A custom package enhances Qt support on all touch Symbian phones

A custom package enhances Qt support on all touch Symbian phones, Samsung OmniaHD included

We often write about the Samsung i8910 OmniaHD and the enthusiastic community of developers behind it who try to keep its software up to date (when Samsung won’t). Well, here’s the next installment of the saga – in this episode, soft modder faenil and his friend madhacker bring the full Qt libraries to the OmniaHD thus improving compatibility with some existing apps and many more to come…

You’ve probably heard that Qt is a cross-platform developing environment, on whicn Nokia stake a lot. It should allow developers to craeate apps that run on all Nokia devices no matter the underlying OS. It seems however that non-Nokia Symbian smartphones (OmniaHD included) are missing out on the fun as they are not prepared to take full use of Qt capabilities.

The general consensus about the Samsung i8910 OmniaHD in the modding community is great hardware, ailing software. For example, apps like WordPress for Symbian, gpSP (a GameBoy Advance emulator), Wikitude and ComingSoon don’t work very well with the Qt libraries available for the OmniaHD (apparently, they’ve been cut down).

The custom libraries provide the full functionality and let those apps work properly. The installation process is quick and easy thanks to the provided one-click installer those devs made. Check out the video to see the installation process.

You can grab the installer from faenil’s website. Some people are reporting that they’re not having much success with some apps though. As always, keep in mind that this is unofficial so there are no guarantees for anything.

A Mass Effect movie would generate a tremendous amount of interest

A Mass Effect movie would generate a tremendous amount of interest, BioWare still play it cool

In an interview for MTV, the project director of Mass Effect 2 shared some very interesting info. While Mass Effect 2 will be released tomorrow (USA) and Friday (Europe), the interest in a motion picture based on the game universe grows rapidly.

The first Mass Effect game was a huge success and won a lot of fans with its huge and very well developed world and characters. Of course the story was as good as the rest of the game and the rumors of a Hollywood production started circling only months after the initial Mass Effect release.

Only a day (or a few) holds us from the official launch of the sequel, but it’s already tagged as an industry benchmark for its incredible and incomparable world, non-linear story, characters, relationship realism and gameplay. The best-respected gaming publications have rated Mass Effect 2 from 9.5/10 to 10/10 and didn’t spare their compliments. Even BioWare themselves claim this is the best game they have ever created.

The great popularity certainly attracts Hollywood, just like WarCraft, Prince of Persia, Blood Rayne, Alone in the Dark, etc did before. Well Uwe Boll did ruin quite a lot of movies based on games, but Sam Reimi got to work on the WarCraft movie, while Prince of Persia is almost ready and I believe it will become a blockbuster.

Anyway the Mass Effect 2 project director Casey Hudson says: “Obviously we have a tremendous amount of interest from people in Hollywood to make a major motion picture about ‘Mass Effect’. The most important thing for us is, we don’t just want to see a movie get made. We want to see a great movie get made, if it’s going to get done at all.”

He then continued to say that “We’re just looking at our options there, but waiting to make sure we have something really right before we do it.”.

I am more than happy that BioWare won’t sell the Mass Effect rights to the highest bidder, but will ensure they will go with the best idea and scenario. And when the time comes I really believe we are going to see an epic movie.

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A green Nokia N8 teases in front of the camera

A green Nokia N8 teases in front of the camera, looks big

The guys at Engadget had the wonderful opportunity to do a brief hands-on on a pre-release Nokia N8 unit in London. Thanks to their live shots, you can really see the N8 size in perspective.

Well, it is big. In woman’s hands, it’s HUGE! Nokia should really get some male hand models for future presentations of the device.

Despite that, the our fellow tech journalists note, it’s surprisingly light for its size and the curved edges obviously make it quite pocket-friendly.

Unfortunately, they weren’t allowed to turn the phone on, so the hardware is the only part that we see here. For more pictures check their post.

A lot of new Windows Mobile 7 details surfaced

A lot of new Windows Mobile 7 details surfaced, we still hold our breath

PPCGeeks managed to obtains some new spicy info about the latest Microsoft mobile OS – Windows Mobile 7. Zune and Xbox integration are waiting to be unveiled at the MWC later this month.

As the previous leaked images left us with mixed feelings, so is the new feature roster. The notable improvements over the current version of Windows Mobile start with the full Zune integration with Zune HD interface. The UI is codenamed “METRO” and will be “very clean, soulful and alive”. Even more, the Zune software will be used for PC sync, so no more Active Sync or Windows Mobile Device Center – wow, I still can’t bend my head over that too.

Next in the list comes integration with the Xbox Gaming service – Gamer tags, achievements, friends, etc. This suggests Microsoft’s intentions to bring down the game crown from the iPhone offering their community service with the new mobile OS.

The Maketplace will go through a complete overhaul delivering huge amount of software, services and a brand new interface (they certainly messed up with the current one with overSIZED fonts). The Windows application store will be the first to offer seamless “try before you buy” functionality. Yes, the Apple AppStore offers trials too, but you need to download them separately.

As you may have guessed the full social networking support will be an important part of the new Windows Mobile 7 as well.

And here comes the bad news – there will be no Flash support and no real multitasking. You will be able to run several apps simultaneously, but they will “pause” when they go in background. Wait, what? Is that the iPhone we’re talking about?

Also users won’t be able to install anything unless it comes from official sources such as the Marketplace. There will be no backwards compatibility with older Windows Mobile software, at least for now. I guess that’s their way of making everybody use their own repository.

And finally Microsoft will not allow the use of custom interfaces (such as Sense UI/ SPB Mobile Shell/ XPERIA panels), but they promise Windows Mobile 7 really won’t need them. Now I find that really hard to believe.

All this sound so like Apple! But I guess we’ll learn whether they’re true or false at the MWC this year, since the Windows Mobile 7 announcement is rumored to take place there. The first devices packing the new Windows Mobile are expected in September this year.

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