Series 40 catches up with S60?

[Tzer2]

Tucked away on Nokia's press release page is the announcement of the 6260 Slide, a non-smart phone based on the latest 6th Edition version of their proprietary Series 40 platform. What's remarkable though are the 6260's tech specs: 480x320 screen resolution, WebKit web browser (same engine as S60 and Safari), 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss autofocus camera, built-in GPS, Wi-Fi and tri-band 3.5G HSDPA/HSUPA. Would the average phone buyer really see any difference between this and an S60 device when they're deciding what to buy?

Read on in the full article.

[chlettn]

The 6260 sets a new standard for mid-end phones imho, so hopefully the high-end steps up as well to stay ahead

Hopefully those HVGA screens finally find their way into S60 phones soon - it really should be the new standard, since QVGA is now even available in low-end phones like the 5000 or the 5130...

[Rafe]

Tzer2 beat me to posting this - cross over between S60 and Series 40 has long been inevitable, but this device really makes it stand out.

The openness of S60 is its advantage (both for operators and customers), but this isn't always that well communicated.

[malerocks]

Phones like these will work out beautifully for a category of people that we often discuss here i.e. people who buy Symbian phones for the high hardware specifications and never ever install any apps on it to enhance the functionality. This phone has all the basic things (5MP Camera, Wifi, 3G, GPS, POP3/IMAP support).

After this phone I see no reason why a person may want to buy a Symbian phone unless he is a geek like me or a person who likes to enhance the phone functionality by adding 3rd party apps.

[Tzer2]

Malerocks and Rafe, totally agree.

For S60 to have value it needs to promote its key advantages (native apps and multitasking) in a way that appeals to more than just anoraks.

I think the key to this would be an overhauled download, which lets people easily install native software that isn't available on non-smart phones. If software installation can be made as easy as operating a built-in feature, it stands a much better chance of being used by a mainstream audience.

Consumer-oriented software shops such as the iPhone's app store, Xbox Live Arcade, Wii Virtual Console etc have shown that large numbers of people are able and willing to buy downloads as long as the purchase process is painless.

Nice..but they should have made it 8mp and teach those dumb 'cybershit' a lesson.

Nice phone, but what should we espect from next nseries flagship?
8 megapixel, WVGA screen?

[jouni]

What I want to know is all about that "new 360° navi-key" !!!

Cheers,

--jouni

i bought an N78 a month or so ago, and now they bought out N79/N85 to replace its price point, and now this 6260 which camera and screen resolution way beat N78. makes me feel really down that i missed out on these super duper phones just brought out :(

[Tzer2]

i bought an N78 a month or so ago, and now they bought out N79/N85 to replace its price point, and now this 6260 which camera and screen resolution way beat N78. makes me feel really down that i missed out on these super duper phones just brought out

Well, you haven't really missed out on the 6260 because it isn't actually out yet, it won't be out until some time in 2009. Also, it will apparently cost more than an N78, and the N78 has far superior computing ability, so the choice isn't that clearcut anyway.

But in general the phone world is very fast moving due to its immense sales, you can expect upgraded models to appear several times a year. There is no way to avoid it, the best thing is just to decide on a phone and enjoy it.

Nice phone, but what should we espect from next nseries flagship?

Well, exactly. The S60 range is going to have to at least match the 6260, so we could expect much higher resolution screens to become standard during 2009, and perhaps 5mp cameras and GPS too.

What I want to know is all about that "new 360° navi-key" !!!

Yeah, I wondered that too. No idea yet...

[chlettn]

That 360° Navi Key is apparently a d-pad without fixed directions - so, it's not 4-way or 8-way or so, but can react to finer nuances...no clue how it works exactly, but that's what I heard.


I wonder why Nokia didn't even bother to mention the high-res screen in the press release - to me this is the most important "new" thing about this phone by far...

[jrmt]

The E70 has a 416x352 screen. Okay, so not 480x320, but nearly the same number of pixels. I was always surprised they didn't carry this forward into other S60 phones.

There is one difference. For a S40 phone you can buy only java-games. For a S60 phone you can buy high quality N-Gage games like World Series of Poker, Dogz, Midnight Pool, Block Breaker Deluxe, Cafe Sudoku, Brain Challenge, Cafe Solitaire and Tetris ;-)

[natanlevine]

It doesn't matter how dumb your average consumer is he/she will notice the difference as soon as they try sending an sms while still browsing. Heck even trying to check something on the calculator while in the middle of writing a message. In my experience multi-tasking is the reason even casual users prefer s60. And anyway people are starting to be conscious of OS's. I see operators now advertise "symbian operating system" as a big selling point. But maybe that's only here in Israel.

[Tzer2]

That 360° Navi Key is apparently a d-pad without fixed directions - so, it's not 4-way or 8-way or so, but can react to finer nuances...no clue how it works exactly, but that's what I heard.

...that sounds like some kind of analogue control, if it has no fixed positions. I'm not sure what use that would be on a grid-based interface though, but perhaps the built-in apps make use of it somehow?

The E70 has a 416x352 screen. Okay, so not 480x320, but nearly the same number of pixels. I was always surprised they didn't carry this forward into other S60 phones.

Apparently the reason was the non-standard nature of 416x352, it's not a common screen size so the cost of manufacturing it was much higher than QVGA. That's why they dropped back down to QVGA, it's a lot cheaper to make it because lots of manufacturers use it in their devices (the more you make a particular size, the cheaper it costs per unit).

It also may have helped software developers as so many other smartphones use QVGA, so assets such as 2D graphics etc would have been easier to port between devices with the same screen resolution.

It doesn't matter how dumb your average consumer is he/she will notice the difference as soon as they try sending an sms while still browsing. Heck even trying to check something on the calculator while in the middle of writing a message.

...

There is one difference. For a S40 phone you can buy only java-games. For a S60 phone you can buy high quality N-Gage (and S60) games

You're both right that S60 has the ability to multitask and run native apps, which Series 40 doesn't.

But how many people realise this when they're buying a phone? Multitasking isn't advertised as a selling point, and neither are native apps.

S60 manufacturers should heavily advertise these two points if they want people to choose S60 devices instead of non-smart phones.