TamsS60 - the S60 Blog

Resco’s Jan Slodicka has just informed me that Resco News for S60(review here) has just received a major update.

Version 1.2.4 fixes a very annoying bug that caused News to hang when finding a ‘dead’ feed - additionally, the program now supports the N95 8GB.

As always - if you aren’t using this excellent news reader yet, now is the best possible time to snag it from the TamsShop. The price of 11.95$ is a true bargain!

This is a RUMOR, based on a SINGLE SOURCE. Please DO NOT BASE important decisions solely on this article!

A web site called goebel.net has claimed that a “native” Skype client for S60v3 is imminent - however, it will not be provided by Skype itself but rather by a third party.

The page goes on to claim that 3(the provider behind the recently-launched “SkypePhone”) is very unhappy with its service partner iSkoot, as all calls are “routed” as regular GSM calls - the recent expansion of Skype usage has forced them to create more and more Skype servers(which, incidentally, cost $$$).

For the record, native Skype was demoed on a 6680 some years ago - but limited CPU power, lag issues and battery life apparently hindred a mass deployment!

A web site has recently popped up, offering some kind of synthesizer software for S60 and UIQ phones:

In case you are looking for some sample tunes created with the program, please find them here:
http://www.myspace.com/syntraxmobile

The product can be downloaded for free here(along with some tutorials):
http://www.finished.nl/index.html

In case anyone of you is especially interested in the G810(it prolly won’t ship, anyways), the folks at Symbian-Freak’s have managed to get their hands on one and proudly present a small hands-on video:
http://www.symbian-freak.com/news/008/02/samsung_g810_video_review.htm

The German telefon-treff.de forum has been extremely active when it comes to rumors - an user recently managed to get his claws onto a 16GB MicroSD card. He immediately popped it into a few S60 phones - here goes:

While no information on shipment dates is available as of now(and on how much this thing will cost when it drops), it’s good to know that 2 and 4GB memory card prices will drop a lot in the near future…and…well..we now know about yet another way to waste excess money…

The folks at Symbian Press have just released a new book that could be useful for all those of you planning to get into the S60 game business:

Here’s a short description of the contents:

The first part of the book discusses the mobile games industry, including why the mobile industry differs from other sectors of the games market, a discussion of the sales of mobile games, their types, the gamers who play them, and how the games are sold.

The second part describes key aspects of writing games for Symbian smartphones using Symbian C++ and native APIs. The chapters cover the use of graphics and audio, multiplayer game design, the basics of writing a game loop using Symbian OS active objects, and general good practice. A chapter covering the use of hardware APIs, such as the camera and vibra, is also included.

Part Three covers porting games to Symbian OS using C or C++, and discusses the standards support that Symbian OS provides, and some of the middleware solutions available. A chapter about the N-Gage platform discusses how Nokia is making the next generation of mobile games, by providing a platform SDK for professional games developers to port games rapidly and effectively.

The final part of the book discusses how to create mobile games for Symbian smartphones without using C or C++, using Java ME, DoJa (for Japan) or Flash Lite 2.

In case you wish to purchase the book, get it at Amazon’s for 50$.

The folks at Symbian-Freak.com have just posted that a hardware-accelerated version of Quake for S60v3 is available.

The product is said to require S60v3 FP1, and will offer hardware-accelerated graphics on all phones powered by an OMAP2420(E90, N95, N93, N82).

Please give them a click for download instructions(scroll down below the first ad).

The folks at AllAboutSymbian.com have posted photo galleries of all S60 phones shown at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Many of the photos seem to be exclusive to the web site - in case you wish to take a second look at Nokia’s, Samsung’s and LG’s new phones, please visit the gallery’s front page here:
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/6766_Phone_Galleries_from_MWC_2008.php

The folks at CNET’s Crave have managed to get further information about the E71 at an official Showcase Nokia event in Sydney.

They report the following specs:

Information is usually scant at this stage, though the handset is purported to come with HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microSD expansion card slot, QWERTY keyboard, 3.2-megapixel camera, and onboard GPS.

Many analysts expect this device to be announced at the CeBit - yours truly will be there and will report!

P.S. The picture leaked some time ago(below) is said to be accurate…

While the Nokia N71 definitely isn’t the latest S60 flip phone, it nevertheless gives yours truly faithfull and reliable service(it has noteworthy build quality except for screen/keyboard scratching). Anyways, protecting the box from scratches has been a top priortiy for me - can the ya do the trick?

Brando’s products ship in small yellow envelopes from Hong Kong. Austrian customs leave them alone, mail serviced deliver them even when you’re not at home, and the protective padding works well enough - no issues here:

The case itself is delivered in a blister:

Putting the case onto the phone is very simple - just put each of the halves in place and push it in:

Brando has provided cutouts for all important operating elements - the case does not interfere with regular phone use(which wouldn’t be a real issue, as the phone can be removed from the case very easily):

Here is a picture showing the phone in the case:

Unfortunately, the pegs in the back of my N71 do not match the cutouts on the case - this causes weird noises when fully opening the flip:

In the end, the asking price of just 8$ and the lack of alternatives makes this a must-buy. While the case definitely isn’t perfect, the nuisances diminish in everyday use. If you wish to keep using your N71, get this case while supplies last…