My smartphones are usually geared around helping me work - email, web, IM, and so on. But every once in a while, real life intervenes, with family visits (in this case) demanding a complete break from work activity. And yet my Nokia 5800 turned out to be a star performer in everyone's eyes rather than a geeky 'Steve's trying to work when he should be chatting' electronic toy. Somewhat surprisingly.
If you've just been itching to get to grips with the Nokia N97's user manual - or if you just want to take heart from the fact that there's an official Support page for it on Nokia's web site now (meaning that the device is about to ship), then knock yourself out (via Vaibhav). In other N97 news, there's a detailed look at its insides here (gulp).
Nokia and Vodafone today unveiled a new S60 device that will be exclusive to the Vodafone network. The Nokia 6730 Classic, which will be available from June, runs on S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, has a 3.2 megapixel camera, 2.2 inch QVGA screen and integrated GPS. It continues the push of S60 into mid-tier devices, using the platform to take services to the mass market. Read on for more.
At an event tonight in London, Sony Ericsson has formally launched the 'Idou' concept as the 'Satio', to be available Q4 this year. Rafe's on the spot and will report here shortly in much more detail. See, for example, the AAS Twitter feed. Two other non-smartphones were launched, with equally 'modern' names, it's a new chapter for Sony Ericsson, it seems. The Satio will have its media player integrated with YouTube and Picassa, plus there's full Play Now Arena support. Plus the already-known specs, including the 12 megapixel stills camera and Xenon flash. More below. Don't go away....
Yesterday Rafe had the opportunity to attend Nokia's Design Day: The Inside Story. The event, held at Nokia's London design studio, offers a closer look at a number of design projects. This year the topics included iconography (a global design language), gestures (future interaction methods), homescreens (empowering users through personalisation), and the Nokia N97 (merging the physical and online world). We'll have more detailed coverage next week, but, as a taster, here are a few images from the day.
In All About Symbian Insight 72 (AAS Podcast 131) Steve, Ewan and Rafe round up an eclectic collection of news including Google Calendar Sync, Spore, recent MOAP devices, recent stats and Omnia HD availability. In the second part of the show discuss moments of change - times when we've seen a device of technology that marks a significant shift. You can listen to AAS Insight 72 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
In the last of his video diaries with the Nokia E75, embedded below, Ewan chats at length about its multimedia capabilities - camera, music, recording, and so on. It's fair to say that he still likes the device and considers it well above average. Your comments welcome on both the E75's multimedia and also on the video diary format. Which device would you like to see Ewan tackle next?
How many phones should you make? Every time a company launches a new smartphone, they have to make a decision on how many to make and balance the need to have stock, create a demand for the product, and not leave so many on the shelf that you lose money overall in the batch. Is this decision the key to market survival in a recession?
In response to popular demand, I've added the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD) to my 'choose your perfect smartphone' Grid, along with the HTC Touch Pro 2 and the HTC Touch Diamond 2. How does the Grid perform for you now? It chooses the Nokia E71 for me, followed by the 5800 XpressMusic, which isn't a million miles out. Comments welcome!
It may be named an enterprise device, but Nokia's E75 could easily measure up as a consumer device on the High Street, couldn't it? Ewan takes a look at the slider form factor device from the point of view of the regular man in the street. See also the rest of our full Nokia E75 review: Nokia E75 - Part 1: General Design and Hardware (Rafe) and Nokia E75 - Part 2: Camera and Multimedia (Steve)
Always interesting to see the latest figures coming out, this time from Gartner for Q1 2009. Nokia's market share in the smartphone world had fallen slightly, to 41%, but they still sold more devices (15 million) than the next four manufacturers put together. The 5800 in particular was pointed out as a success story. Behind Nokia in the stats were RIM with 20% of the market, and Apple at 11% with their iPhone. In terms of smartphone OS, Symbian powered just under 50% of devices sold. Comments welcome!
Issue 88 of the (newly renamed) Smartphone & PDA Essentials magazine (in the UK) has a seven page feature group test on 'Best multimedia smartphones', looking at all aspects of music, image, video and camera, plus the relevant interfaces and controls. In addition to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, the other contestants were the Blackberry Storm, the Samsung Tocco Ultra and the T-Mobile G1. Rather curiously, the Apple iPhone was absent, and it was doubtless written too early to look at the Samsung i8910 (Omnia HD) - in their absence, the Nokia 5800 swept all before it with an overall rating of 9/10. Photo below.
NTT DOCOMO today announced its new handset line up for 2009. Included in the line up are Symbian (MOAP) phones from Fujitsu (F-08A and F-09A) and Sharp (SH-05A, SH-06A, SH-06A NERV and SH-07A). Features include being water proof (low end models) and 10 megapixels cameras, GPS built in digital TV receivers, world roaming (high end models).
Hopefully pulling no punches, I've been mulling over all the different form factors seen in the smartphone world in the last half dozen years. Is there a common consensus 'perfect' form factor? No. Could there be one in the future? Yes, I argue in The Quest for the Perfect Form Factor. And, to the point, at least one of 2009's smartphone contenders is achingly close, at least in terms of hardware, to the ideal. This being something of a contentious subject, your comments more than welcome of course!
The 8GB variant of the Samsung i8910 HD (also known as the Omnia HD) is now available to buy on the UK operator Orange. The handset costs £97.50 on a new 18 month - £35 contract. Once the phone is available through Orange's retail partners this price will likely fall, but at the moment the i8910 is only available direct from Orange retail (limited stock) or its online store.
