I was asked a very good question last week: "Why do you stay with Symbian when there's a world of wonder with iPhone and Android?" I have to admit to finding a number of positives in these other platforms, sometimes accompanied by positives in their hardware, but it's true that I do keep coming back to Symbian as the OS powering my smartphone-of-choice. Investigating my own leanings and trying to justify them, read on for the top 10 reasons why I stay with Symbian.
If there's such a thing as a popular whipping bag in the mobile world, the Nokia N97 surely has to be it. The original S60 5th Edition flagship has undergone so many troubles and humiliations in the last 12 months that it should surely be six feet under by now. And yet, despite having ready access to any phone in the world, my main SIM card is currently in... the Nokia N97. Here's why it sucks... and why it still rules. In an understated, misunderstood, jack of all trades way....
With the arrival chez-Phones-Show, Spring 2010, of the Sony Ericsson X10, the very latest from the world of Android smartphones, I wanted to pitch it head to head against the current flagship in the Symbian world, the Samung i8910 HD. On paper, there's a good match here... Smartphones to your corners: Fight!
No, not a cheap attempt at Google search traffic on male enhancements, but another serious look at the ever changing, ever growing statistic that is phone screen size. Steve Litchfield looks at devices and use cases past and present, from Psion Series 5 to Apple Newton to Dell Axim X51V to Nokia 7710 and through to the Samsung i8910 HD in the current day. Initially cautious over whether phones might get too big, Steve points out that a 4" display is more a 1995 phenomenon than a 2010 one....
In a late-breaking(!) addition to his extended Camera Nitty Gritty series, Steve Litchfield looks at the EDoF cameras in some of Nokia's S60 smartphones and compares performance to traditional focussing units. EDoF: a step forwards for convenience? Or a step backwards in terms of flexibility?
David Gilson looks at Nokia's new C6 and E5 smartphones in the light of the models they either replace or will be compared to. What's outstanding is, naturally enough, the prices, though David goes into significant technical detail in justifying the comparisons and conclusions.
Two years ago the Nokia N95 8GB was on top of the world, the N96 was the newest offshoot, the E61i was the best bet for the common man in the business world, and their 2.8" screens were deemed massive. And, the oddity of the E90 notwithstanding, we were happy. Weren't we? These phones did all we asked them to and the the world was good. And yet, less than 24 months later we find the smartphone world dominated by 4" screened, touch-only devices that bear little resemblance to the champions of 2008. Is it all the iPhone's fault, or is there more to the change? And will it all end in tears?
After resisting the persistent trend of touch screen smartphones, David Gilson reports on his experience of living with some S60 5th Edition touch screen phones.
While I've previously pitched the Google Nexus One head to head with the Nokia N97, concentrating on screen size and general capacity, there's another interesting comparison to be made in the smartphone world, centred on metal construction and all-round communications and multimedia ability. Here, I take the industrial designed Motorola Milestone and the Nokia N97 mini - which will stand up to my intensive testing best?
Synchronising your PIM data can be a treacherous prospect at the best of times. David Gilson has been risking the safety of his PIM data to show you how you can use the commercial service Memotoo to synchronise your S60 phone with not only Google, but the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn too.
