Planet Mobile

All About Symbian: Y-Tasks updated, peeking into your phone's internals

Mon, 28 May 2012 13:11:02 +0000

Updated recently (late last month) but somewhat unheralded, I'd like to put that straight with a mention of a utility that we've never reviewed formally yet might be the very thing to help you sort out an 'under the hood' issue with your Symbian smartphone: Y-Tasks. Part process manager, part application manager, part (RAM) memory optimiser, Y-Tasks is a real jack of all trades and v1.01 is screenshotted below.

Y-Tasks is, somewhat confusingly, available both for £1.50 in the Nokia Store and also for free in 'self-signed' or 'unsigned' form on the author's web site. The simple answer is that the former has been digitally signed to work with the innermost parts of Symbian OS, whereas the self-signed one has more limited functionality. And if you have to ask how you can get the 'unsigned' version working then you aren't geeky enough to do it....!

At its simplest though, users who want to know a bit more about their smartphone's inner workings can just buy Y-Tasks in the usual way and it will arrive full working, as shown in the walkthrough below.

The main menu, essentially a collection of seven very loosely related utilities; exploring all the filetypes in Symbian OS and displaying which application is currently assigned (if any) to handle each - you can change the allocation using the menu; showing running applications (including system ones, normally hidden from the Symbian task switcher)

Displaying system information on a running application - the stack size (related to the amount of RAM being used) is perhaps most relevant here; examining processes and threads in Symbian OS, there are typically well over a hundred running at any one time - note the search box to help find a possible culprit; graphical 'memory status', including the important RAM figure and the less well known RAM disk D: - no, I'm not quite sure exactly which apps are allowed to access this either!

Each module in Y-Tasks has an excellent explanatory Help text, as here for the Crash Monitor function; tucked away with the Memory status module is this handy 'Compress RAM' function, tidying up fragmented system RAM and perhaps saving having to reboot to reclaim performance later on; and the Trace function, essentially plotting processor loading and free RAM as a function of time.

In normal use, most users will never, ever need something like Y-Tasks. But when the chips are down and that game just keeps crashing or when you're trying to work out which installed app is causing a battery issue, then at least remember that this utility exists and how to get hold of it.

You can buy Y-Tasks in the Nokia Store here.

All About Symbian: New version (2.70) of Gravity in public beta

Mon, 28 May 2012 07:44:35 +0000

Available now for all Symbian smartphones, there's a big new version of the rightly famous Gravity uber-social client, now in beta. Version 2.70 has had a facelift all round, plus there's now a 'Search bar' in all views and a combined notifications screen. Full changelog and some screens below.

Changelog:

New icons
Search bar
New top bar
New share menu
Shows the data on uploading photos
New ‪gravity browser with readability support
Now you can save Facebook images
New combined notifications screen
Revamped Groups and Lists section and more!

The new 'Groups and lists'; quick searching a Twitter timeline; tapping to save a Facebook image

You can grab the new beta of Gravity here

Erik Thauvin: Twits du Jour (May 27)

Erik C. Thauvin — Mon, 28 May 2012 07:00:02 +0000

RT @patricblixt: Facebook's first week is the worst of any IPO in 10 years | VentureBeat: t.co/ONUoSH7J #
My Top 3 #lastfm Artists: Hardline (20), Adam Lambert (15) & Slash (13) t.co/F1RtTI1k #

All About Symbian: Five things Nokia did right and five mistakes it made in the Symbian and smartphone world

Mon, 28 May 2012 06:58:00 +0000

The period 2001 to 2011 should be celebrated, it's the decade when the humble 'mobile phone' become more, so much more. And it's worth noting Nokia's part in this transformation, with five things listed here that the company absolutely nailed in the fight to give us more and more powerful phones. But I also can't let such a retrospective go by without a similar attempt to identify the five biggest mistakes that Nokia made, leading to its somewhat troubled existence in the smartphone world of 2012.

Let's start on a positive note though. Five things Nokia absolutely got right.

1. Chose Symbian as its OS

It's all very well to look at Symbian now - still very powerful as an OS but with a legacy architecture that's creaking at the seams in today's always-on, large-screened, fully-social, graphically-accelerated world - and be critical of the reasons for Symbian's very existence. However, back around the turn of the millennium, Symbian was the brave new world, the multitasking mobile-friendly OS that was going to take us from the world of PDAs to the world of smartphones. And it did. To the Nokia 9210, to the Sony Ericsson P800, to the Nokia N95 and beyond. Five or six years beyond.

At the time that Nokia and others were getting started with the new Symbian, the competition was Windows Mobile and Palm OS, both of which had grafted on telephony with varying degrees of success. Each of these OS has now long since died out in mainstream use, leaving Symbian the sole survivor of a bygone age. Proving that helping to create and shape Symbian (from the base rock of Psion's EPOC/32) was absolutely the right choice, I think.

2. Experimented with different form factors

It's true that Nokia's biggest selling smartphone models in the last decade were fairly traditional in form factor (think N73, N95, 5800, N8), but it's the wide variety in designs outside the best sellers that endear the company to many of its fans. Think of the outrageous Nokia 3650, the transformer N90 and N93, the huge brick form of the Communicator line and the hybrid 9300i, think of the much-maligned N97 and more recent E7, think of the gull-winged qwerty powerhouse, the E70.

Essentially, something for everyone. One thing's for sure, Nokia smartphones were rarely boring. And by releasing such a wide range of hardware, the company was able to garner feedback from customers on what worked and what didn't work.

3. Put huge investment into key differentiators

Right from the get go, Nokia put investment into converged technologies, specifically photography and music, followed a few years later by navigation. As a result, even Nokia-sceptics admit that 'Nokia phones have great cameras'. From the first VGA camera right up to the latest 41 megapixel PureView unit, Nokia's cameras have generally been first rate, whichever model you pick up. And yes, I'm including EDoF units in that - in most light conditions, EDoF works better for the great unwashed than auto-focus cameras on competing smartphones, in my opinion.

Similarly for navigation, the purchase of Navteq was hugely expensive, but is proving a good buy in the long term, with Nokia Maps being the star turn on every Symbian-powered smartphone of the last few years and even now starring on the new Windows Phones.

4. Wasn't afraid to keep innovating

Apart from camera technology, Nokia has been brave enough to experiment with other hardware gizmos, many of which made it into the smartphone base-specification we have today. Integrating GPS, accelerometers, Wi-fi, OLED screens, hardware-accelerated graphics, USB on the go, DLNA, all were tried out by Nokia right at the cutting edge.

5. Rarely skimped on build quality

Though there have been occasional lapses, Nokia's reputation for great build quality, good choice of materials and durability remains untarnished across the mobile world. Which is why most of us still have half a dozen Nokia smartphones from years gone by tucked away in drawers that would still fire up fine when most of their competitors had fallen to bits.

Whether looking at feel in the hand, or survivability in the real world or in one of Nokia's test labs, this aspect of Nokia's 'scene' has always been something that impressed me. Hardware highlights here have to be the E71, E61i, N82, N91, C7 and N8, but you may have your own favourites...

Now to the painful bit - five things that Nokia got wrong in my humble opinion.

1. The move to touch

Although obvious with hindsight, this mistake wasn't at all obvious at the time. Nokia had a successful smartphone platform in S60, button/d-pad driven, when Apple introduced the world to flexible interfaces on a large capacitive touchscreen. Truly the world did change at that point, again with hindsight - though at the time the iPhone was little more than a feature phone with a fancy interface.

Now, Nokia had experimented with touch interfaces before, with the 7710, plus it had seen Sony Ericsson partially succeed with its UIQ smartphones, also based on Symbian. There were three ways to go: one was to either take an existing touch interface (such as the 7710's 'Series 90') and rework it for 2008 onwards; the second option was to create a new touch interface from scratch (effectively what Microsoft did a few years later) to compete with iOS, even if it meant breaking compatibility with existing S60 applications; the third was to take the existing S60 one-handed, d-pad driven interface and simply adapt it for touch activation of the various screen elements.

Personally, I'd have gone for option 2 yet maintaining the Symbian kernel, but time and money were of the essence and option 3 won out, as history will attest. S60 5th Edition was functional, but not elegant and the continued use of the 'scroll and select' UI paradigm from non-touch S60 on touchscreen phones was an annoyance to existing users and a complete mystery to new ones.

Did Nokia and Symbian need to move to touch at all? Yes, probably. There would still have been a market for key-driven phones but it's one that's getting smaller each year, it seems. Would you have done things differently back in 2007/2008?

2. Apps, apps, apps

Back in 2005, Nokia smartphones running S60 had an on-board app store, in which users could browse and buy applications directly. This was three years before Apple's 'invention' of the mobile app store, remember. Nokia's was called 'Download!' and, much as I'd like to suggest its failure was down to the exclamation mark in the name (see also Yahoo! and similarly! stupidly! named! enterprises!), it largely failed because Nokia put almost no time into the project.

Even at its peak, Download! only offered a dozen or so applications, most of which were from one developer, Epocware, which had got the hang of the submission system. (I even tried to get some of my own applications into the system and failed.) Most S60 owners got their applications from the wider Web, following links from sites like AAS, but this model works less well when you move away from geeks and towards general users. So when Apple finally introduced an application store (on the iPhone) with hundreds and even thousands of applications in the first few months, it was, naturally, a roaring success.

Download! could have been one of Nokia's crown jewels, and yet it was left to stagnate even in its fledgling form and then quietly dropped. Something of a tragedy.

3. Under-specifying key devices

It's one thing for a manufacturer to pare the hardware in budget phones right down, in the drive to reduce the Bill of Materials and keep the handset cost as low as possible. But for a flagship device, for the one smartphone that's got everything, i.e. bundle in the N95's camera and protected camera glass, the 9500's qwerty keyboard, the Psion palmtop's hinge mechanism, the N78's FM transmitter, the E61's monster battery... (I could go on). Yes, I'm talking about the N97, for this one incredible device which could have ruled the world - Nokia skimped on the specifications. Famously, the RAM and system disk size were left the same as on the entry-level predecessor, the 5800, leading to all sorts of glitches and issues. For the sake of a few Euros worth of extra flash memory and RAM, an entire generation of Nokia flagship was lost - along with Nokia's reputation in early adopter and journalist eyes.

It's not just the N97 either, having too little RAM plagued most of the S60 5th Edition generation. For the top-end phones, there simply wasn't any excuse for not thinking ahead and wondering how much RAM might be needed by power users doing powerful things, the very target market for a flagship device.

Even the use of resistive touchscreens can be bundled in here, mainly used because they were cheaper and simpler - again, for a flagship you need to install the best technology and the cost is secondary - can you imagine an N97 with a capacitive AMOLED screen and decent amounts of memory? What a delicious thought.

Either way, this underspecifying of the N97, N97 mini, N96 (remember that?) and other high profile devices led an entire tech generation to turn away from Nokia in disappointment.

4. Making development too hard

Back in the days of Psion, when men were real men, newbies like myself programmed in OPL and the hard core Epoc/Symbian experts coded in C++, down at the 'metal'. Symbian OS was powerful, but it was also complex to program for, not least because many of the concepts that the OS introduced were brand new to the world.

And not a lot changed through the first half of the last decade, other than OPL not being resourced enough and falling by the wayside. Meanwhile Apple, Google and Microsoft entered the market from 2008 onwards, with software development kits that were markedly easier to use - all of a sudden you didn't have to be a guru to write a Symbian application - merely being a competent programmer was enough.

Nokia and Symbian's response was, finally, to buy in Qt, a similar development environment and on-device runtime that would provide parity with much of the competition. As a result, the number of applications for Symbian has been rising smoothly, but it's all somewhat late in the day. Again, playing the 'What if?' game, what if Qt had been available two years earlier, around 2008, matching the options available in the iOS world?

5. The Symbian Foundation

I won't pretend to be able to cover all the political and legal ins and outs of why the Symbian Foundation was created, why Symbian 'had' to be open sourced, and how it failed, see here and here for some comments. What we saw, from an end user standpoint, was a good year or so being wasted chasing down copyrights and rewriting modules which already worked fine, all in the name of the mighty Foundation.

And the one thing you can't afford to waste in the hyper-fast world of mobile is time. Between the touch/N97/Foundation factors, Nokia's year or two's lead in smartphones back in 2006 turned into, by some metrics, being at least a year behind the competition in 2012.

Quite simply, the Symbian Foundation was probably a mistake - with other Symbian licensees visibly wilting, Nokia should have grasped the OS in 2008/2009 and taken it in-house officially - after all, much of the work in Symbian was already being done by Nokia employees.

_________________________

PS. Can I be cheeky and add a sixth mistake? Hardware acceleration. A bit of a personal peeve, I loved the possibilities of the high end GPU built into the N95 generation of smartphones. And hated the way the OMAP2420 chips were pushed aside for a new generation of processors which were far less capable. Admittedly, almost no software actually used the 2420 properly, so in that sense the chips were being wasted. But I can't but look back, ironically, at the way Nokia abandoned GPUs in smartphones just as Apple started introducing them....

As ever, your comments welcome. Can you think of more successes or more mistakes?

Steve Litchfield, AAS, 28 May 2012

All About Symbian: Bartending prowess with Mixologist

Mon, 28 May 2012 06:05:00 +0000

I won't pretend to know enough about mixing drinks to get the most from this, but Mixologist has been on my 'must look' list for a while now, so let's at least highlight its major functions here on AAS. Essentially, it's a UI into a massive database of cocktails, punches, shooters and other mixed drinks, including suggestions on what to make should you only have a few alcoholic ingredients to hand. Recommended.

Here's Mixologist in action, you'll instantly get the idea:

Production values for this application are very high - the loading screen is a tumbler filling gradually with alcohol, and there are beautifully rendered backdrops throughout; showing multiple ways of browsing through the extensive drinks database.

Mixologist is written in Qt and works quickly and smoothly, here browsing through specific drink recipes, none of which I'd ever heard of (but then I don't get out much!); showing the detail screen for a particular cocktail (and yes, I believe the missed 'e' on the end of 'Absolut' is intentional!)

The 'Cabinet' lets you put in the ingredients you have in your liquor cabinet, in fairly extreme detail - Mixologist then filters out all but the drinks you can actually make with what you have.

Telling the application exactly which whiskey I have to hand - with a nice backgrounder on every drink in the database if needed; seeing the drinks that I can make with my particular cabinet collection.

In the 'Random' mode, there's a fruit machine like set of spinners, tap on 'Mix it up' to let Mixologist combine drink elements randomly (dare I say 'drunkenly'?) and pop up recipes that you might never have thought of: 'Vodka Sour' and 'Cherry Snowplow', anyone?

Finally, 'Bartending' and 'More' provide definitions of the various tools of the trade (just in case) and the usual settings and 'about' screens.

A professionally implemented and possibly very useful little application - though I'll give it a miss personally, I'm more a 'pint of Carlsberg' man!...

Mixologist is £1 in the Nokia Store.

All About Symbian: Marker 'Pan' brings the freshly drawn look to Symbian?

Sun, 27 May 2012 08:08:41 +0000

I simply can't resist a well-crafted, unusual theme, a way of dramatically face lifting a phone that's otherwise become so familiar. In this case 'Marker Pan' (sic), providing freshly drawn (as if with a marker pen) icons and screen elements. It's not that AMOLED-friendly but hey, it's summer here in the northern hemisphere and why not head out with a freshly drawn UI and a spring in your step?

Installing Marker Pan from the Store; the default wallpaper and homescreen icon style; coloured menu

Marker-drawn application icons provided; Music player; grayish (well-used whiteboard?) default backdrop

We don't feature a lot of themes on AAS - just the ones which catch my eye for some reason. Please ignore if this isn't your 'thing' - or grab and install if it'll make you smile for a few days, as this one did me!

You can grab Marker Pan for free (currently) from the Nokia Store.

Erik Thauvin: Twits du Jour (May 26)

Erik C. Thauvin — Sun, 27 May 2012 07:00:02 +0000

Is there a live stream on the Web for the #eurovision? #

Erik Thauvin: Twits du Jour (May 25)

Erik C. Thauvin — Sat, 26 May 2012 07:00:03 +0000

Needed bread for dinner... (with Vicki at Safeway) - t.co/LnMel8N4 #

All About Symbian: Nokia 808 PureView hands-on and sample images

Fri, 25 May 2012 20:39:00 +0000

Nokia's 808 PureView, with its 41 megapixel camera and large 1/1.2" sensor, has generated a lot of excitement and interest. Earlier this week I visited Carl Zeiss AG's Headquarters in Oberkochen, Southern Germany, to learn more both about the technology inside Nokia's new imaging flagship and get a first hands-on with a near-retail device.

Sample image from a Nokia 808 PureView

The last Symbian flagship?

While all the attention is, rightly, on the Nokia 808's camera, for some an important reason to buy the device will be its status as a Symbian flagship device. This is All About Symbian, so let's look at this dimension briefly, before moving on to the siren call of the camera.

Not only is the 808 a Symbian flagship, it is, in the lights of Nokia's February 2011 platform shift to Windows Phone, almost certainly the last Symbian flagship. For some this means it will be a must have device; in part that's because it delays any platform switch decision by anything up to a couple of years, but also because it represents the pinnacle of the platform that created the smartphone.

Outside of the camera, there's a rich set of hardware functionality: four inch AMOLED screen, through the 16GB of mass memory (plus microSD card slot), 1400 mAh removable battery, HDMI out, sensors (GPS, accelerometer, ambient light, proximity), FM receiver and transmitter, and comprehensive connectivity (NFC, Bluetooth, microUSB, pentaband 3G, WiFi). This reflects the maturity of the Symbian platform and it's notable, even leaving aside the camera, that in terms of hardware features, both Nokia's Windows Phone devices and other competing smartphones have yet to match the full spectrum of functionality.

The Nokia 808 runs Nokia Belle Feature Pack 1, previously known as Symbian Carla, which offers a feature rich and mature smartphone experience. Compared to Nokia Belle, Feature Pack 1 adds a number of new widgets and homescreen enhancements, introduces Dolby Headphone functionality, updates the Web browser to version 8.2 (improved HTML 5 support and performance), and significantly improves overall performance. For users of the first generation of Symbian^3 devices, like the Nokia N8, the biggest improvement is the speed - Symbian has never been so fast.

Those familiar with Symbian will find the 808 continues the very best traditions of the platform - outstanding power and resource management, unheralded feature depth and a phone-first philosophy. What's more, those returning to Symbian, because they want the 808's camera, may be pleasantly surprised by just how much it has improved in the past year. The advent, in the last year, of the Anna, Belle software updates and associated app and service upgrades mean that Symbian has seen more changes and improvements that any other mobile platform. As a result, the platform is much closer to its competitors than many people assume.

A camera centric design

A quick glance at the Nokia 808 immediately reveals it as a camera-centric device, thanks to the hump surrounding the camera module. In images, this hump makes the device seem rather bulky, but in reality it's less noticeable that you might think. It's probably fair to say the 808 would not win a beauty contest against a sleek device like the Nokia N9 or Nokia Lumia 800, but, with echoes of the Nokia C7 design language, it does have a beauty of its own and it is hard to see how the design could be improved without sacrificing the camera.

Build quality is excellent; the 808 feels as sturdy as any unibody design, but maintains the advantage of having a removable battery. Materials are top notch too: The majority of the casing is made from a high quality polycarbonate, with a grippy ceramic-like finish; the surrounding buttons and controls are made from stainless steel; and both the four inch screen and camera module are protected by Gorilla Glass.

More generally, various design cues, such as the fit-in-the-hand comfort (rounded edges and weighting) and the positioning of the camera shutter, gives a sense of a camera-centric design. It's hard to pin down exactly, but it almost feels as if the 808 is a compact camera hiding in the remnant clothes of a smartphone.

This feeling of camera centricity is reinforced by the UI of the 808's camera app, which has been built using Qt and QML. It has been optimised for use whilst holding the device in camera shooting mode: landscape orientation; with right finger curled around the bottom of the device; forefinger on the shutter button; and thumb, moveable in a 90 degree arc, for touchscreen interaction. All the key controls and settings can be reached and adjusted using only your thumb.

While some of the design cues and iconography in the camera UI are familiar from Nokia's Symbian, MeeGo and Windows Phone devices, the UI layout and approach has been reworked. It's now more consistent, intuitive and easier to use. There are plenty of clever touches such as the zoom control, which works by sliding your thumb up and down the screen, and the "as-live" settings controls (e.g. move the saturation slider and the on-screen view changes to match the setting).

However, the biggest overall impact comes from the camera app's three modes (automatic, scenes, and creative), which effectively means you have three camera apps in one, each of which is optimised around a different type of user. The different modes are accessed using an omnipresent toggle at the top of the screen.

Automatic mode, which is the default mode, is the simplest of the three and minimises the number of controls (flash control, shutter button, toggle switch for video/stills, and shortcut to Gallery) in order to keep things as simple as possible.

Scenes mode adds an extra level of complexity, allowing the user to provide additional guidance by specifying a scene type: landscape, automatic, close-up, portrait, sports, night, night portrait, spotlight and snow. The last two of these are new, with 'spotlight' optimised for shooting in concert conditions (bright side lighting) and 'snow' optimised for use in Finland in the winter(!)

Creative mode offers full control over a wide range of settings including exposure control (with on-screen histogram), white balance, ISO controls, neutral density filter control (with impact on shutter speed), focus mode (infinity, hyperfocal, close-up, automatic), colour tones, capture modes (bracketing, interval, self-timer), saturation, contrast, and sharpness. Creative mode also lets you choose between full resolution mode (38/34MP) and three levels of PureView mode (8MP, 5MP, 2MP). Three pre-sets (C1, C2 and C3) let you store different combination of settings, enabling you to jump into a specific usage scenario quickly.

For video capture, the camera app has the same three modes, with video-specific options such as resolution and frame rate replacing some of the still image specific settings.

Across all three modes, the controls that you need to access most often are placed on the right hand side of screen (closest to your thumb), with secondary level controls on the left and, for creative mode, tertiary levels controls accessed via the mode toggle at the top of the screen.

Those familiar with Nokia's Symbian camera UI, which has improved only very slowly over the years, will find the 808 a revelation. It is immediately obvious that a great deal of time and effort has gone into creating the improved UI. It's great to see a Nokia device with a UI worthy of the underlying sensor, optics and software.

PureView

The key selling point of the Nokia 808 PureView is of course the camera. Before using some image samples to look at this in greater detail, it is worth reminding ourselves that PureView is a handy brand name for a collection of technologies, which can be summarised into three key areas:

The first part of PureView is a high quality sensor. In the case of the 808, it is a 1/1.2" sensor with a 41MP resolution. It's not an off-the-shelf component, but rather something that Nokia, together with its partners, has designed themselves. Much of the technology within it is proprietary to Nokia and that means it is not going to be possible for another manufacturer to come along and use the same sensor. Instead they'll have to do their own research and development.

The second part of PureView is high quality optics. For this, Nokia sign an exclusive partnership with Carl Zeiss, with whom the lenses are developed collaboratively. The 808's lens is of exceptionally high quality, indeed, in terms of optical performance, it is significantly better than the lenses found in typical mid range DSLRs. That's a necessary attribute because its smaller relative size means any imperfections have a greater impact.

This photograph shows a cut-through / cross-section of the Nokia 808's PureView camera module under a microscope. The top of the image is the front of the module, with the sensor, at the back of the module, sitting at the bottom of the image. The lens is made up of five elements, with the back element having the dimple and extreme asphericity that is a hallmark of higher quality cameraphone lenses.

The third part of PureView is software processing. The sensor and optics dictate the bounds of the collected raw data, but how effectively that data is used is almost entirely down to software. It's not a simple case of one size fits all. The processing applied is dictated by the context in which the photo is taken. In fully automatic mode it is entirely down to the camera software, in scene and creative modes you can influence the process by applying settings, but the major proportion is still dictated by the quality of processing algorithms. This processing is aided by a dedicated imaging processor, capable of handling up to a billion pixels per second (1080p video). The dedicated processor also means the 808 is very fast when browsing, zooming in on, and editing, images stored on the phone.

Something that Nokia has made clear from the start is that PureView will be used in "multiple future products". While Nokia never talks about the specifics of a future products, it is clear that the intention is to move PureView to the Windows Phone Lumia range. The likelihood is that the sensor size and megapixel count will come down in order to meet the constraints of a thinner device design (i.e. less of a camera hump). That does mean that the 808 PureView is likely to remain the ultimate cameraphone device for some time to come.

Nokia camera modules down the years, with date, f-stop, megapixel count and pixel size information below. Note the gradually decreasing size from N90 to the N8 as a result of production and design improvements. The Nokia 808 PureView bucks this trend because of the increased sensor size and associated optics, with the size increase emblematic of the revolutionary, rather than evolutionary leap it represents. The PureView 808 module is about 75% the size of a penny; by comparison most current cameraphone module are smaller than a pin head.

Sample Images

All the sample image below are also available in this Flickr set.

Below are a variety of sample images captured using the 808's PureView mode at 5MP and 16:9 aspect ratio (3071 x 1728). This is the default setting of the camera and is the way it's most likely to be used day to day. Using the camera app's creative mode, it is also possible to use PureView mode at 8MP and 2MP.

The magic of PureView mode is that an oversampling technique is used, with multiple pixels from the sensor being combined to create one perfect pixel in the captured image. At 5MP, roughly seven pixels from the sensor are combined to create one "superpixel" in the captured image. By combining the data from multiple pixels together, digital noise is greatly reduced because any imperfections are aggregated out. In addition, colour representation is more accurate because there will always be at least one red, green and blue pixel within each superpixel - in particular blocks of colour - such as a blue sky - are captured with more accuracy.

Incidentally, the knock on effect of these two factors is reduced file size - that's because the JPEG compression algorithms operate more efficiently when there are fewer artefacts in an image.

More importantly, it means a 5MP image from a Nokia 808 PureView looks much better than a 5MP image from a cameraphone or a compact camera. The clear visual difference was a surprise for me - I didn't think a 5MP image could be that good. In assessing the 808, it's necessary to re-adjust your expectations of what's possible from a compact camera. To see this full impact you really do need to look at high quality prints - looking at A3 prints the impact is startling - and the 808's 5MP output will work well at any size up to 50 x 70 cm. If you're just looking at the images on screen then the chances are the properties of the screen technology will have more of an impact on your perception of the image than the underlying image quality itself.

Below are two sample images demonstrating the 808's lossless zoom. Both images are 5MP (3071 x 1728). In the first, PureView's oversampling technique is used, with the seven to one pixel ratio. In the second, at 3x zoom, this pixel ratio is one to one, which means a true 5 megapixel image is being captured. At full zoom this does mean the benefits of the superpixel are sacrificed, but that's a very minor issue compared to the digital zoom techniques typically used in cameraphones.

Moreover this zoom technique also means the aperture setting (f/2.4) is the same as the first image. Typically compact cameras use variable aperture zoom lenses (i.e. the aperture number goes up when you zoom). A lower aperture number is generally better as it means more light is hitting the sensor, allowing for more accurate image capture. The 808 also avoids the distortion issue typically found in optical zooms, plus because there's nothing moving it's completely silent, which is vital when shooting video.

The lossless zoom is the most impressive demonstration of the benefits of including a large megapixel count in the 808 PureView, although, ultimately, the oversampling/super pixel technique is more important, given its more common use case and impact on overall image quality.

The four sample images below were taken in full resolution mode. Full resolution, which captures images at 38MP (7152 x 5368) for 4:3 aspect ratio mode, or 34MP (7728 x 4354) for 16:9 aspect ratio mode. That's less than the sensor's full size of 41MP because the corners of the sensor fall outside the optical format area for both aspect ratios. Full resolution images are captured using the camera app's creative mode.

Full resolution mode produces file sizes of between 6MB and 14MB, which means it's not really practical for day to day use. It also does away with the superpixel technqiue, removing a significant benefit of the software portion of the PureView trifecta. As such, full resolution mode might best be seen as a separate, bonus camera experience that you happen to get in addition to the PureView main event.

Note the full size images (click through to access) are each around 10MB in size.

One of the advantages of using the full resolution mode is that you can crop from within a photo, but still retain a reasonable resolution. This effectively allows you to create photos from within a photo, as demonstrated below (both "extracted" photos from fourth sample above). The 808's built in image editor includes a cropping tools that makes it very easy to create these new images directly on the phone.

These samples offer a limited showcase of the 808's still image capture capabilities - they only really touch the surface. The 808 also supports video capture at 1080p (full HD) at 30 frames per second, with up to 4x lossless zoom. The Carl Zeiss event concentrated on the 808's still imaging performance and Nokia asked us not to share video samples. However, based on some of the samples we did see, video capture looks very promising.

We'll cover both the still imaging and video capture capabilities of the Nokia 808 PureView in much greater detail, in a whole range of capture scenarios, once we have hands-on with review (retail) devices.

Summary

So how close does the Nokia 808 PureView feel to being ready? Very close is the answer - in the few hours I had with the 808, it felt and operated like a finished product. Fine tuning of image and video capture performance is ongoing and will continue even once the device hits the shops, but, according to Nokia, it is now just a few weeks away from shipping to consumers.

Nokia has officially announced that Russia and India will be amongst the first markets to get the device, but Nokia representatives made it clear it will be widely available. How many operators will choose to range it remains uncertain; it's obvious that the 808 is something of a specialist device. This means that while the 808 will be available SIM-free in almost all markets, it may not be available with an operator subsidy.

Clearly, it will be necessary to spend more time with the device before forming any final conclusion. We'll be publishing detailed review coverage once units are available. But, even after using the Nokia 808 PureView for a few hours, it's hard not to get excited. It really is an amazing imaging device - there's a lot of hype around, but the truth is that it appears to be almost entirely justified.

Nokia has made some impressive imaging advances over the years with devices like the Nokia N90, N93, N82, N86 and N8, but the 808 stands out even from this select company. Yes, the Nokia 808 PureView sets a new benchmark for cameraphones. But the real eye opener is that it looks like Nokia has made what is arguably also the best compact camera on the planet.

All About Symbian: Review: Thumbnail Folders

Fri, 25 May 2012 07:08:00 +0000

In my last review, I looked at an application that tried to bring the multitasking view from MeeGo Harmattan to Symbian. In yet another attempt at bringing MeeGo to Symbian, we have Thumbnail Folders, which replicates a feature brought in with PR1.2 of the Nokia N9's firmware. Here, application folders icons are decorated with miniature versions of the application icons within. Perhaps all this MeeGo replication hints at how Symbian users really feel about Nokia's transition to Windows Phone 7?

So far, both Tasks Widget and GoToMenu applications have reproduced features of MeeGo Harmattan on the Nokia N9 for Symbian devices. Now, we have Thumbnail Folders, replicating yet another feature of the operating system.

One has to wonder if these releases are indicative of something – a niche of Nokia users who are still hooked on the idea that MeeGo should have been Symbian's successor rather than Windows Phone 7?

Certainly, Swipe UI was innovative and brought together the best of the rest. Its notification page gave the equivalent of a widgets view by providing 'heads up' information, it had an alphabetically organised app grid, and everything was brought together with the live preview view of running applications. The latter was especially innovative, as it made the transition between applications and home screen (via swipe gestures) much smoother than ever before.

It wasn't until PR1.2 that MeeGo Harmattan received application folders, a feature familiar to Symbian users and something often missed on other mobile platforms. Windows Phone 7 doesn't have them, iOS implemented them after quite a while, and Android only has them on home screens.

Even though folders are a much loved feature of Symbian, there is a downside to them. Firstly, there's no way to save the configuration of folders - this means that if you reset your phone, all the folders are gone. Unfortunately, I can't help you there.

Folders before the thumbnail treatment!

One huge problem with traditional folders on Symbian is that you had to hold a mental map of what you had filed where - Thumbnail Folders offers a (partial) solution to this. Thumbnail Folders does away with the basic yellow folder icon, replacing it with a grey folder icon adorned with up to four tiny previews of the icons of applications stored within the folder. This might sound like a gimmick, or a cheap MeeGo imitation, but it addresses the universal problem of remembering where you filed all your applications! I should point out that Nokia Belle improved the situation by disallowing folders within folders, thus reducing the potential complexity of your hierarchy.

Folders after the thumbnail treatment!

Before I tested this app, I imagined the icon previews would be too small to see. However, as long as the icons are well designed, they are recognizable despite their diminutive size; I did notice that the icon for Gravity (of all things) was not displayed in the folder preview, but that was the only such problem. You can also put your customised folders onto a home screen, which could actually replace the likes of Favourite Applications.

Thumbnail Folders can be configured to start when you boot the phone. You can also set it to update whenever the application is manually launched, which would be my preferred mode of operation. Combining these two options would prompt your phone to check for updates every time it was booted; when tried this I had to trust this was working as it lacks the notification provided when you manually update.

Thumbnail Folders options

As mentioned, there is a menu option to manually force an update. You can also set it to ignore the standard folders that Symbian creates – pre-Belle. Finally, if you're not happy with your revamped folders, there's a menu option to reset all changes.

Nokia Belle introduced the option to alphabetically list applications and folders; this was a great improvement over the arbitrary arrangement of icons in previous versions of Symbian. So much so, I had completely done away with folders on my N8. Therefore, I had to create a new filing system to test this application. In testing, I actually found that the added visibility offered by Thumbnail Folders has made me want to keep my folders - they're visually interesting, and immediately help me remember what I've put where.

Therefore, on the grounds that I'll be keeping this one on my N8, it is … Highly Recommended!

All About Symbian: Why I still use a 10 year old Sony Ericsson P900

Fri, 25 May 2012 06:12:39 +0000

Talk about a blast from the past from an unexpected direction! Over on the Cult of Mac (no, really), there's a cute little article entitled 'Why I Still Use A Ten-Year Old Sony Ericsson P900', in which Charlie Sorrel admits that, even in 2012, he still uses, out of preference, a Symbian-powered Sony Ericsson P900 to accompany his iPad, quoting great build quality, the ease of unlocking the keypad and starting an application, and the excellent handwriting recognition. It's true that Charlie doesn't seem to be using the P900 to its fullest potential as a smartphone, but then it is ten years old and I just thought you'd all get a kick out of seeing such a classic device still in use in a valid context.

From the article:

The phone is built like a brick, and dead easy to use. I’d argue that unlocking it and opening an app (yes, it runs apps using a mix of Symbian and UIQ) is even faster and easier than on the iPhone. Example: To unlock it, you flip the side scroll wheel toward you with your thumb (it has five directions — roll up and down, flip back and forward and click inward) and them click it in. You’re unlocked. Locking is done the same way.

Once unlocked you scroll the wheel to pick from any of the five (user-configurable) apps on the screen. If you open the keypad flip to go fullscreen, the wheel scrolls down the full list of apps. Click the wheel to open. Congratulations: you just fired up an app with a few twitches of one thumb....

Finally, texting. You can tap out texts old-style on the numerical keypad, or use the (long-lost) stylus to peck at a fairly decent on-screen keyboard. Or you can use your finger and handwriting recognition to write them.

Maybe it’s just suited to my handwriting, but the accuracy of this recognition is close to 100%....

Oh, and did I mention the battery life — even after ten years — is still almost a week?

Good stuff. Charlie also mentions a few of the decade-old negatives, but kudos to him for sticking with a chunky slice of Symbian classique...

All About Symbian: Chris Davies and the Nokia 808 PureView

Thu, 24 May 2012 07:20:05 +0000

Yesterday was the Nokia 808 PureView's big outing, in the eyes of many of the world's top journalists, with a tour of the Carl Zeiss factory and hours of hands on time with pre-production handsets. Our own Rafe Blandford went along, expect some coverage from him shortly, but in the meantime here's a handy link to a most excellent write-up of first impressions of the device itself from our friend Chris Davies over at SlashGear, complete with some some photo samples.

From Chris's piece:

And you won’t struggle to find good images, either. We’ve been consistently amazed by the output from the 808 PureView today, with the phone being capable of some astonishingly good shots both at maximum resolution and at the lower resolutions too. Colors are rich and accurate; noise is incredibly low.

It’s fast, too: lower-res captures are pretty much instantaneous, and you can keep bashing away at 5-megapixel frames one after the other thanks to the dedicated imaging processor Nokia has used. Even 38-megapixel shots are surprisingly quick; there’s a little lag as the frame is saved, but the image itself is captured as soon as you press the button, so there’s none of the “when can I move the phone” uncertainty we’ve seen from laggy rivals.

Here's one of Chris's photos from the 808, just as a taster (click to download the 'pure' original, 870k):

Very impressive results in Chris's hands. I'm sure Rafe's shots will be just as good, watch this space.

You'll now be wondering about hands-on with production/retail 808 PureViews. Days, not weeks, I'm told. Personally, I can't wait!

All About Symbian: Review: PhotoFunia

Thu, 24 May 2012 06:33:00 +0000

I'm not a lover of cute and cuddly image filters, Instagram-style, as many of you know - why bring the mighty cameras of today's smartphones down to 2003 levels of quality and resolution? However, PhotoFunia promises to work and act differently - the idea here is to take a photographed face and do 'interesting' composites with it, with the heavyweight processing working server-side. Nice idea, with fun results, but don't go looking for anything of useable quality.

You'll get the concept at once, of course, who hasn't had fun in their childhood cutting out faces and sticking them in other photorealistic scenarios? This was all before Photoshop and the professionals moved in, of course! Or, visiting at the seaside, putting your face into one of those 'cheeky' silhouettes for someone else to snap you as a sailor or king or similar?

What we have here is a software system, running 'in the cloud' doing face detection on any photos you care to send it and inserting said face into whichever of the 280 or so predefined situations you choose.

All of which promises to be fun, though as you might expect the results are somewhat hit and miss in terms of realism, plus you might want to note from the ninth screenshot below that the output resolution is extremely low (near to VGA, so - yes - what we were snapping in 2003). If the fun composite is for Facebook then no problem - the social service massively downsamples uploaded photos anyway to about VGA, but don't get any pretensions about using anything here in printed form or on any size monitor as a wallpaper, for example.

The options on offers are categorised into about 20 top level categories, as shown below. 'Posters', 'Magazines', and so on. Tapping through into a (handily enumerated) category brings up a scrollable pane of all the individual composite effects available:

It's worth noting at this point that even these categories and composites are all stored on PhotoFunia's servers and served up when needed, i.e. this is very much a 'web application'. In practice, there's little penalty in terms of performance.

Once you've chosen a composite effect, in this case 'Family in the museum', tap on 'Choose Photo' and then pick either an existing face from a photo in your phone's Gallery or take a new one with the 'Camera' option provided. You don't have to take too much care with composition. This then gets sent to PhotoFunia's servers where the photo is analysed and the main face picked out in terms of shape/boundary/features.

Finally, the result is downloaded and displayed in the PhotoFunia app - the whole process takes about ten seconds on average:

All of which sounds pretty terrific, I was pleased with the result above. Unfortunately, there's a huge fly in the ointment. Probably to minimise data transmission times, possibly to reduce the processing time on the server, the resolution of the processed image is very low, as you can see above, right. Roughly VGA resolution and only useable for social networks and for on-phone display.

Use of PhotoFunia ie best used over wi-fi - 3G isn't recommended, as many network operators downgrade images passing over their network, so your final masterpiece may be very grainy, as explained by one of PhotoFunia's helpful 'Help' screens:

Let's try another PhotoFunia composite, 'Pilot':

Not a bad attempt at underlaying my face beneath the classic photo with aperture where the face should be, but the result looks a little unnatural. What about 'Superman', I always fancied myself as a 'man of steel'!

Things have, as you can see, apparently gone wierdly and horribly wrong! However, it turns out that some of the composite effects have 'randomising' applied to them - in this case, you get one particular superhero, but you can never be sure which one! Still, adds to the fun, I guess?

Let's try one final example, 'Alien':

Oddly, I didn't get the green skin promised.... Probably just as well, my mind's still reeling from my pink superhero suit, above!

Once you've got a composite sent down the line, you can save to your phone's image store or immediately send on using email or MMS - sadly there's no built-in support for social networks, which would have been a great fit with PhotoFunia's purpose and ambitions. Something for an update?

At least all of this merriment (or abomination, depending on your point of view) is free, thanks to the in-app ads displayed in the screens above. Which is just as well, as I'd find it hard to recommend PhotoFunia as a commercial application.

What's odd is that I thought I'd hate PhotoFunia, yet the 'let's try one more example' factor kept me coming back - I did a dozen or so in the end.

It's worth grabbing PhotoFunia for a play (and a laugh) down the pub with your friends, if nothing else. Which, curiously, is exactly the sort of use that PhotoFunia were aiming the service at, so everyone's happy in the end.

All About Symbian: Change of pace for Nokia World

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:50:25 +0000

Nokia Converations reports that the format of the next Nokia World will be a departure from previous events. In the past, Nokia has hired a large hall and filled it with representatives and demonstrations for invited industry members and press to wonder around, and attend focused keynotes. For the past two years, it has been held at the ExCeL exhibition centre in the London docklands area. Now though, not only are Nokia taking the event back home to Finland, but it will host a number of smaller events instead, specficially aimed at target groups of invitees.

ExCeL London - the host of the previous two Nokia World events.

Nokia Converations had this to say on the change of format:

We have made some changes to the format and date of Nokia World 2012. Instead of a single, large-scale event as we have had in years past, we will run a number of smaller, more intimate events with specific audiences in mind. Think less CES, moreSXSW.

The first of these will take place in Helsinki on September 5-6. (A while ago we announced that it would be held on September 25-26, but the date has now been advanced by a couple of weeks.) This invitation-only event will cater primarily to our operator and retail partners.

With these more intimate events we want to provide the most enjoyable and rewarding experience tailored for each audience.

Other Nokia activities will be announced in the weeks and months ahead. Stay tuned!

In an admittedlly self-serving observation, we noticed there was no mention of press events, but these will of course come in due course, and hopefully news on developer events too. We will, of course, report as and when we learn more about Nokia World 2012.

We expect things won't be THAT small!

All About Symbian: N8 (etc) quoted to get cut-down Belle FP1 with new browser

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:24:35 +0000

As you know, we don't go a bundle on rumours at All About Symbian, but when a quote is (reportedly) from a Nokia spokesperson's mouth, then that lends enough credibility. I speculated a month ago that devices of the N8's generation might get some of the fuller Belle FP1 features in an update of their own and Nokia marketing manager Mattia Fiorin seems to be confirming this, if the quote below is anything to go by.

Nokialino reports here on the official Italian product launch of the 808 PureView, but have some quotes from Fiorin from Q&A at the event.

Obviously these have been heard, transcribed in Italian and then tranlated to English, so there's bound to be a little mangling of his exact words. Here's Nokialino's version:

FP1 for N8 will be available soon, and will include, in particular, the updating of the browser to the new version 8.2 and Nokia Social.

The update will still be small compared to the official FP1, already available for the S^3 terminals that support it, adapted to the processor on the N8 (already exploited almost to the limit with the latest updates).

Probably there will be a minimal overclock the processor (as far as possible for ARM11 mounted on N8).

According Fiorin always, then, N8 will also FP2 (as Carla was shelved ).

The N8's browser under Belle is currently at v7.4.2.6, so v8.2 sounds like a big upgrade in terms of rendering, though balance that against the N8's relatively slow processor. A new version of Nokia Social sounds good too, though unless it has been completely rewritten in Qt then I still fear for page load times.

The idea of a 'minimal overclock' sounds great, but I do wonder how practical that it in terms of the existing electronics and in terms of stability. I'll believe this bit when I see it!

The fact that the N8 might get elements of Belle FP2 as well sounds promising too, though I'd guess we'd be talking at least another six months for that.

Any comments?

All About Symbian: Of smartphone accelerometers, LCD displays and phone design

Wed, 23 May 2012 07:44:34 +0000

Doing the rounds today on the Interwebs are a series of videos from Bill Hammack, 'The Engineer Guy', looking at how a number of things work - who doesn't love this sort of common man explanation of some really clever science and engineering? Embedded below are three of the most relevant videos, covering smartphone accelerometers, LCD displays and overall design constraints.

Here's the 'how it works' video on smartphone accelerometers, you'll love the clever way a microscopic cantilevered beam of silicon is created in the heart of the accelerometer:

And, while we're here, here's Bill's take on how LCD displays work, albeit on a larger scale than smartphones (and note that many phones now use AMOLED tech, which is subtly different again).

Finally, here's a (slightly dated) look at the main constraints designers have to face in designing 'cellphones':

Well presented content throughout.

More videos like these on Bill's YouTube channel.

Erik Thauvin: Twits du Jour (May 22)

Erik C. Thauvin — Wed, 23 May 2012 07:00:03 +0000

Craving a burger for dinner... (with Vicki at @RedRobinBurgers) - t.co/0Hc1CN1b #
Finally made it to The Avengers... (with Vicki at @AMCTheatres) - t.co/e4jR5bB9 #
Picking Paul up... Car trouble... (with Paul at McKinstry) - t.co/Dkn3Ehj3 #

Erik Thauvin: The Avengers!

Erik C. Thauvin — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:52:33 +0000

Finally made it. We couldn't really ditch mom to go see it while she was here.

All About Symbian: 3 new Vertu Constellations launched: Candy time

Tue, 22 May 2012 21:46:20 +0000

Otherwise known as ridiculously blinged out Nokia C7s, Vertu has announced three new colour/material variants of the Constellation, each dubbed 'Candy': Raspberry, Mint Green and Tangerine (image below!) The main differences from the C7 (other than price!) are that each has 32GB fixed memory and there's a louder speaker. Don't worry about the cost though - if you have to ask how much any of these costs then you can't afford them!...

From the press release:

Introducing the new Constellation Candy Collection, the ultimate accessory to complement and enhance the discerning lifestyle of the fashion forward individual.

Inspired by this summer's must-have colours, each handset exudes personality, from the highest quality exotic alligator skin, to the exquisite natural gem stones. A Vertu handset owner can also enjoy a highly bespoke fashion week experience with invitations to
the most influential shows.

Each Constellation Candy also comes with a range of services, of course:

Vertu Concierge
Vertu Concierge Live
Vertu Club Access
Vertu Select
Vertu City Brief
Vertu.Me

At some point, we'd love to review one of these, should Vertu deign to bless us with a reply to our humble emails from the Earth below...

All About Symbian: Moving Handy Safe Pro data to an Android 4.0 smartphone

Tue, 22 May 2012 18:10:00 +0000

You may remember that I covered how to move Handy Safe Pro data from a Symbian smartphone to a Windows Phone? Along the same lines but thinking laterally, away from the Symbian/Windows Phone axis, I've been mulling over how to get my Handy Safe Pro data to a 2012 Android smartphone with integrated storage - it's not as trivial as you might think and requires some work. However, in the interests of at least noting what I did and perhaps helping someone in the future....

From the original tutorial:

One of the longest serving 'stars' in the Symbian software firmament has been Handy Safe Pro, working on every device from 2004 up to the present day. It's an encrypted database, of course, a way of keeping all your PINs, passwords, logins, reference numbers and much more, all safe from prying eyes. One key feature is that every entry can have a note and this can often run to dozens of extra lines. Which makes the tool very flexible, but how to get all of this information over to a new smartphone on another mobile platform? In this case, Windows Phone?

There are two schools of thought at this point. One is to do it the hard way - export all of your information from Handy Safe Pro in as structured a form as possible, but in what is essentially plain text format, and then spend a weekend massaging this (e.g. via XML) and importing it into one of the many cross-platform solutions, eventually syncing data through the cloud to a new Windows Phone device. Great for the soul, not so good for your diary.

Or you can do it the easy way, which takes all of ten minutes....

In the case of Windows Phone, the easy way was to set up this platform for syncing with Handy Safe Desktop. Now, although this does work with some Android phones, specifically those which let their internal mass storage or memory card be mounted via USB as a desktop 'disk', it doesn't work with most of the modern Android phones which have integral storage, iPhone/Windows Phone-style, i.e. all the memory's in one block.

For example, the Galaxy Nexus - which is what I have here. Connections between Android 4 and the desktop world via USB are seen using the MTP protocol - a Windows PC may see this and (maybe) mount it well enough for Handy Safe Desktop, but on a Mac, certainly, Android File Transfer is needed.

So we have the situation where you can install Handy Safe Pro from the Android 'Play Store' but probably can't actually sync it with Handy Safe Desktop.

However, it turns out that copying the appropriate database files over does work - you just have to be confident with your files and folders.

On the Symbian phone, go into File manager and find the folder /Other/HandySafePro (or similar, this may vary according to the platform variant)
Go into the folder and highlight all three files (starting 'safe.')
Copy them to somewhere on a disk where you'll be able to access them from your desktop, e.g. the root of your mass memory (E:)
Plug in your Symbian phone and copy these three files onto a suitable folder on your desktop
Unplug your Symbian phone and plug in your Galaxy Nexus or similar
Start up Android File Transfer and find the folder com.epocware.handysafe
Copy the three files from earlier into this folder, as shown below. You'll be prompted to replace the existing (probably tiny) files with these new, much larger ones.
If Handy Safe Pro was already running on the Android phone, quit it by closing it from the Android 4 multitasking pane.
Restart Handy Safe Pro so that it picks up the new database.

Job done, though all of this (which take a couple of minutes) is an utterly manual process, of course. And there's currently no way to automatically back up Handy Safe Pro on a Galaxy Nexus or similar, so you might want to practice copying these three files back to the desktop every now and then, should you proceed with the Android solution.

Or, like I've done, you can keep the Symbian phone as the master and just copy over the database once a week so that the Android one is kept more or less up to speed.

Hope this helps someone, anyway - I accept that my personal combination of devices, mobile and desktop platforms may be slightly niche!

All About Symbian: FlightAware lets you track planes in real time

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:43:38 +0000

I'm sure I've seen similar applications for iOS, but it turns out Symbian can do this too - FlightAware, free in the Nokia Store, lets you track commercial planes in mid air, plus there's detailed take-off and landing information. Whether you're travelling, meeting someone or just like spotting planes, FlightAware is something of a must-install.

From the Store entry for FlightAware:

Free, live flight tracker and flight status from FlightAware for Symbian!

This app allows you to track the real-time flight status and tracking map of any commercial flight worldwide. It can also track general aviation (private, charter, etc) in the United States and Canada.

Search by aircraft registration, route, airline, flight number, city pair, or airport code.

View flight departure/arrival info as well as cancellations, gate changes, delays, and diversions.

Here's a brief screenshot walkthrough of this Qt-based app in action:

The opening menu, though in the right screenshot, I've tapped on 'Nearby' instead - this shows planes in real time over your location. You can prove that the tracks are live by waiting a few seconds and then tapping on the refresh icon! Tapping on an individual plane shows its flight numbers and altitude.

Looking up a particular flight number and its history...

Tapping through on an individual flight's entry shows the details above left, including the landing time and current planned speed. Tapping on the 'Flight map' shows the plane's track and current position. The track is since you opened the application, as far as I can tell - there's no going online to retrieve a full historical path.

Other views of FlightAware data: looking up flights that service a particular route; and looking up a particular aircraft tail number (possibly one for the plane spotters?)

Here's FlightAware, a free download in the Nokia Store (the tie-up with Breitling is presumably how the developers have managed to keep the application free).

All About Symbian: Head to head: Nokia 808 PureView and Samsung Galaxy S III

Tue, 22 May 2012 07:07:12 +0000

In my recent 'N8 to 808' feature, I postulated that the natural upgrade from an N8 would be to a 4.3"-screened smartphone at most, but there was a definite opinion that the new Samsung Galaxy S III is still an attractive option for current N8 owners, despite the size. Having spent some time with the SGS3 at the launch event, I wanted to compare specs and features between this and the 'shoe-in N8 upgrade', the 808. Personally, I fancy owning both...(!)

As usual, the table is part reference, part subjective opinion. And where obviously appropriate, I've allocated a row winner, in green.

	Nokia 808 PureView	Samsung Galaxy S III

First sold	May 2012	May 2012
OS	Nokia Belle FP1	Android 4.0.4 plus TouchWiz and other Samsung extensions
Form factor, materials	Solid plastic body, full-face Gorilla glass capacitive touchscreen, 170g	Larger but lighter, essentially two-handed form, plastic body, full face Gorilla glass, 133g
Dimensions	124 x 60 x 14 mm	137 x 71 x 9 mm
Connectivity	Pentaband 3G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, 'USB on the go' (to USB disks/accessories), NFC	Quad band 3G, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, integral wifi tethering without needing third party software, USB on the go, NFC
Input mechanisms	Adequate virtual qwerty landscape keyboard with writing aids, plus qwerty or numeric 'T9' input in portrait mode. Compatible with most Bluetooth and USB keyboards.	Pretty good multi-touch virtual qwerty keyboard in both portrait and landscape modes (where appropriate), with writing aids. Compatible with most Bluetooth keyboards. S-voice (based on Vlingo) allows some voice recognition and control.
Display	4.0" (360 x 640 pixels) AMOLED with ClearBlack Display polarisers, true RGB pixels, readable in bright sunlight	4.8" (720 x 1280 pixels) Super AMOLED, pentile pixel layout (some argue that this effectively halves the 'real' resolution), just about readable in bright sunlight
Interface	(Symbian) Nokia Belle FP1, kinetic scrolling everywhere, multi-touch where needed, six homescreens of live widgets, whole interface works in portrait or landscape mode.	Android 4, customised with TouchWiz additions, kinetic and multi-touch, of course. Seven homescreens of live, often interactive widgets. Most applications work in landscape mode, but homescreen and app menu is resolutely portrait only. S-Voice interface with customised 'wake up' audio control
Speed	Good, 1.3GHz ARM 11 with 512MB RAM and a graphics processor to help out with effects, transitions and multimedia, plus a dedicated PureView camera GPU.	Generally very good, with a quad-core 1.4GHz Exynos processor, plus GPU. The processing power has been demonstrated by playing back smooth 1080p Flash video in web pages - amazing, in a phone. As with Symbian, there's full, no holds multitasking.
Memory capacity (storage)	Up to 512MB of C: (system) disk, plus 16GB mass memory and flexible microSD expansion, e.g. adding an extra 32GB. Apps can be installed on any disk. Plugging in the phone to any desktop computer allows mass memory and microSD to be mounted and treated like any other disk. Plus generic USB disk support via 'USB on the go', adding up to 128GB extra.	16/32/64GB (depending on variant) of integral storage (MTP-mountable on a desktop), plus microSD expansion, quoted up to 64GB. Plus generic USB disk support via 'USB on the go', adding up to 128GB extra.
Camera (stills)	Superlative 38 megapixel stills, though usually running in 5mp 'PureView' mode, offering zero digital noise and 'perfect' pixels with lossless 3x digital zoom. Huge 1/1.2" sensor and Carl Zeiss optics. Exposed camera glass. Proper shutter button. Genuine Xenon flash and tuned camera hardware make for foolproof evening/social shots.	Good 8 megapixel photos, 1/3.2" sensor. Results will be similar to those from the Galaxy S II with near identical camera hardware - see my SGS2/N8 photo comparisons. A variety of extra camera modes in software. Not having a camera shutter button has to be a negative though...
Camera (video)	1080p video capture is superb and at high bitrate, a variety of focus options, plus intelligent (non-lossy) 3x digital zoom; audio capture in stereo and with pro-quality digital mikes and RichRecording software and electronics, capable of handling a very wide volume range.	Full 1080p capture, with continuous auto-focus good audio capture at normal volumes, in stereo.
GPS and navigation	Good GPS, backed up by Nokia Wi-fi location, with Nokia Maps 3.9 worldwide free sat-nav. Maps can be pre-loaded by continent, country or area.	Good GPS, with Google Maps Navigation and (somewhat robotic) voice guidance. Maps can now be pre-loaded into a cache and then pulled back later, but not, as far as I can see, on a country level.
Audio out	Loud, high quality mono speaker, 3.5mm jack, A2DP, FM transmitter to car radio, plus Dolby Digital Surround Sound (through HDMI port)	Adequate mono speaker, 3.5mm jack, A2DP.
Multimedia playback	Video playback is terrific, with a wide range of codecs supported. YouTube playback in high quality requires a third party download (e.g. CuteTube), 360p via the mobile YouTube web site.	Video playback is excellent on the big HD screen. Excellent HQ YouTube support means that quality streamed video is never far away, too, on that 720p screen, bandwidth permitting.
Web browsing	Symbian Web (webkit-based), functional without ever really impressing, though it's faster on the 808 than on any previous Symbian handset.	Stunning rendering speed on a stunning display. The Android browser on the SGS III is fairly unbeatable in mobile, with text reflow, etc. At 720p resolution, many sites also don't even need zooming or panning if your eyes are good enough.
Email	All purpose Mail client provides 'push' facilities for Mail for Exchange, Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo! mail and many others - works well on the whole but some limitations and performance annoyances when 'rich' emails come in.	The odd pairing of Gmail and a generic email client persists, as is usual for Android, but it should all work well and at very good speed here, bandwidth permitting.
Other application highlights out of the box	Microsoft Office Mobile editing suite/cloud integration, Dictionary, Zip manager, Photo editor, Video editor, Nokia Social Networking (Twitter and Facebook)	Full Polaris Office editing suite, plus Dropbox, various digital content hubs/stores and the usual Android core applications.
Application store and ecosystem	Nokia Store client, hundreds* of high quality native Symbian applications are compatible. There's an automatic update system but installs are somewhat intrusive where the Qt Smart Installer is involved.	Google Play (the new name for the Android Market...!), and access to many thousands* of high quality native (based on Java) applications. Applications can be automatically or manually updated.
Battery	1400mAh, replaceable when needed, microUSB charging, casual use should last 2 days.	2100 mAh, replaceable when needed, microUSB charging, casual use should last 2 days.
Ongoing firmware support and OS updates	Symbian's long term prospects are of course time-limited now. Support and minor upgrades will continue at some level though, for another three years. Many OS modules and components can be upgraded, over the air, as-and-when using the 'Sw update tool' in the device.	Prospects reasonable, this is Samsung's flagship for 2012, though any core Android updates will take many months to appear, since the OS has to have TouchWiz applied and then tested as such.

* yes, yes, overall numbers in each store are much higher, but I'm estimating the number of genuine high quality applications/games. Not novelties or copycats or junk.

As ever, it's interesting (though not that relevant) to add up the green 'wins': the Samsung Galaxy S III scores 6 to the Nokia 808 PureView's 4. Which sounds about right to me, allowing for the context of today, the smartphone world in 2012. I would emphasise three things though:

the high number of rows/attributes for which I simply couldn't pick an overall winner, either because doing so is entirely subjective (i.e. depending on personal preference) or because the two devices were simply too evenly matched.
the 808 and SGS3 are very different form factors. You only have to hold each to realise that. I excluded the SGS3 from my article last week because I felt it was too large a leap in form factor for an existing N8 owner. Look at the dimensions here - the 808's significantly bigger than the N8 and yet the SGS3 rather dwarfs it.
the 808 and SGS3 have very different core specialisms. The 808 is utterly focussed(!) on the camera functions, while the SGS3 is more an all-rounder and access to the huge library of Android applications or even some of Samsung's new S-gimmicks is likely to be an attraction.

Which one would I pick, given the choice? I'm not going to answer that until I've tested full retail versions of each. Watch this space!

Comments welcome as usual.

Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 22 May 2012

Erik Thauvin: Twits du Jour (May 21)

Erik C. Thauvin — Tue, 22 May 2012 07:00:02 +0000

Pizza! (with Vicki at @TheRockWFP) - t.co/f9dUa8xg #
Check-in time for mom... (with Vicki and Christiane at @portofseattle) - t.co/L1qf5gIs #
@koehntopp There goes productivity... ;) #

All About Symbian: Review: Tasks Widget

Tue, 22 May 2012 06:40:00 +0000

The unique Swipe UI of the MeeGo Harmattan-powered Nokia N9 has inspired many Maemo and Symbian developers. One aspect of its UI is the multitasking view which gave live previews of applications and could be zoomed from, say, a three by three grid, to a two by two grid; and to close applications. Whenever one tries to graft the user interface of one mobile operating system onto another, though, things are never going to fit perfectly, but compliments to the developer of Tasks Widget, who has given it his/her best shot.

The point of Tasks Widget is to provide a multitasking view directly on your homescreen without having to call up the Task Switcher (via a long press of the menu key). As mentioned, this mimics the multitasking view built into MeeGo Harmattan. Not only can you view what's running, but each preview has an icon for you to close the application.

Once you install Tasks Widget, there's no application icon, and no settings; instead, you find it via the widgets list. Once added, you'll find two portrait blocks, which are grey at first, but will be populated with images of the first two applications that you subsequently run. This limitation of half a screen per widget is a departure from MeeGo Harmattan's Swipe U's full screen multi-tasking view.

To create the full-screen view, a second widget can be added, but no more than two. The widgets don't have to be on the same homescreen, but it makes sense to have them together. Once placed, they work in concert showing previews of the first four applications launched after their activation. The previews aren't live, in the sense that you can't see things happening in real time – rather they are screenshots of the app taken just as you switched away from the app. Because of a slight difference in the aspect ratio of the preview boxes and the Symbian nHD screen, previews look slightly distorted.

Tasks Widget - before and after loading apps

Tasks Widget took me by surprise with the order in which application previews were shown, when more than four were running. I expected the order in which I'd last used my applications to determine their place in the preview windows, but this isn't the case. Instead, applications are shown in the order in which they were started. This is where some sort of user interface with options would have been useful – this behaviour should (ideally) not be hardwired.

The other benefit of MeeGo Harmattan's multitasking view is that you could pinch to zoom, to change the size and amount of applications on view. Because Tasks Widget obviously has a fixed layout, this is not possible. Also, once you tap through into an application, the Nokia Belle back button won't take you back to the homescreen; it will take you back to the previous page of that application. This makes sense, but can break your mental map. Also, when there aren't enough running applications to display, there is just a grey box on show. This feels rather inelegant, I'd have preferred it to launch the app menu, and maybe even be semi-transparent or to have a preview of your app menu.

Thanks to being split into two widgets, Tasks Widgets works well in landscape orientation too

Despite the minor mismatches of Symbian and Swipe UI, there is a definite use-case for having Tasks Widget on Symbian. Five homescreens are probably more than enough for anyone, and so giving one over to a multitasking view that can be swiped to rather than waiting for a long press on the menu key, for a carousel of application previews that have to be swiped through too.

You can get Tasks Widget from the Nokia Store for £1.00

If you're interested in making your Symbian device even more like the Nokia N9, then you should read our review of GoToMenu, which adds MeeGo Harmattan's touch gestures to enable you to close and launch applications, and call the task switcher. Let us know in the comments if you've tried both of these MeeGo-mimicking applications in concert.

Recommended.

David Gilson, 19^th May 2012

All About Symbian: Event and meet-up: 361 Degrees Live in London on 11th June

Mon, 21 May 2012 16:49:50 +0000

The 361 Degrees team are delighted to announce our first ever public event. Here's your chance to come and meet the team, and readers from All About Windows Phone, All About Symbian, Mobile Industry Review and Wireless Worker.

When: 11th June from 6pm

Where: LBi HQ, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London E1

What: Part meet-up, part podcast recording… Starting with “Mobile Question Time” a panel of mobile experts will debate topical (mobile) questions from the audience, all followed by drinks and socialising.

More info:Full details of the panellists and registration at Eventbrite

This event is generously supported by LBi and Nokia.

All About Symbian: Video: Making the Nokia 808 PureView

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:45:11 +0000

Nokia Conversations has published an 8 minute video about the story behind the making of Nokia's latest camera break-through - the Nokia 808 PureView. It includes interviews with a few of the team of almost four hundred people who have been working on the device over the last five years, insights into the technology breakthroughs that have gone into the device, and the origin napkin story. And, of course, the video has been shot entirely on the Nokia 808 PureView itself.

Watch out for the close-ups of the PureView technology (sensors and camera modules), the testing rigs, the mutant Nokia 700 (also known as the first PureView prototype) and a collection of Nokia's finest imaging devices.

And if you're looking for more PureView material Nokia has published a number of new sample photo's on its Flickr page.

Andrew Grill: Solving the Heathrow crisis with technology

Andrew Grill — Sat, 05 May 2012 23:46:11 +0000

Symbian Freak: Nokia And Carl Zeiss Extend Partnership To Continue Setting Standards In Smartphone Imaging

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:53:55 +0000

Nokia and Carl Zeiss today announced that the exclusive partnership between the two companies, which has resulted in some of the industry's best camera smartphones such as the Nokia N8 and the Nokia 808 PureView, has been extended.

The Nokia 808 PureView, which starts rolling out in May, combines high-performance Carl Zeiss optics with Nokia developed algorithms and a super-high resolution sensor to set a new standard in high-end smartphone imaging.

"Carl Zeiss was a crucial partner in the creation of the first PureView experience," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president of Nokia Smart Devices. "The benefits of our ongoing collaboration will be more PureView innovation and further advancements in smar... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia To Begin Rolling Out Award-Winning Nokia 808 Pureview In May

Wed, 02 May 2012 09:35:28 +0000

Nokia today confirmed that the Nokia 808 PureView will start rolling out in select markets in May. The Nokia 808 PureView is the first smartphone to feature Nokia's award-winning PureView technology.

PureView represents Nokia's highest level smartphone imaging experiences, bringing together high-performance sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics, and Nokia developed imaging algorithms. The first markets to begin selling the Nokia 808 PureView include Russia and India.

Since its launch in February, the Nokia 808 PureView has received multiple awards, including Best Mobile Device at Mobile World Congress 2012, as well as an award for Best Imaging Innovation for 2012 from the Technical Image Press Assoc... .. .

Symbian Freak: fMobi Version 3.02 Is Now Available For Symbian Belle Devices At Nokia Store

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:20:59 +0000

As I have already said somewhere, Juuso Kosonen remains serious about keeping its Facebook client application up to date with constant improvements and continues with providing updates on a fairly frequent basis.

So if you find this feature rich app useful and you'd like to support the developer and encourage further development purchase this latest version (3.02) of fMobi app for Belle from OVI Store and make him able to get more coffee to stay up late and bring out more features or maybe even some new apps for Nokia devices ;)

This latest version has new widget UI with some fixes to it and now there's also more settings to the widget. Image cache is also moved to E: drive, so everyone should be happy no... .. .

Andrew Grill: Love a good infographic – this Klout vs Kred one is especially good

Andrew Grill — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:34:17 +0000

Andrew Grill: How I saved $1Bn and built my own Instagram

Andrew Grill — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 11:46:18 +0000

Interesting news that Facebook has bought Instagram for a cool $1Bn.

I’ve never really understood Instagram.

Firstly – you can’t easily go to a user’s instagram profile from a tweet (unless you have the app) and see all the photos they have uploaded, nor can you browse other photos when you are on an Instagram web or mobile page.

See the screengrab below (taken by thetodayshow at the Logies in Melbourne with One Direction) – click for larger view.

In many ways, apart from the cool filters that are available on the mobile app, it is a pretty unimpressive photo destination point in my eyes for non Instagram users, or those of us looking at photos on our desktop.

Perhaps it is just designed to be just that – a link from a tweet to a single page.

Unless you actually have the app on your phone, with instagram tweets from your friends you are viewing on your phone or on the desktop version:

You can’t see the other photos taken by the user
You can’t see the people following the other user
You can’t even click on the people who have commented on the photos – the usernames in the screenshot above aren’t clickable??

Worth $1Bn? time will tell.

Photoblogging since 2006

I’ve been photo blogging for a while now, starting with Shozu (remember them – what happened to these guys??) sending my mobile photos to Flickr in real time.

Enter Twitter and I initially used Twitpic as everyone else did, but I became tired of the non-existent mobile interface and ads all over the site.

The problem with Twitpic, and Yfrog is as you can see below, they are littered with ads and look horrible on a mobile phone.

In 2009 I swapped to Mobypicture after meeting Mathys van Abbe in Amsterdam. It is similar in functionality to and other photo sharing sites – with a nice mobile interface and thankfully no ads. Also Mobypicture allows you to post to multiple social networking sites simultaneously.

Even Mobypicture does not meet all of my needs, as I want my own URL shortener to be used when I share the picture and not their moby.to one. This is because I like to get the stats of who’s clicking and looking at my pictures, and also helps with branding.

When I moved my site across to 6Sync and a VPS (Virtual Private Server) I decided to “roll my own” photo sharing service – here’s how you can too.

How to roll your own Instagram in 5 steps

1. Set up a new site or a subdomain of your site such as pic.lc.tl

2. Set up a completely new instance of WordPress here

3. Install the WP Postie plugin that allows you to email a picture to a secret email address, and the plugin grabs the picture and posts it straight away

4. Install the YOURLS WordPress to Twitter plugin – this complements an existing YOURLs branded shortener at lc.tl that shortens all of my links (also works with bit.ly)

5. Grab the amazing “Autofocus Lite” WordPress theme that displays the photos brilliantly

That’s it. With this you have your own “Instagram-esque” site.

So how can this save me $1Bn and why is it better than Instagram?

When shooting a mobile picture on my device, I simply email it to my blog, with the text of the tweet in the subject line.

Postie then does all the rest, and YOURLS WordPress to Twitter shortens the link and then tweets it as me!

On Android or Blackberry I can also use the native WordPress app to take a picture within the app and post it directly to my blog.

Getting the Instagram look

How do I achieve the cool Instagram filters? On my HTC Sensation 4G, filters are included within the camera app.

The benefits of this “roll your own” Instagram are numerous

1. It drives traffic to my photo blog pic.lc.tl, and you can also browse the other photos there taken at different times easily

2. It shortens the links automatically as my branded links and is much shorter than instagr.am/p/Y65eWr457/

3. You can easily comment on the pages using the standard WordPress comment feature

4. It has a cool mobile optimised version using WPTouch (try viewing pic.lc.tl on your mobile to see what I mean)

5. There are no ads!

6. I have full control of the site and the pictures

I am sure that some of you reading this post will argue that I have my own server, know what I am doing etc – but that’s my point.

If I can do it, and I am not a web designer, just an experienced blogger using a mix of open-source tools, then why is something that is technically better and has more features than Instagram cost exactly $0 in incremental funds to set up??

I say $0 in incremental funds as I already have the server and space and the plugins and themes were free.

Creating your own services for bit.ly and Twitter clients

Now I have my own server, I’m moving all of my other 3rd party services across there.

I use YOURLS for my URL shortener – see why at http://lc.tl/url - bye bye bit.ly

I use the amazing DABR Twitter client on my mobile and desktop so have no need for a 3rd party Twitter app, and now I have my own Instagram.

I just wish there was a simple way to export all of my pictures across from Mobypicture to my pic.lc.tl site, as I have around 600 pictures over there from 2009 that I’d like to get on the site

Andrew Grill: Facebook Activity Drives Influence Scores via Kred Integration

Andrew Grill — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 10:07:50 +0000

Symbian Freak: Nokia And Microsoft Brings Microsoft Office Word, Excel & PowerPoint To All Symbian Belle Powered Smartphones

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 13:50:49 +0000

Nokia today announced forthcoming updates to its Symbian Belle operating system that turn the latest range of smartphones into a mobile office for any business.

The free updates, called Microsoft Apps, deliver a suite of Microsoft productivity applications to compatible Nokia smartphones to add to the comprehensive security and manageability features already contained in Symbian Belle.

Requiring no additional infrastructure, these apps help add immediate business advantage to the first Symbian Belle devices as well as delivering significant additional value to existing Nokia business customers who upgrade to Symbian Bell... .. .

Symbian Freak: Latest Version Of Maps Suite Leaves The Safety Of Nokia Beta Labs

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:16:21 +0000

After the shorter period of Beta testing, Nokia Map Loader 2.0 is now ready to graduate from betalabs and is available for download as over the air update through the Sw Update app on your smartphone.

This suite combines Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive as well as the new Nokia Public Transport, and enhances them with key application shortcuts developed specifically for Symbian.

Now you can instantly access useful information such as weather, guides, and your current location. Existing capabilities, such as deep traffic integration and full offline maps, are combined with new, rich enhancements such as tighter applic... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia Introduces 'Live Traffic Feature' On Maps in India for Delhi and Mumbai

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 07:25:12 +0000

Traffic congestion is a growing problem in major urban areas and there is a large and growing necessity in the provision of services and information for people on the move.

Having the latest information at your fingertips means that you can optimize your routes to spend less time on the road and have more time for yourself and your loved ones.

Given how much time we spend on commuting from one place to another as part of our daily lives, Nokia started its location services in India with the availability of 'Traffic feature', a real time traffic service on Nokia smartphones. The service, available to users in Delhi and Mumbai. The service is available on all Nokia late... .. .

Symbian Freak: Hundreds of Ex-Nokia Developers Voluntarily Abandon Work On Symbian Platform After Being Outsourced To Accenture

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:58:58 +0000

Hundreds of former Nokia employees at the consultancy firm Accenture are reportedly leaving the company and claiming severance packages.

Nokia and Accenture have finalized an agreement for Nokia to outsource Symbian software development and support activities to Accenture last autumn.

Accenture has offered the packages to workers who were only outsourced by Nokia and a ccording to a shop steward's survey, up to 400 former Nokia workers have accepted the packages. “Around 40 percent of those who were transferred have sought [the pay-offs]," said shop steward Sami Sallmén. “A maj... .. .

Symbian Freak: Interview: Soundtracker Working With Nokia For Multi-Platform Success

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 06:43:15 +0000

Daniele Calabrese, founder and CEO of Soundtracker, discusses their multi-platform mobile music service. Daniele describes Soundtracker as the "first geo-social internet radio".

It offers more than 11 million songs, which consumers can play in real time with friends and broadcast via Facebook and Twitter.

The free, ad-supported service, is available in 10 languages on a broad range of Nokia S60 and Symbian touch-based smartphones, as well as Nokia Series 40 phones. Building the app in Java, and making it work for more than fifty different Nokia phon... .. .

Andrew Grill: Connect with Jenni Hogan – pilot program on KIRO7 Seattle mixing TV with social media

Andrew Grill — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:34:55 +0000

Andrew Grill: Top tweeters list based on number of tweets? This is so 2009…

Andrew Grill — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 12:04:58 +0000

Andrew Grill: The pitfalls of moving hosting services. The bad then the good

Andrew Grill — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:55:00 +0000

Andrew Grill: A 5 year old’s perspective on website design

Andrew Grill — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 16:56:02 +0000

Andrew Grill: How to pay for your Starbucks on Blackberry or Android (non app method)

Andrew Grill — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:20:56 +0000

Symbian Freak: Dolby And Nokia incorporate Dolby HD Audio Experience To Nokia 808 PureView

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:58:58 +0000

Almost a two years ago, Dolby Laboratories and Nokia revealed the collaboration following the launch of the Nokia N8 the world's first smart phone to incorporate Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound technology.

Following its success, Dolby Laboratories also supplies the sound software for the new award-winning Nokia 808 PureView as well as to other smartphones powered with Nokia Belle Feature Pack 1 software upgrade for the Nokia 700, Nokia 701, and Nokia 603.

The inclusion of Dolby Digital Plus in the Nokia 808 brings a new dimension to the capabilities of the smart phone, transforming it into an HD mobile entertainment device, which can output high definition content with Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 chan... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia 808 Pureview Named The GSMA's 'Best New Mobile Handset, Device Or Tablet'!

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:03:48 +0000

Nokia Conversations has announced that Nokia has won the award for “Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at Mobile World Congress 2012" for the Nokia 808 PureView, as voted by a panel of leading journalists and analysts at the show.

Jo Harlow, EVP smart devices, told Conversations after picking up the award: “It's a fantastic award because it signifies that consumer experience counts.

It's about technology, but it's about how tech is used to make a consumer have a fantastic experience. The imaging is fantastic; the audio is fantastic; the navigation techn... .. .

Symbian Freak: SMS is Still the King of Messaging, Even Smartphone Users Stating They Would Be Lost Without It

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:38:29 +0000

According to new research published by Acision, SMS still dominates the mobile messaging market when compared to other messaging services such as 'Over the Top' (OTT) Instant Messaging (IM) services.

95% of all respondents questioned stated they actively use texting, significantly more than the Smartphone owners actively using OTT/IM services such as Facebook Chat (37%), Skype (20%), Twitter (17%), Blackberry Messenger (17%) and WhatsApp (16%) -- the five most popular OTT/IM services today.

Based on interviews with 1000 mobile device users in the UK across smartphone (63%) and feature phone (37%) owners, the research revealed that SMS proves most popular with smartphone owners -- 93% of this demographic reported usi... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia Introduces new Portable Charger To Keep Frequent Travelers Powered On-the-Go

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:21:21 +0000

Looking back through all these years everything has been improved or been given an extra dimension, everything except the batteries technology and the battery life that basically remains the same.

For a years we've been promised fuel batteries with the size often matchbox that will provide almost unlimited power and liberate using our lovely mobile devices, but unfortunately none have materialized onto the market.

Crappy and fat batteries takes up a huge amount of the space and contributes to a large part of the device's weight and unfortunately still can't provide enough energy to use the phone on the power user level and to solve this problem Nokia today intro... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia Became World's Largest Windows Phone OS Vendor in Q4 2011

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 11:41:23 +0000

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global Microsoft smartphone shipments grew 36 percent sequentially to reach 2.7 million units in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Nokia captured top position as the world's number one Microsoft smartphone vendor for the first time ever.

Alex Spektor, Associate Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments using the Microsoft operating system grew 36 percent sequentially to reach 2.7 million units in Q4 2011. Microsoft smartphone shipments remain tin... .. .

Symbian Freak: Samsung Unveils The Galaxy Beam, Smartphone With Embedded Projector

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 09:24:45 +0000

Samsung has been working aggressively on incorporating small pico projectors into mobile phones for some time now and at the Mobile World Congress Samsung made official (in conjunction with digital convergence technologies) the company's latest projector equipped Smartphone called the Galaxy Beam that allows users to display and share multimedia content anywhere on a large luminous projector screen.

GALAXY Beam lets users spontaneously share photos, videos or other digital media with family or friends by beaming content stored on the device directly onto walls, ceilings or improvised flat surfaces, so that everyone can share the fun with.. .. .

Symbian Freak: Opera Launches Opera Mini Next And Opera Mobile 12 Smartphone Browsers

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 08:11:30 +0000

Opera Mini is the mobile web browser that turns any feature phone into a smarter device. Now, with Opera Mini Next, a preview version of what's next for Opera Mini, feature phones get even smarter with advanced social media functions.

The web doesn't stop evolving, and Opera Mini evolves with it. Introducing the Smart Page, a new feature previewing in the Opera Mini Next series of browsers for feature phones, to be launched on all Opera Mini browsers for feature phones later this year.

The Smart Page will take its position alongside Opera's famous Speed Dial shortcuts and give feature phones smarter access to social networks, the latest news and more. With soc... .. .

Symbian Freak: See what you hear: Nokia Unveiled FC Capable Bluetooth Stereo Headset With Built In OLED Display And FM Radio

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 07:41:27 +0000

Beside the new services and with a bunch of new phones handset based on the latest version of Symbian and Windows Phone OS announced at MWC 2012 event, Nokia has also introduced BH-221, NFC capable Bluetooth Stereo Headset that includes an OLED display and built-in FM radio.

BH-221 Bluetooth Stereo Headset, a brand new accessory designed to let you make the most out of the entertainment potential of your Nokia smartphone or any other Bluetooth enabled music player.

What makes it stand out from the crowd is the built-in FM radio and single line Passive matrix (PM) OLED display that allows you to use headset as the stand alone radio pla... .. .

Symbian Freak: The Nokia Lumia 900 Brings High Speed Connectivity To More Countries Around The World

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:33:49 +0000

After launching the award-winning Nokia Lumia 900 as its first LTE smartphone, Nokia is also making the phone in a DC-HSPA variant, for high speed data connection (42Mbits download) to allow Nokia's biggest and fastest Lumia smartphone to deliver rich Web video and speedy browsing via ultra-fast Dual Carrier-HSPA networks outside America.

At the high end of the range comes the Nokia Lumia 900 in white, cyan and black, designed for the rest of the world, outside the United States. Designed for entertainment, with a stunning combination of big screen and processing power, people all over the wo... .. .

Symbian Freak: MWC: New Nokia Services at Mobile World Congress

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 11:01:28 +0000

Buying a Nokia is never just about hardware and an operating system, billions of people around the world expect access to all the entertainment and information they need in their lives through their mobile.

Whether it's with a Lumia 900, or an Asha 202 - Nokia connects people to the world through great entertainment and services.

Now Nokia has taken the next stage in providing even better services; improving how you can navigate your way around the world with a Nokia Lumia using Maps, Drive and Transport, introducing a world class eReading service - and launching a new Nokia Life for people in dynamic growing econo... .. .

Symbian Freak: MWC: Nokia Advances On Its New Strategic Direction, Rolls Out Range Of New Mobile Devices and Services

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 10:34:47 +0000

Nokia today introduced a range of new products, services and partnerships at Mobile World Congress, setting the pace for 2012 and demonstrating rapid execution of its new strategic direction.

The new strategy already has resulted in the adoption of Windows Phone as Nokia's primary smartphone platform, major changes to its feature phones, and additional emphasis on location-based services with the launch of its Location & Commerce business.

"One year ago, we shared that Nokia was embarking on a new journey to build great mobile devices," said Stephen Elop, president and CEO of Nokia. "Today, with our fourth Lumia device, smarter mobile phones and an array of new servi... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia Unveils 41 Megapixel Symbian Belle Powered Cameraphone

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 09:48:33 +0000

Nokia today ushered in a new era in high-end smartphone imaging with the Nokia 808 PureView. This is the first smartphone to feature Nokia PureView imaging technologies, bringing together high resolution sensors, exclusive Carl Zeiss optics and Nokia developed algorithms, which will support new high-end imaging experiences for future Nokia products.

The Nokia 808 PureView features a large, high-resolution 41 megapixel sensor with high-performance Carl Zeiss optics and new pixel oversampling technology. At standard resolutions (2/3, 5 and 8 megapixels) this means the ability to zoom without loss of clarity and capture seven pixels of information, cond... .. .

Symbian Freak: Nokia Sleeping Screen Available For Belle Devices

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 08:14:40 +0000

The latest version of Nokia Sleeping Screen App for Symbian^3 devices is now compatible with the Belle OS and available through the Nokia Ovi Store!

Nokia Sleeping Screen enhances the appearance of your phone with always-on decorative graphics, status indications at a glance, and a calm nighttime clock.

It is not only about aesthetics - Nokia Sleeping Screen is highly useful, too. With just a glimpse you'll be able to see missed calls, unread text messages, and reminders presented with clear icons and animations. Te design and development of Nokia Slee... .. .

Symbian Freak: IconHider: Protect Your Apps From Unwanted Eye

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 09:12:23 +0000

Ever thought of how well you know the functions of your phone? Now, ever thought of how much your phone knows about you? The ultimate question to ask: Is my privacy and security at risk? The increasing use of smartphones for daily activities gives your mobile device the ability to know everything about you. If not protected your Smartphone's knowledge, is a potential risk to your security and privacy.

You make calls, send SMSs, emails, storage files, track bills, manage bank accounts, browse the web and communicate via social networks every day. Your smartphone is your life and IconHider helps you keep your private life truly priva.. .. .

Andrew Grill: Plan UK uses facial recognition technology for latest outdoor campaign

Andrew Grill — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:33:50 +0000

Andrew Grill: You take care in developing your offline brand so why not your online brand?

Andrew Grill — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:22:02 +0000

Symbian Freak: Symbian Belle Os To Be Available For Phones Running Symbian Anna Starting From 8th February

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:15:53 +0000

Nokia Vietnam has announced that latest version of its in house smartphone operating system will be arriving for our delectation in February.

Symbian Belle marks the latest step in the iterative evolution of Symbian that brings gorgeous new widgets, more customisation options, new apps and built-in NFC functionality.

As before, the upgraded operating system will be available on new Symbian smartphones and will be made available as a free update for owners of the Nokia C7, C6-01, N8, E7, X7, E6 devices starting from 8th February. Symbian Belle adds to the work done by Anna to improve and modernise the Symbi... .. .