Update released for Skype: Still no video calling

A new 1.5 version of Skype for Symbian has been released. There are no massive changes to be seen, including the continued omission of video calling which to me is indicative of the fact that the 2.0 version is likely to be the announcement Skype is supposedly holding off until CES. Hopefully newer versions of skype intergrate video calling in addition to doing some major pretty-ing up the interface. As is, it’s not nearly as fun to use of a client as the iOS or Android versions.

Download link after the break.

Gravity 1.5 hits alpha

Earlier this year I wrote a post talking up the progress being made with Jan Ole Suhr’s hit application, Gravity. Just in time for Christmas it seems that Jan has let loose an alpha version of the upgrades coming to his application. Key among them, and probably the most significant is the inclusion of a brand-new portrait QWERTY keyboard. This in addition to a somewhat rounded UI elements and improvements to the Facebook integration.

 

Full Changelog and link to download after the break.

Video: Drum Machine demo for Symbian (S60 5th) Drum beat sequencer available at Ovi Store

 

When I first looked at the video, I wasn’t actually sure it was meant to be a phone app due to the mass of detail on screen but it is. And it’s for you, S60 5th Edition users.

This is a drum machine –  essentially what you’re doing is arranging a pattern of beats/instruments to make a song i.e. pattern based music sequencer, like FL Studio, but just for drums.

It’s surprisingly VERY feature packed,

• create your pattern,
• arrange them into a song time line
• very helpful zoom buttons
• Can pan left and right (to make long songs)
• Pattern play preview
• Song play preview
• Extensive Mix  and Tools View
• Help section in

Check out the video below and if you’re interested, you can get it from the Ovi Store

Video: Nokia N8-00 Version 3 for nokia 5800 RM-356 and for Nokia 5530 RM-504

For Nokia 5800 and 5530 users here’s a custom firmware that brings Symbian^3/N8 styling and a few additional extras.

• Symbian^3 style dialler,
• Widget homescreen
• Lots of animation/UI transitions – e.g. portrait/landscape v smooth, moving back/forward in menu looks v. nice.
• Quite speedy (at most places, bit lag in others)
• File manager shows hidden files/folders
• Music Player showing lyrics of song playing in a scrolling karaoke style (by default, though you could get tune wiki)

Video is very blurry but you can still get the gist of what’s happening:

Symbian Foundation websites closed

As mentioned in Jay’s previous post in November, today marks the official close of the Symbian foundation websites. While most of our readers likely never had much experience with or exposure to these websites, they posed a major resource for a lot of curious cats like myself who wanted to keep track of progress on Symbian development as well as contribute ideas for improvements and/or features that we wanted to see in the platform. Nokia has created their own Symbian blog which in due course is expected to be populated with news etc. concerning the platform progress, releases and projects being undertaken that are related to Symbian.

However, all indications point towards a more closed system of development being undertaken.Whether this is done in a similar manner to the Google Android method where code dumps are made regularly and changes made at the whim of the company overseeing development remains to be seen. This, however, is both a positive and negative in that the closed system has somewhat less red tape and bureaucracy standing between ideas/concepts and the realization and productizing of these concepts. Unfortunately this comes at the cost of valuable community feedback and input. Simply looking at the number of great and well supported ideas that were submitted to the Symbian Ideas site (now unavailable of course) is testament to the benefit of using collective intelligence and outside ideas.

 

 

Statement by Tim Holbrow, Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation after the break:

The Western blogosphere and their constant negativity concerning Nokia.

I think all of us here have borne witness to this, major US/UK blogs and their stance towards Nokia, Symbian and anything smartphone related originating outside of the US, the exceptions being HTC and Samsung for reasons obvious to anyone with eyes. The question is why?  Why is it that Nokia get constantly lambasted for doing ANYTHING or mocked for coming to the table too late while the others are constantly praised for doing admittedly mundane things (Facetime anyone?) . This post/rant is intended to look at common criticisms leveled at Nokia and by proxy, Symbian, each of which will be evaluated as best as possible by yours truly. Let’s get started then!

Nokia X6 gets 30.0.003 update

Hey all it’s LLAADD,

Nokia have recently released the latest major update to the Nokia X6 in the form of version 30.0.003 (previously 21.0.004), this is available now if you have a generic X6, but if you have one from a network, you might be waiting a while!

This update brings with it a few things and the official change log from Nokia is as follows:

• Here and Now: Pre-installed on device
• New version of Ovi Maps
• New version of  Ovi Store
• Improved Browser
• Improved chat in Ovi Contacts

Nokia Beta Labs now brings Nokia Software Updater (NSU) 3.0.223 Beta

Hey all, it’s LLAADD again!

It looks like the people over at Nokia Beta Labs are really working hard to get us all some nice things before x-mas as they have just churned out yet another update and this time it is in the form of Nokia Software Updater (aka NSU) 3.0.223 beta which has minor updates from the previous NSU 3.0.156 back in October.

Before I tell you about the changes I just wanted to say keep up the good work to the people over at Nokia Beta Labs as this is the third thing this week and 7th thing in the last 2 weeks which is a jam packed fortnight in the world of software!

OK back to NSU, this update will help to fix some of those bugs with trying to update applications on the N8  as well as the way it helps you to recover your phone if the unfortunate happened and update failed. A full list of updates is below

Nokia C7-00 camera… not quite what you’d expect!

Due to popular (kind of) demand, I’ve conducted a short yet conclusive test on the 8 Mpix camera capabilities of the Nokia C7-00. Similar fixed-focus or EDoF  (Extended Depth of Field ) camera modules are also used in a pair of other Symbian^3 based Nokia smartphones like the C6-01 and the upcoming E7, so I think it’s safe to draw some parallels out of the results of this test.

To see how it goes, I’ve pitted the C7-00 against a seemingly run of the mill, average performing by today’s standards, 5 Mpix auto-focus camera in the Nokia N900. I like having my camera tests as varied with different phone models as possible, so in some shots I’ve also allowed HTC Desire to bring an outlandish flavor into the test. So let’s get going!

Connectivity Analyzer from Nokia Beta Labs!

Hey all, it’s been a while since i’v properly blogged on “My Nokia Blog” but as I no longer have time to post as much as i’d like to on my own TheTekBlogger.com, I thought Jay wouldn’t mind me posting here!

One of the recent creations from the people over at Nokia Beta Labs yet again helps us to solve an issue that I’m sure we have all had at one point or another…”Why won’t my phone connect….AAAGGGHHHH”.

“Connectivity Analyzer” from Nokia Beta Labs does exactly what it says on the tin, it tries to figure out well (or not so well) your phone connects to either a Wireless LAN in your home or somewhere else, or Packet Data connections through the mobile network of your choice.

Here is what the developers have to say about it: