Monthly Archives: August 2009

Handmark (will always be Astraware to me:)) has released Astraware Sudoku and Casino for Symbian S60 phones- “Handmark® has today released its award-winning Astraware Sudoku and Casino games for S60® phones, including the new Nokia 5800 and N97 touch screen devices.

Recognized as one of the best Sudoku games for smartphones, Astraware Sudoku is packed with features, including its popular Puzzle of the Day which allows players to compete against other players worldwide to post the best time for that day’s puzzle, in addition to an integrated Puzzle Builder which creates billions of unique puzzles. The game offers a range of different options to help players solve puzzles including manual or automatic pencilmarks, a smart hints system and the hold and highlight system which can display an overlay for a specific number or pencilmark helping players to see where to look and what to look for. Astraware Sudoku is suitable for all levels of players and includes six levels of difficulty.

Astraware Casino features 11 of the best-known games found in casinos around the world, including Texas Hold ‘Em No Limit Poker, Roulette, Slots, Craps, and Blackjack. The game includes full instructions on how to play each of the 11 games and gives players $1,000 in a virtual wallet to begin playing. Higher stake tables and games unlock as players progress. Astraware Casino also includes a fun achievements system – the ‘Souvenir Suitcase’. During the game players will unlock different ‘Souvenirs’ to place in their suitcase to mark special achievements in the game. Souvenirs include special chips, fluffy toys, and fun items of clothing.

Astraware Sudoku and Astraware Casino are both available now at www.handmark.com for S60 3rd Edition and later devices as well as several other smartphone platforms. For more information visit: astraware.com/sudoku and astraware.com/casino.”

mobile-review has posted a very long first impressions piece about the Nokia N900. Included are lots of photos and it offers up a comprehensive first impression of this long awaited device. Looks quite good to me.

“Our avid readers probably already know the Maemo’s inner history from the variety of related materials. But still I will remind you in brief why this decision was made. Remember, the first info and details on a Meamo-based smartphone were leaked by yours truly and then all of it got available on other sources. It has become a common knowledge that Nokia had a “secret” weapon under their belt. But what it is for? Let’s find out together.

At present there are several handset platforms in Nokia’s arsenal – the S30 for low-end phones, the S40 for mid- and top-range and the S60 for smartphones priced €200 and higher. If we take into account also codenames used strictly within the company we will get a few more platforms, but they are of no importance to us, so let’s deal with names familiar to common users.

Taking into account the growing smartphone market and transformation of ordinary phones into feature-rick monsters most phone makers realize the necessity of having a flexible and open platform, which will help creating true mobile powerhouses. The S60 used to be such a platform for Nokia up until 2007. Back then Microsoft didn’t have the ability to create a mobile version for its OS, or to promote it and expand its market share. In 2009 it resulted in the following: the company made an unspoken decision to tweak Windows Mobile 7 and then try to migrate to a more “mature” OS. That is, they decided to ditch the idea of a mobile version, keep Windows CE…”