jon's weblog

Spotify for Symbian launched

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:28:06 PST

Spotify has finally release the mobile client for the Symbian S60 platform, the most popular and widely used smartphone platform. Models supported includes the Nokia E52 (I suspect the E55 is supported but will test it later), E66, E71, E75, N86, 5800XM, N97, Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung i7110, Omnia HD; and more. A list of supported devices is available here. Listeners would also be able to

Nokia N97 Mini camera samples and review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:24:05 PST

The N97 Mini features the same camera module as the Nokia N97. The lens here are branded as Carl Zeiss, though I suspect that Nokia are simply licensing the brand. Still who am I to know. Anyway...The camera here is a 5MP auto focus module with macro capability. Like the N97, the camera application isn't intuitive to use and is slow to boot and explore around. You do get some form of manual

Spotify for Symbian, where art thou?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:38:56 PST

It has been more than two months since we saw the video of a functional S60 Spotify client. So, one serious question to developers at Spotify HQ: why are you ignoring the largest market out there?

Chrome OS

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:54:48 PST

The amount of attention by self proclaimed experts on Chrome OS is rather unnerving. For those who do not know, Chrome OS is a Linux distribution filled with adware, basically a trojan horse for Google's advertising business - minus the bits that makes Linux great. You may realise that I have adsense on this blog, but you can always adblock it if you want to. With a Google controlled OS and

E55 successor wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:09:38 PST

You have read my positive review of the Nokia E55 (if not what are you waiting for?). It is easily the best smartphone I have ever had the pleasure to use or own. But nothing is perfect and there are some gripes that I would like Nokia to address in any future successor of the E55/E52.Camera with macro modeThis is essential for an enterprise-class phone. It just makes so much sense to be able to

ThinkPad X100e

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:44:38 PST

Whatever Lenovo's excuse is, the new ThinkPad X100e isn't a real ThinkPad at least design wise.Whilst retaining some form of identity to the classic and timeless ThinkPad design (the red TrackPoint), the X100e basically looks just like yet another netbook It has a chiclet style keyboard, first made popular on notebooks by Sony, meaning it lacks the popular keyboard that made the ThinkPad brand

Nokia N97 Mini unboxing

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:32:20 PST

Tom from WOM World Nokia surprised us with something that truly caught us off guard this evening. A mariachi band, camera crew and a N97 Mini, as part of Nokia Human Research Department Experiment! I was expecting something when Tom called this afternoon, but certainly not this! Truly entertaining though I suspect our neighbours may not be too amused! Not that we are too bothered as we will be

Channel 4 in 3D fail

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 15:01:40 PST

Today I was reminded on why 3D glasses belongs in the past. It gives you a migraine. The contents are mainly rubbish (good 2D programmes would not resort to such gimmicks in the first place). And finally because of the nature of stereoscopic 3D glasses, they are not in technicolour, so why bother?Then again we have Channel 4 to thank a lot. They decided to use Darren Brown as a proponent to 3D,

Nokia E55 receives v22 update (apparently)

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:45:28 PST

According to online reports, both the Nokia E55 and E52 has received firmware updates thus putting the software version at v22 - up from the previous v21. The update, which is said to contain bug fixes rather than new features, is allegedly live via the Nokia Software Updater (NSU) client though not yet available via OTA.OTA: great in theory, poor in its executionNot surprisingly Nokia Care UK,

Nokia E55 review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:22:46 PST

The Nokia E55 is the sister model of the E52. Both are the successor to the great and indestructible E51, which itself was the successor to the E50 (another brilliant device). In fact, this line of candybar E-series business phones owes its heritage to the hugely popular 6310i, a now classic phone that still commands a following by dedicated users. They share the same classic monoblock design,

Samsung Bada and Qt powered Symbian interface demo

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:55:08 PST

Samsung has announced yet another smartphone platform which they dub as Bada. Seriously, do we need yet another smartphone platform? There are currently a couple of open source smartphone platforms on the western market - Symbian, Android and LiMo. Then we have proprietary OSes like Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple and WebOS (the last three should not be counted as they are not licensed to other

Cheap HDTVs for that new PS3 of yours

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:08:19 PST

Bought that cheap PS3 Slim from Sainsbury's? Well you will need a new LCD HDTV to go with that won't you? Here are some great stuff that dropped inside my mailbox today. It's like the January sales have started early this year!Toshiba Regza 32AV615DB 32" 720p with Freeview £289.99Samsung LE32B450C4 32" 720p with Freeview £309.99LG 32LH2000 32" 720p with Freeview £328.94Toshiba Regza 32RV635DB 32"

20% off consoles offer at Sainsbury's

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:25:28 PST

Sainsbury's is having a 20% off consoles offer that is brilliant for people who prefer to get their consoles and games the a la carte way.Amazon UK is selling the Nintendo DSi for £139.99, but Sainsbury's selling it for £119.97 - a saving of £20!The PSP-3000, which normally costs £129.99, is being sold for £119.99 - a decent saving of about £10 even if it comes with some Hannah something game.

Brazil - hypocrisy much?

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:01:47 PST

Has joined a long list of countries I won't be spending my tourist money in anytime soon.Update: I should not have been too cryptic. A Brazilian University has expelled a student for her wardrobe of choice - a short dress in this case, which is hardly mini'er than say, a cheerleader's outfit. This after allowing a student mob to subject the student to much abuse.Update 2: It seems that the

Camera Obscura's London Shepherd's Bush Empire gig

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:59:55 PST

Camera Obscura third London gig of the year (and second at SBE) was simply brilliant. The crowd today were better than the last, no doubt because the new album has been out for some time giving people a chance to familiarise with the tracks. We met plenty of fans, including a group who were next to us during the last SBE gig (this is their fourth Camera Obscura gig they have attended this year

Opera Mobile 10 beta perfect score in Acid3

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:54:32 PST

As mentioned earlier, Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian Series 60 platform renders web pages accurately. This is thanks to the Opera Presto engine, which powers the desktop version of Opera 10. I ran the Acid3 test and it gained a 100/100 score - a very impressive score for a mobile browser even if it didn't pass the pixel for pixel likeness (not surprising considering the limited resolution). In

Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian Series 60

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:37:14 PST

Opera recently unleashed the public beta of their newest Opera Mobile 10 for Symbian Series 60 platform. It features the same user interface as Opera Mini 5 beta including tabbed browsing and a speed dial similar to their desktop edition.It is quite a bit faster than Opera Mini 5 and the built-in Webkit browser. Unfortunately it is a RAM hog (about 20MB used with a single tab open). With Opera

Nokia E55 music review

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:59:40 PST

Nokia's E-series product lines has undergone much change since my first ever E-series phone (the E51). No longer are they just boring business phones with great built quality - they are now regularly equipped with the same multimedia features as found in the more savvy N-series and XpressMusic phones. Today I will be looking at the musical ability of the E55, Nokia's first half-QWERTY

Nokia N97 camera samples

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:38:03 PST

Here are some unedited photographs taken with the Nokia N97. Unfortunately Blogger does not support resolutions as high as 5MP, so these are resized to 1024x768 resolution. Apart from that they are essentially untouched, and will give you an idea of what to expect from the N97 - as far as the camera goes. While certainly no match for my G9 and modern digital compacts, it is good enough to be used

Nokia E55 first impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:30:00 PDT

The built quality on this is great, but not as great as the E51. For one the amount of metal has been cut down to just the battery cover and applications keys. The rest are just plastic. This may have to do with cost cutting as well as to reduce the weight of the phone. The E51 has survived many drops on concrete and I occasionally even use it when it is raining (not advisable as it isn't

Nokia E55 unboxing

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:40:43 PDT

While the current trend and talk of the mobile phone industry is the touchscreen, here is one unit that does not feature one and that I am generally very very excited for. It is Nokia's first ever half QWERTY phone. Instead of a standard 12 numerical keypad, the Nokia E55 has a Blackberry Pearl-esque 20-key keypad. RIM calls theirs the SureType, Nokia calls it the half-QWERTY. Whatever the keypad

Nokia N97: the good things

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:05:07 PDT

After my initial bashing of the N97 you may think that the N97 is a lost cause. Not entirely as there are a couple of good stuff going for it. Whether or not they will sway your opinion on whether to buy one is entirely up to you. As is, because the N97 Mini has already been released, it is probably best to just get that if you are dead set on getting some kind of N97.The reasonably high

Symbian Exchange and Exposition 2009 showroom report

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:53:11 PDT

Had about an hour of free time to check out the first ever SEE09 in Earl's Court, London. Unless you are a developer there isn't really much to see that may interest the average person. Still in interesting event and one that I hope will continue as the now open source Symbian platform grows.Sony Ericsson's Satio is a much quicker and polished product than the N97. It runs on Symbian^1 (Series 60

SEE 2009 kicks off today

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:27 PDT

The annual Symbian Exchange and Exposition kicks off today at Earls Court, London. This will be a very interesting event as it is expected that more details of Symbian^2 will emerge, as will the mobile phones that will be running them by key exhibitors Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson among others. A host of devices running on the mature none-touchscreen S60v3 platform are also expected to be

Nokia N97: the really bad things

noreply@blogger.com (Jon) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:04:51 PDT

I have been playing with a trial N97 device from WOMWorld for a couple of days and despite very much wanting to praise it, I can't help but admit that it is a pretty huge disappointment with Nokia's supposed N-series flagship.WOMWorld provided the device as part of an Ovi Maps 3 The Good Things event (I'll write about it eventually but you can check out my twitter feeds with the #ovigoodthings