Nokia N97 firmware 20.0 Released
Nokia released a major firmware update for the N97 Symbian smartphone. Bringing substantial improvements to user experience and some new applications, firmware version 20.0.019 is already available for download from the company website. The main change introduced by the new firmware is the system-wide kinetic scrolling. According to Nokia the handset should now have improved memory and battery performance as well as image and video stability.
In addition to improving the user experience, the new firmware should reassure customers (both existing and potential) that Nokia N97 shortcomings aren’t forgotten by the company. With the reception of N900 so universally positive and the S60 struggling to match the competition, shifting the effort in another direction (cough!) wasn’t completely unthinkable.
Motorola Droid is coming
Verizon cranked up its hype machine this weekend, preparing the launch of the Droid, Motorola’s Android-powered competitor to the iPhone. But will it be good enough to trump the iPhone? The Boy Genius Report (BGR) has posted numerous photos of the Moto Droid handset, which sports a large WVGA touchscreen and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and according to the BGR it is the fastest Android handset it has used to date.
Airtel brings TweetSMS to your mobile
Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom service provider is launching tweetSMS, a third-party application that allows you to receive Twitter SMS updates directly to your phone. Users will be able to receive SMS’ from people they follow, and update their status or send direct messages via a short code – 53000. At present, Twitter is accessible via the mobile Web. All messages sent to the shortcode 53000 will be charged at Re 1 per SMS, and interestingly enough, all messages recieved from 53000 will be free of cost. They do appear to have got the pricing right.
Adobe Flash Lands on iPhone
Adobe announced on Monday at Adobe MAX, the company’s worldwide developer conference, that its Flash Professional CS5 developer tool will enable developers to create interactive applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch. A public beta of Flash Professional CS5 is expected to be available later this year. Despite this welcome from Flash developers, Applications for iPhone does nothing to solve the problem facing web developers, that their Flash content is unavailable on Apple’s device. The pressure is on Apple, now that most other suppliers of Smartphone operating systems have indicated support for Flash. Yet Adobe’s move also proves that vendors are willing to explore every possible workaround in order to support Apple’s device.
Adobe Flash Player 10.1 announced for Smartphones
Adobe unveiled the Flash 10.1 player, which will enable all Adobe Flash content to be accessible on smartphones. This means you’ll be able to play Flash-based games and view Flash-based videos and Web sites. And yes, that includes Hulu. The biggest part of the announcement is that the full version of the player will be available across multiple platforms including many mobile ones, which will now be able to take advantage of all of the capabilities of the Flash technology.
A public developer beta will be available for Windows Mobile and Palm webOS will be available later this year. Betas for RIM BlackBerry OS, Nokia Symbian and Google Android will arrive in 2010. Adobe said that they are working with 19 out of the 20 major handset manufacturers so it is likely the Flash 10.1 player will eventually be available for non-smartphones as well.