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Nokia Symbian^3 UI demonstrated in detail, seeks multitouch devices (video)
Nokia VP, David Rivas, was in San Francisco yesterday touting Symbian^3 improvements. While we’ve heard and seen plenty about Symbian Three’s enhanced user experience already, it’s still worthy of another look considering Symbian’s dominant marketshare. Besides, David provides a very detailed look as he walks us though elements like the customizable (and more finger friendly) homescreens meant to provide quick access to call features and at-a-glance data. Rivas also reiterates speed improvement claims over existing S60 5th devices (about a 3x improvement in graphics performance) that should “very very pleasantly surprise” users. Naturally, a faster UI coupled with a Symbian device running on something better than ARM 11 will also help here — Nokia’s only Cortex A8 device is the N900 running Maemo, not Symbian. David takes a veiled shot at Microsoft’s new WP7 platform when discussing Symbian’s true multitaking capabilities without any “tricks” — apps are actually running in the background, not just freezing their state until you return. Multitouch screen control on capacitive and resistive (really?) touchscreen displays with Cover Flow-like album art navigation? Yup, it’s all in there, as are hundreds of usability improvements (and fewer nags!) that should bring Symbian^3 up to the level of what everyone expects from a modern smartphone, according to Rivas. In other words, we’ll have to wait for S^4 on early 2011 devices to see any real innovation. While the live demo was run on a laptop, we suspect it won’t be long until Nokia starts showing off its live OS on a production handset. Until then, check the video after the break — it’s all we’ve got.
[Thanks, Rafael C.]
Continue reading Nokia Symbian^3 UI demonstrated in detail, seeks multitouch devices (video)
Nokia Symbian^3 UI demonstrated in detail, seeks multitouch devices (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 03:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Symbian 3 gets new design goes further than skin deep
Nokia has made it clear that it will revamp the user interface (UI) of its Symbian phones, and you might have seen the video above during Mobile World Congress. However, what’s more interesting is that Nokia has removed a ton of legacy code and APIs, to make the clean break that was long overdue. We’re getting closer to what was available on the N900 and some of the qualities are the same (the app switching UI is excellent), but the new UI is seemingly much faster and more fluid. With the new software architecture, comes new code that is not built to deal with last decade’s problems such as lack of graphics hardware or horrible memory constraints.
The net result should be much more responsive Nokia phones and interfaces. I’m glad that Nokia (and others) are seeing the light, because Apple and Microsoft sure did too. Now, we’re waiting for the actual hardware that we suspect might come out this summer at Nokia World.
Permalink: Symbian 3 gets new design goes further than skin deep from Ubergizmo | RSS Sponsor: Win a Fellowes Microshred Paper Shredder!
MeeGo repository going public later this month, coming to Nokia N900
Valtteri Halla — Nokia employee and one-half of MeeGo’s Technical Steering Group — has blogged up a storm this week about the first baby steps that’ll get the platform off the ground from its Moblin and Maemo roots, and from the sounds of things, we’ll be able to get our first glimpse at it on production hardware before the month’s out. Currently, the plan is to open up MeeGo’s code repository to all comers “by the end of this month,” targeting both Atom boards and the N900. Now, we certainly wouldn’t say that MeeGo’s decision to use the N900 as an early target device is indicative of an official upgrade down the line — but this is particularly interesting in light of the fact that we’ve never gotten a commitment out of Nokia to bump its latest MID to Maemo 6. And besides, considering that the average N900 customer is a bit of a hacker in his or her own right, let’s be honest: a code repository that supports the phone is just about as good as an official gold build anyhow.
MeeGo repository going public later this month, coming to Nokia N900 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless
The Nokia Research Center has another tech tease that gives us a glimpse into one of our many possible mobile computing futures. The so-called, Explore and Share concept starts by placing an N900 onto a “writer” that’s tethered to a PC at a retail store. At that point, the PC recognizes the handset and serves up a number of options to the purchaser. For the purposes of the demo, an unnamed Finn selects an album that downloads to the handset in less than 10 seconds. Less than 10 seconds, wirelessly! If we assume that the 18 track Bruce Springsteen album is somewhere between 100MB and 200MB then we’re looking at a 10MBps to 20MBps transfer rate. Nokia doesn’t admit to what tech it’s using, referring to it only as “a new radio technology.” It’s certainly not NFC which tops out at 424kbps, or Bluetooth 3.0 + HS which tops out at 3MBps. It also negotiates much faster than WiFi (though that could just be editing trickery). It’s closer to Wireless USB’s real-world data rates of around 15MBps or TransferJet’s 375Mbps effective throughput. Or as a long shot, maybe Bluetooth 4.0 which targets 60Mbps (theoretical) transfer rates. Regardless, it’s fast so we have to agree with Nokia when it deadpans: “Sounds great. Doesn’t. It.” Check out the action after the break.
Continue reading Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless
Nokia’s Explore and Share concept uses super fast, mystery wireless originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
LG GW990 to be among first MeeGo phones
Intel and Nokia certainly surprised a few of us yesterday when they decided to merge Moblin and Maemo into the new, more terribly-named MeeGo OS, but it looks like LG is ready to roll with it — the Moorestown-powered LG GW990 we saw at CES will be one of the first MeeGo phones when it launches later this year. Of course, that doesn’t mean much of anything beyond branding, since the GW990 uses a custom UI on top of the x86-based Moblin core and we doubt there’s any of Maemo’s ARM-based code involved there, but it’s a definite sign of things to come. So, Nokia — are we going to see a Moorestown N900, or what?
LG GW990 to be among first MeeGo phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:21:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Nokia N900 gets new firmware, new games coming too (video)
If your N900 is in need of a little more excitement, this post is for you. First up is word of a new firmware release (3.2010.02-8 (PR 1.1.1)), 16.2MB worth of apparently minor changes along with a slew of new regions, the inclusion of which may mean good things for those who haven’t been granted to this smartphone yet. If that’s not enough for you, at MWC Nokia is showing off some new apps for the handset, the most notable being a couple of 3D games that look a wee bit simplistic in terms of gameplay but don’t disappoint in terms of graphics. No word on when exactly these will be hitting Ovi Store — well, nothing more specific than “soon.” Video after the break (of the games, not the firmware update).
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Continue reading Nokia N900 gets new firmware, new games coming too (video)
Nokia N900 gets new firmware, new games coming too (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 07:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Firmware at Forum.Nokia.com, Game Demo at YouTube | Email this | Comments
PlayStation 3 controller used for N900 gaming (video)
Is the N900 the most hacker-friendly phone ever created? All sources are pointing to “yes.” Just two short months ago, we saw one determined code monkey turn his N900 into a PS3 controller; today, we’re looking at someone who did the exact opposite. If you’ve memorized the Debian source code and aren’t afraid to dabble in the wild and murky world of N900 modding, you too can one day use a spare SIXAXIS controller in order to dictate gameplay on your Nokia handset. All the instructions you need are there in the source link, and for everyone else just looking to have a watch from the sidelines, hop on past the break and mash play.
Continue reading PlayStation 3 controller used for N900 gaming (video)
PlayStation 3 controller used for N900 gaming (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 10:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Nokia N900 micro-USB connectors prone to failure?
The N900’s well on its way to developing a solid reputation as a hacker’s dream, but here’s the thing: hackers need a way to charge their device. Actually, we all do, which makes a trending problem with N900s in the field particularly worrisome. It seems that the micro-USB connector’s surface mount design is causing it to become misaligned or disconnected completely, and affected users seem to be having mixed results getting the issue covered under warranty. One of the symptoms of a misaligned connector is that it’s unusually snug or difficult to connect, and thinking back to our review unit, we did have some minor issues there but didn’t really think anything of it at the time. Anyone out there run into this nasty little issue?
Update: Mark Squires, head of social media at Nokia, dropped by our comments with an update. In short, Nokia is looking into the matter and anyone who experiences the issue should be covered by local Nokia customer care assuming that the N900 hasn’t been mistreated.
Nokia N900 micro-USB connectors prone to failure? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Maemo forums, Nokia support forums, Tabula Crypticum | Email this | Comments
Wiimote controls Duke Nukem 3D
No, Duke Nukem Forever is going to remain just that – taking forever to come out, but if you are still a huge fan of this trash-talking, all-action hero, then watching Duke Nukem 3D in action with the Wiimote ought to pique your interest. To make matters more interesting, Duke Nukem 3D is not running on some old computer, but is instead a by-product of Nokia’s N900 (read our review) hacking competition, where we hope to see this endeavor snatch a podium spot.
Permalink: Wiimote controls Duke Nukem 3D from Ubergizmo | Hot: Nexus One Review
Video: Nokia N900 + SNES Emulator + PS3 Controller = Portable geek bliss
I’ll admit it: When the oh-so-damned-clever coding community managed to get an SNES emulator running on the N900 at fullspeed with features like TV-out, I got all kinds of excited. Hell, even Nokia was excited about it until they got smacked by the Mighty Hand of the Law for showing it.
Well, it just got even better.
N900 gains PS3 Sixaxis control over SNES gaming (video)
Continue reading N900 gains PS3 Sixaxis control over SNES gaming (video)
N900 gains PS3 Sixaxis control over SNES gaming (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Mac OS X 10.3 installed on Nokia N900 via PearPC, barely usable for impatient geeks
Curious folks around the world enjoy a bit of hackintosh every now and then (although once is enough for many), but no geek has successfully ventured as far as Toni Nikkanen of Finland, who became the first person to run OS X on a phone — the Nokia N900. As you can see in the video after the break, Toni’s hack relies on PearPC — a PowerPC emulator — to install good ol’ OS X 10.3 (Panther), but the mammoth sluggishness means it’s far from usable. Still, if you can spare 90 minutes for each boot-up plus plenty more for the snail-paced cursor, then head to the source to learn from Herra Nikkanen.
[Thanks, Matija]
Continue reading Mac OS X 10.3 installed on Nokia N900 via PearPC, barely usable for impatient geeks
Mac OS X 10.3 installed on Nokia N900 via PearPC, barely usable for impatient geeks originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Ricoh GXR gets acessorized, is ready for the town — or the shooting range
Sony’s ultra-compact concept shooter will come with an APS sensor, UI shows up on video
The Apple Store is down! The Apple Store is down! The Apple Store is down!