S60 Open to new features

As many of you noticed, there was a little problem with our audio RSS feeds - some (okay...many) RSS readers wouldn't accept them. This is now fixed and the RSS feeds should work as normal. Many many thanks for being patient while we worked to resolve this problem, and special thanks to everyone who e-mailed or commented to report this issue. If you notice any other problems in the future, I'd be very much appreciative if you let me know!

If anyone is interested as to why the audio RSS feeds had troubles - After I upload each podcast, our downloading service provides us with a URL to the file. That URL is not a direct link to the file, but rather a redirect to another location. RSS/XML specifications do not (to my understanding) allow URL's that redirect embedded in the code. So, our downloading service has released a new version of their platform which now provides a direct link to the file.

Elice and I had a very interesting discussion that you developers and aspiring developers should really find useful. She discusses S60 usability, the process in which an application goes through to become more user-friendly, and some UI design tips for developers. A big big thanks to Elice for spending some time with us!! And here's the podcast...

Download in MP3 64kbps Format | (26:16 - 12.2 MB)
Download in AAC+ 24kbps Format | (26:16 - 4.0 MB)

Find out more information about Idean Research from their S60 blog, "S60 User Experience".

I promised a new podcast every two weeks and already at episode #5 I broke my promise. But I've been away on (a much needed) month-long holiday, so maybe I have a good excuse? :-)

Be sure to listen to my interview with Elice Enstedt of Idean Research who work as S60's usability experts...

Name: Elice Enstedt
Profession: Interaction Solutions Manager
Company: Idean Research
Site: www.ideanresearch.com

"Elice Enstedt is the Interaction Solutions Manager with Idean Creative, a part of one of the leading user experience companies in Europe, Idean Research Ltd. Her work is centred around creating innovative and efficient user interface design processes and practices. Elice has just recently joined Idean Creative after 9 years of working for Nokia in various positions. Her latest position at Nokia was (User Experience) Design Manager for S60 organization.

Elice was born and raised in Finland, and attended university in Tampere, obtaining her Master of Philosophy degree in 1999. Elice enjoys various sports ranging from aerobics to scuba diving and loves to read fiction."

Sorry for the delay with this one, I'm on holiday and our internet went out and I've been desperately trying to find some WLAN...

Charlie Schick was a good sport to be my very first victim interview. He's was with S60 way back in the early days and provides a very interesting and unique perspective. Many thanks to Charlie for coming on the show! Here's the podcast...

Download in MP3 64kbps Format | (43:54 - 20.4 MB)
Download in AAC+ 24kbps Format | (43:54 - 7.7 MB)

Check back in here tomorrow when I'll be interviewing Charlie Schick, one of the early members of the S60 team...

Name: Charlie Schick
Profession: Internet Strategy Consultant
Company: Nokia
Site: cognections.typepad.com

"Charlie Schick currently provides Internet strategy consulting to various projects at Nokia. He most recently led the global marketing and sales team for Nokia Lifeblog, a multimedia application for smartphones and PCs. His career at Nokia also included launching the Series 60 Platform, orchestrating joint marketing activities with Series 60 licensees, and promoting mobile Internet solutions to service providers.

Prior to joining Nokia, he was an editorial consultant for various online and print publications. In addition to having written numerous articles for online and print telecom publications, he has written various research papers in leading journals and co-authored a book on advanced phone systems. One of his dark secrets is that he spent 12 years in basic Molecular and Cellular Biology research, reaching the level of Research Fellow and Instructor at Children's Hospital Boston, part of the Harvard Medical School. He has a graduate degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst."

...find out more about Charlie from his personal blog, http://cognections.typepad.com and his thoughts on mobile multimedia and other related topics at http://cognections.typepad.com/lifeblog