Today Nokia released new firmware update for the 5800 XpressMusic. Being quite a major release it brings improvements in a number of areas. According to Nokia it should improve the performance and the user interface as well as add some new applications.
The new firmware version brings in the Mobile Dictionary and Application Update Apps to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The first one offers you voice playback and text-to-speech, supporting 38 languages.
As the name suggests Application Update manages the new updates for your installed apps, making them easy to keep up to date.
The Popular Nokia 5800
The 5800 XpressMusic new firmware revision also brings two new camera features. The first is the burst mode, which allows the primary camera to take multiple photos with a single key press. The second is enabling the secondary camera to take photos. Up until now it could only be used for video-calling.
As usually lots of bug-fixes and performance improvements complete the change log. According to Nokia the 5800 XpressMusic handsets that get the new firmware should have faster user interface and greater download speeds.
Considering the enormous popularity of the 5800 XpressMusic it’s hardly surprising that Nokia are rushing to fix all those irritating bugs that plague its first S60 full touch handset. Despite some hardware issues it had recently, the handset is selling in volumes, making it quite likely that this is not the last firmware update it will see.
Posted by: John
Robbie Bach, President, Entertainment & Devices Division of Microsoft has been talking at CTIA and we have the video after the break. Not too much new to report except some fashion designer home screens, more details on Marketplace, new version of Live Messenger and a demo of 6.5 and the new IE with flash. Take a look for yourself after the break.
DataViz is now shipping Documents To Go® Standard Edition version 1.0 for Android™. The highly anticipated office suite leverages DataViz’s experience developing mobile solutions and brings a feature rich, enterprise-grade productivity tool to devices based on the Android platform. The full feature set is after the break and the App is priced at $19.99 for a limited time.
So it looks like the rumours were correct, just discovered that Motion Apps are working on an application that will be called “Classic” and they tell us that Classic will run PalmOS apps you’ve grown to love over the years.
Highlights:
– Compared to Treo 700p your PalmOS apps will run approximately twice as fast on Classic.
– There are 30,000+ PalmOS apps. Through Classic, many PalmOS apps will work on the Palm® Pre™. We will have a detailed compatibility list for you closer to the release date so stay tuned!
So there you go, it’s all systems go for all you Palm OS users and now you can relax in the knowledge that the Palm Pre should have a huge back catalogue of applications ready to go.
Today LG unveiled some more details about the LG GD900 Crystal. The unique transparent keypad doubles as a touchpad and the handset will also support multi-touch.
It has also become clear that the keypad is made of glass, rather than plastic which in my view is a big mistake given that the form factor is slide (I wonder how much replacement slides will be).
The LG GD900 Crystal will run on LG’s S-Class UI with a lot of touch related goodies including multi-touch input as well as gesture support. This means that features like the two-finger zoom we saw on the Arena will be available for the Crystal users too.
Oooh Fancy
There will also be some new stuff on the LG Crystal, for example writing an ‘M’ would launch the MP3 player and drawing a circle controls the volume.
We know that the GD900 will have haptic feedback which is a more than welcomed feature and that it will also have handwriting recognition, which isn’t too frequent on phones with capacitive screens but improvement has been done in the web browsing department too which is more than needed.
The GD900 will offer ‘mouse mode’ for a more convenient browsing experience which basically means that you will be able to control a virtual mouse with your touch keypad, much like you would do on a laptop.
The LG GD900 Crystal will hit the European and Asian shelves in May but its pricing is yet unknown.
Posted by: John
Quickoffice today announced it will unveil the first complete Office suite to provide native Microsoft Word and Excel editing for the iPhone, Quickoffice for iPhone, at CTIA, April 1-3, 2009, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Quickoffice is the first iPhone application to include robust document and spreadsheet editors, along with file access and content management functionalities. Quickoffice’s newest suite brings essential high-performance mobile Office productivity to the iPhone with leading-edge innovation and unparalleled ease-of-use.
Enabling quick editing on-the-go with an intuitive user interface, Quickoffice for iPhone offers a comprehensive range of functionality including font formatting, content selection, bullets and cut, copy and paste within Word documents. Users can also modify documents in landscape mode to leverage a wider keyboard. With extensive mathematical and statistical functions, including advanced Excel formulas for spreadsheet processing, consumers can easily revise inputs and recalculate, insert and resize rows and columns within the application.
Dieter over at Precentral has done a sterling job over at CTIA and posted a video demonstration of some 3rd party applications running on the Palm Pre. He has also unearthed another gem of information regarding Palm OS applications. He has spotted an application on the Pre that lets you emulate Palm OS applications, great news for you Palm fans, still no information on a launch date but there is still time. Video of the applications after the break.
After the HTC Snap was announced earlier today, HTC have wasted no time providing us with a video. Its only a short one but quickly explains how the inner circle works and a look at the rather functional front facing QWERTY keyboard. The videos after the break.
So your sitting waiting patiently for the long promised iPhone version of SlingPlayer and you have been a long time user of Sling, looks like you may be out of luck. Original Slingbox, Slingbox AV or Slingbox TUNER owners will not be able to use the iPhone application. Below is the statement form the Sling site.
Sling Media is encouraging customers who own these earlier versions of Slingbox to upgrade to Slingbox SOLO or Slingbox PRO-HD to take advantage of next generation software and services that will only be supported when using the most current Slingbox and SlingLoaded products. Future software includes the highly anticipated SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone software launching soon. Current Slingbox functionality will not be affected if you choose not to upgrade, but software like SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone and future services yet to be announced will only be supported for customers using Slingbox SOLO, Slingbox PRO and Slingbox PRO-HD products or forthcoming SlingLoaded products
A little disappointing especially since I just bought a classic on Ebay in anticipation of the iPhone application hitting the App Store. Thanks to Sling Community for the heads up.
In a rather surprising press release HTC announced their newest handset, the HTC Snap, this afternoon.
HTC Corporation today debuted its newest QWERTY smartphone, the HTC Snap. Designed with a set of features selected to deliver everything customers need without overwhelming them with things they don’t, the HTC Snap makes it easier than ever to stay in contact with life’s most important people.
Many people find they are overwhelmed by the amount of email they receive. In response to these issues, HTC’s innovative Inner Circle feature allows HTC Snap users to press a dedicated Inner Circle key to bring emails from a preselected group of people to the top of their inbox, enabling important messages to be acted upon immediately.
“Recognizing that people are being overwhelmed by an avalanche of email, the HTC Snap introduces Inner Circle, an HTC innovation that makes it easy for people to prioritize messages from the most important people in their lives at the press of a button,” said John Wang, Chief Marketing Officer, HTC Corporation. “The HTC Snap represents the latest step in HTC’s mission to create a range of innovative smartphones, each with specific benefits designed to both surprise and delight our customers.”
With a slim, sleek profile designed to fit perfectly in the hand, the HTC Snap measures less than a half-inch thick (12 mm), yet it can deliver up to eight and a half hours of talk time with the standard 1500mAh battery. The full QWERTY keyboard is ergonomically designed with extra-large domed keys and responsive tactile feedback to make typing emails and text messages fast, accurate and comfortable. High-speed 3G HSPA connectivity makes it quick and easy to send pictures to friends, access favourite social networking sites, or download large files while on the go.
The HTC Snap is powerful enough for experienced business users looking for an affordable, straightforward choice for remotely synchronizing email, calendar and contacts with their Microsoft Exchange server. However, the flexible Microsoft Windows Mobile® 6.1 Standard platform allows the HTC Snap to also be simple enough for first-time smartphone users wanting to keep their family life organized.
The HTC Snap is expected to be available in select channels during the second quarter of 2009, rolling out in markets around the world throughout the second half of the year. Additionally, an unlocked version supporting HSDPA at 850/1900MHz for the US market will be made available under the name HTC S721 during the summer.
Posted by: Matt
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