The E90's 'enormous potential in journalism'

Seen on (www) socialmedia.biz/2007/09/nokia-e90s-pote.html

"I haven't seen the device yet (though intend to). Offhand, though, this seems like a device more suited to journalists in new media operations and to business people rather than to most citizen journalists in the field, who are more likely to use lightweight camera phones and mobile video cams you can fit into your pocket."

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

Production of the E90 is still on hold. And an EMEA network operator which had the misfortune of selling the E90 last month found it had a 70 per cent return rate. That's a lot of unwanted stock.

In other words, 7 out of 10 punters took it back to the store, and bought an alternative.

Steve, you'd do the readers here a service if you reported the world as it is - rather than fantasizing about it.

Please be more specific, at least once...

Which operator, where can we find any official confirmation of your words, or is it just a gossip which you spread just because you don't like Nokia or Symbian or whatever (to which, of course, you have full right!)...

Anyway, I somehow hardly can believe you - I know at least a few people who bought the e90 and - similarly as I am - they are very happy with the device and none of them even thought of changing it for anything else...

By the way, I have heard about a number of unfortunate European operators who decided to sell Windows Mobile devices from HTC and other crap manufacturers and had to survive a flood of returns due to poor quality of the devices and often hanging/crashing software...

Have a good day!

BDSawicki - the problems with the E90 have been reported quite widely - e.g. here . Its more than a bit embarassing that this got through quality control I imagine. Of course you're right that other manufacturers have problems, its just fairly unusual for it to happen to Nokia. To be fair there do seem to people wh aren't having problems, but clearly there is an issue that Nokia wants to address.

p.s. Mr. Owlowski, I suspect, rather enjoys being controversial (the horror!).

Rafe - thanks for the clarification. It does not, however, change the fact that I personally know no one who would complain on his new e90 (while I know a number of people enjoying this great device).

I am also not sure if being "controversial" means spreading slanders, which no one can verify (how can you verify information about an EMEA operator, while there are tens of them in this area)...

Like anything else, website have their bias - All About Symbian is clearly not going to be hyperbolic in criticising Symbian devices. The Register (Orlowski's site), meanwhile, clearly favours Windows Mobile devices (e.g. fails to mention some horrific HTC hardware issues in reviews and gives the (last gen.) Q a pass while lambasting Symbian devices that aren't 'up to speed'😉.

I'm not a convert of either system (used both in the last couple of years) so I read both sites. Orlowski himself is a net polemicist which is a tiresome and not very informative role but hardly anything new.

Nokia will get the E90 sorted out shortly and then we'll see how it does - Communicators have dev. cycles twice that of usual models so a true commercial success picture won't emerge for another six months at least.

On topic:

As a former (national, UK) journalist I can say that the Communicator's have always functioned well for hacks - the 9300i was a constant companion in my last journalist role.

The E90 could be a breakthrough device for professionals but I suspect the citizen journalist is going to be better off with something like the N95/K8xxx because it is their images that matter most to most outlets. The better the quality, the more useful they become.

There is no shortage of hacks/wordsmiths/editors/subs. There is a huge shortage in on-the-ground, at-the-scene reporters. There always has been, but back in the time of 'once a day' media it didn't matter - hacks had time to get to the action or find someone who was there and talk to them.

Rolling news and the internet mean we no longer have the luxury of time and so getting 'amateurs' to shoot video or stills and wifi/3G/MMS them to media outlets is an invaluable resource that will be used more and more often even on the most mainstream outlets.

Pros will increasingly use devices like the E90 or TyTn II because it lets them file or edit short copy in the field relatively easily and without the hassle of carrying a laptop, finding a wifi spot etc etc etc. Believe me, laptops are the bane of existence for all frontline hacks - usually your paper gives you an old thing that weighs a ton, has to have some sort of 3G card slotted in and usuually uses a proprietary editing system (i.e. not Word) that crashes every 10 minutes.

Banging out a few hundred words (average length of a newspaper news article? 500 words) on a reliable phone with an 'always on' connection and letting a sub sort the formatting is far easier.

I've been trying to buy an E90 from Vodafone (only place I could find it) for several weeks. Coming back from my summer holiday Vodafone told me they had all been recalled (a problem with the speakers?) and that they would be out again 6-October.

Is anyone able to confirm this availability date?

See "Nokia E90 Availability" in My-Symbian forum :
www my-symbian.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=31037&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=2690

A future incarnation of the E90 could possibly become a good tool for a journalist. But the current model is NOT even near.

1. A journalist needs a device which can be typed on while focussing your eyes elsewhere, e.g. an event, meeting, whiteboard, rock-concert or whatever; i.e. not on the keyboard. Neither the E90 nor the 9300i nor the older communicators fulfil this basic need. You have to carefully watch your fingers when typing. Attempting to focus your eyes elsewhere will inevitably lead to a huge number of typing errors, and often result in leaving the word processor altogether without noticing when fingers mistakenly slide up to one of the application keys. The narrow focus on sheer typing speed which can be seen in some reviews (AAS included) is not representative for the needs of a journalist. With the Psion 5mx and, with slightly more difficulty, the Revo typing with high accuracy while looking elsewhere was possible.

2. A journalist needs a touch screen to be able to jot down some quick ideas, drawings etc. Preferably this should be possible with a finger nail rather than the cumbersome stylo.

3. A journalist needs a spell checker preferably with auto-correction.

4. A journalist needs a better camera than the E90 can offer.

5. A journalist needs a good and practical audio recording device where clips can be easily sorted and stored in a common format. I think perhaps the E90 offers a little bit of this, but from what I've seen it's not particularly user friendly and takes some time to set up.

6. All these features should be easily accessible. For instance, the sound recording should be assignable to one of the application keys and not have to be dug out from some menu tree.

7. All the resulting content (word, jotter drawings, recordings, pictures etc) should be stored in common formats and be able to be sent with just a few keypresses via Bluetooth, GPRS, WLAN etc to other devices. Preferably content which belong together should be easily zipped together as one file before sending.

A future E9x could be the ideal tool for the journalist if these features were catered for.

Er....

>>1. A journalist needs a device which can be typed on while focussing your eyes elsewhere, e.g. an event, meeting, whiteboard, rock-concert or whatever; i.e. not on the keyboard. Neither the E90 nor the 9300i nor the

Eh? Short of a desktop-class keyboard and touch-typing skills, it's surely impossible to type on ANY device without looking at the keyboard?

>>2. A journalist needs a touch screen to be able to jot down some quick ideas, drawings etc. Preferably this should be possible with a finger nail rather than the cumbersome stylo.

I'm a full-time journalist and NEVER need a touch-screen. I'd rather have greater robustness and outdoor screen clarity.

>>3. A journalist needs a spell checker preferably with auto-correction.

Any decent journalist wouldn't NEED a spell checker. I write 25,000 words a month and haven't used a spull chicker for years. If you can't spell, you shouldn't be a writer!

>>4. A journalist needs a better camera than the E90 can offer.

More would be better, but 3 megapixels with auto-focus is still good enough for most things, and a lot better than most other qwerty devices.

>>5. A journalist needs a good and practical audio recording device where clips can be easily sorted and stored in a common format. I think perhaps the E

The E90 records in WAV format and Recorder can be started with a single keypress. What's tricky about that? The E90 has two 'assignable' keys on the inside and half a dozen shortcut slots on the outside.

>>All the resulting content (word, jotter drawings, recordings, pictures etc) should be stored in common formats and be able to be sent with just a few keypresses via Bluetooth, GPRS, WLAN etc to other devices. Preferably content which belong together should be easily zipped together as one file before sending.

I refer you to the 'Insert' and 'Send' menu items in Messaging and most other apps respectively. Docs are in Word/Excel, photos are in JPG and sound clips are in WAV. How much more standard do you need files to be????

I really have to wonder if most critics of the E90 have ever used it for more than 10 minutes in a showroom. Sheesh.

>>Eh? Short of a desktop-class keyboard and touch-typing skills, it's surely impossible to type on ANY device without looking at the keyboard?<<

That's completely wrong. Typing without looking at the keyboard is an everyday thing for me. I can do that on an 5mx or small notebook without much problems.

>>I'm a full-time journalist and NEVER need a touch-screen. I'd rather have greater robustness and outdoor screen clarity.<<

I have been a journalist at times. Touch screen is important if you tend to think/capture in pictures like many do. BTW, the 'outdoor screen' issue is a thing of the past.

>>Any decent journalist wouldn't NEED a spell checker.<<

As you should know it's not about spelling. It's about typing.

>>I refer you to the 'Insert' and 'Send' menu items in Messaging and most other apps respectively. Docs are in Word/Excel, photos are in JPG and sound clips are in WAV. How much more standard do you need files to be????<<

My own test found handling this quite unuserfriendly. You need a lot of unintuitive commands. If you have a lot of files to send in the same package, it's a pretty tedious process. But as noted I didn't dismiss it entirely.

>>I really have to wonder if most critics of the E90 have ever used it for more than 10 minutes in a showroom. Sheesh.<<

Is belittling people your main argument here?

>>That's completely wrong. Typing without looking at the keyboard is an everyday thing for me. I can do that on an 5mx or small notebook without much problems.

You are thus a geek and I claim my 5 pounds... 8-)

>>BTW, the 'outdoor screen' issue is a thing of the past.

Err... not from many of the Windows Mobile (and occasional S60 and UIQ) devices I've been testing. Some are impossible to see outdoors.

>>As you should know it's not about spelling. It's about typing.

In which case, why did you bring up the lack of a spell checker?

>>unintuitive commands. If you have a lot of files to send in the same package, it's a pretty tedious process. But as noted I didn't dismiss it entirely.

But it's this (relatively) tedious on ANY device short of a full desktop. You can't single out the E90 here.... And, I'm sorry, but I don't call menu commands "Insert" and "Send" unintuitive.

>>Is belittling people your main argument here?

If I sound indignant at your criticism of the E90 it's because I'm FED UP with a few prominent voices criticising the E90 quite unreasonably. Yes, it's not perfect, no device is, but many of the criticisms aimed at the E90 are either unjustified or unresearched.... 8-(

Steve

[QUOTE=slitchfield;337921]>>You are thus a geek and I claim my 5 pounds... 8-)<<

I can't find anything geekish in that I'm sorry. It's a matter of being more effective in your work. To be able to enter information in your device while concentrating your eyes on the events you're reporting about is a rather crucial feature of the ideal device for the journalist.

>>As you should know it's not about spelling. It's about typing.

Spell checker, especially with auto correction, is effective in catching typos.

>>But it's this (relatively) tedious on ANY device short of a full desktop. You can't single out the E90 here.... <<

My statement was not a device-to-device comparison. The basis of my comment was about attempting to look at the device from a journalists' standpoint.

I don't think I am overtly negative about the E90.

>>If I sound indignant at your criticism of the E90 it's because I'm FED UP with a few prominent voices criticising the E90 quite unreasonably. <<

I would agree on that. But the backdrop of this article is that some other prominent people claim that it has 'enormous potential in journalism'. My statements are in relation to this claim. I'm not out to slam the E90 per se.

I've been trying to buy an E90 from Vodafone (only place I could find it) for several weeks. Coming back from my summer holiday Vodafone told me they had all been recalled (a problem with the speakers?) and that they would be out again 6-October.

Is anyone able to confirm this availability date?

Ive also been trying to buy an E90 through Vodafone, infact they recently informed me they had a new batch of units in (all went out within 2 days or so) & im shortlisted for one when more become available. Considering that, 6th October seems rather far away, but maybe my contact was mistaken - she seemed to think Vodafone would be receiving relatively regular shipments now that hardware issues cleared up.

Hope that helps *cant wait for his new contract*

Just discovered that there is a Symbian CITRIX client available for the Nokia E Series. Works well on the E90 and E61i.

This client gives you full access to legacy and other server based systems.

Progress! Now I don't have to carry my Nokia 9300i anymore.

Thanks - FLG

www&&&citrix&&&com

Any chance of posting a screenshot of this in use on an E90?