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 timely and 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?
This month saw the start of the Microsoft Browser Ballot in EU countries. As part of the deal with the Competition watchdogs in Europe, Windows users are being presented with a randomised “ballot” screen of alternative browsers, including Firefox, Opera, Safari and Chrome, as well as the company’s Internet Explorer product. Is there any implication to the mobile market in this decision? Maybe...
Nokia and T-Mobile USA today announced the forthcoming availability of the Nokia Nuron. The Nuron is a T-Mobile customised version of the Nokia 5230 and is termed a 'smartphone for the masses'. It operates on T-Mobile's 3G network and will come pre-loaded with Ovi Store (including operator billing) and Ovi Maps (including worldwide free navigation). It will be one of the cheapest smartphones available in the US market.
In an epic tale of heroism and 'making do', I lead you through a series of hopefully thought-provoking segments, showing that perhaps there's more to a smartphone than feeling compelled to buy the latest £400 hardware. In the process, I point out the potential benefits of one of Nokia's unsung heroes, the E61i, my main smartphone through the summer of 2007 and a device to which I was recently reintroduced. Reality bites home in the end, though, and I conclude that there's an equal acknowledgement to be made in terms of progress made by Nokia and Symbian over the last few years.
In All About Symbian Insight 107 (AAS Podcast 171), Rafe, Ewan and Steve chat about some the information from the Anssi Vanjoki interview. We respond to some of the questions around what Nokia could have done, the implications of device families, and the awareness of the issue. Steve then reports back on Ovi Maps 3.4, before we finish with a discussion of how Nokia is like Batman (thanks Ewan). You can listen to AAS Insight 107 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
In this wide ranging video Julien Fourgeaud talks about his role at the Symbian Foundation (Road Map and Propositions) and shares some possible future directions for the platform. As a connected and customisable embedded system the platform has a great deal of potential. Opening up the platform, via the EPL release, adds a great deal of flexibility, has important cost implications and will enable the community to take the platform in new directions.
In part 3 of our MWC interview with Anssi Vanjoki, EVP of Markets at Nokia, we discuss the future. How "for the great masses of the world, the first computer they will have will be an extension of the phone based on Symbian". How MeeGo's rich contextual crossing of the real and virtual world will use a map-based user interface and will create "the possibility for people to live in the media."
In the second half, we hear about the three "buckets" (types) of competitors, the importance of open standards and ecoystems, and a three-fold answer to how we should judge Nokia's future business performance (KPIs).
Sometimes you say something and it gets a bit out of hand, the reaction isn't what you expect. That happens in the All About Symbian (virtual) staff-room as well. So what happens when a new updated (and known controversial) app comes in such as MyPhone to be considered? Ewan lets loose on the pointlessness of making your phone look like one from a completely different platform, that's what...
In the second and final part of a two parter, Steve Litchfield again looks outside the Symbian world to ask if the current Android flagship could replace a Symbian-powered smartphone. In the process of answering the question, he analyses (in order) the next eight essential functions which devices like the Nokia N97 perform for him - how easy would it then be for a non-Symbian device like the Google Nexus One to step up to the plate? (In case you missed it, here's part 1, covering the top seven functions)
In part 2 of our MWC interview with Anssi Vanjoki, EVP of Markets at Nokia, there is discussion of how moving Symbian into the Symbian Foundation stops the platform being "fractioned by individual product programs [within Nokia]". We also touch on whether there is a future for the 'Nokia N95 form factor' smartphone.
In the second half, Anssi Vanjoki talks about Nokia's software strategy and how the common elements of Qt and common Web Runtime provide a unifying layer between Symbian and MeeGo. He then touches on the importance of open source as a new 'software making model' for Nokia moving forward.
In All About Symbian Insight 106 (AAS Podcast 170), Rafe, Ewan and Steve look back on Mobile World Congress 2010. Rafe shares his views on a number of subjects including the Symbian Foundation news, Nokia's software strategy (Symbian and MeeGo) and the Qt developer story, Windows Phone 7 Series and more. Steve and Ewan manage to communicate some of their views too and fire a few rapid fire questions at Rafe. You can listen to AAS Insight 106 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
At Mobile World Congress, I sat down with Anssi Vanjoki, EVP of Markets at Nokia, to talk about the Nokia N97. The highly anticipated device was released last summer and while it has been a commercial success for Nokia, it has been subject to a great deal of criticism from consumers for its software and underpowered hardware.
With the release of version 20 and 21 of the firmware, many of the software issues have been resolved. In the video, Anssi Vanjoki acknowledges the issues and explains how Nokia has learnt important lessons, which have been fed into the process of creating Symbian^3 and Symbian^3 devices. He says that "we have taken the learnings and when Symbian^3 comes out you can rest assured it will be perfect".
Rafe introduces All About Symbian's and Mobile Industry Review's video coverage of Mobile World Congress 2010. Over the next five weeks we'll be bringing you more than 70 videos covering a wide variety of subjects including interviews, walkabouts, stand tours, handset demos, developer profiles, software showcases and much more. This video provides an introduction to MWC and describes some of the forthcoming content.
In the first of a two part feature, Steve Litchfield looks outside the Symbian world to ask if the current Android flagship could replace a Symbian-powered smartphone. In the process of answering the question, he starts to analyse (in order) the 15 essential functions which devices like the Nokia N97 perform for him - how easy would it then be for a non-Symbian device to step up to the plate?
A month ago, I pitched the (then) brand new Google Nexus One against the Symbian-powered Samsung i8910 HD, a very close match in terms of form factor and specifications, concluding along similar lines - there was little to choose between them. But with the advancement of the original Nokia N97, a i8910 HD comtemporary, with its new v21 firmware and with hardware issues now largely fixed, I wondered how the N97 would fare when gently pushed into the same hardware-accelerated playground....
