If you frequent Gadgetsteria, you’ll probably know that I’m not too fond of Symbian in it’s current form. I mean, it hasn’t really changed all that much since 2004. While others have moved well on past, Symbian still continues to struggle on revamping and revitalizing itself. Help is on the way in the form of two major updates however: Symbian^3 and Symbian^4.
The former is more of a be all end all bug fix/optimization build that will bring with it stability and speed, prepping phones for the second large update, Symbian^4. This update, as you can see from the pictures above, attempts to bring out the visual candy for Symbian users. In most regards, it looks pretty good to me. It’s nothing drastic, but it’s certainly interesting. There’s only two things that stick out in my head though — that god awful 2001 Symbian font and the old style meters.
The font needs to go, get replaced, scrapped, killed, whatever. Point is, it’s old and not very pleasing to look at any more. A smoother and more updated font would do wonders for Symbian hands down. The meters on the other hand still reek of decades past with a new pretty color splashed on them. It may seem like I’m unfairly attacking Symbian. But that’s OK. They’re asking for it — literally. According to Nokia, the whole “Direct UI” that controls all the visuals hasn’t been finalized yet (read: if you complain loud enough, maybe something will change).
You know my opinion. What’s yours? Is it “new” enough or is it the same old Symbian in another costume?
Engadget > Slashgear > Symbian Developer
Anyone with any bit of gadget knowledge can take a look at the various tear downs of the iPhone 3GS and see that it is truly a modern marvel of engineering. The latest iPhone brings a much upgraded graphics chip that goes by the way of the “PowerVR SGX”. Now, we know that this chip is many times faster than the old chips found in the previous iPhones and iPod Touches. However, a bigger mystery pertained to what model the chip actually was as there are many different models of SGX.
SGX520 (7 MPolys/s, 250Mpx/s) for the handheld mobile market
SGX530/1 (14 MPolys/s) for the handheld mobile market
SGX535 and SGX540 (28 MPolys/s) for handheld high end mobile, portable, MID, UMPC, consumer, and automotive devices
SGX540 (1000M pix/s, 20-35M Polys/s), SGX545, SGX555
Now, for starters, the Pre uses the SGX 530 and so far hasn’t really displayed much in terms of eye candy, though that is more a limitation with current software and development methods as opposed to the actual hardware. iPhone developers meanwhile have found a file named “IMGSGX535GLDriver” which would naturally lead one to believe the iPhone is using the SGX 535 model. Of course, just because a particular file is there doesn’t confirm the rumor 100%. Still, it is a big clue as to what really makes the iPhone 3GS tick. Further backing up this claim is a report from an Anandtech commenter who claims to have heard the real deal on the iPhone 3GS’s hardware. Does the SGX 535 actually reside inside the newest iPhone? At this point I’d say it’s safe to say yes. Care to disagree?
Source: Mac Rumors, Image Source
Eye candy isn’t at the top of everyone’s priority list as a pretty product that is shallow feature/spec wise is hardly worth looking at anyway. However, when a company pulls off a feat of funcitonality and beauty, one can’t help but to stand back and marvel at the fatasticness their eyes are taking in. T-Mobile has managed to do just that with the the refresh of their online account management portal while keeping everything nice, clean, and functional. Pictures are worth way more than words. So, you’ll have to make do with the picture above if you don’t have a T-Mobile account. You satisfied.
Source: BG
In the ever increasing adoption of technology, people naturally are drawn towards customizing that technology much like they did in the good ‘ol days with their dolls and GI Joes (probably a poor analogy but that’s all I’ve got). Fast forward to now, and look at your everyday web browser. Do you have one…or several? Are you a Mac user or Windows user? These things can play in to how you alter your computer enviorment to suit your personal tastes. A new service for Firefox called “Brand Thunder” is looking to shake up how you theme Firefox. Get the full rundown inside.
