Anatomy of a smartphone photo (take 2)
In the second of an occasional tutorial series (here's the first part, looking at a murky scene-made-good taken on the Nokia Lumia 920), I take a recent photo of mine, also shot on a smartphone, in this case the Nokia 808 PureView, and show the quick-fire thought processes that went into creating it. Again, the tutorial is applicable to all phone camera users and again my aim is to get you thinking more when you next want to snap something photogenic. Comments welcome if I've helped and/or succeeded!
E-Case eSeries 9 submersible case
Transparent, waterproof pouches that enable us to use our tech in the pouring rain, down the beach or even, in extreme cases, underwater, have been around for a while, of course, I looked at Proporta's Beach Buoy last year. And now we have E-Case's eSeries 9, with smaller overall form factor and higher window-to-bezel ratio. Here's the eSeries 9 submersible case in action with a couple of likely candidate handsets. Summary? We have a winner...
Official N9 Twitter client gets an update
Just a quick note that the Twitter client built into the Nokia N9 has had an official update pushed to it. There's no official changelog, but I'd guess on compatibility fixes after Twitter's well publicised change in authorisation and APIs. To check your N9, go into Settings>Applications>Manage applications and then tap on the right hand update tab. Screen proof below.
A (slightly geeky) cross-section of the smartphone world
As part of recording Phones Show Chat 180, I took the chance of meeting up with three other longtime smartphone users, spending a happy evening chatting about all things tech. Although I did note a certain self-selecting bias amongst our choice of hardware, the discrepancy between our own 'picks' and the current sales charts/marketshare did take even me by surprise. Is there a point to be made below? Perhaps that Nokia really was crazy to phase out Symbian and Meego quite so hastily? Perhaps that these platforms remain interesting and challenging, perhaps more so now then ever?
The Smartphone Quiz: how much of a phone geek are you?
It has to be said that the very fact that you're reading this site means that you're a bit of a phone geek. But exactly how much? Is your life well balanced or are you a true blue mobile fanatic? Not that I could pass judgement, you understand, I already stand condemned(!) as an über-geek! However, with my light hearted and handy quiz below, you can establish your smartphone geek credentials once and for all...
The eternal battle between style and protection
Forgive me for going all generic and chatty and, for once, abandoning technical details and platform specifics. For this topic is applicable to all phone of all prices and OS persuasions. Well, maybe not all prices, as you'll see. I'm, quite simply, intrigued by the eternal battle between style and protection. Let me explain...
Notekeeper brings Evernote to Meego and the N9
Notekeeper was the slick, Qt-written application that stepped into the Evernote-shaped hole in the Symbian OS ecosystem and it's now available for the Nokia N9 and Meego too. Version 2.0 has the same capabilities as the Symbian app, plus extra N9-related note creation functions.
Alvin's month with the Nokia N9
What a great, detailed and 100% honest write up of the Nokia N9 as it stands today (PR 1.3, etc.) in today's 2013 world - Alvin Wong here writes up how he's got on with trying to use it as his main smartphone for a month. There are plenty of disappointments and successes, detailed with hyperlinks to software workarounds, and I can't recommend this article enough. Most tellingly of all, coming to the same conclusion as me, Alvin confesses that part of him has fallen in love with the device, despite its many flaws....
Anatomy of a great photo
I've published several 'how to' pieces in the past dishing out general smartphone photography tips, but for this 'how to' I wanted to take the example of a single great photo and put you inside my mind as I prepared for it and captured the moment. Hopefully some of the things I cover will help you take your own great photos, whatever smartphone you own (the example here was captured on the Nokia Lumia 920, but there are several other phones with great photographic hardware).
Nokia Q1 2012 Results - losses all round, CEO recognises a 'clear sense of urgency'
Following last week's profits warning, Nokia has released its formal Q1 2012 Results, reporting a non-IFRS loss of EUR 260 million, on net sales of EUR 7.3 billion (down 29% YoY). Nokia's 'Devices and Services' division's loss was EUR 127 million, compared to a profit of EUR 292 million in Q4 2011). Total smartphone device sales were 11.9 million, compared with 24.2 million units in Q1 2011 (down 51% YoY) and 19.6 million units in Q4 2011 (down 39%, QoQ). Gross profit margins on smartphones in Q1 were 15.6% (down from 28.9% YoY). Quotes and comments below.
Nokia releases API map for porting apps to Qt
Nokia has published a great resource for mobile developers who are interested in transferring their skills to Symbian apps via the Qt framework. The Nokia Developer website has published three guides for finding the Qt equivalent of API calls for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7. It has come late in Symbian’s life, but it is just what the developer world needed to reduce the friction in developing for this not-so-dead platform.
Nokia plans changes to its manufacturing operations
Nokia has announced planned changes at its factories in Komarom (Hungary), Reynosa (Mexico) and Salo (Finland), to "increase efficiency in smartphone production". These three factories will now focus on "smartphone product customization" and device assembly is expected to be transferred to Nokia factories in Asia, where the majority of component suppliers are based. Around 4000 employees will ultimately be lost.
A day (still) made of glass!
Corning, the company behind the Gorilla Glass in our smartphones, has produced another of its inspirational 'here's the future' videos and, as with the original one, it's well worth watching. There are two versions of the video, actually, I've embedded the expanded one below, complete with video guide to all the (probable) tech used. Seems like touchscreens really are the new buttons? [PS. Watch out for the medical sequence - it's something we're used to seeing only in Sci-fi]
Proporta Touch Screen Gloves
I remember getting into heated debate in 2009 around the pros and cons of resistive vs capacitive touchscreens - one of the biggest pros for 'resistive' was that phones like the Nokia N97 and 5800 could be used with gloves on, out in cold weather. Over the next year, the market swayed decisively towards capacitive technology, and rightly so, but now we have an accessory that brings back gloved, cold weather use to all capacitive-screened smartphones...
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