As you know, I've taken lots of photos with lots of camera phones and thus have some experience with using the different form factors. While, camera performance comparisons-aside, you can take acceptable photos with almost any phone these days if you know how to hold it and use it right, that doesn't mean that all camera phones are made equal in terms of physical usability. Heck, even all but one of the Symbian-powered camera-centric brigade fall down by my exacting standards. All but one. The One.
It's all very well having a monster camera on board (Nokia 808, N8 or N86), but what about when your phone has a lowly space-saving EDoF camera? For example, on the Nokia E6, E7 or C7. I've been over the principles of EDoF before, but this piece brings you a dozen specific tips and examples to help you get better snaps.
One curious quirk of the modern phone world is the way the humble SIM card has slimmed down - annoyingly, it's not quite so easy to swap SIM cards between phones as it used to be, with half the phones using 'mini SIM' (the old standard) and most of the rest using 'micro SIM' (and yes, a few iPhones being different and using 'nano SIM'!) Now, when dealing with SIM holders which are low-tech and/or 'open', sticking a micro SIM into a recommended adapter is usually problem-free, but devices with sprung SIM slots like the N8 and C7 are a different matter. You may remember David's disaster story here? Happily, there's a very low-tech workaround, as detailed below by guest writer Paul Sargeant...
Here's a question for you. Which Symbian-based handsets deserve a place in the pantheon of usable smartphones going into 2013? Where do we draw the line going back and how do the current generation of devices fare when looked at in the cold light of Android day? I try to give some honest opinions below but your comments and input most definitely welcomed. What will you be putting your SIM card into next year?
Following my review of the Mugen BV-4D 1500mAh replacement for the Nokia 808, many people had wondered how practical it would be to transplant this cell into the E7 Communicator - after all, the form factor of the battery and pin configuration is identical. The main issues were a few slight worries over nominal voltage and charging quirks, over the actual capacity of the Mugen battery and, perhaps insurmountably, how the heck to get at the E7's battery in the first place? Fear not, for All About Symbian again paves a way where even angels fear to tread - I dismantle my device and attempt to give it the world's first E7 heart transplant. [Summary: don't get your hopes up!]
The feel of cold hard metal in your hand - there's nothing like it. The quality, the sense of something very special. I reviewed the Apple iPhone 5 recently and declared it as much an item of jewellery as a phone, which got me thinking. Which Symbian-powered phones from the last decade have impressed as being utter triumphs of fashion over functionality? Not necessarily metal (though that plays a part), but smartphones which have looked a million dollars and not really lived up to the valuation. Here's my top 10. Or should that be bottom 10? I guess it depends on your priorities!
If there's one comparison I keep getting asked for, it's putting the cameras of the Nokia N8 and Lumia 920 up against each other. And for good reason - the N8 is now two years old and those on contracts, in particular, are wondering if now is the time to jump from the End Of Life Symbian to the latest Windows Phone 8, buoyed up by the hope of 'PureView' photos from the 920's camera. Here, then, is a blow by blow real world photo shootout between the two phones, aided by a rough and ready scoring system, just to try and keep things objective.
Never let it be said that I let good article ideas wither on the vine. Drawing on a piece I did for the N8 and E7 a year or so ago (running Symbian Anna at the time), here's my top 10 battery saving measures that can be employed by anyone with a Nokia 808 PureView (or indeed a 701 or even a Belle-Refreshed N8/E7!) In extreme cases (or using my 'No. 10' tip), you can easily double battery life, easily getting two full days, perhaps even three days, of use on a single charge.
Hopefully Nokia 808 PureView owners will already have seen and digested my generic Top 12 tips for taking better photos on your Nokia N8 (and similar camera phones) - all good pointers and I do summarise these below. But I also wanted to pass on ten tips for getting better photos that are specific to the 808. In truth, it's actually hard to take a bad photo with the Nokia 808 PureView, but the advice below will still prove useful.
Almost certainly sneaking in with Symbian Nokia Belle Feature Pack 2 was direct uploading of captured videos to YouTube - it works brilliantly, but there's a huge caveat about the whole concept. Below, I show what to do and what to worry about....
