Everyone loves a good head to head. Especially when it involves current champions from three different mobile ecosystems, in this case Symbian, Android and Windows Phone. Leaving aside the slightly larger form factor of the One X, how well do these three phones with exemplary build quality compare?
Of all the camera-toting smartphones that the all-conquering Nokia N8 has had to face up to, the Sony Xperia S has been the one that many have reckoned might challenge it. The full 12 megapixels, back illuminated sensor and Sony's imaging knowhow should all make the Xperia S a contender. And, in terms of speed and user experience, its camera really is a joy. But the N8 walks all over the Xperia S when it comes to the test that counts: photo quality. Sorry, Sony.
One fairly unique feature of the Symbian scene over the last decade has been the willingness of manufacturers to experiment with different form factors. And, usually, this means the introduction of physical QWERTY keyboards, perennially loved by geeks and messaging-centric users across the world.
... or so sang The Beatles. We live such frantic lives, yet we all recognise that our relationships with our family members, whichever generation, is possibly the most important thing in life itself. What has this got to do with the Nokia N8 (and, to some extent, other Symbian smartphones)? Because I was struck by how the device, sometimes uniquely, is actively affecting these relationships. Read on...
Whether you call it fragmentation or choice, having multiple versions of an operating system across a product line probably does more harm than good. While the issue rarely affects the average user, power users/developers/reviewers are all well aware of how fatiguing it can be to track a platform in parallel. Symbian is no stranger to this type of multiplicity either, and here we review the history of all its various guises over the years.
The debate started on Phones Show Chat last week, with Myriam arguing passionately for sealed batteries and me being equally sure that I wanted the flexibility of getting access to the battery in my phone. Why the argument, you may wonder? What's the big deal and what are the pros and cons of each approach? I'm glad you asked, read on. [Summary: your phones are all doomed, I'm right and Myriam's wrong....!]
The announcement of the Nokia 808 PureView certainly seemed to attract attention from all quarters. Along with a number of common questions. I tried to answer them with my ever-growing news story and in the comments, but I thought it might be useful to bring the questions together in one FAQ that you can enjoy and point others to?
The Nokia E6 was always going to be the odd one out of the Symbian^3/Anna stable - just as the E90 was back in the day, by virtue of having a different form factor and different screen resolution to all its sister devices. Moreover, the screen wasn't just different - it was physically much smaller, presenting Nokia/Symbian/Accenture with a unique challenge in how to implement the next big OS update - Belle. Here are some of the issues involved... for better or worse.
How's that for a controversial title? What I examine below is that there's more than one way to arrange focussing when shooting video on your smartphone - the rightly popular system of having continuous auto-focus does a good job a lot of the time but also manages to infuriate occasionally too. How bad is the problem, what are the alternatives and can I offer any tips for Symbian or Windows Phone users?
It's somewhat amazing that the Nokia N8 remains in the top tier of smartphones a full 16 months after release - it's fair to say that this is almost entirely due to its camera, with perhaps build quality and gadget-complement contributing too. But no phone can go on forever. If you were Nokia and wanted to produce an "N8 mark II", what would you add/tweak? What's practical? What's worthwhile?
