Wireless Archive

Top Ten Freeware Applications for Symbian S60 3rd Edition

It's been about ten months since the first S60 3rd Edition SymbianOS smartphone hit the market. Nokia made a lot of changes to the underlying OS and broke compatibility with the ~1800 S60 2nd Ed. applications that were already available. Ten months later, there are about 220 applications for the new version of S60. This is a small list of the Top-10 freeware applications for your new S60 phone.

Access Renames Palm OS to Garnet OS

Access, the company behind the former PalmSource, announced Thursday it is renaming the Palm OS operating system to 'Garnet OS', rolling out a new 'Access Powered' logo that replaces the 'Palm Powered' branding used on a wide range of handheld devices. In September 1995, Access purchased Palm OS and its owner PalmSource, which was spun out of Palm, Inc. following that company's separation from former parent 3Com. PalmSource changed its name to Access Systems America in October, selling the rights to the 'Palm' brand name back to Palm, Inc.

Maemo Development VMware Appliance

A VMware appliance built on Ubuntu which allows for easy Nokia N800 Internet Tablet console and GUI development, including debugging in the nested Xephyr X server is available. This appliance is targeted at the N800's Maemo Bora 3.0 platform. This is of particular interest to developers who are thinking about developing for the N800 or wanting to do a quick port/recompile, and are unsure of or not willing to go through the install procedures.

‘Forget iPhone, Hail OpenMoko, the True Revolution’

"This may seem like a bold statement. Apple's just released iPhone is not only very attractive as we would expect from an Apple product, but includes some impressive features and specifications. It's probably unrealistic to claim that anything currently available on the market competes with this offering. However, is it really a revolution in mobile communication devices? Maybe not if there still is something that can overshadow it, and do it very soon."

Cellphones on a Budget: Reviews of the SLVR L7 and LG U8500

After a month of furiously shopping gifts for your friends and family, you might want to get a small gift to yourself, a cellphone on the budget. Hi-Mobile sent us in for a review two extremely affordable cellphones that don't lack features. The first one is the popular Motorola SLVR L7 (just $140) and the other one is the less popular --but with 3G and web capabilities-- LG U8500 (aka U880, just $180).

Trolltech’s Greenphone: A Reasonable First Effort

Linux users have been salivating over Trolltech's promised Greenphone for the better part of a year. The "open" Linux phone platform, powered by Trolltech's Qtopia 4 embedded software stack, is bundled with a Qtopia software development kit (SDK) designed to kick-start mobile Linux application development. The first batch of devices has now shipped, and I spent a couple of weeks with a review unit. While it's an interesting package, it's only a first step and in no way a finished product.

TrollTech, Motorola Move In with Linux Phones

Motorola is shipping the first model in its Scpl ("scalpel") line of Linux-based phones set to replace the ubiquitous Razr. The Motofone F3, available today in India, is an extremely low-end phone featuring an "electronic paper" display, breakthrough battery life, and usability features for the illiterate. Additionally, Linux may have taken another step toward mobile ubiquity with a new initiative from Trolltech called Greensuite.

Camera Phone Used to Shoot Professional Music Video Clip

Rob Dickinson, former band leader of "The Catherine Wheel" (and cousin of Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson), has shot the video clip of his new single, "Oceans" (iTunes), using a Nokia N93 cellphone. The Symbian-based smartphone has a 3.2MP camera that is capable of capturing VGA video at 30fps with its Carl Zeiss optics. You can view the video at Yahoo!'s Music site (with IE) or via VLC. When the N93 was first launched Nokia tried to market the phone as the first DVD-quality capture phone in the market, but this is the first time that such a device is used for serious, professional purposes.

Review: Nokia 9300i Communicator Smartphone

"While Nokia may not have hit wonders like the Motorola RAZR or LG's Chocolate in its product line, its phones pack a plethora of features with latest technologies to wow you. Take the Nokia 9300 smartphone, for instance. The 9300 is a direct competitor to Palm's Treo and RIM’s BlackBerry offerings, and we must say, Nokia has a fairly durable solution on its hands for executives on the go."