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Top Story: Your 2009 Smartphone Resolutions
And now, as we start 2009, how about some New Year resolutions from Ewan for the mobile enthusiast to keep their phone in the best of electronic health? It's a time for a new start, and a perfect time to clean out your 'house'. And as many of us pretty much live in our smartphones, then Ewan asks what can we do for 2009 to help out our mobiles and make sure they're in tip top condition?
Top Story: Comparisons Good, Comparisons Bad
We all love phone comparison pieces. I love writing them. You love reading them. And then the world and their dog love arguing until gone midnight about why the comparison is valid/invalid/pointless (delete as applicable). Below, I'm mulling over both sides of the argument, pitching a Nokia N82 against the 5800 XpressMusic and the Apple iPhone 3G to try and make a serious point.
UIQ files for bankruptcy
Following a board meeting on 29th December the board of UIQ Technology resolved to file for bankruptcy. This follows on from the news, in early November, that staff had been put on notice and a temporary transition period was being funded by Sony Ericsson. With that period over, with no alternative investor available and given the current economic climate the board had no choice but to shutter the company.
Nokia now the world's biggest computer maker
Tomi T Ahonen has penned a very interesting essay on how Nokia is now the world's biggest computer maker with 14% market share, as evidenced by 2008 sales. Tomi takes time to fully justify the inclusion of top end smartphones in the 'computer' category - some great reading here, including nuggets such as the Nokia N82 being as powerful as the Cray 2 supercomputer.
N-Gage Vouchers Hit The Road
How do you let people know that their mobile phone plays games? Well if you are Nokia and the country is Indonesia, you hire a promotional bus (reports the Mobile Games Blog). As the bus tours the country, staff on board will demonstrate to people how to get the N-Gage client on their phone and download the demos themselves. And of course show them how to purchase the games using pre-pay vouchers.
Carnival 155
There's a particularly good Carnival of the Mobilists out today, number 155, hosted at Helen Keegan's TechnoKitten. Good reading, as always. Must remember to submit some AAS articles to it... [mutters]
Comes With Music Did 'Okay' During Christmas
So how will did Nokia's Comes With Music project do over the festive period? While exact numbers haven't been released by Nokia (or The Carphone Warehouse, who were distributing the phones with the service), an interview in The Financial Times quotes someone familiar with the sales being "OK, but not earth-shattering."
The North American N96 gets v12 and Mail on Ovi compatibility?
Many people are now reporting that the North American variant of the Nokia N96 has now got its own v12 firmware update (see here for our earlier post), including, according to Gearlog, compatibility with the new Mail on Ovi service. Can anyone upgrade and report back on how this works?
AAN asks for your favourite N-Gage game of 2008
Over on All About N-Gage, we've just started a poll to find people's favourite N-Gage game of 2008. Head on over to the survey thread to vote, and remember this is just a silly bit of fun! :-) You may also want to check out the results of AAN's end-of-year readers poll, where we asked which phone they used for N-Gage, and which announced game they were most anticipating.
MicroPinball: Casino now online
A completely new game from one of my favourite S60 developers, MicroPinball: Casino is now online in demo and commercial form in the AAS software store. Screenshot below. The graphics are pretty smooth on all portrait QVGA S60 phones, despite using software rendering.
Obscure SMS bug no need to panic
I despair of the irresponsibility of the mainstream bloggers around the world who have gone into meltdown today over this announcement of an obscure bug in old versions of Symbian OS Messaging. Some comment and a link below. Short version. Move on, nothing to see. And no, you still don't need to pay money to a security firm...
More testaments to Nokia build quality
Not wishing to sound too much like a 'fanboy', but in anecdotal praise of Nokia's build quality and following on from my own brush with death (oh, ok, a pavement), we have a bunch of crazy Russians trying to destroy a 5800 XpressMusic (long text version here) and CJ's 'dad' hammering an N95 for a year. Just rounding off 2008, you know...
Camera Nitty Gritty - part 10 - Sensor and Aperture sizes
In this, part 10 of my (ahem) long running series, I look at the difference sensor and aperture size can make in phone cameras, for both stills and video. As real world examples of both good and bad, I use the Nokia N95 8GB and the 5800 XpressMusic. See below for links to other articles in the series.
Jomtris for S60 - Tetris in, wait for it, Python
Looks like we're getting to the stage where serious apps and games can now be written in Python for S60 - witness Jomtris, released today, complete with (late) festive theme, which works on all devices with portrait QVGA displays. Screen and links below.
Bluetooth fitness aids coming soon?
Engadget has been reporting that Nokia and fellow Finnish company Polar, a 'leading brand in sports instruments and heart rate monitoring', are planning to get together to integrate phones and Bluetooth aids such as heart monitors. Sounds good to me and a match made in heavenFinland.
Resident Evil: Degeneration
It's the first N-Gage survival horror title and it involves killing large numbers of zombies in a wrecked airport. But is it any good? Find out with Ewan as he goes a-blasting in Resident Evil: Degeneration. Along the way he finds the game design too 'square', the default controls too frustrating and the graphics too limited. Yet, despite all this, he still recommends it overall as 'fun' for all would-be zombie vigilantes...
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Symbian Software
TIP: Check out our feature article on recommended software for some of the best commercial software available for your phone.
Finance Manager for Symbian
Finest way to track your Bank Accounts, Credit Cards, Investments, Loans and Insurances. All the details can be tracked with respect to name. Pleasant and Easy User Interface.
Business Ringtone for Symbian(Rainbow)
Get this 500 Business Ringtone (Not polyphonic and Not MIDI). One of the best collection of high-quality Ringtones(MP3) for your mobile.
Best Private Conversation for S60 3rd edition
This application allows hiding SMS messages, deleting records from system calls log, restricting access to the application by password and much more.
Loki Mobile
Loki Mobile allows you to locate yourself and search locally on these devices, adding a new dimension to your mobile experience.
SMS Export V2 for S60 3rd Edition
Now you have an easy way to save your favourite SMS from your phone. ''SMS Export'' exports SMS in Inbox/Drafts/Sent/My folders to the selected folder as text file.
Christmas Tree Animated Snowflakes Screensaver
Get this Christmas Tree Animated Snowflakes as your power saver, a very Merry Christmas!Best Answering Machine for S60 3rd
Expand the possibilities of your device by one of the most powerful features you could imagine - Answering Machine. Play messages and set up greetings directly on your smartphone.
Guardian Free Edition
Guardian Free Edition - Guardian gives high chances to recover the lost/stolen phone, notifying you the phone number of the new sim.
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