So, for Christmas I bought myself a used Nokia N85 from Ebay. Specifically, I bought it from a seller called “dealtree-techstore”. Here is the description they had on the auction page:
Nokia N85 Smartphone Unlocked GSM Cell Phone – Black
Overall Condition: Tested Working
Cosmetic Condition: Some scratches and/or signs of use
Testing Notes: This item is working. This item is in the original box.
This item has been tested and appears to be in good working order.
Items Included:
nokia n85 cell phone
battery
battery cover
usb cable
headset
sd micro memory card
manual
software
original box
Items NOT Included:
ac adapter
dc adapter
av cable
Well, let’s just say that they got the “items not included” correct, but they messed up on a couple of other things. The shipping time was decent.
However, they clearly stated that the phone was “black”, but in fact it was the copper model. This is not just a stylistic difference, as the actual black model was supposed to have a better built body since it was a updated version of the N85. Strike 1.
Second, they did not include a memory card. None. Strike 2.
Lastly, they did mention that there were “scratches and/or signs of use”, but it would have been nice to know that there was a significantly sized scratch on the screen. I don’t mind the scratches on the back, but that’s a little more annoying. Putting a screen protector on it helped alleviate that scratch…at least a little.
CONCLUSION:
Unfortunately, “dealtree-techstore” is not the most honest seller out there. Maybe some details slipped through the cracks, but you’d think that they would at least get the color of the phone right. I have a feeling that they do not elaborate on details (such as the crack) because it would result in a lower sell price. Unfortunately for them, I asked for $50 off what I paid because of the errors on their part. They ended up agreeing with a $30 refund, which is fine, because I wasn’t really expecting them to give me $50 back. They do have a return policy, but I needed to have a phone so that’s why I kept it.
Buyers, beware of dealtree-techstore.
p.s. Please let me know if this blog helped you or if you have any questions.
Not too long ago we asked our readers what they would like to hear about from the PUSH N900 winners and their hacks. We got some silly questions, and some serious, we asked both and now the PUSH teams have answered.
Todays team interview is KAPing with the N900. They’re N900 hack is the high flying Kite Aerial Photography. Check out what they have to say after the break. And be sure to keep up on their blog – they’ve released their first test video just a few days ago.
>Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions for HackaDay. We love when a hacker is willing to share their work with us.
Hi there, I’m [Ricardo Mendonça Ferreira], from the “KAPing with the N900″
project.
First of all, I’m a big fan of Hack-a-Day (even if I was not able to
read it for quite some time), so I’m happy to answer your questions.
>How did you and your team get together? Any fun backstory you care to share?
My other teammate is my wife. Lot’s of fun stories, but none related to
this project (yet).
Hmm… on second thought, here’s one: my wife’s stepfather was helping
us out when we were filming for the project. I asked him to assemble our
largest kite (a Maxi-Dopero, a bit larger than 4m x 2m) in the
background while I was giving an interview. We couldn’t stop laughing
when we saw the footage: he appeared scratching his had all the time, as
if he had no idea of what he was doing! Because, in fact, he didn’t!
>Have you and your team worked on any other projects? Cellular related projects? N900 projects?
We have never worked on anything like this before. We never had or used
an N900 or Arduino before this project.
>What was your main inspiration for your team’s project?
I’ve been practicing KAP (Kite Aerial Photography) since 2005, and I
always wanted a powerful yet simple to use KAP controller, so my
inspiration was my necessity. I already had planned to use an N900 for
this even before the launch of the Push N900 project. When I found out
about it, I did a bit of research and just submitted our project.
>How do you think people will react when you finish/release?
I hope more people will get to know about KAP, the N900, and use our
software and guidelines to develop their own KAP systems.
>Do you have any future plans with your team? Continued N900 development? Update your current projects?
This project is addictive! So the answer is yes, I plan to keep
updating my system and also develop other hardware and software
solutions for the N900.
>What do you think of the other winners?
They all have great and interesting projects, each one tackling
different problems and facing different challenges. I’m looking forward
to meet them and their creations in London!
>Questions from our commentators.
>
>What are you thoughts on Arduino? Do you intend to use one in your project?
I never used one before, but decided to use an Arduino Duemilanove after
reading the “PUSH N900 Hacker’s guide”. It will control two servo motors
with commands received from the N900 via Bluetooth.
>How is working with the N900 hardware and software?
Awesome! It’s like programming a desktop system. Since I’m a software
engineer with Unix experience, I felt at home with the device right from
the start.
>What do you think about the movement of cell phones towards open source software, such as the Maemo? Do you plan to, or have you ever tried Android?
I’m a big fan of both Nokia and Google for this. You can feel you really
“own” your device if it has one of these systems.
I always admired both Maemo and Android, but when I was looking for my
next gadget, I elected the N900 because Maemo seemed more mature and
with much better support for applications written in C / compiled into
native code. Of course, this opens more opportunities for processor
intensive applications than Android’s Dalvik Java virtual machine.
(Obs.: I know you can write native code for the Android, but AFAIK, it’s
not as simple as is on the Maemo, which supports it on the official SDK.)
>(If you use a secondary power source, example – to run motors) What kind of battery life is expected for your project?
This will depend *a lot* on the settings and how the system is used, but
my guess is that both motors and phone batteries will be good for
sessions longer than an hour. This is usually more than sufficient for a
good KAP session.
>Can we get a list of what you’re using in your project? (example – bluetooth sets, motors, dedicated sensors, etc)
Here’s my ingredients list:
- two N900 devices
- one Arduino Duemilanove
- one BlueSMiRF Gold Bluetooth modem
- two servo motors
- one Picavet suspension
- one rig to hold the motors and one N900
- one Rokkaku kite
- one pair of gloves
- one winder
- a lot of line
>And yes, we actually had a reader (Joe) ask the following (feel free to omit)
>How often do you change your underwear?
Please see my answer below. Should take just a couple of seconds for
some people do understand what this really is.
Before we write another word, we owe you an apology. Well, an explanation at least. You see, we’re as tired as you are of every new phone being compared to the iPhone. It’s dull, predictable and, most of the time, inappropriate. One of the things we love about the world of gadgets is diversity. Hell, it’s what this site is all about.
There’s no reason for every new phone to be compared to the iPhone. Most have been designed with a different target audience in mind, with a different set of objectives. Take Nokia’s 5800. Routinely compared to Cupertino’s finest but, in fact, it’s not supposed to compete with the iPhone; it’s a budget device. The N86? Nope, it’s an old-school camera phone and all the better for it. The N900? No again, it’s a phone-capable internet tablet designed for techies and very early adopters (even The Guide can’t be tempted yet). And yet all of these devices routinely get put up against the iPhone in comparison reviews. It’s silly and ultimately unhelpful.
When it comes to the Nokia N97 mini however, we really can’t avoid the iPhone. You see, if ever Nokia has produced a device designed to compete with the iPhone, then this – surely – is it: sexy form factor, media-focused touch screen, decent camera. This is a ‘digital lifestyle’ phone designed to appeal to the well-heeled: premium materials, social media widgets, high-quality optics. No doubt about it, this is a device that is squarely aimed at the iPhone market. So, how does it fare?
We’re long-term Apple fans and devoted iPhone users. Not because we buy into the hype, not because Steve Jobs’ reality distortion fields works on us but because, objectively, no other device has yet managed to marry advanced tech, user-friendly interface and gorgeous design in quite such a compelling package.
To find out whether the Nokia N97 mini stood a chance of dethroning our iPhone, we have just spent a week using it as our main device. So, what follows is a pretty subjective comparison between the two. It’s about what matters to us in a phone, but it’s not an exhaustive review of the N97 mini. If that’s what you’re looking for, check out All About Symbian’s excellent and very thorough review.
Hardware and form factor
We’ll be as succinct as we can here: in our view, Nokia has hit it out of the park with the N97 mini’s hardware. It looks gorgeous and feels exactly ‘as it should’ in your hand. While the iPhone always feels a little too wide and tablet-like when we’re using it to make calls, the N97 mini feels damn near perfect. And that’s not all, the mini has another trick up its sleeve: that clever hinge on the screen and the physical keyboard that lurks below.
The keyboard is great by the way: we really enjoyed it. True, the 3-row layout takes some getting used to (many reviews have complained about the odd space bar placement) but we found ourselves typing away quite happily after just one day of use. The keys, though small, have decent feedback and are well spread out. Hats off to Nokia.
The only criticism we have – but unfortunately it’s a huge one – is the resistive screen. Why Nokia didn’t fit a capacitive one we simply can’t understand. It would have made all the difference. In what way? Well that leads us to…
Ease of use
Is the N97 mini as easy and pleasurable to interact with as the iPhone? No, not even close. There are three main reasons for this: its software (which we’ll discuss in the rest of this review) and a combination of under-powered innards and that resistive screen we just mentioned.
Bottomline? When we put our finger to the iPhone’s screen, something happens. Instantly. And it’s what we intended to have happen. On the N97 mini we often found ourselves waiting, second-guessing ourselves (had we pressed hard enough?), pressing again, waiting.
We think that lack of RAM and a slow processor are partly to blame but the real issue here is the resistive screen. Yes, it may be more responsive than the one on the N97; yes, it may work with gloves or extreme weather conditions when the iPhone’s capacitive version won’t, but we don’t care: when you compare it to the iPhone’s in 99% of typical use scenarios, it’s mushy, unresponsive and just downright unpleasant to use.
And what a shame that is because it has a dramatic knock-on effective on most of the software and therefore the entire user experience on what would otherwise have been a great device.
To be fair to the N97 mini, if simply pressing buttons was all you wanted to do with the screen, it wouldn’t be too bad. The real problems start when you want to scroll. As a result, using Web, Mail, Gravity, Google Maps all suffered greatly. You simply don’t have the kind of precision that is inherent in using the iPhone’s glass capacitive screen. Too often what was happening on the display didn’t have any relationship to what we’d done with our finger on the screen.
There’s something else we need to mention regarding ease of use. It’s difficult to articulate exactly what the problem is here; the best we can come up with is ‘legacy’. You see, S60 is now so old and has grown organically over so many iterations and across so many platforms that it is now feeling decidedly disjointed. Every app (and we’re just talking about the native ones here not the 3rd party ones) feels slightly different to the last. You never get totally comfortable with the device as a whole because its individual parts don’t work as a whole. It looks and feels like what it is: a series of disparate applications written by different teams with different priorities. Compare that to the integrated, consistent UI of the iPhone and you have the equivalent of chalk and cheese. Nokia needs to take an urgent look at this. And by urgent we mean that no more devices should leave Espoo until this is addressed. Otherwise, they’ll continue to alienate customers.
Phone
Yes, that’s right folks, lest we forget the principle purpose of smartphones is still making and receiving calls. Here we happy to report that the N97 mini excelled. Clear call quality tends to be a given with Nokia devices but we also appreciated its other advantages over the iPhone: the ability to easily re-dial is one example that highlights the N97’s heritage as the product of a phone manufacturer rather than a computer manufacturer.
Email
After phone calls, the next thing we use our phone for most is probably email. And how we love doing so on our iPhone. We get access to all of our MobileMe or Google Mail IMAP folders, clear, perfectly rendered HTML emails, and pretty darn close to ‘push’ delivery (i.e., it’s on the phone as quickly as it’s on our desktop email client). With the N97 mini? Not so much.
First, confusion reins because Nokia hasn’t bothered to properly integrate its latest stab at producing an email client: Nokia Messaging. So, you can choose to use that our stick to the built-in client. Neither is a happy experience.
Nokia Messaging: There are two main problems with Nokia Messaging. Firstly, it’s unreliable. During our one week trial, there were two periods of 3-4 hours during which our mail just wasn’t delivered. Unacceptable. Secondly, despite what Nokia claims, it doesn’t render your mail in HTML properly. You often get pictures missing and the formatting is never quite right either. Thirdly, and most annoying to us, the client restricts you to seeing the last few days of email (at best you get the last month but we couldn’t get it to change its setting) and up to five of your IMAP folders. This is crazy. Nokia, what’s wrong with ALL our email and ALL our folders? Nowadays, with competition so strong, nothing else will do.
Built-in client: Yes, you can still use the old built-in messaging client for email as well as texts and in some ways that the better way to go: it’s clunky but you get properly rendered HTML emails (it takes you to the Web browser to see them but OK) and you have access too all your IMAP folders. The downside, and on the N97 mini this is a big one, is that touch is not properly enabled. So, when you try to scroll you end up highlighting text in your email instead. Infuriating and yet another example of Nokia not being thorough enough in implementing touch properly.
The physical keyboard goes some way to redeeming the N97 mini. As we said above, it’s really rather excellent. But it can’t overcome the problems above,. So, when it comes to email, our iPhone wins hands down.
Web browsing
Nokia’s Web browser is very good from a functionality standpoint. It’s got nice shortcuts that Apple could learn from and we’re pleased to see that it opens by default in full screen mode on the N97 mini.
So, the problem with browsing on the N97 mini is not the software itself but rather the resistive screen. Far, far too often we found ourselves hitting links when we were in fact trying to scroll or vice versa. Scrolling is also very imprecise when compared to the iPhone. And please, don’t tell us that the resistive screen takes some getting used to because it’s a different technology. We know. We spent a week with this phone don’t forget. There are no two ways about it: capacitive isn’t different; it’s better. Without it, we’d rather stick to browsing on our non-touch N86.
Social media
We couln’t keep @TheProdigalFool and @ProdigalSix’s Twitter accounts so up-to-date with delicious Prodigal nonsense if we didn’t have Twittter clients on our phones.
We’re delighted to report that Gravity is available on the N97 mini and works as well as it does on non-touch S60 devices, eh, with one exception: yes, you guessed it: that damn screen. Scrolling our timeline become frustrating rather than a pleasure and it’s not Gravity’s fault, it’s the resistive screen’s.
Here’s the other thing though: good though Gravity is (and trust us, it’s one of the very best apps on S60), it’s still not as good in our view as Twitter clients for the iPhone like Tweetie 2 (our favourite) or TweetDeck. It lacks, for instance, the ability to switch between accounts while keeping a tweet open. (When, for example, you want to retweet something but as a different user).
While we’re talking social media, we should also give Nimbuzz an honourable mention. Sure it suffers from the screen too but it remains excellent. Then again, no better than the iPhone version…
Finally a quick note about Google Reader. We find ourselves doing most of our reading on our phones nowadays and a good Google Reader client is therefore crucial. On the iPhone we use Byline and simply love it. The N97 mini had GReader but we weren’t overly impressed. For one thing, it lacked embedded pictures. In the end, we relied on Gravity as the latest build includes Google Reader functionality for free and pretty good it is too.
Home screen
The N97 mini has what, on paper, sound like a great concept for a home screen: you set it up according to what information matters to you. You decide which widgets appear and in which order. And some of those widgets can pull information form the web in real-time. So, for example, you can choose to have the latest tweets in your timelines appear on the home screen below your friends’ Facebook status, below your upcoming appointments. Good stuff indeed. Except the execution is fatally flawed. There are three main problems:
The web-widgets we tried – weather and Facebook – were unreliable: All too often they produced network errors or just went blank. Annoying and unnecessary. Even when out of range, the widget should simply show the last data it has.
Very poor use of screen real-estate: The N97 mini has a decently screen resolution so we don’t understand how so little useful information can be viewed in these widgets. The Email one was a particular low point. You get one line for the name of your mailbox, then two lines of your latets mails. These rarely show the full name of the sender let alone the full subvject of the email because the font used is too large. Crazy. Oh, and in its infinite wisdom, Nokia made the widgets of fixed size so there’s no flexibility at all.
You’re limited to four widgets: that’s right no multiple desktops and just four free widget slots mean you’re really going to have to concentrate to make this useful.
Having said all of that, at least the N97 mini tries. The iPhone doesn’t even bother; it has no home screen functionality at all. We love a useful home screen. So, until iPhone OS 40 comes along and fixes the problem, the N97 mini is the winner here.
PIM
The diary apps on the iPhone and N97 min are equally poor in our view so we’ll call that a draw. What gives the iPhone the advantage here is that we’re big GTD advocates and we couldn’t manage our hectic to-do list (spending on cars, spending on food, spending on gadgets…it can get on top of one!) without the help of a nifty app called Things on the iPhone. Well, try as we might, we couldn’t find a decent app for the N97 mini that worked according to GTD principles. Another win for the iPhone.
Media consumption
The sounds quality from the N97 mini’s music player was excellent through the supplied headphones. On a par, if not better than the iPhone (we hear the N97 mini has a separate sound-processing chip – it seems to have paid off). But that’s where the wins dry up for the N97 mini. You see, nowadays media consumption is as much about how you get media onto your device and manage it as anything else. And here Apple has another colossal advantage in the form of iLife. We have all of our music, photos and videos already stored in iTunes and iPhoto. When we plug our iPhone in, it all gets seamlessly transferred. The N97 mini has Nokia’s Media Sync but it just can’t compete either in speed or ease of use. Sorry, but another – albeit narrow – win for the iPhone.
Navigation
At last a clear win for the N97 mini! Until last week, we might have been tempted to give this one to the iPhone – it’s Google Maps app is also available for the N97 mini by the way – but that was before Nokia announced fee turn-by-turn navigation form its Ovi Maps app.
This is a very clever marketing decision by Nokia and a clear differentiator. Ovi Maps worked very well in our tests and although we have some reservations about the search database, we would happily use it as our sole navigation aid.
Capturing photos and video
While the N97 mini is on a roll, let’s give it another win. Its photo and video capture our definitely better than the iPhone’s thanks in no small part to its excellent, Carl Zeiss-sourced, optics. We’re not talking N86 good but good nonetheless. If we had to be critical, we’d ask why Nokia didn’t put an 8MP shooter in here so N95 users felt like they were getting an upgrade rather than – literally – the same old thing, but listen, the 5mp unit that’s there is really as good as most people would need.
App store
Nowadays you can’t review a device without at least mentioning its associated app store. We hear that Nokia is on the verge of unveiling a revamped version of its Ovi Store. It can’t come a moment too soon. The one that’s there now is slow, unreliable (we lost count of the number of errors we got) and just plain ugly (green Nokia, really!?). No, sorry Noks, but Apple beats you to it again on this front.
Conclusion
The N97 mini can’t quite steal the iPhone’s crown. Nokia’s disjointed approach to software design and its arrogantly slow pace of innovation (that silly screen) put paid to that.
But this is an infuriating result because we so wanted to love the N97 mini and, had it not been for that screen and some of the more inexcusable software issues (the email app being the principle one) we could have so easily done so. It’s so, so, close to being a great device. But it stumbles at the last couple of hurdles.
Indeed, if we had never tried an iPhone, maybe we’d be hailing the N97 mini as a contender but the problem is we have. And so have millions of others. So, we just can’t see how anyone would chose the frustrations of the N97 mini over the pleasures of an iPhone.
As for Nokia, we remain convinced that it is capable of greatness. The N900 shows enormous promise but isn’t there yet. But the guys in Espoo need to make some pretty big changes and quick if they’re going to catch up in the high-end smartphone market. Lest anyone forgets, Apple is likely to announce iPhone 4.0 tomorrow and that’s sure to set the benchmark even higher again.
We’ve off to pen a letter to Ollie-Pekka Kallasvuo with our thoughts. Look out for it on the site soon.
In the meantime, we think that the N86 remains the best phone Nokia currently makes.
One of my first posts when I started this blog in August 2009 was tech-drooling over the Nokia N900. This was Nokias updated internet tablet based on the Maemo operating system.
There has been much written about the device elsewhere and I won’t try and compile it here. A lot of people like it, it looks to be Nokias future operating system in the shape of Maemo 5 and beyond, Maemo 6 in their high-end phones.
The tech-geek in me is always looking to the next device, above what I already have which is a Nokia E71. The N900 seemed to fit the bill, so I read up on the device and looked forward to getting my paws on one.
Last weekend, whilst out shopping, I noticed a sign advertising the N900 in stock at a Carphone Warehouse shop. Now I would never, ever purchase anything from Carphone Warehouse, I have had one bad experience with them which was enough and I got out of the contract I had with them as fast as I could, after the 12 months had expired. However, they have lots of shiny stuff on display to play with which I’m happy to oblige by leaving paw prints on.
So I sidled over and picked up the N900, first impressions are good, good slider action, lovely keyboard, though keys are slightly too small for my large fingers. It is quite a thick phone, but what was slightly disappointing was the screen size. I expected more, especially as you can have a large amount of information on the screen. I put the phone back before I got too hassled by the salesman that was lurking nearby.
Something else that has changed my opinion about the device is a review on the Phones Shiw Chat audio podcast, produced by Steve Litchfield and Tim Salmon. The podcast, episode 20, which can be found here said that the device was great for techies who want a cutting edge device that you dont mind getting stuck into the linux and programming side of things, but not something for the man on the street.
Having been involved with computers at quite a technical role for more than twenty years, I’ve never considered myself as a technophobe. However on hearing this in the podcast, I started to lose interest in the device. If I want to delve into the guts of something, I’ll build/obtain something for that purpose. However, a smartphone is something that I have reliability high on the priorities list. I dont want have to be delving into a file system or reflash the device every couple of days, in order to make a simple phone call.
As good as the N900 is, unfortunately I don’t think its a mainstream device yet. I’ll stick to the Symbian S60 series for the moment, or until the next wonder device comes along… ;o)
The countdown is down to it’s last two hours! What will be happening in the Big Ovi Event, today, Jan 21st 2010?
events.nokia.com/countdown/
The announcement will be 09:30GMT on the dot, followed by a Q&A.
At 13:00GMT there’ll be another virtual Q&A hosted by Nokia Product Managers.
-There’s a chance I’m gonna miss this as I’ve got an interview day that I’ll be away from 9-5. (Fingers crossed the N900 will get me through them with its stellar browser)
You might be away from a computer too. If you’ve got twitter on your phone, you can follow someone like @ovibynokia who’ll be giving live coverage.
I was wondering how long it would take for News Corp’s journalists to catch up with the Great Google Gamble.
As I said last week this is a new experience for Google because they have never had any “real” customers before… just traffic. What you need to succeed in the Mobile space is great Customer Relationship Management. Get that right and the rest is relatively easy.
Plus, if Google fails to sell large numbers of the Nexus One then what does it say about customer loyalty to the Google Brand compared to the Apple “Lovemark”. Even more interestingly what does it say about Google, and by extension the Internet, as a direct market and advertising platform?
Anyway one week on and Fox Business has a Prediction: Google’s Gonna Kill the Nexus One. Why? Retailing hardware isn’t what business Google is in and Google’s damaging its brand name.
Even GigaOm is following the trend with a piece today called Should Google Kill the Nexus One?
It may be unfair to predict doom for a handset that came to market just two weeks ago, but it’s becoming clear that taking on the role of mobile retailer was a mistake for Google. It’s too early to predict that Google will kill the Nexus One, but it’s not too early to wonder whether it should.
Anyway so much for last week’s news. Let’s move on to more current topics. Of more interest to me today is the news from Business Insider that Microsoft Readies Secret iPhone Killer and from RIS that Motorola is Launching a Mobile Loyalty Solution & Service To Digitize Store Card Plan.
The New Plastic – Motorola Style
Let’s begin by taking a quick look at the Motorola announcement.
As retailers ramp up efforts to digitize store branded cards and foster customer relationships via new touch points, Motorola is seizing the opportunity to influence customers in-store with the launch its new Mobile Loyalty Solution.
The solution is designed to approach loyalty with a ”closed-loop” system that allows retailers to maintain a rich database of shopper product interests, purchase habits and preferences.
As I’ve said before your “New Plastic” strategy could take shape in one of three ways.
You could just build lots of Mobile Apps and distribute them to all your members (Thereby adding to the costs of managing the program)
You could turn your Loyalty Program Cost Center into a Profit Center by offering your customers the opportunity to sign up to your branded mobile phone network, or
You could deliver to your customer the ultimate retail platform.
The question is how do you want to plug into your customer’s Mobile Life?
Where is Micosoft’s iClone?
Now turning our attention to Microsoft we find that, as Wired has pointed out in Congratulations, Google. You’ve spent untold millions of dollars to produce another iPhone — two years late, Google’s mobile strategy was to do what Microsoft did to Personal Computing back in the early 1990’s. Commoditize the hardware and force all the business value into their software and apps platform.
The question always was why hasn’t Microsoft pursued the same strategy? After all they invented it.
As I pointed out in What’s on Microsoft’s Radar? Microsoft’s whole MobCon strategy needs to be revamped. The question is can they do it with an iClone strategy? The short answer is maybe. The long answer is it will be difficult. The next question is should they try?
Microsoft are the past masters at securing market leadership by employing the Me2 strategy. Think Windows, Think Word, Think Excel Think Xbox, Think… Microsoft entered the market late with all of these flagship products and still went on to dominate.
However the iPod clone (the Zune) proves that Microsoft doesn’t always get the Me2 right. Plus there is the Windows Vista experience and the ongoing security problems with Windows and IE. So it is fair to say customers may have concerns over Microsoft’s ability to deliver a high quality mobile experience.
Last week GigaOm took a quick look at how Microsoft can get back in the mobile game suggesting they try making Windows Mobile free to manufacturers and build a top-notch app store designed for business users.
The problem with that is it would be a case of too little too late. The real question is what, if anything, has Microsoft learnt from Nokia and Google’s efforts to re-revolutionise the Mobile Phone Industry over the past 2 – 3 years? At the moment, at least in the US, there appears to be only one player in the game. After all the market place is buzzing in expectation of what new products Apple will be bringing to market later this month. (See Apple rumor roundup: future of media edition).
The reality is, for Microsoft to win this game, they may have to change the game plan, abandon the Me2 and go looking for the next generation of mobile convergence technologies. So the real question is can Microsoft re-innovate, re-invigorate and re-invent itself in time to catch the next wave of the MobCon?
Posted by: Audiegrl A Personal Message from George…
The people of Haiti need our help. On Thursday, February 4th I am throwing a benefit concert, called “Help Haiti” at The Nokia Center, here in Los Angeles. The best musicians, comedians and athletes will be there for the cause, including my friends Andy Garcia, Slash and Samuel Jackson.
100% of the proceeds will go to directly to Haiti to help the victims and their families. Keep checking this page for more information on how to purchase tickets for “Help Haiti.”
If you can’t make it to the concert, you can still help. Lopez Tonight has teamed up with “CARE” to raise money. Click on the “CARE” logo to donate directly to relief efforts that will help the people of Haiti. And we will match the first 25,000 dollars that come from you.
Americans are the most generous people in the world. Your gift will help save lives. Let’s show Haiti how much we care.
I’m really glad fennec/firefox RC 1.0 came out for maemo! If you’ve got an N810 or N900, but haven’t installed firefox on it yet, rush to firefox.com/m from your device browser and click “download”. With it, you’ll be able to unleash all the great plugin power you were used to with the desktop version! Try it.
Here’s a snapshop I did with the “load-applet” app available on the Maemo Select repository. I’m still amazed at the N900 processing power. it lets me surf google maps as I used to on my desktop firefox!
I’m even editing this blog entry with fennec/firefox running on my N900 !!
I’m currently working on the Electrolysis project (multi-process firefox) and so, I can’t keep thinking of all the implications a multi-process fennec would have on the N900. Watch https://wiki.mozilla.org/Content_Processes for more news.
Nokia have just released a major firmware update for their flagship mobile computer N900. The update PR1.1 adds a lengthy list of new features and host of fixes which were reported for the n900. The update has been due for quite some time now and is supposed the make the already awesome n900 even better.
I actually intended on uploading and posting a similar game related N900 video but I just saw Starcraft on the N900 and thought I’d post this first.
Look how well it seems to run on the N900 (we’ll have to see how it handles larger unit base/fighting off enemies), especially now being touch operated. I’m not sure if the keyboard has any additional functions in the gameplay (via N900)
I never got into the game myself. The word Zerg oddly comes to mind (ha, I know nothing else of Starcraft [1] ) but I know this still has a very loyal fanbase despite being 12 years old. (I remember my cousins back in the Philippines were absolute addicts to this). I wonder if this will work with multiplayer?
The game seems to use the full 800×480 resolution of the screen, looking mighty sharp. (You’ll definitely be needing a stylus for this).
Imagine playing this via TV out too
Installation instructions over at talk.maemo.org
I wonder if the N900 would be able to handle another classic PC RTS, say, Total Annihilation?
The Nokia N900 is a mobile Internet device and smartphone, from Nokia based on the Maemo platform, superseding the N810. It runs Maemo 5 Linux as its default operating system and is the first Nokia device based upon the TI OMAP3 microprocessor with the ARM Cortex-A8 core. Unlike the Internet Tablets preceding it, the Nokia N900 is the first Maemo device to include phone functionality (quad-band GSM and 3G UMTS). It functions as a 5 mega pixel camera, a portable media player, and a mobile Internet device with email and full web browsing. It was launched at Nokia World on 2 September 2009 and was released on 11 November 2009 in the United States and 9 European countries.
The N900 was launched alongside Maemo 5, giving the device an overall more touch-friendly interface than its predecessors and a customizable home screen which mixes application icons with shortcuts and widgets. Maemo 5 supports Adobe Flash Player 9.4, and includes many applications designed specifically for the mobile platform such as a new touch-friendly media player.
My plans is to get it next month most probably (Depending on financial status), and really looking forward to own it because had the chance to put my hands on it
Another round of the popular Calling All Innovators competition has been announced by Forum Nokia. Calling All Innovators 2010, an international application development contest designed to inspire creativity and change.The company is looking to developers to save the environment, lift spirits, improve productivity, educate and contribute to a healthy lifestyle: Nokia wants 2010 to be a year of good ideas that make a difference in peoples’ lives.
More details about all the categories for Calling All Innovators, special prizes and judges can be found on the contest web site at: www.callingallinnovators.com.
Submissions from developers for the 2010 Calling All Innovators contest will be accepted starting on 1 February 2010. The submission deadline will be 18 May 2010.
Christmas was a busy time for Nokia’s external counsel who filed i) a complaint against Apple at the ITC, and ii) another lawsuit claiming most if not all of Apple’s products infringe on Nokia’s patents. The new claims extend the scope of the earlier wireless patents to cover for example various aspects of Apple products’ user interfaces.
In other words, its all out war on the patent front and attorneys are getting excited. One cannot help to wonder, however, whether Nokia’s helping its image as a struggling mobile giant by attempting to use, often obscure, patent law to stop its competitor from taking more market share. Many already believe that patent law has outlived its welcome and is unsuited to the task of both encouraging and protecting innovation. In fact, on the face of it, the case looks like an example of _stifling_ innovation in that a struggling company is trying to stop an innovative competitor.
I cannot comment on the new complaints, as I have not seen them. However, I think the way Nokia is handling the case is hurting its image and makes it look like a grumpy bully resorting to all means possible to prevent it from losing. I think this is likely to be far from the truth, but unless Nokia comes out in the open to explain to the community at large what its intentions are and the reasoning behind its case (instead of giving PR department produced quotes to the media) the amount of money they receive from Apple in an eventual settlement might not be worth as much as the harm done to their image.
Come on Nokia. Don’t forget you are not only fighting in court, but you are also fighting for your customers. In the end, its what the latter group thinks that matters.
Nokia executive vice-president Rick Simonson, in an interview with The Economic Times:
By 2011, our efforts will start producing results, as we will be at par with Apple and RIM in smartphones. Not only we draw level with them, we will also win the war because, in addition to email, we will be adding content, chat, music, entertainment and several other features, which will soon become very critical for success of any company in this space.
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Frankly speaking, these guys must be really stupid. On what planet do they live?
Nokia has submitted a patent infringement complaint against apple the second time. The latest complaint covers the alleged infringes in Nokia patents in its whole mobile portfolio. The Finnish giant sued Apple over alleged infringement on its GSM, UMTS, and WLAN earlier last year.
Here is Nokia’s press release regarding the issue:
Espoo, Finland – Nokia announced it has today filed a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) alleging that Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.
The seven Nokia patents in this complaint relate to Nokia’s pioneering innovations that are now being used by Apple to create key features in its products in the area of user interface, as well as camera, antenna and power management technologies. These patented technologies are important to Nokia’s success as they allow better user experience, lower manufacturing costs, smaller size and longer battery life for Nokia products.
“Nokia has been the leading developer of many key technologies in small electronic devices” said Paul Melin, General Manager, Patent Licensing at Nokia. “This action is about protecting the results of such pioneering development. While our litigation in Delaware is about Apple’s attempt to free-ride on the back of Nokia investment in wireless standards, the ITC case filed today is about Apple’s practice of building its business on Nokia’s proprietary innovation.”
Before we write another word, we owe you an apology. Well, an explanation at least. You see, we’re as tired as you are of every new phone being compared to the iPhone. It’s dull, predictable and, most of the time, inappropriate. One of the things we love about the world of gadgets is diversity. Hell, it’s what this site is all about.
We’ll be as succinct as we can here: in our view, Nokia has hit it out of the park with the N97 mini’s hardware. It looks gorgeous and feels exactly ‘as it should’ in your hand. While the iPhone always feels a little too wide and tablet-like when we’re using it to make calls, the N97 mini feels damn near perfect. And that’s not all, the mini has another trick up its sleeve: that clever hinge on the screen and the physical keyboard that lurks below.
Yes, that’s right folks, lest we forget the principle purpose of smartphones is still making and receiving calls. Here we happy to report that the N97 mini excelled. Clear call quality tends to be a given with Nokia devices but we also appreciated its other advantages over the iPhone: the ability to easily re-dial is one example that highlights the N97’s heritage as the product of a phone manufacturer rather than a computer manufacturer.
Nokia’s Web browser is very good from a functionality standpoint. It’s got nice shortcuts that Apple could learn from and we’re pleased to see that it opens by default in full screen mode on the N97 mini.
The N97 mini has what, on paper, sound like a great concept for a home screen: you set it up according to what information matters to you. You decide which widgets appear and in which order. And some of those widgets can pull information form the web in real-time. So, for example, you can choose to have the latest tweets in your timelines appear on the home screen below your friends’ Facebook status, below your upcoming appointments. Good stuff indeed. Except the execution is fatally flawed. There are three main problems:
The sounds quality from the N97 mini’s music player was excellent through the supplied headphones. On a par, if not better than the iPhone (we hear the N97 mini has a separate sound-processing chip – it seems to have paid off). But that’s where the wins dry up for the N97 mini. You see, nowadays media consumption is as much about how you get media onto your device and manage it as anything else. And here Apple has another colossal advantage in the form of iLife. We have all of our music, photos and videos already stored in iTunes and iPhoto. When we plug our iPhone in, it all gets seamlessly transferred. The N97 mini has Nokia’s Media Sync but it just can’t compete either in speed or ease of use. Sorry, but another – albeit narrow – win for the iPhone.
While the N97 mini is on a roll, let’s give it another win. Its photo and video capture our definitely better than the iPhone’s thanks in no small part to its excellent, Carl Zeiss-sourced, optics. We’re not talking N86 good but good nonetheless. If we had to be critical, we’d ask why Nokia didn’t put an 8MP shooter in here so N95 users felt like they were getting an upgrade rather than – literally – the same old thing, but listen, the 5mp unit that’s there is really as good as most people would need.
The N97 mini can’t quite steal the iPhone’s crown. Nokia’s disjointed approach to software design and its arrogantly slow pace of innovation (that silly screen) put paid to that.
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