Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, ATT, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

Okay, so we fully understand that it would make life a lot easier on AT&T if every smartphone on its network used the same operating system, but we’re not so sure we like the idea of losing the whole “ability to choose.” Speaking at the Symbian Partner Event in San Francisco, AT&T’s Roger Smith (director of next generation services, data product realization at AT&T) reportedly stated that he wanted to “standardize on a single operating system for AT&T-branded smartphones as part of a dramatic consolidation of its mobile platforms over the next few years.” Given the location of the speech, it’s no shock that Symbian was named “a very credible and likely candidate” to be that system, and for those questioning the iPhone, he was quick to point out that said mobile is simply a third-party device tapping into AT&T’s technologies. Honestly, we’re not sure how to take this seriously — is he really saying he’s willing to alienate RIM and / or Microsoft in order to only sell Symbian-based handsets? Doubtful.

Update: An AT&T spokesman pinged up with an important followup to this — click on to read the whole thing.

Continue reading AT&T dreams of single smartphone OS, will probably keep dreaming

AT&T dreams of single smartphone OS, will probably keep dreaming originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 05:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share on Facebook

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, HSDPA

We promise to stop slobbering all over this handset in a month or eight, but the N97 is certainly the new hotness, so we hope you’ll excuse us for returning for another go and getting some more in-depth hands-on-ness. Unfortunately, while the phone is certainly stunning in many facets, and probably the greatest S60 device to date, we’re not sure it’s the Storm / G1 / iPhone / anything killer we all might’ve been hoping for. If you’d rather just concentrate on the sexy, peep our video hands-on and wait six months or so for Nokia to work the kinks out, otherwise join us after the break for some hard-to-swallow, totally subjective, prototype-based opinion.

Continue reading Nokia N97 hands-on part II: the reckoning

Nokia N97 hands-on part II: the reckoning originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 04 Dec 2008 17:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Share on Facebook

by Joe Wilcox

Having purchased a new S60 smartphone one may consider installing new software on it to widen the functionality and increase phone’s potential. In this article I will describe some popular applications for S60 smartphones which are essential for everyday usage.

First of all I installed music player. The best one I tried was PowerMP3, it has the best audio quality and less bugs than others. PowerMP3 supports MP3, OGG, AAC and M4A formats. Another good music player is UltraMP3.

You may also need a good file manager to explore your phone memory, send, receive and organize your files, because the default one is quite useless. I can recommend ProfiExplorer by Lonely Cat Games and FExplorer by Gosymbian, which one you like more.

Having a calculator is rather useful if you have to do some math. I use Nicecalc, it is very simple yet powerful.

If you take care of your phone security you may consider the Guardian.

If your phone is lost or stolen and the new owner inserts new SIM card then your phone will stealthy send you a message with new phone number so that you could contact that person and try to get your phone back.

If you have a memory card of high capacity you can load some movies and watch them on your phone with the SmartMovie application.

You can stay online everywhere using the stICQ software. It is reliable and handy and consumes a little traffic.

And as the last but not the least I recommend you the freeware mobile web-browser Opera Mini written in Java.

Share on Facebook