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Posts with tag Symbian

Filed under: Video, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Web services, iPhone

Mobile carriers worst nightmare has come true, thanks to Qik

Live video streaming from your mobile phone is probably a mobile carrier worst nightmare simply because the amount of bandwidth video consumes. And leading that nightmare is Qik.

Simply put, Qik takes your mobile phone's built in video camera and transforms it into a webcam that connects to the Qik site where it will host live feeds of your video, as it happens. That's right, people can now watch you make a fool of yourself anywhere you go.

We were able to test the Qik service on our 3G connected Windows Mobile phone. The installation was quick and only required a few SMS messages be sent back and forth to authorize our account. Once configured just launch the application and your video will automatically appear on the Qik website. Video quality is acceptable and we only experienced slight delays due in part to our mobile connection and location.

Once you end your transmission the live video is then archived to the site for later viewing. Of course like any good site, they offer 2 different privacy settings for your feeds, public and private. At least this way not everyone in the world can see that you haven't cleaned up your room.

Currently in alpha, Qik supports a handful of Windows Mobile and Symbian phones with iPhone testing starting soon. We hope that future updates to the service will also include the ability to adjust video size and image quality. They do recommend an unlimited data plan and in the few days that we used the service we would also recommend it as well.

Filed under: OS Updates, Symbian, Open Source, Mobile Minute

Nokia buys out Symbian, announces platform to go open source

SymbianNokia has announced that it is buying out the 52 percent of Symbian that it didn't already own and opening up the platform. Nokia and a number of other companies including AT&T, LG, and Samsung have also announced the creation of the Symbian Foundation.

Now, open source software is great for developers because it mean that anyone can easily look at the code, tweak it, and write applications designed to run well on the platform. But ther's also a huge benefit for telecom companies. Nokia will provide access to the Symbian OS royalty-free to members of the Symbian Foundation. And anyone can join the foundation for a nominal $1500 annual fee.

Symbian currently has about 60 percent of the mobile browser market share. The move to make the platform open source should help Nokia and Symbian maintain that lead in the face of challenges from the LiMo Foundation and Google's Linux-based Android platform.

[via OStatic]

Filed under: Utilities, Symbian, Palm, Commercial, iPhone

StyleTap PalmOS emulator coming to Symbian, maybe iPhone

StyleTap is an application that lets you run PalmOS software on Windows Mobile devices. The company has been working on a Symbian version of StyleTap since last year, and is now looking for beta testers. The test will begin on May 12th, and users can sign up by sending an email to StyleTap asking to be part of the beta.

In other news, while the company hasn't exactly committed to releasing a version of StyleTap for the iPhone, it's looking more and more likely that we'll see an official version at some point. In February, the team posted a video demonstrating an experimental version of StyleTap running on an iPhone. This was before Apple released the iPhone SDK, so the team obviously had to Jailbreak an iPhone to get the software running.

Now that the SDK is available, an official version could be in the works, but according to the StyleTap blog, developing the application isn't quite as easy as you might think, thanks to some "legal roadblocks." So StyleTap is asking anyone who'd be willing to pay for software that lets you run Palm apps on an iPhone to let Apple know.

[via jkOnTheRun]

Filed under: Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm

Windows use is growing quickly on mobile phones

windows mobileIn the world of smart phones, it seems like good old Microsoft is seeing some fast growth rates. The current numbers, according to Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices division, were at 6 million last year, with hopes that they can double usage for this year. The biggest taker in the market is currently Nokia, who runs Symbian on their smart phones allowing for software that runs email, mobile TV, and games. The leading device in the smart phone arena is of course, the Blackberry, whose usage also hits the 6 million mark. Microsoft has a lot to contend with considering Blackberry plans to double its users every single year. I think there is certainly room for all four major players [including Palm] in the marketplace, but it really does make it that much harder to decide which devices to purchase and run software off.

What do you think, who has your vote? Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, or Symbian?

Filed under: Fun, Games, Windows, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Freeware, Time-Wasters

S-TRIS 2 Tetris clone - Today's Time Waster

S-TRIS 2Tetris clones are a dime a dozen, but S-TRIS 2 is unique in two ways. One, it's free, and two, it's damn good. I found and tested it on my Pocket PC, but it turns out that S-TRIS 2 is available for a number of platforms, including Win32 (Windows), GP2X, Pocket PC, Smartphone, and Symbian. How cool is that?

In terms of game play value, S-TRIS 2 is right up there. The visuals are clean, quick and smooth, the sound effects are solid, and the controls feel responsive. It's a simple matter to remap the controls if you prefer a different layout - for example, I like to have the "fast drop" button be the center button on my keypad, and it took me all of about 15 seconds to make that happen. The game gracefully pauses if you have to turn the power off on your device, and starts up and shuts down relatively quickly.

S-TRIS 2 is definitely a keeper on my Pocket PC.

Filed under: Audio, Podcasting, Symbian

Nokia releases mobile podcast client

Nokia PodcastingNokia has released a beta version of a mobile app for downloading and listening to podcasts on Nokia N91 and other third-edition S60 phones. The beta app, called simply Nokia Podcasting, lets you browse several podcast directories or search for podcasts, and you can download podcasts either manually or automatically at specified intervals. You can also set the maximum amount of space download podcasts are allowed to use, and podcasts are played in the default Music Player app. Also, Nokia Podcasting can be configured to download data via GPRS/WCDMA or Wi-Fi (obviously, the latter is the most cost-effective choice). The beta is a free download from Nokia, and you can check out some screenshots and get more details at All About Symbian.

[Via the New N]

Featured Time Waster

Forumwarz - a potentially offensive time waster

I pwn UAfter spending the better part of an hour on Forumwarz I still can't decide if it's just sick or if it's kind of fun. It's a bit like a car wreck on the highway. I know I shouldn't be looking but I can't quite turn away.

It's sick, it's twisted, it's the internet on it's worst level and darn it, it's kind of fun. At least for a little while.

Forumwarz is a parody role-playing game that takes place on the internet - or at least the Forumwarz version of it. Your goal is to complete missions that are given to you through a mock up of GoogleTalk called Sentrillion.

Your first "friend" is ShallowEsophagus who begins giving you missions to pwn various forums by being a troll. Depending on the character type you are assigned at start up, you have tools like drooling on the keyboard or bashing your head on the keyboard that you can use to destroy forum threads and eventually, pwn a forum.

Future missions involve buying illegal software from the Russians, pwning more difficult forums and other internet oddness.

Completing missions gives you cash, called Flezz in game, and items that you can pawn or use in other missions. The game is NOT for those easily offended. It's crass, coarse and there are frequent f-bombs in the fake chat sessions.

This is also a game for a more mature audience as it requires you to shop at the Drugs R Fun store to get various concoctions to improve your playing, engage in certain cyber activities to get more Flezz and just generally use a more adult perspective.

If you can get past that, here are the more enjoyable and time-wasting aspects.

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