OK, its old news but it made me laugh.
Nokia has seen its market share slip in recent years and clearly needed something new to allow it to rub shoulders with the mobile glitterati once again.
So what do they do?
Well they must have thought long and hard about the Symbian Foundation – and they decided to drop that. So what next.
Well, had I been at their internal meetings I would have pointed out that Nokia needed sexing up big time, it needed to do real battle with the ubiquitous iDevices and the newcomer Android. Nokia clearly needed a full makeover of its brand to appeal to the new generation of consumers who actively seek out not only the best but the coolest.
I find the decision to throw the towel in with Windows Mobile a very intriguing and strange way of achieving this – Microsoft’s public image is exactly the same as that of Nokia – it is perceived as safe and boring.
I may well be wrong as it is highly possible that there are many people out there who are actually happier with the safe and boring choice. But I will be watching carefully
Nokia is the world`s largest mobile phone manufacturer, consistently out-selling its rivals over the course of many years. It has not earned this title lightly, as it has managed to cater to every niche in the market and even invent a few of its own. As such its mobiles appeal to the gadget fiend and the mainstream user alike. The N Series phones are at the top end of Nokia`s line up and over the years they have built up a large following, with new handsets arriving regularly to refresh the range. Here is a quick overview of the N Series Nokia phones that are on the market today.
Nokia N900
The Nokia N900 arrived at the end of 2009 and it was the first N Series handset to sport the Maemo operating system rather than the Symbian platform of which Nokia has been a patron in the past. The N900 represents a significant shift in the N Series in more ways than one, as its tablet style design marks it out as a serious mobile internet machine rather than a commonplace smartphone. The 3.5 inch touchscreen display is supplemented with a full QWERTY keypad hidden underneath and it has all of the hardware features that mark it out as a powerhouse. The main problem with the N900 is that its software and hardware is unlikely to appeal to the same audience that might go for something like the iPhone. It is a little too tech-heavy, but in the right hands it can be the perfect tool for mobile browsing.
Nokia N97 and N97 Mini
The Nokia N97 joined the N Series last year and it stuck to the Symbian platform of its predecessors, although it underwent some significant work in order to make the touchscreen interface operate accurately. This overhaul involved adding live widgets to the homescreen, which can be updated with information from social networking sites and messaging services without you having to open individual applications. This was quickly copied by many rivals and made the N97 something of a trend-setter. Few rivals chose to copy its angled, slide-out QWERTY keypad, although this was a boon for fans of messaging as it means you would be able to type fast without relying on the virtual keypad onscreen. The N97 was resized and released as the Mini later, with the smaller screen and less onboard storage representing the only major changes. It still possesses the five megapixel camera and wealth of software used by its big brother, making it a more pocketable alternative.
Nokia N8
When the Nokia N8 arrives it will represent yet another shift in the N Series line up, because it is set to make use of the brand new Symbian 3 operating system. Gone are the slide-out keypads of its predecessors, replaced with a touchscreen interface and a powerful new array of hardware. Its most interesting feature is the 12 megapixel camera mounted on the rear, which can take stills and record video in high definition. Critics are concerned that the N8`s software will not go far enough to make it competitive against the likes of Android and the iOS, but hopefully it will be cheaper than rivals, benefiting from mobile phones deals and an attractive price point.
Ok, I gave in and went for an Iphone, just wanted, I think to see what all the fuss was about.
The phone is nice, easy to use but I am increasingly annoyed at the proprietary way in which Apple has closed down access to the phone.
My last few phones ( Android, Symbian and Windows Mobile 6.1 ) have allowed me to drag music onto the hard drive, beam files via bluetooth and install apps/ games from many sources ( all without any issues). The iPhone’s locking in to iTunes gets on my nerves, but still it is very easy to use.
The camera is a but pony but I will just have to make do with it. The email program synched up nicely to my Google Apps account via Exchange ( iPhone > Microsoft > Google ???) and some of the apps ( like Magic Seaweed Surf reports ) are just dandy.
All in all the phone is not up to the quality of the HTC Hero Android phone and not as robust and usable as the Nokia N95 but it is kind of cute and relatively easy to use.
The unlimited data which comes with the Orange contract helps in a big way to enjoy a mobile life as well.
The icing on the cake was the purchase ( as I want to keep this phone a grade as I suspect I will try to swap it for an Android phone one day) of a beautiful iphone case from Maikai. It did, however take me several days to remove the thick plastic from the thin screen protector but that was ‘my bad’.
Om my god I thought to myself as I drove along. Funnily I am back to using a N95 again, after a couple of years with Windows Touchscreen devices and more recently the wondrous HTC Hero.
Well the voice comes on the radio and announces free voice navigation from now on with my Nokia N95.
I have to tell you that the N95 still stands out as a superb piece of kit. Even having used ‘more advanced’ gadgets since first falling in love with the N95.
So I am happy about that, my return to Symbian and the easy way in which the phone works, its easy operability and ruggedness – so a free upgrade to the Sat Nav was a great concept.
I visit therefore Nokia Maps Updater online and look forward to updating my phone with a certain pride that it is still the ‘dogs’.
Then Nokia hits me with its bombshell – please select model – it is apparently only available on selected models.
I try in vain, downloading the app anyway and installing when it warns that it is not compatible with my phone… and indeed it is not.
Oh, the disappointment, I was so buoyed by Nokia’s forward thinking ( loyalty can be purchased by such moves ) that I spent a while uninstalling the Ovi Maps and transferring all my Nokia data to a new PC I have… Only to find this.
I guess I will have to source some other Sat Nav for the Nokia.
Most saddened by whole affair.
Well, I am nearing the end of a contract and looking rather desperately for the successor to the Nokia 6500. To tell the truth I thought it would be more like an N Series phone when I ordered it and did not realise that was not S60. Still it has proven a reliable and rugged gadget and has logged 100′s of hours of gaming time thanks to the RBS Rugby 08 game installed on it. ( the 09 looks rather silly so far).
So, I look around and the Nokia 5800 shouts out, like imagine a touchcreen S60 – sounds great, oh and I am dying to get back to a standard 3.5mm jack plug as anything else really does not work the same – way too fiddly.
Nokia Announce :
“As Nokia’s first mass-market device with a touch screen, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic turns a ‘user interface’ into a ‘human interface’ by truly putting people first. For example, we’ve introduced the Nokia Contacts Bar, which is like a digital RSS feed on your life,” said Harlow. “By adding the benefits of touch screen technology to S60, the world’s leading smartphone interface, Nokia is taking the familiar and giving it a human touch. We have used touch technology where it really adds value such as the Contacts Bar, Media Bar and clever shortcuts from the homescreen to menu items such as calendar, profiles and clock. ”
The phone has, as we now expect, everything , like every thing you can imagine from a mobile. Lay it on me.
Worth mentioning in retrospect that the Nokia N95 survived the fall into the toilet and total immersion.
Nokia have recenlty unveiled the Nokia N86. This latest of the superb N Series mobile phones boasts an 8 megapixel camera with Karl Zeiss lens.
This will be a beauty I am sure. They have steered further away from the almost boxy exterior of the N95 to deliver a curvaceous chassis which is reassuringly solid to the touch.
These days one does not need to list the features of an N Series mobile, save to say that it does everything we have come to expect from a mobile phone.
Additionally – the phone somes with an accellerometer to allow you to take N Gage gaming to a new level.
what is more the phone – as you see – comes in white as well – wowee
I am totally in love with my Samsung Omnia, but I do miss the Nokia N95 days of total faith in a phone and not having to look at it to do everything.
Well, I want to turn one on, would love to I reckon.
I have had the Nokia 6500 slide for a while now and it is as I would have expected.
But this has quite annoyed me.
For a start, when I synchronise it with Nokia PC Suite it gives me the option to install Nokia Maps. i would like to, even though the mobile has no GPS functionality it would still be nice to search and look at the maps. Any way that is that really, you cant install them on this.
More annoying is the preinstalled TrafficTV app in the phone. on initial boot it looks like a maps app sort of thing and I played with it for a while, but was worried lest I rack up any data costs. I tried deleting it from the phone in case I started playing with it after a few beers, it wouldn’t let me.
Worse was to come, I called Orange Customer Services yesterday on a separate matter and they told me that I had been signed up for a £4 a month contract to TrafficTv, I had made doubly sure that I had not accepted any terms or conditions to that affect. I am super wary of such things these days.
happily they cancelled this dubious obligation on my part and we parted on good terms. I even took up a free 2 month evenings and weekends data offer so felt quite pleased.
To summarise, watch tgose prebundled applications installed on your new mobile phone. They are throwing a lot of money in development of these devices and need to claw it back by increasing average revenue per user……… Sneaky bunch they are.
OK, please ignore my post of yesterday, or was it the day before I am not sure. I looked at all the hugely featured mobiles available and came to the decision that it was time for something solid and sensible. A bit like the choice of a Nokia 6230 a few years ago.
I phoned Orange, and with little deliberation or consideration opted for the Nokia 6500 Slide in Black. Orange took very little time to dispatch and deliver this lovely little number. It charged up nicely and turned on with a wink and a smile.
It is fully featured, yet not overdone. Although I am the type to enjoy exploring menu structures ad infinitum I think I had explored the 6500 in a couple of hours. The camera is a 3.2 megapixel Karl Zeiss © lens. and is a joy to use.
I will miss the GPS functionality of the N95 as well as its Wifi Sniffing capabilities, but it is all mine.
Nokia maps have completely flummoxed me of late. I upgraded my Nokia N95 software as I had been promised a faster GPS connection as a result. I put up with the loss of my beloved Brian Lara Cricket game, but that is a waste of time anyway.
I rebooted and waited – a standard procedure for some of today’s latest mobile phones. On opening up Nokia maps I was saddened to see that the phone had no recollection of my previously lovingly installed maps from Smart2Go. I love zooming in on rethymno, Crete to see my old haunts. I tried reinstalling the maps using Smart2go Maploader ( a lugubrious application ) to no avail. I was becoming rather disillusioned by the software upgrade, losing my cricket and all that.
My next step was Orange who advised I called Nokia ( buck passers ). I did call Nokia, indeed I spent an hour on hold at various times of the day and night.
By chance and through a process of elimination I discovered that the old Smart2Go maps are no longer supported by the new Nokia Maps application, I downloaded the new Nokia Maps Loader and was soon zooming into my sat nav maps and even enjoying a markedly faster connection time to the satellites I believe are up there somewhere.
The unfortunate thing was that my original download of the Nokia Maps App had included a free 3 day trial of their navigational software ( with voice prompts) and it took me 4 days to solve the issues with me Nokia N95 above….they also seem to have removed the tracking facility on the new map software.. cheeky, like they are trying up revenues…
You see I still haven’t got it cracked, I use the GPS Sat Nav on my Nokia N95 all the time in the car. I set the route using the landmarks feature and calculate route. Then I show on map and start tracking. Generally, if I have decent satellite signals the GPS functions fine.
It is only a pity that you can’t use it in widescreen mode as the GPS receiver is located in the base of the N95′s handset. I have been thinking of trying to find a small LCD screen with video in ports so that I can use the TV Out of the Nokia to have larger screened in car navigation available.
Driving along I either glance down at the mobile on my dashboard ( I still have not got a decent in car cradle for my N95 but am looking ) or I hand the handset to my daughter who confirms yes, we are still on the blue line.
I am nearing the stage when these steps must be overcome; I need a cradle, a new screen, and above all, I need a screen with a better size, for glancing and I will need some Navigational Software so that I have voice prompts to tell me where I am wand when I need to turn and all of that stuff.
Looking online for Navigational Software ( I am loathe to click accept on the Nokia’s internal menu as this must be the most expensive option ) I find some interesting alternatives;
- CoPilot Live 6 : – from www.alk.com/copilot/pocketpc.asp at around £50 looks ok and is fully featured, but it appears not to use the same maps ( from smart2go ) as I am used to. I also worry about hidden data charges.
- Wayfinder :- from www.wayfinder.com has be recommended many times on the Symbian forums
- Route 66 from 66.com is also a frontrunner and the fully featured product Mobile 7 S60 looks by far the best I have found online
I will be trying to find online trials of demos of each of these different S60 Navigation Software for my Nokia N95 and will report once whey have been assessed.
