Many people have installed the Google Search shortcut, which provides direct access to Google from Nokia Symbian smartphone’s Active Standby screen. Now Google have updated this, and provided localised versions, including a UK specific version which will use google.co.uk as it’s search engine instead of google.com.

If you want to get hold of this version, point your smartphone to m.google.co.uk. Google are also claiming it’s 40% faster too.

The PSP v4.00 firmware is due to become available “soon”. Despite the impression of a major update based on the version number, but actually, it appears the main new feature is the ability to perform Google searches direct from the menu system, with a search history recall of the last 20 searches. You will also be able to speed up or slow down the playback speed of videos from the memory card. This is achieved by pressing the up or down directional buttons whilst playing a video.

We’ll give you more news when it’s actually available.

Here’s a roundup of a few additional points and information that have been released since the initial launch earlier this week.

Firstly, there are rumours that O2 are going to allow the iPhone 3G to be tethered to a laptop via Bluetooth, ie you can get access to the internet from the laptop via the iPhone. This is unconfirmed, and some people have indicated that the early iPhone 2.0 firmwares do not contain this functionality, so unless Apple pull something out of the hat at the last minute, this may not happen. Of course, many people argue that the iPhone has enough capability that you won’t want or need to use your laptop at all!

On the more positive, Unlimited WiFi will be available on the iPhone 3G at 9,500 hotspots covering both The Cloud and BT’s OpenZone network, which will be added in on 11th July, the iPhone launch date.

There’s no front facing camera, despite what a few people are claiming, so no 3G video calling.  Whether this was something that was dropped from the development to meet the timescales, or whether it was a purposeful decision (after all, how many of us make regular video calls, compared to voice calls…?) we’ll never know, but for now, there’s no capability.

There’s some questions over navigation apps, with some people claiming that companies like TomTom will not be able to release SatNav software because of a clause which prevents real-time navigation apps.  We believe that this clause relates to the use of the SDK to access the Google Maps data, which, of course, TomTom will not be using.  As such, we doubt this clause will prevent a wide raft of SatNav applications becoming available.

All in all, we suspect there will be a lot more news about the iPhone between now and a month’s time.

Maplin are selling a GPS Tracker, which offers the ability to record your location as you travel around.  It can record at a variety of differing levels, providing either greater accuracy, or a greater time period the logs are recorded for.  Unlike other units, it doesn’t support external media cards, so you are limited by the internal memory, but for most people it will still easily cover a day or two of photography.  It uses the Sirf Star III chipset for greater accuracy, measures 47 x 29 x 12mm and weighs only 21g.  It’s claimed to be compatible with Google Maps and Google Earth, and is water resistant.  For £39.99, it might well be worth a look for many budding photographers…

Thanks to Mark at Automated Home for the heads up.

Google have announced that they have now made a customised version of the Picasa Web Albums for Nokia S60 devices. As well as that, Google have translated it into 36 languages as well.

Simply head to picasaweb.google.com to access the new version.

If you were nervous about using Goosync before as you have to provide them with your Google username and password, fear not, as Goosync have just announced they are now using Google’s authentication service removing this requirement. Goosync allows you to sync (via syncML) your calendar directly to your Google Calendar.

Here’s an interesting snippet of information. Google have released an updated version of their iPhone version of their Google Reader, and it’s been noted that any device can access the URL, which is http://www.google.com/reader/i/. This version works well on both Symbian S60 smartphones, as well as the Nokia Internet Tablets, both of which seem to benefit from the additional effort Google has put into the user interface. It offers a better interface over the traditional mobile version by offering you easier access to each post. If you are a regular Google Reader user, and have never got on with the mobile version, then give this version a go…

The Symbian Guru has written up a comprehensive article that answers this very question, comparing the mobile GMail application, accessing GMail through the web browser, and using the built in messaging app and accessing GMail via IMAP. He has also included the Pros and Cons of each option. A useful article if you are looking into GMail access from your phone.

The article can be read here.

Google are planning to introduce a single banner ad per page when Google is accessed through mobile phones on its mobile web pages. Google have stated it will be a single ad to ensure it does not impact on the mobile browsing experience.

More information at SMS Text News.

Here’s a useful guide - it’s a step by step guide on how to configure the built in email client to use Google Mail on your Series 60 handset. It covers every step of the way, and although it’s only useful once, it makes getting the settings right a breeze.

Step by Step GMail on S60 [Via HandyWi, which also includes a video]

Garmin have announced agreements with MapQuest and Google Maps to allow you to send trips and destinations direct from the MapQuest / Google Maps website to your Garmin GPS. For MapQuest, this will utilise the “Send to GPS” option which will become Garmin compatible sometime this month, whereas the function is already available from Garmin. This will use the Garmin Communicator Plugin, which is already in use on other websites, such as Geocaching.com to transfer information to Garmin GPS units. Not all devices support full trip (route) details being transferred to them, but all seem to support a single destination being sent.

Goosync have added support for Tasks, on top of Contacts and the original Calendar functionality. In the same way as Contacts, the functionality is to sync from your SyncML device to the Goosync server only, as there is no API to allow them to directly sync your Tasks to the Google servers. However, it still allows Goosync to act as a Backup facility for your main data.

Earlier this year we mentioned that Google had released the Standby Screen Search capability for Symbian S60 devices. Now Google have announced the same facility for Windows Mobile devices. Similar to the S60 version, simply browse to mobile.google.com from your device to download the plugin.

Google have expanded their range of devices supported by dedicated Google Maps clients, and they now have a dedicate, native UIQ version, which is compatible with the Sony Ericsson phones with touch screens; P1, W960i, W950, M600, P990, and the Motorola Z8. Also compatible are the upcoming Sony Ericsson G700 and G900, as well as the Motorola Z10. It’s available now by pointing the browser on your UIQ phone to google.com/gmm and following the prompts.

If you use the FON hotspot network (actually, even if you don’t), then you might be interested to hear that all users of FON hotspots can now access GMail for free without needing a day pass. Google News, Google Maps, Google Search have been available for some while, but Google Mail now joins that list. These websites are available for free as an encouragement to new members to try out the FON network, and hopefully go on to purchase a FON router and share their network too.

Google have just announced their Outlook sync support to allow you to sync your Outlook Calendar directly with Google Calendar. For those of us who use solutions such as Goosync to keep our mobile phones and smartphones synced with Google Calendar, the ability to sync this directly with Outlook is a welcome feature. More information here.

If you have a S60 Nokia, then head to mobile.google.com from your phone, and download the new Google shortcut application for your phone. This installs a Google icon onto the Standy Screen, which when selected brings up a box in which you can type your search, and then Google will return the results in a web page. This should work with a wide range of N-Series and E-Series mobile phones.

Picture courtesy of Google’s Official Mobile Blog.

If you have tried to access your GMail (or GoogleMail) account via IMAP and had problems, then you need to know that last week Google (having worked with Microsoft) rolled out updates to their system to hopefully finally fix the problems. If you want to have another try, head to here for the configuration instructions.

Garmin have announced the Nuviphone, a mobile phone with SatNav capabilities. It has a 3.5″ touchscreen, full browsing and PIM capabilities, HSDPA, Quad-Band (3.5G), WiFi, Bluetooth, and is roughly the same size as the iPhone. As it uses a variant of the same proprietary OS as that on their SatNav devices, the UI will be familiar to many, and will have “millions” of POIs, and will have turn-by-turn voice prompts. However, it will also have Google Local Search capabilities (and potentially other Google apps such as Google Talk, and the camera may integrate with Google Panorama). Finally, it will use the phone network connection to get updates via Garmin Online for real time traffic, fuel prices, news, weather and stock prices (although historically these have been US only data). It is expected to be released in Q3 this year, so in time for Christmas.

Having released the SDK and Emulator for Google’s new phone OS, Android, a group of developers worked out that the development version of the OS, which was designed to boot an ARMv5 development board, would also boot other similar hardware, which includes the Sharp Zaurus PDA range. Apart from bringing a new lease of life to these PDAs, it has produced more devices suitable for developers to use in the short term.

Picture courtesy of Engadget.