Crave

A track full of Volvo S60 Concepts is something I thought I'd never see.

(Credit: SimBin/CNET)

Aside from the S60, players can try a variety of historic racing Volvos, such as this BTCC C30.

(Credit: SimBin/CNET)

Here are two words that most people never think to string together in one sentence: Volvo and Race. However, while most of us think of Volvos as slow and safe, the brand actually has a storied racing history. So color us tickled that Volvo has teamed up with SimBin Studios--creators of such games as GTR Evolution and RACE '07--to create Volvo: The Game, a racing sim populated with completely with, you guessed it, Volvos.

Players are able to chose between the Volvo S60 Concept car (unveiled at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show) in show and race trim and other historic Volvo racing vehicles such as the S40, 850, 240, C30, and S60. Two tracks (Gothenburg Eco Drive Arena in Göteborg, Sweden and Chayka outside Kiev in the Ukraine) are available and 14 drivers with accompanying livery can be chosen for their respective vehicles.

The Game features detailed interiors for each of the Volvo vehicles.

(Credit: SimBin/CNET)

The game features multiple views with detailed recreations of each vehicle's interior. The graphics are pretty good, but I must admit that my gaming rig had me stuck at the lower end of the detail scale.

Quick race, time attack, and online competition modes are available as well as a replay theater to play back your greatest racing moments.

Volvo: The Game supports many racing wheels, gamepads, and keyboard controls and can be downloaded for free play on Windows XP/Vista at www.volvocars.com/game.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

There's no real killer app yet for retrieving listings information on your mobile phone, but there could be soon.

On Aptil 11, FreeMobile411 launches the consumer version of its carrier-offered services. Visting FreeMobile411.com from your mobile browser gets you a decent-looking ad-supported WAP site that simplifies directory search and helps you avoid long waits while listening to ads from dial-in services like 1-800-FREE-411.

Enter the search term--it can be a business name ("Blockbuster"), business type ("video store"), or person ("Bill Blockbuster"). Then select the search type, and fill in either the city or zip to search or browse listings. From there you'll have a spectrum of choices to plot on a map, get directions to, dial with a click, or use as an anchor while searching for nearby gap pumps, hotels, banks, and so on. You'll still be able to connect to the operator at the usual carrier rate, but with this useful, easily navigable app, it's doubtful you'll ever need to. P.S. It even looks decent on the RAZR!

Microsoft's Silverlight browser plug-in will be bringing videos and other rich media to Nokia smartphones later this year.

The two companies on Tuesday at Microsoft's Mix '08 conference are scheduled to announce that Microsoft will write a version of Silverlight for Nokia's Series 60 (S60) smartphone software that runs on Symbian OS. The software, which will be available later this year, will also run on Series 40 devices and Nokia Internet tablets.

Silverlight videos are coming to Nokia's N96 smartphone.

(Credit: Nokia)

For people with compatible devices, it means they will be able to see content, notably video, written for Silverlight, which Microsoft is pushing as an alternative to Adobe's Flash Player. Microsoft has been signing on content partners to use Silverlight for media streaming, including MLB.com and online Olympic games broadcasting with NBC.

For Microsoft, the deal with Nokia is a step in its pledge to make Silverlight "ubiquitous," that is, capable of running on multiple operating systems.

The software giant is trying to lure Web developers toward Silverlight--and away from Flash--to build rich Internet applications or media-oriented Web sites.

The strategy, which Microsoft detailed at last year's Mix conference, hinges on creating tools that let traditional Microsoft developers write Silverlight Web applications with familiar products like Visual Studio and ASP.Net.

Silverlight now runs on Windows and Mac OS, and it has a deal with Novell to build a distribution on Linux.

A version of Silverlight for Windows Mobile will be available later this year, said John Case, a general manager in Microsoft's developer division. "The whole Silverlight strategy is to provide one programming model and ubiquity," he said.

Microsoft chose to work with Nokia because it has the largest market share of mobile phones, but it will sign on with other handset makers to create ports of Silverlight, Case said.

All the main features of Silverlight, including video and interactive Web application development, will be included in all mobile versions.

But there will be some device-specific restraints, which means Microsoft will create editions of Silverlight for different mobile platforms, he said.

MIAMI--A tech conference just wouldn't be a tech conference without a few wacky parties. The Future of Web Apps event in Miami this week is no exception.

Handset manufacturer Nokia decided to take advantage of the fact that no official FOWA parties were on the books for Thursday night by throwing its own soiree at an awkwardly named Miami Avenue bar called Dolores, But You Can Call Me Lolita (if it's going to be literary, can't the name at least be a little shorter?) as a promotion for its S60.com smartphone software.

The party was appropriately timed in conjunction with the gathering of many developers because the Symbian-based S60's hallmark is the fact that it accepts third-party applications.

We tried really hard, but BricaBox's Nate Westheimer and I couldn't find a way to make the pink Nokia S60 hats look tough.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News.com)

The highlight of the party, besides the free drinks, was a screaming contest. Yes, a screaming contest. Attendees were divided into groups based on the color of a smiley-face sticker on their badges, and each group was given an S60-equipped handset with an application installed that measured the volume of whatever was getting spoken or shouted into the phone. The group that could raise the volume highest by screaming into the handset was awarded with a Bluetooth headset for each member.

My group didn't win. After the screaming contest, I spent a bit of time talking to entrepreneurs from a few local tech companies, such as Grooveshark and Scrapblog. Then I went to sleep. The end.

In Nokia's swag bag? A memory stick (OK, I can deal with that), an extra-large T-shirt (beach cover-up!), breath mints (do they really think FOWA-ers are going to be making out?) and a pale pink baseball cap. Um, hello? The S60 party was about 95 percent male. Heck, even your average female wouldn't put on one of these hats.

And despite our valiant efforts, as you can see in the accompanying photo, even BricaBox founder Nate Westheimer and I couldn't make those hats look hard-core.

Hello, hello. It's me, the Beselo worm calling, and, man, do I have a new trick for your Symbian-based phone.

But security researchers are advising users of the Symbian S60 second-edition phones to just hang up.

(Credit: F-Secure)

The Beselo.A and Beselo.B worms are in the wild, looking to lure Symbian S60 users into clicking on their incoming malicious files, according to a warning issued Tuesday by F-Secure.

The Beselo worms are tricky, in that they use common media file extensions, rather than a standard SIS extension, in sending their malicious payload.

Like the Commwarrior worms, the Beselo worms rely on MMS and Bluetooth to get around, with some social engineering thrown in to trick users into installing the SIS application installation file. But because this file has a common media file extension, such as beauty.jpg, sex.mp3, or love.rm, users are more likely to click "yes" to an installation prompt when opening the file, notes F-Secure.

F-Secure offers this word of advice: just say "no" to such a request.

"There is no reason for any image file to ask installation questions on the Symbian platform, so any image or sound file that does something else than play immediately is without question something else than it claims to be," warns F-Secure.

That's the latest twist on smart-phone worms, which debuted in 2004 with the arrival of the Cabir worm. The Beselo worms, meanwhile, were initially clumped in with the pervasive Commwarrior worms, until a discovery was made about their use of common media file extensions.

(Credit: Crave Asia)

Nokia will have touch-screen mobile phones in the future--that much we know from its announcement recently about S60 (Symbian Series60) handsets supporting touch-sensitive displays. What is less known, however, is that the Finnish giant had filed patent documents for such phones dating back to May 2006.

In the document discovered by Unwired View on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office site, Nokia envisioned a device with two screens to display different kinds of information depending on the angle at which the clamshell is opened. Control of the device is possible using either the buttons or the display.

(Source: Crave Asia)

(Credit: Symbian Resources)

School projects can be a helluva lot of fun, especially if they involve world domination with Nintendo's Wiimotes. We've read about these things whacking innocent TV screens due to overly enthusiastic gamers, and here's one more reason to do so.

A team at the University of Applied Sciences in Hagenberg, Austria, has developed a Bluetooth driver called "WiiConnect" to pair the S60 3rd Edition phones to the Wiimote. You can tell these guys are serious about what they are doing. They even have a motorcycle game to make use of the 3D accelerometer and rumble features of the controller!

Just how much will all these cost? Nothing. And we're not kidding.

(Source: Crave Asia)

The Symbian SlingPlayer has hit version 1.0.

(Credit: Sling Media)

The SlingPlayer for Symbian S60 phones is out of beta and now available for sale. The software allows a selection of Nokia phones (the E65, N75, and N95 in the U.S., and the E65, N73, and 6120 elsewhere) to stream TV from the full range of Slingbox models. Previously, the Symbian software was only available pre-installed on models sold by British wireless provider 3. Furthermore, the new standalone software delivers full-screen playback and Wi-Fi streaming not available on that previous edition.

The Symbian software will be available on Sling Media's Web site soon. It will cost $30 in the U.S., C$35 in Canada, and £20 in the U.K.--although the fee is waved for those who purchase the Nokia N95 in the U.S. As with other mobile versions, a free 30-day trial version will be available, so you can try before you buy. The Symbian SlingPlayer joins versions already available for Windows Mobile and Palm OS products, as well as Windows and Mac computers.

The announcement of the Symbian player software caps a busy week for Sling. In recent days, the company unveiled a buyout by Dish Network parent EchoStar, as well as the announcement of a new hardware product, the Slingbox Solo.

Update your status, and keep an eye on your buddies with Jaiku's freshly updated Nokia S60 app.

(Credit: Jaiku)

Jaiku's got a freshly updated mobile app for owners of Nokia handsets running the latest version of the S60 OS. Once installed, it lets you keep track of your Jaiku buddies without having to resort to your phone's Web browser. The real pull however, is presence, which lets you see what your Jaiku friends are up to live--or go back and take a look at their previous messages using a feature they call "stream view." With the new presence system, if you see one of your friends online, you can begin a conversation with them, turning the app into a near-instant messaging client.

Another big change users of Jaiku's previous mobile iteration are going to notice is a new option to swap back and forth between an "always on" mode, and one that checks in only when you re-enter the app, which cuts down on battery drain. There's also an improved way to share your presence with your friends, including your geographical location, which the app will pull up based on what cell phone towers you're connected to (handy for non-GPS phones).

Still missing is a way to access the app via Wi-Fi, which you can get around if you visit the slightly less featured mobile version of the site on your phone's browser. The Jaiku team is planning on adding this functionality in the next release.