Nokia N86 v20 firmware adds face detection and camera improvements

Published by Steve Litchfield at 19:09 UTC, September 30th 2009

The Nokia N86 8MP has received its v20 firmware upgrade a full week or so ahead of schedule, with v20.115 now available over the air (*#0000# on your homescreen) and via Nokia Software Update. There's a changelog below, but all you need to know is that this preserves user data and is a must-have - it's 8MB, large for an over the air update, takes over five minutes to apply and updates getting on for 6% of all OS files and modules. Read on.

Updating the N86 to v20.115 via FOTA (firmware over the air).

v20.115 brings:

Camera improvements:

• Improved still image quality
• Improved video quality
• Face detection added
• Red-eye removal added (Nokia note: "this is image processing which removes the red-eye. You need to be in red-eye reduction flash mode for it to be operational. Other flash modes it is disabled as there is a small shot to shot impact due to the extra image processing.")
• New focus point indication - this shows where in the scene the camera is focussing
• Improved Close-up focus. (Nokia note: "As a result you will find in most situations you can focus much closer than before. The new focus point indication will also help in confirming which part of your subject is used for critical focus checking")

Face detection is indicated by a yellow square.

Significant bug fixes to:

• Web
• Music store client
• RealPlayer
• Ovi Maps (including faster calibration of the digital compass)
• Here and Now
• N-Gage client
• Nokia Messaging

There's also now:

• Automatic VoIP re-registration.
• Ovi Chat shortcut on the homescreen
• An new Ovi services splash screen
• An Ovi Store client (though it's buggy, selections from the Options menu are problematic.... - best use the mobile Ovi Store site in the meantime?)
• An initial option to check for software updates when a customer first boots up the phone

In addition, there's more free space on C: (around 70MB when you start afresh), there's more free RAM (around 65MB after booting) and the N86 feels faster. 

In short this is a must-have upgrade. I have been using product code RM-484, but other N86 variants should get v20.115 in fairly short order. Network-branded handsets will, of course, have a much longer wait.....

PS. It's worth noting that some bugs are still present. BBC iPlayer downloads claim to be 'downloaded to Gallery' but in fact aren't shown (you have to launch them from File manager). Feel free to chime in with unfixed bugs in the comments. 

Steve Litchfield, All About Symbian, 30 Sept 2009

Categories: Hardware
Platforms: S60 3rd Edition

Quote:

Originally Posted by miki69 Nice, major improvements in camera department as expected, however many other major issues are not resolved like when images saved to mass memory, they don't appear under Captured or Months; Music icon from main menu is broken.... I was expecting more overall improvements, not just camera ones. Cheers, Miki

Hi I'd like to be clear in understanding this issue.

Could you take a new picture and check if it is visible under captured?

Images which were not taken with your specific device will not be visible in this location but only under all. That's how this was designed to make it easier to separate your captured content from other images from other sources etc.

br

Quote:

Originally Posted by srw985 Any way to remove that silly Chat shortcut from the homescreen? I'm never going to use it

Yes. menu > tools > settings > general > personalisation > standby mode > standby theme > select horizontal icon bar.

atb

Quote:

Originally Posted by miki69 Music is ok, but all images I take are saved in "All" folder and not in "Captured", so "Captured" and "Months" are always empty. That was also an issue with v11.043 and I hoped they corrected this in v20.115 but unfortunately not. Is your Music icon (red/pink one)in main menu broken as well or not? Maybe I should do full update (over 140MB) via NSU to correct this.... Cheers, Miki

re music icon. Do you have a standard theme? If so please share an image if you can of the problem.

atb

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unregistered Firmware update is not on the NAM version. Just like the E71 update.

Should be available next week if all goes well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samantha_ Is Face Detection function only software dependent? If yes, can it be available for other devices in the future?

No other products in Nokia's *currently available* portfolio are planned to receive this via a FW update. This is principally because of the [more powerful] dedicated image processor N86 uses is different to other current products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamianDinning This is principally because of the [more powerful] dedicated image processor N86 uses is different to other current products.

Since the N86 has a more powerful processor than other N-series, would it be possible to add D1 (720x480) 30fps video recording? It's just a small step up from VGA, and most other camera-centric phones already have it. What about smile and blink detection?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rvirga Since the N86 has a more powerful processor than other N-series, would be possible to add D1 (720x480) 30fps video recording (it's just a small step up from VGA, and most other camera-centric phones already have it)? What about smile and blink detection?

Re video res. There are multiple system issues with this which make it much more complicated than it sounds unfortunately. Whilst others may have higher res I think N86 does an excellent job in capturing very good detail in a wide range of situations with great sound.

Re blink OK that I can see merit in if implemented well. Very few cam phones IMO have done achieved this. Smile detection. Other than possibly self-timer use, you're going to have to convince me that this is not just a gimmick. I'd rather our sw people spent time on other things which 1. you'll use and 2. that will allow you to genuinely take better pics.

atb

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadamehr Hi Damian. Just got in from work now 11.30pm, so not had a chance to update yet etc.

As said before this was more maintenance in practice than new features.

However, the camera did get attention here so I understand how you come to this view. I suggest you run the update first.

The change log doesn't do justice to the amount of work involved to deliver this release and the number of refinements. I'm not going to go in to detail here and answer each and every point but as also said before this forum and many others are sources for collecting feedback. We then look at all the collective feedback. When I checked the actual data re feedback through our call centres etc the data for N86 is low suggesting the vast majority of people are happy. In your case and some others I understand there are points you would like to see attention. I think we have addressed the vast majority. If there are points which you feel we have missed then we'll try and address those in a future update. I know the people involved will value this feedback.

BTW yes a specialist subject for me maybe imaging but I was responsible for concepting this product along with others which have not yet seen the light of day. You can't do that JUST by knowing about imaging :-)

atb

Quote:

Originally Posted by DamianDinning snipped... The change log doesn't do justice to the amount of work involved to deliver this release and the number of refinements...

I think that statement alone, is hugely encouraging.

If not though, the rest of what you said, not quoted here, about still feeding it through/people watching these forums etc, is good to hear too.

So thanks again Damian.

Oh, and call you a one trick pony...? Me...? Never.

*lol*

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