Opera release Opera Mobile 10 for Maemo 4 & 5
Opera was a feature of the original 770 Internet Tablet. However, with subsequent updates and devices, Nokia has shipped (and heavily invested in) MicroB - a Mozilla-based browser (like Firefox). However, a group of Opera engineers have, as an R&D project, built the latest version of Opera Mobile, v10, for Maemo 4 (Diablo) and Maemo 5 (Fremantle). This means that N8x0 and N900 users have an additional browser choice available to them. Fredrik \xD6hrn says they're proud to be back on Maemo, and describes how the release has come about: This Maemo version of Opera Mobile 10 was created as a hobby project by a small team of developers in their spare time. In total, about 6 man-weeks were spent on creating the release. It's worth pointing out that this is not an officially-supported release. As such, it has not undergone our usual quality assurance processes, and at times may not feel as polished or complete as an official release. This also means that there may never be a "final" release of Opera Mobile 10 for Maemo devices, since it's just that much more fun to add shiny new features rather than fixing boring old bugs. The obvious biggest downside (or advantage, depending on your point of view) is that Opera can't reuse the Flash plugin included on the device. However, a revamped rendering engine; faster JavaScript and HTML5 & CSS3 goodness await any interested users.
maenotify puts SMSes and missed calls on the lock screen
The forthcoming Maemo 5 update, PR1.2, is, apparently, going to bring a counter on the N900's "slide to unlock" screen of unread notifiications. Daniele Maio, however, has announced "maenotify" a new application (which can be used now) to provide an even richer feature; it's a simple app that will show you the latest missed calls/sms on the screen when it is locked, without requiring to unlock it. The application is in Extras-testing, so people willing to help maintain the quality of software for end-users are encouraged to try and test the package; voting on it based on the QA criteria.
Standalone flash launcher application
Attila Csipa, one of your Maemo Community Council representatives, has announced FlashLaunch, a "Qt based GUI front end that launches your favourite flash games^H^H^H^H applications": I announce FlashLauncher for Maemo, your premier source for flash-based standalone content. The central focus is to build a central repository of N900-friendly flash content, but there are many other benefits as well. FlashLauncher is currently available from Extras-devel, but due to the PR1.2 delays, users may wish to wait until PR1.2 is released to try it. More adventurous users may wish to try the experimental version, which works on PR1.0 and PR1.1.
Lens Cover Reminder shows lens cover status on the N900
A new application by Nicolai Hess will show a reminder in the status bar when the lens cover is left open. Enter `Lens Cover Reminder' by nicolai that notifies you of an open lens cover by displaying a small icon in the status bar, as soon as you close the cover it vanishes. In cases where you somehow happen to ignore it, the phone will vibrate when you use the lock switch to lock the keyboard and screen. Lens Cover Reminder is currently available from Extras-devel (standard warnings and disclaimers apply).