Tony writes...
When I was a schoolboy I was (like many other schoolboys) fascinated by science fiction. This was in the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who, Star Wars had just been released and Blake’s 7 was on TV. I wanted three things:
- A secret base built into a mountain
- My own spaceship
- A pocket computer
I’m still working on the first two. But the pocket computer is well and truly here and is more impressive than anything I could have imagined back in the late 1970’s. Today’s smartphone can connect me with anyone in the world, it gives me access to a dizzying amount of information, it can hold my entire music collection, it takes photo’s better than any camera my parents could afford back then, it organises my life, and so on and so on.
These devices have become desirable through a combination of clever marketing, genuinely useful services and the development of truly user-friendly interfaces. There is an ever-growing market for smartphones and so manufacturers have responded with an enormous choice of shiny gadgets.
There are some slick pushers out there too, in the form of mobile operators; getting us hooked with a free phone. And hey, we’ll give you a new one when it’s time to renew the contract. We keep going back for more.
But nowadays, it’s too long to wait for that twelve or eighteen month contract to expire before getting a new device. We want new devices as soon as they come out (even way before they come out in some cases – Nokia N8 anyone?). Read the tech blogs and you’ll see a new handset being introduced on an almost daily basis. Yes, those tech blogs; the phone that was awesome six months ago is now an embarrassment, only to be mentioned when deriding some hapless new phone (“What, it’s only got a 1GHz processor? Man, that’s nasty! Even the [insert phone here] had that six months ago. This sucks!”) Present company excepted, of course.
Symbian is the mobile operating system of choice for me. Well, I say ‘of choice’, but really it just sort of turned out that way. I always took a Nokia handset with any new mobile contract. Latterly, those have been smartphones. So I’ve built up knowledge of the OS and a fair collection of software that I use every day on my phone.
The latest handset that Vodafone provided to me last November was the much-maligned Nokia E72. It’s a great phone and I haven’t experienced any of the issues that have been reported ad-infinitum on the internet. Indeed it has served me very well. Up until a couple of months ago, that this.
2010 has seen a real change for mobile operating systems. Android has come on leaps and bounds; Apple released iPhone 4 and Nokia – and by association, Symbian – has been struggling. Yes, a lot of the issues have been exaggerated by the tech press – and not just the American tech press. But let’s face it, Nokia has been experiencing real problems – despite being a fanboy I won’t try to defend them here. Suffice it to say that the recent changes to the company senior management sends a clear message, to me at least, that Nokia is serious about sorting things out.
Two months ago I was in turmoil. I had a severe case of gadget lust and was itching for a new toy to play with. But the sheer weight of choice!
- The iPhone 4: look at that display! Look at the video editing software! Look at the App Store! But I don’t use iTunes. None of my music will play on it. Am I cool enough to own an iPhone?
- OMG, the HTC Desire! Look at that huge screen! Look at the Android Market! But I don’t use Google services. Look at the battery life, ugh! Android fragmentation, arrgh!
- Nokia N8: look at the build quality! What about that camera! Symbian^3! But wait a minute – Symbian’s finished, isn’t it? Nokia’s on the ropes, aren’t they? Remember the N97...
What to do?
In the end, my inability to decide turned out to be a good thing. I looked again at my E72 and made myself think carefully about why I wanted to change it. The reality is that only one thing about the phone really bugs me – the small screen. Everything else is great; it’s fast, it’s stable – no, in fact it’s solid as rock – the battery life is biblical in scale and the phone is still being supported by Nokia (just last week they sent me a text message advising me of a firmware upgrade).
Even the battery cover doesn’t get me down. Yes, if I press one of the bottom corners it does move. I couldn’t say for certain how much, perhaps less than half a millimetre? I have cheated here though, by using the superb Otterbox ‘Commuter’ case. If you have an E72 and intend to hang on to it for a while, I cannot recommend it highly enough. It’s not cheap, but you won’t believe the difference it makes to the phone.
I made a decision; to stick with the E72 and really get to know it and to get as much out of it as I can. With that resolution made, I realised that my objective was going to take some doing. Because if you’ve ever dug around the menus of a S60 3rd Edition FP2 device, you’ll know that there is a ton of stuff in there. The more I looked the more I found:
“What, it can read text from a photo?” (Multiscanner)
“I can talk to it and it’ll do stuff?” (Vlingo)
“It can share its content on my home network?” (Home Media)
And then Vodafone finally released the v3 firmware...
“Internet Radio? Thank you.”
“This World Traveller thing isn’t bad.”
“I’ve no idea what SC is, but I’m looking forward to finding out.”
Of course, the Ovi Store is really coming on as well. Sure, it’s not the Apple App Store, but there is some good stuff to be had; JoikuSpot for Wi-fi tethering, Opera Mini for fast browsing, MicroPool for relaxing. Don’t like the Ovi Store? Fine, take your pick from m.google.com, or try handango.com, or symbian.org .
One criticism that is often unfairly levelled at the Symbian platform is that 3rd party software is expensive. While I do make use of some premium titles, like Handy Safe Pro, most of the really useful applications I use are free: Ovi Maps, Opera Mobile/Mini, Podcatcher, JoikuSpot (yes, there is a premium version that you can pay for).
There can be no doubting that one of the key attractions of the modern smartphone is the facility to install new software. A second resolution was made: to try out a new application every couple of weeks. The latest title is ViewRanger; and I’m loving it. I live in the Highlands of Scotland (sorry to boast), and ViewRanger is a great tool when out walking. Even the simple function of recording a walk (or ‘Trip’ as VR calls it) has the potential to enhance the whole experience; I can see exactly how far I’ve walked and so push myself to do a little more; ViewRanger lets you tag a point of interest so that you can find it again later and it also includes geo-tagging of photographs.
Here's Rafe's excellent little overview video of ViewRanger on S60, which will give you an idea:
So - I’ve rediscovered my phone, and it has been a very enjoyable process. Smartphone life is good for me right now and I’m happy with my device. I won’t be changing any time soon. At least, not until May next year when my contract runs out...
Tony Butler, for All About Symbian, 19 October 2010