Amazing. Found this out and I’m quite amazed that we have a comprehensive SMS blacklisting tool available for the Symbian platform.

There are really just those annoying SMS messages that come from unknown senders or stalkers. Wouldn’t it be nice to automatically quarantine them for “future reference” with the business end of the law? Also, wouldn’t it be nice to auto quarantine annoying text spam from your carriers asking you to sign up for new promotions and useless downloads? Well, MCleaner does this all. It’s a customizable spam filter, a mobile phone SMS firewall. And your new best friend.

There’s a small caveat though, which is especially true to certain Nokia phones that do not distinguish between the first few numbers of two different SIM cards. In this case, MCleaner has a tough time with international format numbers that end up in the black list.

[photo and source]

The All About Symbian blog has a listing of the most popular QWERTY keypad phones in the market today. Note that this isn’t confined to Nokia phones only — as Symbian is an open platform allowing other phone manufacturers a hand in developing around it. Which is why, in this list, we have a player from LG. I’m sure we’re going to get more QWERTY devices from other manufacturers running S60 as the future comes to present.

So the verdict? In descending order, it seems that the best would be the Nokia E90, a fantastic phone that spelled the “last” of the Communicator line — or is it?? Heh.

Bottom of the list? Surprisingly, Nokia’s new N97! Interesting.

[image c/o author]

Hey this is interesting. The Loudspeaker application basically works like a hands free device but it is really just your Nokia phone that activates on voice commands, allowing you to speak while driving and have your hands free. You can download the app from SymbianGuru.

Key Features:

- Ability to answer the incoming call automatically
- Good and inexpensive alternative to your Bluetooth handsfree
- Activated on certain profiles
- Adjustable sounds on the call start and hang up
- Available for all Series 60.3/60.5 devices
- Translated into: Spanish, French, Italian, Russian and Ukrainian.

Compatible with:
Nokia E50, Nokia E61, Nokia E62, Nokia N71, Nokia N73, Nokia N75, Nokia N80, Nokia N91, Nokia N92, Nokia N93, Nokia N95, Nokia E Series, Nokia E65, Nokia N76, Nokia E61i, Nokia N73 Music Edition, Nokia N77, Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia 6120 Classic, Nokia 6110 Navigator, Nokia E51, Nokia N81, Nokia 6121 Classic, Nokia N82, Nokia N93i, Nokia 6290, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N81 8GB, Nokia N91 8 GB, Nokia N96, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 6220 Classic, Nokia N78, Nokia N79, Nokia N85, Nokia 5320 XpressMusic, Nokia 6650, Nokia E66, Nokia E71, Nokia 6124 Classic, Nokia 5800 MusicExpress, Nokia E63, Nokia N96-3, Nokia N86 8MP, Nokia E55, Nokia E75, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 5630 XpressMusic, Nokia 5730 Xpress Music, Nokia 6720 Classic, Nokia N97

An insightful video production on the logic, blood, sweat and tears behind the making of flagship Nokia N97.

What I found most intriguing was the philosophy behind the design for the sliding screen. Nokia wants to spell out authenticity in defining their products and they showed this from the very act of defining what sound the phone should make when you slide out the screen to reveal the keyboard. Brilliant!

[photo c/o Nokia PR and Nikka Abes]

Sad news. This June ‘09, S60 is shutting down their word of mouth campaign, the Ambassador Program.

It’s been hardly a year since the Ambassador site launched - and what a journey it has been! Over 21 thousand Ambassadors signed up, we ran 9 campaigns, and heard from you all via nearly 6000 personal accounts you’ve submitted. Such colorful reports they have been too! We can’t thank you enough for all that passion, effort and enthusiasm you have bestowed upon us. Rest assured that every one of those reports have been personally read and responded to by one of us here on the Ambassador team. The insights gained from them have been valuable and they will continue to be used as valuable input in our ongoing product and service development efforts. [more here]

A few weeks back, S60 reported of ambassadors who were proven to have crafted false or plagiarized stories from other community members. Although I’m sure that this isn’t the primary reason for closing down such a good program, the effort needed to maintain such a campaign might be too draining. Which brings me to ask — once 21,000 people start talking about your product, what are the next steps?

[Screencaps c/o S60 Blogs]

A developer raised a point about the developing for the Ovi Store about Java Verified being a requirement:

I was hoping that Java Verified will not be a requirement, we are signed by Verisign but a Java Verified process will make our production costs far more expensive which will end up costing to the users and hurting the platforms accessibility…

Please Nokia pay attention to the highest selling segment in the Apple app store: the $1 applications… This price point might not be feasible with Java Verified.

In the beginning, when Symbian was pretty much the ruler of mobile applications they could dictate much of the pricing, which led to apps costing more than $10.00 a piece. When iTunes launched the $0.99 cent apps for the iPhone and iPod touch, things suddenly changed. Now, people won’t hesitate to throw in a dollar for an application. Nokia’s Ovi Store needs developers to pass Java Verified testing which will add to the cost of the applications — will the public be ready to shift back to its old ways and pay more than the sweet spot of 0.99 cents?

Rumor is, Nokia has the prices preset. So I guess only time will tell, eh?

If you are a developer and wondering how to get your apps published for the Ovi Store, this short video tutorial will help you and your team manage the process. You need to register at www.publish.ovi.com. It is currently free to register but you will need to be patient with your approval process. The Ovi Store also offers developer support through Forum Nokia.

The revenue share model for the Ovi Store is 70% in favor of the developer. The store will be available starting May 2009. So yeah, if you’re a developer, we suggest applying now.

There’s excitement abounding the Symbian community as Symbian Foundation launches its beta testing program. I guess it’s one good way to support the current efforts of the Nokia Conversations blog as well as the Ambassador Program.

During the beta trial phase several thousand friends and members of the Symbian community are being invited to test and give feedback on the foundation’s developer website. The site contains a rich developer offering including platform release information, council charters, wikis, forums, as well as access to the Software Development Kit (SDK), Mercurial Source Configuration Management (SCM), Bugzilla defect reporting and issue tracking tool, various other tools, documents and FAQs.

The beta trial period consists of a resource-rich infrastructure for fans of Symbian that ultimately unites S60, UIQ, and Symbian S40 under one roof.

Starting April 1 (no this isn’t an April Fool’s prank), Symbian Guru will be running a contest for FREE SOFTWARE. The mechanics are very simple — it’s a virtual Easter Egg hunt:

On the 1st of April we will hide some number of ‘Eggs’ word on our product description texts. For every ‘Egg’ found we will give you one registration code for the software present on our website at www.symbianguru.com. You need to indicate the post where you have found the word and copy the phrase or sentence with this ‘Egg’ word. Also do not forget to name the software you are willing to have and IMEI number of the phone.

I’m assuming the Symbian Guru site will be doing an update to their site come April 1 that will allow you to paste the text with the word “Egg” somewhere and retrieve your codes. Happy hunting!