Category: iphone

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Nokia ditching Symbian for Maemo

According to the German FT (via Techcrunch) Nokia is going to move from Symbian to Maemo for its phones.

Nokia doesn’t trust its Symbian mobile operating system any more and plans to equip many of its smartphones with the mostly open source Maemo operating system it uses in its Internet tablets, according to undisclosed Nokia sources speaking to the Financial Times in Germany  (FTD).

Nokia uses Maemo on its internet tablets, and having used the Nokia N810 quite a bit I quite like it as an operating system. Likewise though I also like the operating system on the Nokia N95. Which one do I prefer? Well it’s not that simple, as the N810 is a very different device to the N95 and I use them in different ways.

The Nokia N97 which had huge potential seems to be limited by the Symbian operating system, as Techcrunch report:

The Nokia N97 from June 2009 required heavy tweaking on the Symbian software. It’s touchscreen OS still looks aged and the handling is far from easy and not always logical.

Nokia having seen the Apple iPhone and Google’s Android phone take their market share, they need todo something if they are to remain competitive.

I expect not to see upgrades to existing phones like the N95, but Nokia using Maemo on their new phones.

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Tube Deluxe

Whilst the iPod touch is an useful device, the iPhone can be very useful as it has the connectivity that makes some applications work better. One of these is London Tube Deluxe (iTunes Store link).

Tube Deluxe

If you travel by tube in London and it can be useful to know when and if there are problems on the Tube. Combine that with the tube map and using Google Maps to work out where alternative tube stations actually are in London, it is possible to ensure you can get where you need to get to even if there are terrible delays on the tube.

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Apple admits iPhone supply issues

Report from BBC News

Apple has revealed as part of its quarterly earnings statement that it cannot produce the new iPhone 3GS fast enough.

Luckily for me I was able to order an iPhone 3GS, though only the 32GB model was available, which is the model I wanted, though I thought 16GB would be enough, 16GB can never be enough, so I went down my usual maxim which is work out what I need and double it…

So far all I have done it activated it, sync’d it and charged it. Nothing else yet…

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Mobile Apps

Noticed a couple of news items on BBC News which make for interesting reading if you are interested in mobile applications. The first item I saw was on the market for mobile apps.

The market for mobile applications, or apps, will become “as big as the internet”, peaking at 10 million apps in 2020, a leading online store says.

But it is not all good news…

However, GetJar say, the developer community will decline drastically as each developer makes less money.

This is certainly apparent in the iTunes App Store where expensive useful apps, are virtually immediately undercut by similar low cost or even free apps.

But it doesn’t seem to be putting people off with the following news:

Symbian, the operating system on nearly half the world’s smartphones, is to become involved in the development of mobile applications, or apps.

So who’s creating these mobile apps and what are they creating?

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O2 Tethering on the iPhone

Despite some issues with JoikuSpot with some mobile devices, it is still one of my most useful applications on my Nokia N95 and I use it a lot.

I have considered getting an iPhone 3GS and this (alongside the iPhone 3G) now (eventually) comes with tethering, the ability to use your phone as a modem with your laptop. I have done this for years with various phones including the Nokia N95.

The only downside is the cost!

I have tethering included as part of my T-Mobile deal which costs roughly the same per month as the O2 iPhone deal, however O2 want an extra £15 per month for a 3GB limit for tethering.

Expensive!

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Touch coming to Windows 7

BBC reports on developments at Microsoft

The multi-touch controls familiar to Apple iPhone users will be built-in to Microsoft’s Windows 7.

Windows Touch will be a “first class way to interact with your PC alongside mouse and keyboard,” said the firm.

I do quite like Windows 7 as though similar in appearance to Windows Vista seems less clunky and smoother.

As a result of this new development, will we see a Windows 7 interface on a small tablet PC device which reflets the intuitive and  ease of use that we currently have with the iPhone?

From my experience, so far no touch interface I have used has come close to the iPhone interface, but doesn’t mean in the future that nothing will match it.

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iPhone Firmware 3.0

Apple have released details of the new firmware for the iPhone.

In-App Purchasing: Allows developers to sell additional content from within applications. Highlighted uses include magazine subscriptions, eBooks, additional levels and items for games.

Peer-to-Peer Connectivity: Find other devices running the app via Bonjour over Wi-Fi of Bluetooth. Good for gaming, but also other applications for sharing data.

Third-Party Accessory Apps: Allowing accessory manufacturers to create applications to interface with their hardware accessories.

Push Notification: Rather than using background processes that hamper battery life, utilize third-party server to push badge, text, and audio alerts from applications.

Turn by Turn: Apple will allow developers to use CoreLocation for turn-by-turn GPS directions.

Cut, Copy and Paste: Available across all apps. Shake to undo or redo.

Landscape keyboard: Available in all key applications, including Mail.

MMS: Picture messaging now available.

Voice Memos: Record notes, lectures, interviews, etc.

Spotlight Search: Available across all applications. Systemwide search available from main home screen by flicking to the left.

A2DP Bluetooth: Support for stereo bluetooth headsets.

In the Q&A Apple did say if the carriers supported it they would support tethering as a modem.

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Fantastic Contraption on the iPhone

One of my favourite sites at the moment is Fantastic Contraption so was well pleased to see an iPhone version.

The online game is described as.

An online flash puzzle game where you build whimsical machines to solve each level.

Well the iPhone version is basically an iPhone version of the online Flash game.

If you have played the website version, the iPhone version takes a little getting use to but you can still build quite complicated contraptions.

The downside is the £2.99 price, which is the most expensive iPhone app I have bought so far.

It’s not the most stable of apps for the iPhone the tutorial caused the app to crash twice and a hard reset of the iPhone.

Overall a really fun game.

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Sorry, this programme is currently unavailable

I am a great fan and user of BBC iPlayer, great for catching up on what you have missed and for watching things again (especially when repeated on BBC Three at an unsociable time).

I will often use an iPod touch to watch programmes, either in bed or more often then not connected to my TV. However now and again I get the following message.

Sorry, this programme is currently unavailable

You can see this in the Christmas edition of Doctor Who.

Sorry, this programme is currently unavailable

This means that you have to use a computer to watch the programme. I get the same “error” with the comedy Outnumbered episode seven (but not with the previous six episodes of Outnumbered).

I believe that the error (it’s not really an error, but I think it is) is a rights issue. In other words the rights holders have not allowed the programme to be made available to the iPod touch (or the iPhone).

Why?

Well I suspect that the issue is the way in which BBC iPlayer works on the iPod touch and the iPhone. Basically the BBC serve the iPhone with a DRM free MOV version of the programme. On the iPhone you can’t save this file, so it is not an issue, however a quick Google search provides various ways in which you can get your computer to pretend it’s an iPhone and as a result are able to download the DRM free version of the BBC programme.

Of course I don’t know for sure if this is the issue, or it is a technical problem and the programme just hasn’t (yet) been encoded for the iPhone and the festive break is the cause of the delay.