 3G users. Nokia plans to introduce more TD-SCDMA phones in the near future, further boosting the development of this 3G stand... .. .

Brief: Here's Your Chance to Win a Nokia N97 mini!

26 Oct 2009 15:46:00 GMT

If you are tired of your old Smartphone or get jealous every time you see what your friends have to work with, then you may want to check out the latest Nokia's contest!?

So if you would like to get something, newer, cooler and faster and if you want to enjoy fring and other applications available on Ovi Store, here's your chance to accomplish it all!

To celebrate the recent launch of the Ovi Store, Nokia & fring are giving out the most sough-after phone yet- the brand new N97 mini! Three lucky grand prize winners will have the opportunity to win a brand new Nokia N97 mini, and really, who cou... .. .

Extend Your Options with Updated WRT Tools

26 Oct 2009 10:12:16 GMT

Forum Nokia recently updated three tools for developing Web Runtime (WRT) widgets enabling the quick and easy conversion of standard web code and scripting languages into exciting new mobile applications and services while working directly within three of the most popular software development environments on the market today.

Nokia WRT Plug-in 2.2 for Aptana Studio extends support to computers running Linux-based Ubuntu 8.04 and Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Aptana Studio is a free Web-development environment that offers integrated language support for key Web technologies, as well as embe... .. .

'Forget Apple, The Real Evil Is Google' Says Symbian CEO

25 Oct 2009 21:02:02 GMT

The Symbian operating system has received a bad rap from various directions. Most of it, like the claim that the OS is outdated, when the real issue is only related to the user interface, or that the competition has passed them by technologically, when in reality they're still behind Symbian in most respects, just really irks my nerves and rubs me the wrong way.

The lack of knowledge from the sources of the misinformation is just as bad, and Symbian's competitors are quick to run with these claims all the way to the bank.

Shockingly, Nokia, the original benefactor of the Symbian Foundation, always takes the high road, and never responds to some of the wild and untrue state... .. .

User Review: Vendetta with Sony Ericsson Satio

24 Oct 2009 19:35:31 GMT

Window shopping can get as boring as the sheer fact of doing that, yet on special occasions it can bring a lot of interesting finds.

But it would be a shameless lie to say that I haven't looked forward to this particular photo oriented flagship smartphone to finally materialize in UK mobile shops.

And now, after having seen the new toy in 'person' and gathered as much impressions as humanly possible in 5 minutes, I feel like my initial skepticism towards Sony Ericsson's Satio shou... .. .

Nokia sues Apple in Delaware District Court for infringement of Nokia GSM, UMTS and WLAN patents

22 Oct 2009 17:08:28 GMT

Nokia announced that it has today filed a complaint against Apple with the Federal District Court in Delaware, alleging that Apple's iPhone infringes Nokia patents for GSM, UMTS and wireless LAN (WLAN) standards.

As a leading innovator in wireless communications, Nokia has created one of the strongest and broadest patent portfolios in the industry, investing more than EUR 40 billion in R&D during the last two decades.

Much of this intellectual property, including the patents in suit, has been declared essential to industry standards. Nokia has already successfully entered into license agreements including these patents with approximately 40 companies, including virt... .. .

Sony Ericsson Teamed Up With Famous London Based photographer Jillian Edelstein To Celebrate The Launch Of The New Satio Handset On Vodafone

22 Oct 2009 07:32:35 GMT

To celebrate the launch of the new Sony Ericsson Satio handset on Vodafone, we are offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to have your eyes captured by photographer to the stars, Jillian Edelstein. Join the likes of Nelson Mandela, Kate Moss and Woody Allen and be immortalised by this legendary artist.

Jillian will be embarking on a mission to capture the unique beauty and individuality of 121 eyes, in 12.1 hours at a central London Vodafone store.

To be in with a chance of taking part, simply upload your details, an image of your eyes and why you'd like to be involved. Alternatively head to your local Vodafone store where you will be able to sample the new handset. A trained member of sta... .. .

Nokia N97 With Firmware v20 Now Available on RDA!!

22 Oct 2009 06:50:17 GMT

As you may have already know, Remote device access services enable remote access to various live Nokia devices based on the Symbian OS over the Internet.

RDA service is mainly aimed for developers and offers a possibility to reduce the effort on testing, demoing and content & application development but it is also a great opportunity for freaks like us to test some of the hottest upcoming phones and software updates.

Unfortunately service is heavily optimized for the S60 devices and therefore phone that I would like to test the most is not available yet but I'm pretty sure that those of you who own Nokia N97 would like to know that phone with long awaited software version 20 is now available on the Nokia's RDA service and if you ha... .. .

Symbian Foundation Today Released The Source Of The Kernel And Hardware Services Package Under The Open Source EPL Licence!

21 Oct 2009 18:41:50 GMT

Symbian Foundation today announced a significant milestone in its plan to move the entire Symbian platform into open source: the release of the platform microkernel (EKA2) and supporting development kit under the Eclipse Public License (EPL).

The kernel release is nine months ahead of schedule and reflects the positive momentum behind Symbian's ambitious platform migration plan, which began with the release of security code under EPL.

16 out of a total 134 platform packages have now been released into open source since the code was first made available on the Symbian Foundation servers in April 2009. "The release of the microkernel demonstrates three vital, guiding princ... .. .

Get The Second Alpha Version of Symabook Application

21 Oct 2009 12:14:00 GMT

Symarctic Solutions Ltd. announced today second alpha version of S60 application built on Facebook Platform. Symabook, is now titled as alpha 2 and brings numerous of improvements here and there and minor bug fixes.

Now it supports landscape orientation, adds support for comments and improved character support just to name a few.

Symabook application enables Facebook users worldwide to be connected with their friends everywhere with S60 mobile phones. "We were very delighted of your feedback for the previous version. We aim to give that same delightful feeling ba... .. .

ARM Announced The Launch Of The ARM Cortex-A5 MPCore Processor

21 Oct 2009 11:44:20 GMT

ARM today announced the launch of the ARM Cortex-A5 MPCore processor - the smallest, lowest power ARM multicore processor capable of delivering the Internet to the widest possible range of devices, from ultra low cost handsets, feature phones and smart mobile devices to pervasive embedded, consumer and industrial devices.

Available as an extremely area- and power-efficient uniprocessor or up to a 4x multicore processor, the Cortex-A5 processor unleashes the outstanding performance and power scalability required for the compelling usage scenarios demanded by each of these markets.

“The Symbian platform and the ARM Cortex-A5 processor will enable the delivery of advanced, always-on multimedia use cases, while respecting the power and memory constra... .. .

Nokia and Tanla Sign an Agreement for License Management, Mobile Payments and Professional Services!

20 Oct 2009 17:52:17 GMT

Tanla Solutions Ltd, the leading provider of Mobile Payments and License Management, today announced that it has signed a 5 year frame agreement with Nokia, the largest handset manufacturer, covering License Management, Mobile Payments and related professional services.

Tanla's License Manager product, for rights management of applications and software on mobile devices, has already been installed on a hundred million Symbian based devices.

License Manager seamlessly integrates application rights management and payments, enabling in-application billing, try before you buy, subscription and many other business models on the handset. Tanla will expand License Manager from Symbian dev... .. .

Retro Gaming In Your Pocket: Frodo S60 Is Now Compatible With 5th Edition Devices!

19 Oct 2009 21:47:37 GMT

FrodoS60 is Commodore C64 emulator that allows you to run your favorite old school games right on your phone at full speed with smooth graphics and sound support.

Hannu Viitala, developer responsible for this C64 emulator is now back with its latest and greatest update that adds support for the 5th edition devices and finger friendly full screen controls.

The Frodo v1.6 offers numerous improvements and operates in both, landscape and portrait orientations, brings a full-screen mode, support for the new sensor framework (accelerometer based controls), two different touch layouts as well as supp... .. .

Company's First Capacitive Touchscreen Device Gets New Promo Video

19 Oct 2009 17:00:06 GMT

I just came across new commercial for the first Nokia's device equipped with capacitive screen and I thought I'd share it with you. It is a short promo video that highlights some of the key points of this nice looking and clever little phone that will be initially only available in combination with "Comes With Music" service but its cheaper variant with 16 GB of build in memory and without CWM offering should be available from around the end of the year.

Beside the capacitive technology, 32 GB of build in flash memory, 5 MPX camera, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, TV-out, and 35 hours of music playback Nokia X6 also brings fresh design and more exciting outfit.

Unfortunately phone is based on the pretty much the same hardware architecture as its predecessor and is equi... .. .

Weekend watching: Video Interview with Imagination Technologies

17 Oct 2009 17:43:00 GMT

Get more OpenGL ES goodies in this video interview with Gordon MacLachlan from Imagination Technologies. The interview is done by Albin Olofsson, Tools Manager at the Sony Ericsson Developer World and includes discussion about OpenGL ES 2.0 and the Sony Ericsson Satio™, an overview of the Imagination Technologies SDK for OpenGL ES development and about the demo of the SDK.

Imagination Technologies is a global leader in multimedia and communication silicon technologies. We create and license market-leading processor cores for graphics, video, multi-threaded embedded systems-on-chip (SoC) and multi-standard communications applications. These silicon intellectual prop... .. .

Research: Smartphone Owners Use Less than Six Applications Regularly

17 Oct 2009 17:07:28 GMT

Even though smartphone users download multiple applications to their devices, the recent Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies insight, “Smartphone Owners Only Use Half of Installed Applications Regularly," shows that only about four to six applications are consistently used on a regular basis.

This report provides an overview of how many applications have been downloaded and are still installed, and how frequently these applications are used.

By surveying mobile Smartphone users in the US and the UK, Strategy Analytics has found that Smartphone users in the UK now install as many applications on their phones as their US counterparts. While Apple users in both countries down... .. .

Weekend reading: Sony Ericsson Makes Another Massive Loss!

16 Oct 2009 22:06:46 GMT

Money loosing joint venture between Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson reported a loss of 164 million Euros in the third quarter, compared to a net loss of EUR25 million a year ago but the result is still an improvement compared to the 213 million Euros that company lost in the second quarter.

This was caused by a 42 percent year-on-year fall in net sales, to EUR1.62 billion. It shipped 14.1 million handsets in the third-quarter, a 45 percent fall year-on-year but a slight improvement on the 13.8 million units shipped in the second-quarter this year.

The company, which switched its CEO couple of weeks ago, is in the process of shoring up its financial position while trying to returning Sony Ericsson to profitability. Ericsson VP Bert Nord... .. .