All About Symbian - News Headlines

News Headlines - Hardware

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Getting started with the Nokia X6

Another in All About Symbian's tutorial series for absolute beginners to Symbian-powered smartphones, here are the things a newcomer to the Nokia X6 really needs to know. If this is you, then read on. If you have a friend with an X6 then do them a favour and print off this article on their behalf! Note that 80% of the content is common to our other tutorials, for the 5530 and 5230 - each article is customised to suit each device's quirks.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Miscellaneous at 15:24 BST, May 26th || 0 Comments

Long term review: Nokia E55

In this first part of a two part long term review, David Gilson looks at the hardware on his trusty Nokia E55, at his side now for eight months. From design to materials to typing to camera, David covers the E55 in detail. Part two will follow later in the week and will both look at the E55's software and also draw some long term conclusions for this diminutive qwerty smartphone.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware at 8:45 BST, May 25th || 2 Comments

Global GPS hardware in line for replacement

The new hardware may still be sitting on the launch pad, but the upgrade to the GPS system is under way (reports the LA Times). Now firmly entrenched in the smartphone world, the new target for GPS accuracy is not 20 feet but "an arm’s length" of about one foot, and it’s going to happen through a replacement program of 24 satellites over the next few years.

# Posted by Ewan in Hardware, Links of Interest at 8:33 BST, May 25th || 3 Comments

AAS Insight 119 - Ovi Maps 3.04, new MOAP-S phones

In All About Symbian Insight 119 Steve, Ewan and Rafe share their thoughts on NTT DOCOMO's latest MOAP-S (Symbian phones) and Gartner's Q1 figures for mobile phones. The second half of the podcast includes news of Ovi Maps 3.04, Google Latitude API (leading to some thoughts on the future of location services) and Ewan's and Steve's summary thoughts on the Nokia X6. You can listen to AAS Insight 119 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.

# Posted by Rafe in Software, Hardware, Editorial Thoughts, Services at 8:36 BST, May 24th || 1 Comment

The i8910 HD gets HX-V5

The HX series of firmwares for the Samsung i8910 HD continue to roll out, with v5 the best yet, with a number of important fixes and detailed improvements, including, critically, fixing the Java certificate problem and improving battery life. As ever, these firmwares are 100% unofficial, but they're easy to apply* and can dramatically transform this old but still powerful smartphone. Comments welcome if you get a chance to try it on your i8910. Changelog extracts and link below.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Links of Interest at 14:24 BST, May 21st || 14 Comments

7 new Symbian phones in NTT DOCOMO's summer collection

On Monday NTT DOCOMO announced its summer 2010 collection of mobile phones; of the 20 phones announced, 7 are running MOAP-S (based on Symbian). These include the F06-B, F-07B, and F-08B from Fujitsu and the SH-08B, SH-02B Marimekko, SH-08B and SH-09B from Sharp. The F-06B can shoot full HD (1920×1080) video on its 13.2 megapixel camera, is fully waterproof to 1.5 metres (so you can shoot video underwater), can act as a WiFi hotspot and has a WVGA touchscreen.

# Posted by Rafe in Hardware, Links of Interest at 10:33 BST, May 20th || 12 Comments

Nokia X6 16GB - part 2 (software and summary)

In part 1 of my Nokia X6 16GB review (that's the Nokia X6-00, officially), I looked at its hardware and general performance. In this second (and final) review part, I look at the X6-00's software and interface, before summing the device up. Is it just a 5800 upgrade? Or a stepping stone to newer devices like the Nokia N8? Most of all, who is the X6 aimed at and will it succeed?

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 6:51 BST, May 20th || 16 Comments

Psion, Camera tips and Grid update

In an entirely self-centric link-of-interest, I thought these brief items might be of interest: The Phones Show 111 is now out, with a tour round my Psion collection and a commentary on how these led to the modern Symbian age, and with a feature on getting better photos from your smartphone camera; there have also been three new devices added to my smartphone-choosing Grid; and don't forget the Phones Show Chat audio podcast, about an hour each week - PSC 39 featured Andy Lee, a Blackberry expert, Tim and I were keen to talk to him about comparisons with the Nokia E72.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Links of Interest at 21:24 BST, May 19th || 2 Comments

Nokia X6 16GB - part 1 (hardware, camera, performance)

You'll remember that Ewan did a four part review of the Nokia X6 32GB (Comes with Music) a few months back? (links: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4) It's fair to say that quite a bit of his criticism was based on early software issues and observations over the slow speed of the 32GB version's mass memory. Fast forward to May 2010 and we have a X6 16GB with more mature v20 firmware and a far faster mass memory. Can this cheaper edition succeed where the CwM version failed? And is the X6's hardware and software now ready for the prime time? Here's part one of Steve Litchfield's two part review of the Nokia X6-00. Part two will follow on Thursday.

# Posted by Rafe in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 10:03 BST, May 18th || 8 Comments

Nokia N8 - hardware hands-on first look

During a recent visit to Nokia's London design office, I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with a Nokia N8. The device was a prototype and we were asked not to switch it on as the Symbian^3 software is still being worked on. However, I thought it would still be worth sharing a few initial impressions and pictures of the hardware below. The N8, which was announced in late April, is due out at the end of the summer. Read on for more and a Nokia N8 mini-gallery.

# Posted by Rafe in Hardware, Events at 19:35 BST, May 17th || 62 Comments

AAS Insight 118 - Nokia Design, #NokiaNav

In All About Symbian Insight 118 Ewan and Rafe share their thoughts on a visit to Nokia's design HQ in London, the release of Sports Tracker and memory performance on Ewan's X6. The second half of the podcast features an outside broadcast recorded at the recent #NokiaNav event in Richmond. Rafe and Steve are joined Julien Fourgeaud and discuss the event and related accessories and activities. You can listen to AAS Insight 118 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.

# Posted by Rafe in Software, Hardware, Editorial Thoughts, Events at 13:09 BST, May 17th || 7 Comments

My Top 10 Reasons for Staying with Symbian

I was asked a very good question last week: "Why do you stay with Symbian when there's a world of wonder with iPhone and Android?" I have to admit to finding a number of positives in these other platforms, sometimes accompanied by positives in their hardware, but it's true that I do keep coming back to Symbian as the OS powering my smartphone-of-choice. Investigating my own leanings and trying to justify them, here are the top 10 reasons why I stay with Symbian.

# Posted by Steve in Software, Hardware, Miscellaneous, Developer, Industry, Editorial Thoughts at 11:54 BST, May 14th || 57 Comments

Nokia's design directions

Rafe reports back from a 'conversational briefing' with Marko Ahtisaari (Head of Design at Nokia) at Nokia's London Design HQ. There's an explanation of Nokia's "smart push", of how Nokia's three tier device strategy fits together, of how Nokia's software and hardware design teams have been brought together to promote a holistic approach and accelerate the pace of innovation, and there are hints of future design directions for both Symbian and MeeGo devices and software.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Miscellaneous, Industry, Editorial Thoughts, Events at 8:44 BST, May 13th || 14 Comments

The E55 gets v34 bug-fix firmware

Following on from availability for the Nokia E52, now available over the air is v34 firmware for the Nokia E55 as a 620k download, a minor bug-fix update but worth grabbing anyway as it doesn't affect any of your apps or data. It's also available as a full firmware image via Nokia Software Update, but over the air is so quick that it's the way to go.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware at 20:37 BST, May 10th || 2 Comments

Large transflective screens and keypad: the legendary Nokia N95 and its family

With summer upon us in the UK and the sun burning down (well, some of the time, at least), I've been somewhat shocked at how bad all of the touch-screen-equipped Symbian-powered smartphones are when it comes to actually being able to see what's on screen clearly. Whether a map, a photo or an important email, surely you need to be able to read your device's screen in all light conditions? With this in mind, I went back to my store of older devices and could then feel another of my famous infamous comparisons coming on.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 18:27 BST, May 9th || 13 Comments

HX4 and the Samsung i8910 HD

You'll have been following my adventures keeping the Samsung i8910 HD on the crest of an unofficial hardware wave by installing each of the 'HX' firmwares? Just over a week ago saw the release of what is by far the most adventurous HX release yet. I try to summarise (and comment on) the changelog below, for any other owners of what (for the next couple of months, at least) is still the most powerful Symbian phone in the world bar none.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Miscellaneous, Links of Interest at 10:28 BST, May 7th || 13 Comments

Nokia 6700 slide gallery

The Nokia 6700s (6700 slide) is one of Nokia's newest smartphones and is one of the best examples of how the line between smartphones and featurephones has become increasingly blurred. It is an S60 3rd Edition device with a slider form factor, aluminium casing and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl-Zeiss optics. Our Nokia 6700s hands-on gallery runs through the major design features and includes a number of comparison shots with other Nokia smartphones.

# Posted by Rafe in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 11:14 BST, May 6th || 1 Comment

The right tool for the right job? N97 classic vs N97 mini

A few weeks ago, David Gilson wrote up his thoughts on the N97 classic. While there was an awful lot to like about it, he found it to be undermined by an unstable OS, due to insufficient RAM & C: drive space. He was also curious to see if the N97 mini was really everything the N97 classic could have been, so he borrowed one and got to grips with it. What follows is a discussion of the differences between these two phones, and how each one lends itself to different usage scenarios. Hopefully this will help the with the venerable question "which should I buy?"

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 9:41 BST, May 6th || 28 Comments

Why the Nokia N97 sucks... and why it still rules

If there's such a thing as a popular whipping bag in the mobile world, the Nokia N97 surely has to be it. The original S60 5th Edition flagship has undergone so many troubles and humiliations in the last 12 months that it should surely be six feet under by now. And yet, despite having ready access to any phone in the world, my main SIM card is currently in... the Nokia N97. Here's why it sucks... and why it still rules. In an understated, misunderstood, jack of all trades way....

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Editorial Thoughts at 17:36 BST, May 2nd || 44 Comments

Q1 2010 figures in for smartphones and phones

Always of interest are the quarterly stats summaries from the market analysts. The first figures are in, with Nokia and Apple making gains at the expense of 'others' in the smartphone world, and with Nokia losing out slightly in the battle for generic 'phones'. More info below.

# Posted by Steve in Hardware, Links of Interest, Editorial Thoughts at 18:29 BST, Apr 30th || 24 Comments