Symbian in Motion

Was it a result of the public outcry? Was it all a big misunderstanding due to a mis-worded preliminary announcement? Is Bounty really the quicker picker-upper? We may never know answers to any of those questions but from the looks of the new statement on the Symbian Signed homepage, we all have done a superb job in getting through to them:

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Web site maintenance and Developer Certificates

Please be aware that the Symbian Signed web site is undergoing a hardware upgrade to resolve the performance issues that are present on the site currently, this will be complete early next week. The issues that we have had have forced us to disable Developer Certificates for users. This is to reduce the load that there currently is on the hardware. We understand that users will require Developer Certificates before the hardware installation is completed next week and this is done by the following process:
If you require Developer Certificates for testing an application you are developing please send an email with the following information to symbiansigned@symbian.com
Subject: Developer Certificate enable request:
User name
First Name Last Name
Application Name
Application Version
Company Name
Company Address
Please only send this request if you urgently need Developer Certificates and cannot wait until next week when ALL accounts will have this functionality enabled. If you are a Platinum Partner of Symbian please contact your partner manager.

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The second to last sentence is the interesting part. Apparently they will be restoring ALL accounts rather than just developer accounts as we were pretty clearly told by their first announcement. This means that once their maintenance is complete we all should be able to continue getting out developer certs.

What ever the case was, if this is true then we all owe Symbian Signed a ‘thank you’ for listening to the people who keep them in business - the customers.

A big thanks to the friendly, warm and fuzzy mooninite for pointing out the new message and inspiring me to appreciate the value of literacy. :)

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A request that I have been receiving a lot lately from developers and many others as well is to provide feeds for post comments. This is something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while but just haven’t had the time… so I made the time!

You’ll now find a link at the bottom of each post that will enable you to subscribe to the post’s individual comments feed in the reader of your choosing. Developers can now easily monitor comments about their apps; readers can easily stay on top of interesting discussions; and I can sleep easier knowing that my readers are happy. Woo hoo! :)

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This from the Symbian Signed site:

Web site maintenance and Developer Certificates

Please be aware that the Symbian Signed web site is currently undergoing some essential maintenance works. This is affecting the performance of the web site and we apologise for that.
Developer Certificates are provided for testing purposes only and not for distribution purposes. This is clearly stated in the terms and conditions signed up to by all users. If you require Developer Certificates for testing an application you are developing please send an email with the following information to symbiansigned@symbian.com
Subject: Developer Certificate enable request:
User name
First Name Last Name
Application Name
Application Version
Company Name
Company Address

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I don’t like this one bit. Users aren’t hurting anyone by dev-signing apps. Sorry Symbian Signed but there are many talented developers out there who simply don’t want to deal with the delays and other BS that so many have pointed out. Why wait for weeks and months for a freeware app to be approved when you can just release the unsigned version and start working on your next project with a clear mind?

If a developer doesn’t want to deal with Symbian Signed, they shouldn’t have to. If a user dev-signs an app and installs it Symbian Signed is not liable for the risk or any issues that may occur, so what is the problem?

Poor policy, period.

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Maybe I missed something in the box that my E61i came in but until I started playing around the other day I had no idea that Nokia bought me a nice present to thank me for purchasing my E61i recently. What is that present, you might ask? Well it’s a complimentary subscription for WorldMate service! Do you own an E61i? Well then Nokia probably bought you the same present but you might not even know it…

MobiMate touts their WorldMate app and service as being “the Swiss Army Knife of Travel”. While the odds are fairly good that their slogan infringes on a copyright or two, they do make a hell of an app. WorldMate for S60 3rd provides subscribers with:

• Weathercaster - Automatically updates to provide you with up to three daily weather updates; visually and vocally (if you enable it) with WorldMate’s virtual weather lady.
• Weather Forecasts - Five-day forecasts that update four times each day and are available for over 400 locations world wide.
• Currency Converter - View and convert between three currencies at a time with over 200 currencies available. Currency exchange rates are updated as you convert to ensure the most up-to-the-minute data is used.
• World Clocks - View the current local time for five different locations around the globe simultaneously.
• World Day/Night Map - See exactly where day ends and night begins.

Granted, I already use Handy Clock and Handy Weather to accomplish most of these tasks but it’s a nice gesture I must admit. It is my understanding that Nokia has accommodated E61i owners with three years of complimentary WorldMate service and by my math that’s a $75 value! Now I’m sure that Nokia’s cost is nowhere near $25/year, but hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s the thought that counts?!?

To start taking advantage of your free WorldMate service simply access your Download! app and download WorldMate, which you will see listed there. Once installed, just register from within the app and you’re good to go!

Does Nokia offer free WorldMate subscriptions to E61i owners in all regions? Does this offer apply to more phone models than just the E61i? I have no idea, but I suggest that you check your Download! app to find out. Also, please post a comment here and let me know if you get free WorldMate on your device (and how you found out about it). I’ve noticed a few new things within Download! recently such as an entry on my N80IE for Orb, although it’s little more than a shortcut to Orb’s mobile site (very weird).

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I for one am VERY happy that the new version of Rotate Me by Samir is now on Samir’s site. This version consumes MUCH less RAM on my N80 than the previous version and it adds a cool hot key feature that lets you quickly and easily switch back and forth between portrait and landscape mode by pressing [pen] + [green]!

Of course Rotate Me is still freeware, and it’s unsigned which means you’ll need to follow this guide before you install it on your mobile.

Awesome job Samir!! :)

Download rotateMe 1.21 

A few things to note: To use this app on your N80 you must first upgrade your firmware to the current version - 4.0707.0.7. Also, this app is reported to work on at least the N80 and N73 but is reported to not be compatible with the E50, E70, 3250 or 5500. Only time will tell what other models are supported.

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