In the latest part in my phone camera series, I put the five top camera-equipped smartphones to the test, evaluating their still photo results under a variety of scenarios (landscape, night, dim, macro, etc). Which really is the best? And will the winning phone be made in Finland? I look at the Nokia N82, N95 and N93, plus the Samsung G810 and i8510... [WARNING: Broadband essential, the article includes a fair number of example images]
In an extended edition of the All About Symbian Podcast (Insight #42) we reflect on the announcements out of last week's Nokia Remix Event in London. There's some a general discussion of the tone of the event, but the meat of the podcast focuses on Nokia's first S60 touch handset, the Nokia 5800 MusicXpress, before moving on to Nokia's new Comes with Music service.
...In the UK Mobile Choice Consumer Awards, apparently. It won best phone and best smartphone, although best camera phone was also Symbian OS-powered, the awesome Samsung i8510 - of which more in an editorial tomorrow. 'Reader's choice' went to the iPhone - of course(!) Here's the full list of winners.
It seems that Russian Mobile Review impressario Eldar was also at Thursday evening's launch of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic (running S60 5th Edition, etc) and he's put together an amazingly detailed set of photos and well arranged thoughts on the device (in English, thankfully), based solely on his hour or so's hands-on. Kudos. It's certainly the best 5800 preview at the moment, though doubtless Rafe is beavering away, marshalling his own impressions...
Nokia's Italian online shop currently has the SIM-free N85 listed as "in stock" with a price of 439 euros plus taxes, so presumably the handset's Europe-wide release is imminent (or it's just a mistake on the Nokia Italy site?). (Thanks to WhoUnregMe for pointing this out.)
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a mid-range music-focussed phone, was launched today in London. It is Nokia's first touch enabled S60 phone. It runs S60 5th Edition on Symbian OS 9.4, has a 3.2" nHD (360 x 640) touch screen, WLAN and 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, integrated A-GPS and accelerometer and proximity sensors. To underline its music potential, the 5800 has a standard 3.5mm audio jack, stereo speakers, ships with a 8GB microSD card and will be one of the first phones to support Comes with Music (Q1 2009). It will be available worldwide in Q4 for 279 Euros (£215) before taxes and subsidies. Read on for much more.
Nokia's support site has just added a section for the upcoming N85 which (amongst other things) lets you read its manual in dozens of different languages. Devices are usually released within a few weeks of their support page appearing, though they may sometimes take longer.
In case you hadn't gathered, Nokia's big launch (device? new service? We're sworn to secrecy...) is tonight, at 5.00pm BST (4.00pm GMT), entitled 'Nokia Remix London' and, as usual, there's a virtual event page where you can follow all the happenings, releases and chat. If there's a video stream, look out for Rafe, who'll be there to capture video and images for All About Symbian.
I have been playing with the Nokia N85 (prototype) and present some more thoughts on the new OLED screen technology used. How does it perform outdoors, specifically in sunlight? Could this be the Achilles Heel of the technology and how big a problem is it? Your thoughts welcomed if you've used a device with an OLED display.
I can't really believe I'm recommending a rival site and video show(!), but Rafe can be seen moonlighting on the Mobile Industry Review show, they captured him chatting about the Samsung i8510 to camera. Look out also for MIR's James raving about the Nokia E71. You can skip past the first 15 minutes of the show which is all about the LG Renoir launch, to which I err... wasn't invited. Go figure.
In the fourth part of my Camera Nitty Gritty series, I examine how much (if any) difference a branded lens makes to the camera in a phone. With example photos from the Nokia N93, E90, N82 and N95, and from the Samsung G810 and i8510 and HTC Touch Pro, I try to demonstrate the variations in photo quality for a given megapixel count. What other factors play a part here and is it worth making branded optics a 'must have' item on your phone shopping list?
As reported in other international blogs, the Nokia N96's first firmware update, to v11.018, is now available to the wider world, via Nokia Software Update [at least, it's now live in the UK]. No huge feature changes. As with v11 for the N95 almost 18 months ago, this is just to fix early shipping bugs. Also, thanks to AAS regular James Burland for setting up a N96 Flickr User Group. Worth noting even if you haven't got a device, in order to see the quality of its photos...
AAS member macwhu has started a "Hello N96" blog detailing experiences with a brand new N96 bought on day of release, with a quick look at various features including the BBC iPlayer and a "fat test" against the N95.
A new type of SIM for a new type of roaming? Sounds like a job for Ewan. So we packed him off to Las Vegas on AAS expenses someone else's tab to try the MaxRoam SIM out for real. Seems like it could make significant savings for anyone travelling regularly.
The Nokia N96 is now in stock on the Finnish electronics website Verkkokauppa.com, with the unlocked SIM-free version retailing for about 600 euros plus taxes. We've also heard from the forums that the N96 is also available in Britain, with the British version preloaded with the BBC's iPlayer and three programmes. Nokia UK's shop does indeed show the N96 as "In Stock - Ready to Ship". Looking at Nokia's other shops, it seems to be in stock in France and Italy, with other countries marking it as coming soon, so this is presumably a continent-wide rollout.
