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Tag: symbian

  • Skype Goes Symbian

    Skype and Nokia today jointly announced the release of Skype for Symbian, a Skype client for Nokia smartphones based on the Symbian platform.

    Skype for Symbian will allow Nokia smartphone users worldwide to use Skype on the move, over either a WiFi or mobile data connection (GPRS, EDGE, 3G).

    The application will run on any Nokia smartphone using Symbian ^1, the latest version of the Symbian platform. Skype said it will soon introduce this client to Symbian mobile devices from other manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson.

    "Skype, the king of Internet communications, running on Symbian, the world’s dominant smartphone platform, makes for an explosive combination," said Larry Berkin, Head of Global Alliances and GM USA, Symbian Foundation.

    "With Symbian’s global reach, Skype is that much closer to becoming the ubiquitous real-time communications platform for hundreds of millions of Symbian-based mobile users."

    According to Informa Telecoms and Media more than 200 million users of Symbian-powered devices now have Skype at their fingertips.

    Jo Harlow, Senior Vice President for Smartphones, Nokia, said, “We’re seeing around 1.5 million downloads a day on Ovi Store now and believe that the Skype client for Nokia smartphones will have wide appeal to Symbian users."

    Check out special Skype page for the full list of compatible handsets.

  • Frings Brings Video Calls to Nokia Symbian 9.3 Devices

    A few weeks ago Fring announced the release of the world’s first mobile internet video calls on Symbian S60 and iPhone/iPod touch.

    Yestarday the company said on its blog that also Nokia E72 & E75 (and all other Symbian 9.3) users can now video call with their friends on fring and Skype for free.

    Fring recommends that all Nokia S60 users download the latest version, as it contains some quality improvements, bug fixes and better connectivity in some specific scenarios.

    The new version for all Symbian S60 devices is available here.

    According to Fring, video calls now account for about 60% of all VoIP traffic in Western Europe.

    Related articles
    MWC 2010: Interview with Gil Regev of Fring
    More and More iPhone Apps Support VoIP over 3G
    fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

  • fring Brings World’s First Video Calls to the iPhone

    Just a week after fring brought world’s first video calls over IP to mobile, the company announced “the first ever” mobile video calls over internet for the iPhone.

    fring video enables users to conduct video calls with other users as well as with Skype contacts over their device’s Wi-Fi or 3G internet connection, with support for mobile-to-mobile and mobile-to-desktop calls.

    The company says this is the first video over internet service on the iPhone or iPod touch.

    The new fring version with video calls support is currently available to users with iPhone/ iPod touch OS 3.0 and selected Nokia Symbian S60 devices (Nokia X6, N97 mini, N97, 5800, N95 8G and N95).

    For the iPhone only incoming video-stream is available (due to the location of the camera). 2-way video streaming is available for Symbian devices.

    “We were the first to bring mobile voice over internet to mobile devices, the first to bring iPhone/ iPod touch users the choice to make free Internet calls, the first to enable cost-saving mobile twitter over internet, and now we’re proud to continue leading the field of rich mobile-internet communication by bringing users the world’s first fring video calls over internet for the iPhone and iPod touch,” said Avi Shechter, Co-Founder & CEO of fring.

    “As the mobile VoIP trail-blazers since this industry’s inception, we have a responsibility to continue breaking the mobile-internet barriers, and bringing users all the choices, richness and always-on connectivity that internet communications on mobile can deliver,” he added.

    The new video feature is embedded within the popular fring application that enables free voice calls to other fring, Skype and GTalk users as well as friends on regular phone lines via Skype-Out and SIP services.

  • Open-Source "Tidal Wave" Will Shift Power to Developers


    The number of smartphones shipped with open source operating systems (OS) will increase from 106 million this year to 223 million by 2014.

    That’s the prediciton of telecom consultants Juniper Research, who found that operating systems and applications are playing an increasingly important role in the differentiation of new smartphones.

    They also found that the OS plays a key factor in the choice of which handset to choose from by users.

    Juniper’s research mirrors recent figures from rival market watcher Strategy Analytics, which forecast that Android smartphone shipments will increase 900 per cent during 2009 over last year.

    The last three years has seen a revolution in the OS market, with market leader Symbian moving to open source and Apple leading the way in the distribution of apps through their innovative, but now widely copied, AppStore approach.

    The move to open-source OS has also encouraged developers to design new and attractive applications.

    With over 60 per cent of the OS market now based on open-source, and a sizeable pool of software design talent out there, there is a massive opportunity for innovation.

    However, Juniper said the real key is not whether the OS is open-source but whether it’s easy for a developer to design an application and make money from that effort.

    The combined changes of Apple’s open route to the market and LiMo, OHA and Symbian’s open-source OS approach have generated a tidal wave-like effect which even the economic downturn has been unable to reverse.

    The researchers said there is a clear warning for device manufacturers – the choice of OS is now critical and market share will, to a large extent, follow application development.

    They add that the unexpected side effect, however, will be a shift in the balance of power towards application developers and end users.

    Handset-makers beware.

  • Nokia Quashes Android Smartphone Rumor, What About Netbook?


    Nokia has denied that it is developing a handset based on Google’s Android operating system.

    The response came after reports in the UK that the Finnish phone maker would announce an Android-based smartphone in September at the Nokia World Conference.

    Such a move would mean a massive change in direction for Nokia, which took full control of Symbian last year – in what was seen as a counter-move to the challenge posed by Android to its huge market share.

    Although Nokia remains the world’s biggest mobile handset manufacturer, its global share has slipped from 47 per cent in 2007 to 31 per cent at the end of 2008.

    A Nokia spokesman was adamant there is no plan to develop a handset supporting Symbian-rival Android software.

    "Absolutely no truth to this whatsoever," said the spokesman. "Everyone knows that Symbian is our preferred platform for advanced mobile devices."

    The Symbian operating system, in which Nokia has invested hundreds of millions of dollars, powers its Nokia N- and E-Series phones, among others.

    Nokia’s new partnership with Intel and some Android-based handsets would have been an interesting combination, no?

    But if it really is to be ruled out, perhaps there is still mileage in another theory – that Nokia is using Android as a basis for a 3G- or 4G-enabled netbook-type device powered by Intel’s chips.

  • JAJAH Announces Advanced Solutions for WinMo, BlackBerry and Symbian


    JAJAH is to offer new services enabling VoIP calls to be made either via WiFi or over the cellular network for Windows Mobile, BlackBerry and Symbian users.

    They are being offered as white label solution to enable carriers and non-carriers to launch the service under their own brand.

    The new services follow JAJAH’s recent release of a solution for the iPod Touch, which enables it to be used for phone calls.

    JAJAH said its platform has everything a company would need to launch the service immediately under their own brand.

    This includes the application itself, plus the entire suite of management services, from termination of the calls and quality control, right through to billing and processing payments in 200 countries around the world.

    For BlackBerry users, the application adds ‘JAJAH Call’ to the phonebook menu.

    JAJAH for Symbian gives anyone with a phone running Symbian s60 the ability to choose whether international calls route over the JAJAH IP network or the standard cellular network.

    The application automatically detects the presence of a WiFi network and offers the choice to use JAJAH when a long distance phone number is dialed (either manually or via the address book).

    With Windows Mobile, JAJAH is a full SIP over HSDPA/WiFi mobile VoIP solution. Currently deployed by eMobile, one of the leading operator’s in Japan, it turns any device into a VoIP phone.

  • Mobile Firefox Expected On HTC Touch Pro


    A beta version of Mozilla’s mobile Firefox web browser – codenamed Fennec – could be launched on the HTC Touch Pro as early as next week.

    The move is part of Moxilla’s announced intention to move onto Windows Mobile and Symbian platforms.

    A post on Mozilla’s official mobile Firefox wiki said: "We are targeting a Milestone release for the first week of February, targeting the HTC Touch Pro."

    For WinMo developers, Firefox’s inclusion on the HTC smartphone will provide the opportunity to port the browser to other WinMo-based hardware.

    In December, Mozilla’s director of mobile engineering, Christian Sejersen, said the company would look to offer the platform on Symbian-based phones.

    He said this was essential to ensure Mozilla was relevant in the smartphone space.

  • Choice of VoIP iPhone Apps Growing


    The options for VoIP calling on the iPhone are expected to continue expanding with both Skype and Truphone expected to join a growing list of VoIP apps for the Apple handset.

    Truphone already provides an app for the iPhone which enables users to make low-priced international calls via the GSM network even when the smartphone is not connected to the Wi-Fi network.

    But the company announced at the recent Macworld 2009 that callers will soon be able to use Truphone to make and receive Skype calls and instant message.

    Not to be left out, Skype itself announced at CES that it is also developing a native client for the iPhone.

    The subsidiary of eBay said that a version of its Internet calling and instant-messaging software is available for Google’s Android cell phone platform as a free download – and an iPhone Skype program is expected shortly.

    Fring also has an app that you make Skype calls using the iPhone.

    Keep them coming?

  • Motorola Commits To WinMo And Android


    Motorola is to discontinue making phones for Symbian and will instead concentrate on two new platforms: Windows Mobile and Android.

    Sanjay Jha, CEO of the Mobile Devices group at Motorola, confirmed what had until now been rumors to Michael Oryl of MobileBurn.

    Motorola’s stake in Symbian was in UIQ, a part of the OS being cut following Nokia’s decision to move to an open platform.

    A leading force in the US smartphone market, Motorola has seen it position threatened of late.

    In November, Apple’s iPhone overtook Motorola’s Razr to become the best-selling consumer cellphone in the US in the third quarter of 2008.

    Motorola is now expected to postpone any product launches until the end of 2009 to allow it to prepare its new Android devices.

  • Vyke Launches Mobile VoIP For Blackberry


    Vyke has released a beta version of its Mobile VoIP software and service for Blackberry devices using RIM software.

    The addition of the Blackberry software now means Vyke’s VoIP solution is available on the three most used mobile operating systems in the enterprise market – Symbian, Windows Mobile and RIM.

    Vyke says its Blackberry solution is unique as it uses a variation of VoIP which enables users to make VoIP calls over the Vyke network at any time their phone has GSM coverage, not only when the phone is in range of Wi-Fi or 3G mobile data coverage.

    The software supports most Blackberry devices dating back as far as 2003.