LONDON, England – ‘Reality is broken. Game designers can fix it’. That’s the slogan of one of the speakers at Nokia World this year that we’re most looking forward to hearing from: Jane McGonigal. With a career in teaching game theory and design, and with a PhD from Berkeley, McGonigal is fascinated by the ways in which video games might save the world. How does that work? Read on to find out.
Monthly Archives: August 2010
GLOBAL – At the risk of stating the obvious, one of the great advantages of apps on a mobile device is that they are always with you – even when you’re abroad. This makes them an ideal way to replace the library of dictionaries and phrase books that foreign travel used to require. In this week’s app round-up, we focus on tools for coping with – and learning – foreign languages. Allons-y!
GLOBAL – We’ve been working hard behind the scenes this summer (well, the team have, I’ve been on holiday mostly) to bring you a brand new look for Nokia Conversations. We’re looking all set to get the finished version live this coming Friday and we’re super excited about what we’ve got in store for you. Check out a full size image after the jump. We’re not going to show off the homepage yet, as that has some extra treats in store for you.
GLOBAL – Welcome once more to Friday’s round-up of the interesting posts from the furthest reaches of the World Wide Web. If it’s mobile and it’s worth having a think or a chuckle over, we’re on it. If you’ve come across anything that fits the bill, or a blog we ought to add to our reading list, let us know in the comments. Read on to see what caught our eyes and ended up in our bookmarks this week.
GLOBAL – On this week’s Blogbite, the boys get the lowdown on the new Nokia 5250, have a chat about Nokia Money in India, pay respect to A.M.O.L.E.D and reveal whether you like to touch or type.
GLOBAL – Cassiterite, coltan and wolframite. What reads like a lecture in some geology science department is also a list of ingredients to many items of everyday life, from light bulbs to laptops and mobile phones. These minerals are found in many countries around the world. One of the places is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where there are also rebel groups fighting a civil war in the eastern parts of the country. In these areas, mines are targets of militant groups who illicitly trade cassiterite, coltan and wolframite. Hence minerals originating from the conflict areas in DRC are often referred to as “conflict metals”.
GLOBAL – Last week, we asked you about how you prefer to operate your phone. Do you prefer to touch, and use a virtual on-screen keyboard, or are physical buttons a necessity? And of course, there are all kinds of hybrid opportunities from full keyboards stowed underneath the screen to the new ‘Touch and Type’ Nokia X3. But which option caught Conversations readers’ fancy? Find out after the break.
GLOBAL – You may have noticed the word AMOLED appearing in descriptions of new mobile phones, such as the forthcoming Nokia N8. But what is this new technology, what problems does it help to solve and why is it a desirable thing to have? Here’s our quick five-minute guide to what AMOLED is and why you might want it on your next phone.