1. Nokia Social app is an example of a very poor app design using technology that should have not been included in the first place. Say whateer you want but I really believe it is a bad app and Nokia could do better.

2. Nokia updated the Ovi Store app on Symbian^3 and Anna devices. It’s got the name changed to Nokia Store too. And it’s using Qt-Quick Components. Bringing in more user friendly UI and up-to-date functionalities.

3. I guess it’s a matter of time before Nokia announced a new Social app for all it’s Symbian^3, Anna, and Belle smartphones. I really believe Nokia is cooking something on that front because they did deliver a usable and better Social apps (Facebook and Twitter) on MeeGo Harmattan (Nokia N9).

4. On Nokia Conversations, there’s a new blogpost telling readers about the design story behind Symbian Belle. You can read the post here : http://conversations.nokia.com/2011/10/10/understanding-symbian-belle-exclusive-design-video-documentary/.

5. They showed a video, which is cool. And if you jump to minute 2.35 in the video, you can see it shows Symbian Belle homescreen with two rows of icons symbolising Twitter and Facebook. I never seen any Symbian Homescreen widgets that looked like that before. Could they be the new Homescreen widgets for the new Nokia Social app for Symbian? Written in QML?

6. Anyway, here is the video :

- Asri al-Baker
- For i-Symbian.Com
- October 11th 2011 (I wished I could fly….)

2. According to the official website, Opera included a number of updates in this version. Which makes Opera Mobile 11.1 the closest thing to a desktop class internet browser for supported mobile devices such as Symbian smartphones.

- An easier way to select texts on any webpage and copying them (also searching the texts on Google). Honestly, it is very intuitive and easy to use.

- Viewing webpages in a single column. Eliminating the need to scroll left and right. This is just a rebranding / rewrite of Opera Mobile’s mobile view which is good. Great and very useful in portrait mode using one hand.

- Browse websites in mobile version or in full desktop glory. There’s a new item in the advanced setting that enables users to select between “Desktop” or “Mobile” user agent. And this does wonders. More on that later.

- More HTML5 compliant than any other web browser for Symbian. For example, using http://www.html5test.com as a benchmark place, Opera Mobile 11.1 Symbian scores 269. Waaaaayyyyy higher than the stock Symbian Web browser who only scores a disappointing 36…

4. I really like the new version especially the User Agent changer. Which enables full scale desktop web browsing on my Nokia E7.

5. True, there are some issues, particularly the following.
- Unable to post to Disqus comments
- No Flash support for Symbian
- RAM usage is still high.

6. Get it from :

http://www.opera.com/mobile

or

http://m.opera.com

7. More information from :

http://my.opera.com/operamobile/blog/2011/06/30/opera-mobile-11-1-has-arrived

http://my.opera.com/operamini/blog/2011/06/30/opera-mini-6-1-launched-today-for-java-blackberry-android-and-s60

1. I know… I know… It’s been months. We’ve been waiting for months for Symbian Anna to come.

2. Nokia Australia has just released a video, explaining some of the updates and new features inside Symbian Anna.

3. These including (but not limited to) :
- New portrait QWERTY
- New Calendar
- New Web browser
- New iconography
- Yada yada yada…

4. Just watch the video

5. Symbian Anna will be made available for existing Symbian^3 devices during August 2011 (depends on market conditions).

1. Nokia Malaysia organised a special preview session for bloggers on Friday May 27th in Kuala Lumpur.

2. This preview session is intended to show the latest Symbian devices which are the E6 and the X7.

3. Also previewed, was the first glimpse of Symbian Anna. The new Symbian revamp that was scheduled to be shipped with the E6 and X7, and also to be made available to all existing Symbian^3 smartphones (N8, E7, C7, C6-01) in the coming weeks.

Some observations

Calendar

1. I only had a brief moment with Anna, particularly with the X7. And I wasted no time, for 25-30 minutes or so, I digged into X7 user interface and found some interesting tidbits.

The calendar view is improved. In here, calendar entries are displayed. Just like on Symbian^1. Interestingly, it applies for month and week views.

For single day view, time-slots are displayed all the time even on empty days.

The toolbar has been removed. Giving more space for contents. However, this means changing views is harder (Options – Change View…).

Full screen view can be activated by pinching the screen.

Editing screen is also improved (no screenshot)

File Manager

1. Finally. Selecting multiple files (Mark) is easier. When activated, checkboxes will appear on the left of the filenames. Very easy to mark any files that we want. The menu also dynamically changes when selection begins.

2. Speed is increased, eg. opening large photo.

Web-browser

1. I was impressed with the rendering speed. Definitely better than the old Symbian Web.

2. But the UI is still not to my liking. e.g. Changing tabs/windows is still needs many clicks.

3. Creating new tab/window is supported. But the UI for it is very slow. The closest comparison I can mention is like creating new tab on Skyfire for iPad. Very sloowwww….

Overall impression

1. To be honest, Symbian Anna is a step in the right direction. The most obvious change is the application icons, where they are now standardised and looks cooler. And that’s about it.
2. There are some core application changes like the Web browser, and Photo viewer. But most apps stays the same like on Symbian^3.

3. For Symbian^3 users, the changes are not that noticeable. Particularly it has the same UI. Not really a refresh.

4. The overall speed is increased. Launching apps is faster.

5. The portrait QWERTY is included, users can choose between the alphanumeric keypad or the new portrait QWERTY. But, in my opinion, the new portrait QWERTY keyboard needs some time to get used to. The individual keys are too small for my thumbs.

6. Anna will be shipped with E6 & X7 first. Then only for existing Symbian^3 smartphones via software update.

7. Nokia E6 will be priced at only RM1155 when it reaches Malaysia market in early June 2011. For the X7, the price will be determined later. It will be made available in early July 2011.

8. All in all… cant wait to test it in real life

*** More coverage from Tallboyz who also attended the preview session.

- For i-Symbian.Com
- Asri al-Baker
- May 30th 2011

1. Nokia just rolled out new firmware OTA (Over The Air) update for the Nokia N8. The size of the update is just around 900 kb and it should be available to Nokia N8 users globally anytime from now.

2. I installed the update on Tuesday March 22nd 2011 at around 7 pm and to be honest, there’s no major changes that are visible. I believe the update is to fix bugs and also acording to Nokia Discussion Board, this PR1.2 is a voluntary update, which also brings improvements to Mail For Exchange and Ovi Maps, as well as Ovi Store.

We have released a voluntary software update for Nokia Symbian^3 smartphones primarily to address a synchronization issue identified in a limited number of Nokia smartphones using Mail for Exchange on Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Service Pack 1.

We listen to people’s feedback and continue to constantly improve the user experience of our smartphones with software updates. While we are working to make available the next software version, which will provide a renewed user experience, including new browser, refreshed widgets and home screen as well as many other performance enhancements, we released this software to quickly resolve a potential issue affecting our business users.

The software update will be available through the on-the-device Software Update or using Ovi Suite. The roll-out schedule will be determined operator by operator, market by market.

3. The OTA update process went very smooth over WiFi connection. Honestly, this OTA technology is very welcomed. Gone are the days where I need to hook my Symbian smartphones to a Windows PC to update the firmware. OTA is verey useful for people who dont use Windows PC like me

4. Please ensure the Nokia N8 battery is fully charged before doing the OTA update or else your Nokia N8 will go bonkers.

5. It’s already fourty hours after installing the update, and during that time, I use my Nokia N8 as my main phone for calls, texts, Gravity-ing, lots of web-surfing using the spanking new Opera Mobile 11 and sometimes Opera Mini 6, emailing via Mobile Documents, reading documents via Picsel Smart Office etc, etc. Internet connectivity via WiFi, sometimes 3.5G and when out at places without those two, I use plain ol EDGE.

6. With all the above, I am very-very surprised to see that the battery in my Nokia N8 has not died! This is unbelievable! Previously, on PR1.0 and PR1.1, I can only squeeze around eighteen to twenty hours before the battery juice dried.

7. I mean, I dont know how, or what did the engineers do to the firmware but it seems my Nokia N8 battery life lasts longer. More than one hundred percent increase! I have not charge it yet, it was switched on last two nights when I went to bed and picked it up in the morning as usual. The battery just wont die!

8. I think there’s something wrong with my Nokia N8 battery. It might be broken after the update to PR1.2

9. I believe the update will be rolled gradually to all parts of the world, especially SIM free units.

10. Have you updated your Nokia N8 firmware (also C7 and C6-01) to PR1.2? Share your experience with us here yeah!

- Asri al-Baker
- For i-Symbian.Com
- March 24th 2011

2. I had the opportunity to attend them and I must congratulate Nokia for the efforts in enticing Malaysian developers to it’s offerings.

3. The Forum Nokia SEAP team did an excellent job in delivering the messages towards all developers. Nokia is taking developers very seriously.

———————————————
4. Tuesday 9th November 2010 :
Celcom League of Extraordinary Developers Challenge Business Track
- Gary Chan, Developer Relations Manager. Forum Nokia & Developer Community, APAC.

Gary Chan explains how Nokia have simplified application development. By focussing to Qt for smartphone and mobile computers, and J2ME for S40 feature phones, developers will be able to develop and deploy apps easier.

———————————————
5. Wednesday 10th November 2010
Nokia Forum Developers Matter
- Kenny Mathers (Head of Developer Relations and Marketing, Forum Nokia APAC)
- Gary Chan, Developer Relations Manager. Forum Nokia & Developer Community, APAC.
- Nelson Wee, Regional Services Marketing Manager Nokia APAC

Nokia explains what it offers to developers. Namely :-
i) Nokia’s global scale & Nokia’s commitment to simplify app development
ii) Ovi Store – will be improved
iii) nokia commits to push / assist developers in getting their apps deployed to Ovi Store

My tweets :

The mobile industry has evolved, More players, Consumers want mobile internet, New Businesss Models. @forumnokia

@forumNokia – opportunities for developers. 13 devices per second. 1.3 billion users. 220 countries. – http://twitpic.com/35gyro

@forumnokia – creating end-to-end developer ecosystem through local partnerships with Limkokwing university, cradle, celcom, mdec, maxis

@forumnokia – local partnerships for : engagement->training->incubation->support->distribution->billing : leveraging good relationships

@forumnokia – #ovistore – apps for everyone. an ultra-local focused appstore

@forumnokia – #ovistore active users in 190 countries, mobile billing 99 operators in 27 countries, 30 local languages

@forumnokia – #ovistore local mobile billing is now live in Singapore, Thailand, Australia

*** I also had the chance to play with the soon-to-be-released Nokia E7. Man… The screen is freakin HUGE! and the QWERTY is so lovely. I need to KILL to get that one

———————————————
6. 10 & 11 November 2010
Qt Workshop
2 days of extensive Qt development workshop by Forum Nokia.

Here are some photos of the events.

Asri al-Baker

2. During Nokia World 2010, among interesting stuff that were presented was the Foursquare app demoed running on Nokia N8.

3. Upon closer inspection, the application was jointly developed by Foursquare and Nokia and it’s now available from Ovi Store from early this week.

4. The application looks and functions as a Foursquare app should. Many Foursquare functions are available such as Check-in, viewing profile, adding and accepting friend request, add or edit venue and more.

5. For those who are more technical, knowing this app was developed using Widget Runtime or WRT is a letdown.

6. The overall performance of this app also varies. It can be very fast if you are using high-speed connection, but if you are using GPRS or EDGE, you may experience slow loading of it’s functions.

7. The fact that it was developed using WRT also doesnt help when it comes to speed. Most of the time, you will face the loading icon all the time when you navigate from one function to another.

8. For those fancy checking in, it’s slow. Certainly not as quick to use as Gravity.

9. But the app is pretty comprehensive. It has tons of features not available in other Foursquare solutions for Symbian.

10. You can get it for free from Ovi Store. And it is compatible with a lot of Symbian smartphones including S60 3rd Edition FP2, Symbian^1 and Symbian^3.

Video via The Nokia Blog

1. You read it right folks. The Nokia N8 will have a mechanism to search contacts quickly from the dial-pad.

2. I asked this feature during the N8 Preview KL but it was not confirmed.

3. Thanks to a post at MyNokiaBlog.Com, the final user guide for the N8 is available online and can be downloaded from HERE

4. This is a welcomed additional feature. You dont have to open/launch the Phonebook app. You only need to access the dialler, then type away and the list of matching contacts will be displayed. This is mentioned in the N8 user manual on page 37.

“Search for a contact

You can Search for a Contact you have saved in the contacts list.

In the home screen, select Call, and start entering the contact’s first or second name. When entering the characters, select each number key once for each letter. For example, to search for Nokia, enter 6, 6, 5, 4 and 2”

5. Users who dont like this feature will also be able to switch it off from the Options.

6. What do you think of this feature?

Asri al-Baker

1. Nokia Betalabs just announced yesterday, the availability of Swype Beta for Symbian^1.

2. While many people are excited about it, I cant help myself to be a little bit of “WTF”?…

3. I mean, come on!… Swype is not better than the existing stock qwerty in Symbian^1! And in some ways, as far as I can see, it sucks…!

4. While swiping fingers on top of a virtual keyboard may look cool and may feel cool, in REAL LIFE situation, it SUCKS!

5. It sucks when being used one handedly. You need to stay or sit standstill. You have to look at the screen all the time. And the keys on the virtual keyboard is no bigger from the stock qwerty. Did I mention that our thumbs blocks the qwerty when using Swype, making it pointless and making us play the “guess-what’s-the-next-alphabet-to-swype” game?

6. Dont get me started on how hard it is to use Swype for other languages, non-english especially. Yeah, it can learn and we can type abbreviations, or non-english words. But what’s the point of having a SWYPE text input if we still need to do TYPE? You get me or not?

7. I dont hate Swype. Infact, I love the fact that there are alternatives to the awful text entry method on the current Symbian devices (the other alternative is Dayhand Keyboard). But I dont feel that Swype is going to revolutionise entering texts anytime soon.

8. Some said using Swype is faster and easier than the stock keyboard. Yeah?… after 6 months of training that is…

9. One more thing, even with Swype’s intelligent word recognition, I find it cumbersome and unintuitive. And the design… why they have to include that text entry box on top of the qwerty? Why? oh Why?…

10. Or maybe, I’m just an old-school who still prefer hardware qwerty or T9

Cheers!

Asri al-Baker

1. Foursquare. The latest craze in the social networking services.

2. They have released official apps for iOS, Android and Blackberry but they never support Symbian. This is where something needs to be done.

3. Enter ThinkChange’s Sym4Square or Symbian FourSquare. A free application designed and developed by the same people who brought us AutoInstaller, and a few other cool Symbian apps.

4. However, the designed is too Android-y if you will. I think the developer should do something to make it look unique and exclusive.

5. In the long run, this Android looking design will give them more headache. With Symbian going to use Qt as the application layer, they need to do a lot of reesigning in the future.

6. Our friend at AllAboutSymbian has published an excellent review of this app and I agree to what Ewan Spence said in the review.

7. I like the fact that us Symbian users can use Foursquare with a dedicated app. But I dont like the Android design.

8. I still prefer using Gravity for my Foursquaring needs. How about you?

9. Get Symbian Foursquare from : Sym4Square. For Symbian^1 only at the moment though.