Those who know me well know that I am an avid S60 and Nokia fan, but this fanboy’ism (of fangirl’ism?!) is not unconditioned nor did it come without tests and trials. But let’s go back to the beginning of the story, shall we?
How I came to S60

Some 4 years ago, I was introduced to S60 through a friend of mine who had just bought a Nokia 6630 for over 500$ no less. I remember looking at the phone and telling her "it’s just a phone" and I clearly remember her answer "no, it’s a smartphone". At the time, I couldn’t care any less about smart or dumb, but she started installing applications on it, and it isn’t until I saw her running a dumbed-down version of Word and Excel that I understood the difference that a "smart"phone can bring. That’s when I decided that my next device will be running S60.
For many reasons, a year later, I went with the Nokia 3250 XpressMusic, the first S60 3rd Edition phone released by Nokia. I explored every single lighted and dark corner of that handset, I came up with tricks that very few people had discovered, I customized the hell out of it with applications, themes, games,… The 3250 was, and yes it’s funny to say that now, my powerstation. It was as robust as can be, internally by taking everything I threw at it, and externally by still functioning even after having kissed the ground more than I care to remember or admit.

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Over the last couple of weeks, there has been some talks about a new Dos emulator that would allow S60 phone users to install and run Windows on their devices. We’ve seen screenshots, we’ve seen short videos, but there’s nothing better than trying it and seeing it live, is there? So I picked up my trusty Nokia N82 which runs S60, and went into the shady corners of the internet to unearth the installation files and guides. I did hit some bumpers along the road, but in less than 3 or 4 hours, as my followers on Twitter might testify, I had Windows 95 as well as Windows 3.1 running on it. I even found a configuration file that allowed me to choose between each of the operating systems. Enough with the talking, and let’s show you how it looks:

As I mentioned in the video, there is another project going on aiming to put the Mac OS on the iPhone, and they seem to be succeeding. All of this goes a long way to show how blurry the lines between a computer and a mobile are nowadays. Aand although Windows on my N82 is pretty much useless, given the small resolution and the slow processor, it’s still nice to see that it can be done. Personally, I can’t wait to run Windows 98 or XP maybe on a larger touchscreen device like the Nokia N97. That’d be phenomenal.

In case you missed yesterday’s news, Astraware released “My Little Tank” for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Well, today, even more people get to join in the MLT party!!!  Astraware released it for S60, as well as Blackberry, for the first time today.  For Palm OS and WM users, don’t worry, you are not being left out in the cold.  MLT has been updated to include newer WM and Palm devices, and they have added 20 new levels.  That gives the game a total of 80 levels!!!  “My Little Tank” is an arcade shooter game were you play the role of a mini-tank out to defend your base while destroying enemy tanks, radar stations, and bases.  Plus, you will run into all kinds of terrain changes from snow and swamps to plains and deserts.  If you already have a registered copy of MLT, the upgrade is free.  If not, it can be purchased from Astraware for $9.99.  Its also available for the sale price of  $4.95, if you are a member of Club Astraware.  Honestly, for $4.95, I am going to go home and download this game.  I love the little strategy games, and this will be great entertainment for traveling or waiting in line during the holiday shopping season. 

Check out the full press release after the jump

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Has everyone tried Google’s new browser, ok I’ll wait just a minute whilst you install it…

Chrome has made a big shiny splash this week and there’s lot’s of speculation about what it means, for Cloud computing and for Mobile computing. Maybe even for OS’s?

Now most of the rumours are actually being fuelled by Google (or it’s representatives) itself, and it raised a few questions for me, when I turned on random brain functionality. (read: sat down and thought about all of the stuff I’ve read about it in the last couple of days, and started to formulate a new possibility). What really kicked off this train of thought was a post from Matt Miller over at ZDnet, his observations of the construction of the Chrome browser, really triggered off a phantasmagorical train of thought for me.

the new Chrome browser is based on the WebKit open source project like the Nokia S60 and Apple iPhone browsers I think it is very possible that it will be coming to the mobile space and may actually be the browser that we see launched on the Google Android

That simple statement made me think, if Android, S60 and Apples apps are that similair, based on a comparable operating environment, might this be Google’s “incognito” route to an open source operating system? I know it’s a big jump, but Sergey looks rather tired, and any challenge to Microsoft that Google may make in the OS war, would have to start covertly with mobile and migrate to the desktop, this is just some speculation on my part.
If you build a browser that is Desktop and Mobile compatible, you might start to think that the mobile OS that will run the Mobile compatible Browser, will run a Desktop computer?

July Fourth weekend is nearly upon us here in the United States.  And then can mean only one thing.  It is time for the bombs bursting in air and the rockets red glare to give proof in the night that both of your drunken hands are still there.  Yup, that’s right…time for fireworks.

If you are like me, though, maybe you have small kids.  And maybe they don’t like bright flashing lights, and loud booming sounds.  Or, maybe you just don’t particularly like to let them play with fire and explosives.  Regardless, Astraware has a great application for you.

Just in time for the Fourth of July, they have released an updated version of their popular Astraware Fireworks application.  Astraware fireworks is available free for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Windows Mobile Smartphone.  Just head over to Astraware and download your copy today.

The good tidings don’t stop there, however.  Astraware also announced today the release of their classic game (based on the PC game by Digital-Eel) Big Box of Blocks for S60 phones.  In order to celebrate the release, Astraware Club Members can download Big Box of Blocks for a limited time absolutely free for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, Windows Mobile Smartphone, or S60.  Not a club member yet?  Hurry over here to sign up, and then download the game from Astraware’s site.