China Mobile (NYSE: CHL) and Symbian Foundation announced a partnership agreement to collaborate on a series of key initiatives to “improve the mobile ecosystem in China and to stimulate the development of the market for CCMC’s locally developed 3G network standard, TD-SCDMA.”

Aside from wowing to support the China’s flavor of 3G, Symbian launched a brand new website in Chinese language, and has agreed to simplify the Symbian Signed testing services for developers submitting applications to China Mobile’s newly launched application store. In addition, the Foundation has also laid out plans to establish an office and local operation in Beijing…

And now it’s time for some short video action, featuring representatives from China Mobile and Symbian Foundation. Enjoy if you can.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s low-end 5230 touchscreen smartphone has been spotted while getting the so much needed FCC approval. The problem, however, is that the version of the device that has cleared the Commission doesn’t sing along AT&T (NYSE: T)’s 3G network. One must wonder why Nokia (and other handset makers for that matter) are going through the hassle of approving their devices by the FCC when they won’t sell them in the States. Sure, you will be able to grab the European version of the 5230 at Nokia Flagship Stores, but do you really want that? Having a 3G-enabled phone which 3G you can’t use is nonsense, except in the rare case you travel so much that you practically live on two continents. Go figure…

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Samsung has released a firmware update for its powerful I8910 Omnia HD smartphone. The version I8910XEII1 (custom version: I8910SERII2) packs new features such as the 3D TaskSwitcher, one finger zoom, better (more spaced out) on-screen QWERTY keyboard, updated Flash Lite, updated XviD codecs, new widget engine along with several new widgets pre-installed (weather forecast, dictionary, uTalk).

Apparently, at the moment, this firmware upgrade is for those living in Hong Kong and Russia, only. However, I’ve no doubts Samsung will roll it out for the rest of the world in no time…

[Via: SamsungHub]

Spotify Mobile, which was demoed on the iPhone exactly 6 weeks ago today, is finally available for not only Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) products, but for the Android platform as well! You’re going to have to upgrade to premium to use the application, but it’s a small price to pay (10 EUR/month or 110 EUR/year) for having access to an unlimited amount of music with you, no matter where you are, as long as you have a good enough signal. Let us not forget that we’ll never, ever, have to hear Johnathan again. What is surprising however is that Spotify, which only works in a handful of European countries, has yet to release Spotify Mobile for the dominate platform in the region: S60. Is it that much harder to write applications for the S60 platform than it is for Android or the iPhone? If you’re a developer, please chime in the comments below.

[Via: Spotify Blog]

Fring for Symbian S60 has been updated and now includes support for the latest Nokia (NYSE: NOK) devices (not those announced at the Nokia World) — including E52, 5630 and E72. Moreover, the latest release (version 3.40.28/29) provides an even better and much faster Twitter experience, solves connectivity issues, and includes a few other bug fixes — all which make you wanna download it, even if you haven’t noticed any of the glitches mentioned above. To do that, simply visit Fring’s download page, follow instructions provided, and… that’s about it.

[Via: Fring Blog]

Picking up on a quote in the post I put up on the release of the (Android-powered) Samsung Galaxy, O2 (NYSE: TEF) now seems to be the place to go for smartphone exclusives:

“O2 has become the home of smartphones and launching our first Android-powered phone with Samsung is a key part of this,” said Steve Alder, General Manager Devices, Telefónica Europe.

This got me thinking – exactly how many smartphones OSs do they, or will they shortly, support? Well, by reckoning it’s:

• Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) OS – iPhone
• WinMo – O2 XDA Zest and Guide
• RIM OS – BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Curve, Bold, 8310
• Series 60 – Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N86, N73 Refurb
• Android – Samsung Galaxy

and… soon enough….

• WebOS – Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre

Dang, that’s a lot of OSs right there! Let’s consider that a snapshot now, and then re-visit in a year’s time to see how things have changed. My prediction is that WinMo might be gone, as may Palm be (unless there’s a raft of devices that come out sporting WebOS), and both RIM and Android will increase. I’d imagine Apple and Series60 might remain the same.

What say you, IntoMobile readership?!

Boingo Wireless announced that it has joined the Symbian Foundation. As a member of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK)-led group, Boingo gains the “immediate right to license the Symbian Foundation platform, royalty free and without source code fees; participate in the governance of the foundation; and take part in joint marketing and branding campaigns.” As an end users, this means absolutely nothing to you. However, I’ve no doubts we’ll see Boingo’s clients being released for every Symbian version in the future.

Commenting on the move, Symbian’s David Wood said: “Symbian is pleased to welcome Boingo as the latest member of the fast-growing Symbian Foundation. Boingo is widely recognised as a leading enabler of mobile WiFi access. We look forward to seeing their innovative use of Symbian platform assets, and to their participation in community activities.”

We’ve seen companies making augmented reality apps for the iPhone and Android. What about Symbian S60? After all, it’s the single most popular smartphone platform worldwide, and some of the devices on the market have all the hardware required for this to work — i.e. GPS, accelerometer and compass. On that note, I’m glad to report that the first such application is in development as we speak. It’s called ARound Project and just as you would expect from these kind of apps, it overlays the image stream generated from the camera with markers of POIs around the user.

The good thing about it is that it’s plugin-ready, allowing third-party developers to customize the application at different levels. The bad thing, however, is that it’s still not ready for the prime time. This doesn’t mean you can’t give it a try, quite the contrary. Be aware, though, that not many device are supported at the moment, and the list includes Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N97, as well as several S60 3.2 devices such as the Nokia 6210 Navigator, 6710 Navigator, 5730 XpressMusic, and N86.

The screenshots we’ve seen look promising, though I must add I haven’t tried the app myself. If anyone of you folks give it a try, don’t hesitate to drop us a comment…

Lara Croft is back at Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s N-Gage in the title called Tomb Raider: Underworld. This time the adventurous beauty aims to retrieve Thor’s Hammer, and it’s your job to help her do that. Unfortunately, the new game (despite the fact that it’s new), is a simple N-Gage port of a limited Symbian version of the Underworld game released last year. That’s a shame, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be bored — quite the contrary, the game is super fun to play, at least for hard core Lara Croft fans. Rest of us will (or not?) give it a try, play it for few days and, well, find something better to do.

If this is something of interest to you, search for it in the “Showroom” tab, unce you update the N-Gage client…

[Via: AllAboutSymbian]

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) doesn’t give up on its older phone models and it’s a good thing. On that note, the Finnish giant unveiled the latest update for its N85 handset. Three of us — Will, Simon and I — had these babies at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, earlier this year, where we use them to instantly share photos with IntoMobile audience.

Anyway, the update packs two important things: USB charging is improved, and once you update you’ll also find that Contacts include Ovi features that allow you to locate your friends and receive updates on what they are doing. You can also chat with your friends and share your favorite places with them. In addition, I assume some of the bugs have been fixed and the phone is now more stable as a result.

To update, simply type *#0000# on the home screen or go to Device Manager. Select “Options” > “Check for updates” and follow the on screen prompts. Alternatively, you can do the same thing through the Nokia Software Updater. As usual, we advise you to backup your phone prior to pushing the trigger…