News headlines - Links of Interest
Ultra-low-power Bluetooth on the way
The Bluetooth SIG has announced that the 'much anticipated' v4.0 update to the Bluetooth protocol (incorporating the Bluetooth low energy technology pioneered by Nokia in Wibree) will be finalized and sent to manufacturers by the end of June. Bluetooth 4.0 could theoretically be powered for years by a coin-celled battery, has faster transfer rates, and has an increased range that can extend up to 200 feet and beyond (at higher power, obviously). Bluetooth v4.0-enabled devices should come on sale around the end of 2010.
Offscreen Technologies passes 25 million Ovi Store downloads
Offscreen Technologies, who have released a wide portfolio of games, applications and eBooks on Ovi Store, have announced that their content has been downloaded more than 25 million times. Offscreen has focussed on providing content for Nokia's touchscreen devices, including the Nokia 5800, N97, X6 and N900. They currently have around 100 titles in the Ovi Store; some of the applications, including Level Touch, Bright Light Touch and Labyrinth Lite Touch have been downloaded more than a million times each. More below.
Ovi Store continues to build a strong foundation
With over two thirds of users choosing to be billed through their mobile phone account (where available), and 90% of users able to use their own language, it's getting harder and harder for everyone to ignore the Ovi Store. It's on an upward curve of adoption by users, developers and networks, and now welcomes China into the Top Ten list of active countries.
The future of the (mobile) operating system
Our very own Rafe is the author of a thought provoking editorial today over on Nokia Conversations, musing over the future of the (mobile) operating system and covering intelligence, location awareness and social nature. Comments welcome if you think he is, or isn't, on the right track!
Video Report: Faster texting with Swype�s touch-based system
Rafe and Ewan McLeod are hard at work bouncing around Barcelona, and they caught up with a number of companies at the MWC MobileFocus evening. One of those companies, Swype, promises a “faster and more efficient way of entering text on a touchscreen device”, as Rafe finds out in this Video Report with Mike McSherry and gets his hands on an alternative input system.
IDC puts Symbian still significantly ahead in 2013
Coming on the eve of Apple's big tablet release and Nokia's Q4 09 results announcement, IDC gathered all their numbers, analysts and (ahem) runes and produced a forecast for the smartphone market in 2013. Unusually, for an American data analysis firm, there's surprising understanding of the worldwide scene, with the headline stat being that the smartphone market will exceed 390 million units per year by 2013, with Symbian holding on to its world marketshare lead over the next three years. Quotes from the IDC press release and my own predictions below.
More extensive Nokia N900 firmware update goes live (PR1.1 / 2.2009.51-1)
The N900's minor firmware update earlier this week (PR1.0.1) was to prepare for a larger update, and that larger update (PR1.1) is now being rolled out country-by-country. You can find the full technical details on the maemo.org wiki. There have been quite a number of bug fixes and feature improvements, including support for Microsoft Exchange 2003. The new firmware version should become available worldwide over the next couple of days, so if you can't see it yet try again tomorrow.
All About Maemo's Facebook page opens
If you're one of the many people who spend their days on Facebook, you might be interested to know that we here at All About Maemo have finally opened our own Facebook page. Become a fan and you'll see all the latest AAM news as part of your FB live feed.
BBC reporter breaks unbreakable phone at CES
What happens when you get challenged to break an unbreakable phone on the floor of CES in Las Vegas? Well Dan Simmons from the BBC's Click team managed to do what every one of us has secretly tried to do, and break the phone. The out-take is now online at BBC News.
Introducing All About Maemo's YouTube channel
We've now put our first videos onto All About Maemo's YouTube channel, which you can also see embedded below. If you want to see AAM's videos as soon as they appear on the internet, head on over to the channel page and click on the "Subscribe" button.
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Welcome to All About Maemo. We provide news, reviews, tutorials and resources about the Maemo platform. Maemo runs on devices such as the Nokia N900.
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