After being struck by an informed comment by Symbian's Executive Director, Lee Williams, that the touchscreen market would top out at about 30%, i.e. that at least 70% of phones will continue to be keypad or qwerty-driven, I wanted to get to the bottom of which smartphone keyboard, in the Symbian world, at least, was the best, in terms of size, feel, functionality and efficiency. Oh, and I wasn't allowed to include any obsolete models... [Ouch.]
With the advent of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, Steve Litchfield reprises an old rant with a look at how the current crop of 2008/2009 smartphones fare on a sunny day. Does your phone turn into a hand mirror or can you see what's going on?
It's been in every S60 phone since the first 7650 came out of Espoo... and it's still delivering for Nokia. Has Java really saved Nokia, asks Ewan Spence?
Steve Litchfield pits these two tilt-screened, qwerty-capable smartphones against each other in a straight fight.
Ewan Spence trials the official Orange Nokia 5800 'Comes with Music' package - how well does CwM work, what exactly is included and what are the gotchas? From missing tracks to catalogue inconsistencies to DRM frustrations, it's clear that CwM has a long way to go, but Ewan still reckons that Nokia deserve credit for getting this far and that the mass market will enjoy the experience.
After ditching the notion that a perfect mobile phone can exist and lugging around a slew of devices, can the new N97 finally convince guest writer Justin Berkovi that the perfect phone DOES exist? In light of the Palm ‘Pre’ and new iPhone 3GS how does the N97, in his opinion, match up?
Steve Litchfield directly compares speeds of text entry on a range of PDAs and smartphones and draws some conclusions about design and general form factor. [original article 2006, updated 2007 and June 2009]
Steve Litchfield explores the notion that there's one perfect form factor 'to rule them all'. A form that could suit everyone. And he has an answer, though don't hold your breath if you think you might see other form factors fading away anytime soon....
The largest Song Contest on Earth is underway right now in Moscow. But how can you get the Eurovision Song Contest on your smartphone? Ewan finds out.
This applies to any phone with exposed camera 'glass', i.e. which has no physical, protective shutter.
