Sometimes I think that the earth is spinning three times faster nowadays, and it’s almost impossible to stay on top of the latest Symbian news, let alone technology news, or any news in general. This week for example, a couple of tips, editorials, competitions, reviews, have been published around the Symbian blogosphere that I wanted to highlight but didn’t have time to, so I decided to put them together in a nice bite-size post.
Nokia is suing Apple
Brought to us with a nice perspective by Matthew from Nokia Experts and an official press release, is the news that Nokia is suing Apple over technologies like GSM and WiFi used in the iPhone. A settlement is obviously expected, with Nokia taking a few $ from Apple.
The Symbian Kernel is now free
Right before SEE09, the Symbian Foundation has finally made the whole Kernel for Symbian open source and freely accessible. Although I don’t know what that is or means, you can read about it on the Foundation’s blog if you fancy such info.
Sony Ericsson Satio news and feedback
The official satio blog is at it again, publishing a ton of resources to download applications for your Satio, as well as a collection of thoughts from the two Satio test pilots, Caroline and Sandeep.
N97 v20 firmware “coming soon”, fans revolt, Trent returns
You’ve waited, and waited, then waited some more, and this darn N97 v20 firmware isn’t out. The N97 Fanatics site has the deets from a Nokia employee, but basically, it’s all bla bla bla, coming soon, yappity yapp *yawn*. Nokia Users has a link and some thoughts to a story from the Guardian detailing how fans of the brand are getting impatient waiting for these firmware updates. Through all this mash-up of negative comments on the N97, Trent from Trent’s Sense decided to return to the N97, after criticizing it to death. An interesting read for those of you who are considering the device, as you see how despite some of its shortcomings and its lagging software, the N97 is still a powerhouse and convinces the most demanding users.
Symbian and Linux sitting in a tree
Guest writing on AAS, David Guilson goes in intricate details through a complete setup between his Ubuntu computer and Symbian device, a highly recommended read if you’ve wanted to switch to Linux but have been afraid of losing the PC Suite experience.
Search for movies and restaurants Here And Now
The Nokia BetaLabs blog have released an update to their Here and Now application, now including movies and restaurants search, aside the regular weather and events. Interesting. Now how about joining the pieces with Ovi Maps and their new apps system? Uh?
Nokia Music is launching 2 other competitions
We told you about the first one which involves Twitter and riddles, now the second is brought to us through Tube5800, it’s UK-only and there are 25 5800 XpressMusic devices to win, as well as a trip to meet Cheryl Cole. The third one, which we learned about through NokNok, involves you getting a BT Openzone voucher and lets you win a free trip to the South by Southwest festival in Texas next year.
Nokia Messaging subscriptions coming to Orange in France
Orange France have announced that they’ll be bundling the Nokia Messaging client on the 5230, E71, N97, N97 mini and the subscription will be included in some of their Origami plans, according to Symbian France.
Top Freeware for S60 5th Edition
Steve Litchfield has updated his list of top 25 freeware applications for S60 5th Edition on AAS, and there are clear winners over there that we also favorite: a must-see if you own a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, N97 or 5530 XpressMusic.
A new free Twitter application
Nokia Mobile Talk reviews J1CK.Tweet. Granted it’s Java, but it’s free and it seems like a very complete client. Also, the UI isn’t bad and may not make you want to shoot yourself in the head for using it like other java apps.
Sports Tracker breaks free
As we told you earlier, Sports Tracker has finally been spun off Nokia and is now a standalone company called Sport Tracking Technologies, as confirmed with a bit more details by TheSymbianBlog.
Minor updates for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Ovi Store
No, this 5800 XpressMusic 31.0.101 firmware update doesn’t bring kinetic scrolling, or the nice 5530 XM homescreen to the 5800. It probably just fixes a couple of bugs, but if you’re still interested, DailyMobile has the lowdown. As for the Ovi Store, ZOMGItsCJ has it that the store is updated to v 1.05(387), and no, it still doesn’t tell you if your downloaded applications have received new version updates or not. While you’re over there, we recommend looking at CJ’s 5530 XpressMusic vs E75 comparison, we’re not sure what the two devices have in common *at all* to be compared, but put any 2 Symbian phones together in one picture frame, and it never fails to make us drool.
Nokia 5630 XpressMusic reviewed
Looking for a cheap Symbian device that is small, practical and yet fully functional? The 5630 XpressMusic might be it, so head over for this review by Ewan Spence on AAS.
Well, I hope you enjoy these bite-size news, and in case none of these spike your interest, you can always go through our own Symbian-Guru articles from this week ;) I couldn’t resist the shameless plug.
[Image through Wikimedia Commons]
