Anyone remember the BlackBerry Application Suite, a project at RIM designed to replace Connect by emulating the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) operating system (and services) on other devices? Well, either some clever Chinese hackers have figured out a way to fake what looks like BlackBerry assets onto other phones, or BAS has actually moved to Nokia (NYSE: NOK) devices, shown here on both the E71 and 5700.
As we know it, BAS only worked with Windows Mobile, so making it to Symbian would be quite a big step in this project, at least as far catching up to the devices Connect supported goes. BAS has been in the works for upwards of three years now, with only the odd hint that it’s still alive. There’s a fair bit of controversy as to whether or not these videos are legit, but I think it’s even cooler if this actually isn’t a RIM-approved affair. There are plenty of good reasons to expect BAS is still kicking, though.
Most corporate grunts will take whatever phone is issued to them, but there are always a token few who insist on supporting their personal favourite, and barring the mass consumer demand for iPhone, that usually leaves the tech-heads who won’t let go of an uberfunctional Windows Mobile or Symbian devices. To be fair, there are bound to be sectors with particular solutions that are only available on WinMo or S60, and necessitate largish non-BlackBerry deployments. End-users aside, BAS does have appeal to mobile administrators who want to be able to control non-BlackBerry devices too, however few there may be in their particular rollout, and covering the Symbian base would be a pretty big part of BAS meeting that demand.
RAMblow is a new utility from CellPhoneSoft, developed to help users maintain a “healthy amount” of available RAM so that phone runs smoother. The application provides automated memory management, as well as manual termination of running programs. Combination of these (and some other) techniques can “blow RAM up to amounts never before seen” – their words.
RAMblow works on both non-touch and touch-enabled (S60 3rd and 5th Edition) devices made by all Symbian licensors – Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE).
Additional information and download instructions are available from CellPhoneSoft’s website.
The mystery of Symbian’s countdown timer has finally been solved. Tomorrow Symbian will announce that their operating system has completed transitioning from closed source to open source and that anyone can download their code, for free. This is big news. It’s like Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) announcing that Windows is going open source. Say what you will about how old Symbian is, and how their UI is busted and unintuitive, but 4 out of every 10 smartphones shipped run some flavor of Symbian. With Nokia prepared to announce their Cseries at Mobile World Congress too, bringing Symbian to even lower price points, expect Symbian’s share of the smartphone pie to increase and only become more relevant with time.
Will people care is another question all together. Android is getting people all hot and bothered because the types of people who buy smartphones are already addicted to Google (NSDQ: GOOG). Building an Android device is more about standing next to Google’s brand than anything else. Symbian doesn’t have that prestige, and while yes, the Symbian Foundation is “independent” from any one corporation, most, if not all, of Symbian code is written by people getting paid by Nokia (NYSE: NOK).
Note: This post will be updated once the relevant press release and additional details go live tomorrow. It’s probably Symbian 2, not Symbian 3.
Digitimes doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to rumours, so take this with a grain of salt, but they say that they’ve spoken to Michael Hsu, General Manager of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Taiwan, and have learned that Nokia isn’t going to make any Symbian 2 handsets and instead is going to jump straight to Symbian 3. For those unfamiliar with how Symbian development works, there are 5 versions of the operating system being built at the same time. I shit you not. One is getting bug fixes since it’s already out on the market, the other is getting polished because it’s soon going to be released to market, one is in alpha testing, and I can’t remember the last two, it’s that much of a pain in the ass.
Nokia obviously wants to catch up to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), so they’re jumping a version and going straight to Symbian 3. What does that mean for you? Well you’re probably going to be buying a handset that will cause you to pull your hair out since it’s going to have more bugs than Windows ME, but at least you’ll be using the latest technology! No, in all seriousness we don’t know what this will mean until the second half of 2010. According to the Symbian 3 developer page, features of the new OS include:
Multiple home screens, each supporting widgets; basically a clone of Android and Maemo 5
2D and 3D accelerated graphics; why do you think the iPhone is so smooth?
Totally rewritten networking architecture; Symbian devices already have some of the best call handling and data connectivity, so I’m curious to see what this will do
Support for HDMI out and support for files over 2 GB in size
Support for multicore processors
Multitouch support
Sources have also told Digitimes that in 2011 Nokia’s portfolio will be 55% Symbian powered, 35% S40 powered and 10% Maemo powered. That’s only a year away, so expect to see American media continue to continue to ignore Symbian’s growing market share because to them a “smart phone” is a device that is running either iPhone OS or is a BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM).
If you’ve been looking for an ultimate messaging phone that’s also capable to do many other things, look no further – Nokia E72 is probably one of the best such devices. In addition, it also comes with a 5-megapixel camera, HSPA connectivity, GPS, WiFi and a whole lot more.
Use coupon code VBMFS9FV$KCDSG and grab the Nokia E72 for $314.99 at Dell. However, be warned that coupon expires after 400 redemptions or 12PM EST January 30th, 2010, whichever comes first. It’s a great deal and if you’ve been looking for something like this – now’s your chance!
A company called HipLogic has launched an interesting app for Symbian and Windows Mobile. It’s called HipLogic Live and its made to “enhance standard UI” by delivering popular content and services such as Facebook, Twitter, CBS news, CBS sports, weather, and entertainment through a web-connected interface.
Here are the key features:
Apps – including apps for Facebook, Twitter, CBS News, CBSSports.com, Entertainment Tonight, Disney, WeatherBug, news, finance, and RSS feeds.
Widgets – for such things as updating social media account, weather forecasts, stock quotes and clock.
Real-time (push) notifications – for Facebook updates, Tweets, CBSSports.com updates, news updates, RSS feeds and other content.
Search Bar – quick access to Internet search.
All in all it’s a cool app, but it’s not that easy to explain what it does. Hence we have a demo video to show you, which follows after the jump.
Less than an hour ago the official Symbian Twitter account (@Symbian) tweeted: “#symbiancountdown 108″
No units were given so we don’t know if this is 108 minutes, hours, days, weeks, fortnights, or months. Say it’s 108 hours, and Symbian announces that they’ve finalized one of the 4 simultaneous software releases they’re working on, why do you care? It’ll be at least a quarter or two before said software release is available on shipping devices.
Say it’s 108 hours, and Symbian announced that they’ve successfully managed to move all their code into the EPL licence. Brilliant for freetards, but how does this impact you, the consumer, in the immediate future?
I love countdowns because they usually lead to awesome surprises, but abusing them for the sake of marketing is rather dishonourable. First Nokia (NYSE: NOK) with the “something big” and then just announcing that Ovi Maps is free, now this?
Any guesses at what Symbian is planning, or better put, what do you want Symbian to do in 108 [insert unit of time]?
Skyfire for Symbian S60 is in the version 1.5. The application works on both non-touch (S60 3rd edition) and touch-enabled devices (S60 5th edition), and has been quite improved since the last version.
Here’s what’s new:
More fluid scrolling (kinetic scrolling on touch-enabled devices)
Updated user interface, full screen mode and finger-friendly buttons on S60 touch
Many small enhancements for a more robust and faster browsing experience
Auto-rotate (S60 touch)
As you probably know, Skyfire is one of the most advanced mobile web browsers out there, allowing users to access pages rich in Flash, JavaScript, streaming video and so on. To download the application to your phone, hop over to this page. But before you do so, check out a short demo video bellow.
Fring has released updated apps for Symbian S60 and Android platforms. Here’s what’s new – first the Symbian version:
Changing your status is made to be even easier.
Now it’s possible to dial “#” (”pound”) and “*” sign (”star”) within a call through the fring dialer.
Twitter 2.0 just got a brand-new look, making it easier to post your tweets, re-tweet and follow friends. Additionally, now you can see full tweets and links on a single screen. (S60 touch)
Live links inside a fring chat. (S60 touch)
As for the Android version, here’s what’s changed/improved:
Hide/Show offline buddies
Hide/Show address book
Privacy settings for IM signature and mood message
A fix for the audio issues on the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) DROID/Milestone
Better support for Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Nexus One
A number of bug fixes
And those were just the highlights. You can read the full list of new Fring Symbian version 4.1 and Android version 1.2.0.25 features from here.
If Evernote doesn’t want to address the largest segment of the smartphone market (Symbian users), users themselves will make the app for their devices. That’s exactly what happened and we have a guy named “Pasha” releasing the Evernote client for Symbian S60 5th Edition as a web-runtime app.
It’s not a full blown native app, so don’t expect all of the features the iPhone or Android versions have. Rather, the app is made using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, but still, it’s something for a start and if you’re on an unlimited data plan, you won’t care much. Ok, a full blown native app would be even better, but it’s a start, as I said.
The UI looks familiar (when you compare it to other mobile versions), but it does come with some problems. I’ve no doubts these will be addressed in future updates…
To download the Evernote app/widget, hop over to the Evernote Nokia N97 forum and visit the most recent numbered topic. Hopefully, you’ll be one of the guys/gals whose feedback will help shape-up the application to make it even better.
Skyfire for Symbian S60 is in the version 1.5. The application works on both non-touch (S60 3rd edition) and touch-enabled devices (S60 5th edition), and has been quite improved since the last version.
Fring has released updated apps for Symbian S60 and Android platforms. Here’s what’s new – first the Symbian version:
