If you needed another reason to look beyond Maemo 5 to its successor, Maemo 6, set to be released in around twelve months time, then how about multitouch and gesture-based input? Nokia have confirmed that Qt 4.6 will be optimized for Maemo 6 but also see a port to the upcoming Symbian 4, as well as bringing with it improvements to the WebKit browser and a reduction in the need for widgets.
Having released Spotify Mobile for the iPhone, iPod touch and Android earlier on today, Spotify have followed up with a demo of their upcoming S60 version. Much anticipated among Symbian users, the app will support the same offline playback and full catalog access of its released cousins.
Video demo after the cut
Did’t I just finish writing a week in review? That time again already? Ok, so here we go! Asus’ Eee netbook roadmap leaked this week showing us some of the new machines Asus has up its sleeves and tipping us off on the netbooks already on the market that will be going extinct soon. SanDisk got all official and stuff with a new low-end MP3 player called the Sansa Clip+. The thing gains a microSD card slot to accommodate that big bag of fail known as slotMusic.
As well as the obvious product launches from Nokia World this week – the N900, X6, X3, N97 mini and Ovi SDK – SlashGear also had the opportunity to sit down with various executives and team members from the company and discuss not only Nokia’s plans for the future but some of the decisions that have brought them to this stage. After the cut in our Nokia World wrap-up, a new DRM-free media store, plans for future netbooks, the push for the US market and more.
After our initial hands-on with the N900 – the video and gallery of which you can see here – we spent some more time playing with the Maemo 5 smartphone at Nokia World this week. Our initial enthusiasm has been tempered a little by some of the real-world compromises that blending a smartphone and an Internet Tablet demand, though we’re still looking forward to a full review unit; check out our hands-on impressions after the cut.
Video demo after the cut
If you hadn’t heard, Nokia World happened this week, and a few things were announced along the way. While we had a plethora of information regarding the Nokia N900 (or Rover or even RX-1 if you prefer), which even included a little pre-launch review, we were all waiting to hear from Nokia directly about the full details of the gadget. “We got what we were waiting for”, and that even included the price.
We made no bones about our disappointment with the Nokia N97 back when we reviewed it in late June, so we were wary of the N97 mini. Having played with it at Nokia World this week, it’s clear that many of the issues we had with the larger model have been addressed; still, there are some glaring frustrations that leave us more enchanted by the N900 than this new, compact device. Check out our first-impressions and a hands-on gallery and video after the cut.
Video hands-on after the cut
Nokia and Facebook have teamed up to offer a new S40 app that allows for status updates together with providing a homescreen widget. Intended to leverage Facebook’s huge mobile growth – more than 65m mobile users in August alone – the app joins the company’s existing offerings for S60 handsets such as the N97. Facebook also announced Facebook Connect for Mobile Web, a service which – as already on the iPhone – allows developers to include integration with the social networking platform with their mobile apps.
There’s a lot to like about the Nokia N900 already, but integration with Meccano’s robotics kits is the icing on the cake. Unfortunately this isn’t an official app, but the handiwork of one of the Maemo open-source advocates at Nokia, who can now be followed around his house with the robot and N900 playing music.
Video demo after the cut
Nokia have announced a new set of APIs for mapping and navigation, which developers can use to add location-based information – such as showing nearby search results – and display location-based data. The Ovi Navigation Player API and OVI Maps Player API are also joined by the new Ovi SDK, a platform which the company claims can be used by anyone with HTML, CSS and JavaScript coding skills.
JP
