A letter from the iPhone world

Steve, as a very technically savvy person who uses both the N95 and the iPhone extensively (and likes both) and who uses OS X, Windows XP, and Linux extensively, I think giving up on your Mac mini with Leopard after only a week is not even remotely giving the system a chance... And I can see how Windows XP can be a productive and usable OS, but Windows Vista? Please! Are you kidding? It's total junk.

There's nothing true (partially) when mentioning the that N95 don't have native support for Chinese / Japanese characters.

It all depends on the firmware. If you have a Chinese / Japanese firmware there's native support from the start.
If you don't you can reflash your firmware with the appropriate 'region code'.
That is for the easy solution.

The more technically solution is to install a tool called fontrouter, edit the fontrouter.ini file and then have some chinese / Japanese fonts placed onto the folder "X:\Resource\Fonts\"
(The X: here is the drive, either C: for the phone memory Highly NOT recommended or E: for the memory card, in which I have placed the fonts files.)
You then need another piece of software called Wang Ma or ZTA4 which enables you to input these Asian characters.

As mentioned earlier one can use Pinyin, which can be compared to the phonetics in the Latin alphabet and the Japanese Katakana and Hiragana.
In addition Wang Ma and ZTA4 enables you to use strokes etc. other forms of inputs as can be found in any computer.

This method is of course a little harder than the first one mentioned but let's you have your native firmware with the support of Chinese. (Haven't tried if it does Japanese as I don't have the right Japanese fonts.) That being said I run all my phones with Scandinavian unbranded unlocked firmware and have been using this method since N73 (I own anN73, N82 and N95 classic) in which they've worked flawlessly.

For Japanese there's also another simple option which can be found at <a href="http://shop.psiloc.com/en/">Psiloc's Homepage</a>. in the form of Psiloc Crystal Japanese.

Indeed how you turn around there's still som hassle to get things done, but then again there's plenty of applications for the S60 phones, in which the Apple iPhone you had to hack to gain the privileges to use 3rd party applications.

I've got many friends owning the iPhone and my father owning an LG with touchscreen and each provide their own good experience out of the box. However overall experience is that the Nokia has the most value when it comes to functionalities.

And to fanboys of iPhone: "Can you please explain to me why 3rd applications have to contact a server at Apple to let the application run?"
Truly, some say that it is because that Apple wants to make sure that tha applications works as it should. That's quite b******* to me.
When comparing it to Microsoft, wasn't that something that the validation check did in XP which made the people scream about the issue on privacy?
So if Apple does the same on the iPhone then it's ok?
That being said, in practical aspects it means that you have to always stay connected to run applications on the iPhone in addition to share your use with Apple.

How many times do you really connect to the internet when e.g. writing a Office Document?

Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Apple or iPhone or any particular phone companies (except implementation of badly written DRM) but I can't really see the benefit and the supremacy of the iPhone over other handheld devices out there.
The screen is nice and the UI is good, and the upcoming app store looks promising.
But I rather sacrifice that for more productivity and customization on my phone.

There are a few things you can say with certainty...

If you plan to browse the internet all day, get an iPhone 3G
If you like to take great photos and videos get an N95

Other than that, it's down to personal taste.

I find it frustrating when people belittle the UI of the iPhone, because in truth, it's the most 'human' aspect of any phone, so you're effectively belittling humanity! But I'm sure that people find it equally frustrating when I belittle the flexibility of the N95.

This is a battle that will rage until the end of time. Let the wisdom of crowds decide!

Like jpwbamber mentioned, Chinese PinYin input on S60 is similar on phones, it's simple if you are well-versed in it, otherwise it's a nightmare.

The problem with S60 Chinese input is Stroke, one has to input the strokes one by one to get the Chinese character, which is extremely tedious. So far, SonyEricsson has the best Stroke input, it's prompt for a list of Chinese characters once the 'side' is provided, can save as much as 80% of keypress.

I've no idea about iPhone Chinese input system. Using touch input system on Windows Mobile, I think it's common sense to Chinese users.

Of all the OS's Chinese input, I guess S60 is really the underdog.

I have always felt your assessment of the iPhone to be spot on, even as a long-term Mac user. I'm still unconvinced by the iPhone, even in its 3G incarnation. Even so, Nokia seem to be sufficiently scared by the iPhone's UI and threat of Google's Android to resort to getting more control over Symbian. However, I think your comments about Mac OS X indicate a lack of experience with Macs. If you tried using iMovie instead of Windows Movie Maker and you'll be surprised at the difference. Apple's trick is that they tightly control both hardware and OS, something that both the PC and Symbian worlds are woeful at, resulting in a rash of mostly confusing devices with no idea what they are about. I agree that the N95 does more things right than other phones, as well as being suitably advanced feature-wise, but with truly atrocious battery life and flimsy build, as well as being very fat. Brand management aside, there's a lot to be understood about how Apple do things compared to others, like how the iPod cleaned up the MP3 player market, and the strategic importance of iTunes.

Well, well, well, little Niko. I see All About Symbian's Mr. Litchfield is the epitome of professionalism and decorum. Impressive, indeed. I, on the other hand, am a well known Symbian zealot, and look forward to putting your statements in the proper perspective, without the candy coating iPhone users are conditioned to.

I find it excellent that an ardent iPhone user is trolling the All About Symbian site! All the iPhone chatter online, and here we are on a Symbian site indulging another consumer grade, simplistic, general usage only iPhone user. Classic! Of course there's nothing wrong with being here, but do you ever notice most Nseries users don't bother trolling iPhone forums? They must know something you're missing, or aren't easily impressed with slick commercials and propaganda.

Since you start off bringing up text input, let's go there. iPhone data entry is horrible! Period. With one button versus 30 on my N95 8gb, and no haptics or other physical feedback when pressing "keys" on the iPhone, data entry is laborious, and in any language or character format. And globally, Roman characters are popular because they have phonetic value, and easily translate across all languages. I can't comment on Chinese character support personally, but can surely find many OPDA forum members that don't find the iPhone a text messaging improvement over any Nseries device. Chinese characters are too numerous, and not a wise choice for text input for any mobile device without voice control.

The reason Steve trumpeted features so much was because the Nseries hardware was already so impressive, but the features utilized the hardware with such grace and power. The most important thing in a smartphone isn't hardware, software, or features, but useable capability in practice. This is why the iPhone, for all it's glitter, is so far behind. (Smartphones have had multitasking since... smartphones came out! Hello?!)

You pointed out how sending a 5 megapixel image over the web would be costly. That could be true. But most of the time when sending an image to a mobile, you'd use automatic resizing through...MMS! (Heard of that? No?) Plus, most Symbian devices have many connectivity options besides 3G, most of which are free to use, such as infrared, bluetooth, wifi, removable storage, and USB, and can send images through them as well.

You were right to laud the N95 image capture quality. The iPhone is stuck in 2003 in imaging. Embarrassing for the second time around! But you somehow equate the iPhone userbase's Flickr usage to the phone's prowess? The big reason is because it's about the only decent option they have from the mobile. Nseries users have many options. They have the built-in Share Online app, which can upload to multiple services, with new ones being added. Also, the default browser is so desktop-like, many people also just upload images to sites like MySpace and others via the desktop pages' web-based app. Most web-based apps work beautifully on the Flash-enabled Nokia Webkit browser.

How does Flickr's high iPhone userbase mean its a better cameraphone? More pro photographers use Nikon than Hasselblad. More drivers have Hondas than BMW's. More cellphone users bought N95's than...iPhone. Quality and usable capability in practice set the bar, not numbers. And today, consumers commonly buy 8-10 megapixel cameras, so market expectation decides hardware, not Steve Jobs. And for a few years now, the best smartphones have had high quality optics and high resolution sensors. Just the order of the business.

The iPhone's integration of features?? What?! That was an ignorant statement. With support for M, Python, Java, Flashlite, and c++, there isn't anything these phone's can't do, and all with one hand. I challenge you to an open YouTube challenge to post 2 things that are just so much easier on the iPhone, and I'll simultaneously show you 20 things your phone can't do at all! Multitasking is so last decade, yet you speak such babble? Please... I'm typing this while walking my 75 lb. pit bull, by the way, using one hand.

I am a well known member of the Symbian community, and part of the Symbian-Freak blog team, and, having set a few records on the site, I can assure you, the N95 is an excellent blogging tool. It's well known that I post to the forums and news feed strictly from my N95 8gb. In fact, I replaced my Windows XP and Vista PC's with it, and hardly use them at all anymore. The iPhone could of never replace the basic laptop. And touchscreens are nice, but not necessary, as S60 has proven for years.

A devices services aren't big to me either. Third party services directly compete with default ones on my device. I prefer choice, and my choices. Don't complain because we instantly cut the iPhone off. Its that way because it has glaring core functions missing that power users won't live without.

You should try checking out the things we're doing on Symbian-Freak.com. We're setting the bar for mobile users, and putting iPhone users in their place daily. Proudly take yours in the front row. Nseries is putting on a show!

christexaport

P.S. iPhone propaganda is bad. Learn the truth. www.symbian-freak.com

Another user mentioned that Chinese all use PINYIN to input characters. Actually they also use 5Bi...which is a stroke-count system. In any event, entering Chinese characters with a Western keyboard or a phone keyboard is far faster than current generation hand-writing recognition software.

Now, many many Chinese people get phones with touch screens. Many of these phones are cheap, but touchscreen feature makes many feel they are higher-end. On the high-end, HTC/Docomo is very popular. But they use the touch screen because they think it looks cools to WRITE WITH A STYLUS. I guess they think they look more successful hunting and pecking with the pen on a screen, looking like you are scheduling an important meeting, rather than using a keypad to say "lets go to hotel at 10" to your mistress.

Two more things...

1. I actually think the Symbian Chinese character input system sucks. I just played around with a N73 and I hate how you have to enter the OK / Center button after every character. S40 is better because you can enter in multiple characters. There is definitly room for improvement with this.

2. Actually, a 2Mp camera can be better than the 5 Mpix camera...if the 2Mp has good optics and autofocus. Comparing a 2Mp no-auto-focus with a 5Mp autofocus ... not even talking about the Carl Zeiss lens (and not going to get into whether that is just a marketing feacture or actually means its good quality)... is just rediculous. You cannot take good pictures with a camera that has no focus feature.

Two more things...

1. I actually think the Symbian Chinese character input system sucks. I just played around with a N73 and I hate how you have to enter the OK / Center button after every character. S40 is better because you can enter in multiple characters. There is definitly room for improvement with this.

2. Actually, a 2Mp camera can be better than the 5 Mpix camera...if the 2Mp has good optics and autofocus. Comparing a 2Mp no-auto-focus with a 5Mp autofocus ... not even talking about the Carl Zeiss lens (and not going to get into whether that is just a marketing feacture or actually means its good quality)... is just rediculous. You cannot take good pictures with a camera that has no focus feature.

A2DP? Didn't think I wanted BT stereo headphones, now I can't imagine a music player without it!

Also, buying music from Amazon on my Linux laptop (or N800) and pushing the non-DRM'd mp3 files over BT to my phone without knowing exactly where it is in the house.

Controlling the phone without looking

Standard headphone connector, non-premium priced data cable, REMOVABLE memory and battery... The list just goes on and on.

Now, 5 years from now, things might be different, but I doubt it as long as it remains tied to iTunes.

If I recall correctly, Nokia was pushing a UIQ 2.1 phone in Chinese markets for a while.

Unregistered wrote:1. I actually think the Symbian Chinese character input system sucks.

Given MOAP's popularity in Japan, it's pretty sure Chinese character input on Symbian does not need to 'suck'.

And UIQ on Symbian is awfully popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

habdelra wrote:
I think it is really quite revolutionary that Apple is opening up the App Store to anyone that wants to pay $99/year for a developer subscription. Immediately you have a venue with which to sell your software, and the commission that apple takes (30% or free if you give your apps away for free) seems reasonable given all the infrastructure that they have built (iTunes). With apple projecting to sell 10 million units by the end of the year, that is a pretty large audience for the software that i'm developing.

It would be cool if nokia could come up with a similar model for symbian applications (perhaps open up Download! app to symbian developers)

http://www.forum.nokia.com/main/software_market/

This has been around for several years now, so Apple's idea isn't that revolutionary (but execution and marketing is probably better).

I love apple's line of laptops. I'm really sad to see the Iphone not being able to do multi-tasking without being hacked. Suddenly Steve Jobs is going towards a "lock down products to make money" strategy. I hate it when my favorite company wants to earn money through monopolistic practices.
A lot of people are selling off their Iphone or giving it to the mrs. The Iphone UI is'nt easy to use daily as a phone. Browsing on 3.5" screen isn't much different from a 2.8", both are bad.
The Iphone is more about hype, eye candy and iTunes.
If u like the Iphone go ahead and get it but don't go around shouting it's a good phone. We all need a break, fanboys sound stupid to us all here.

I think the most telling and insightful reply, Steve, was the one about functionality versus useability.

The iPhone, currently, does very little but does it all wonderfully. S60 does a lot but can be tricky to pick up. I'd say it takes a novice a good month to feel comfortable and a lot longer to master.

Windows Mobile can do a huge amount but, in it's native form, is a pain in the backside to learn - as demonstrated perfectly by all HTC's efforts to hide the underlying OS from the user; and in so doing limit what it can do.

I think, in a nutshell, that does sum up the whole iPhone V The World debate.

It IS a lot easier to use, but only because it currently does less. Now that Apple have opened it up and, potentialy, given up complete control of the user experience, it will be interesting to see whether the useability can be maintained.

I'm an advanced mac user, who will from time to time happily explain why OS X is such a dream to use, in both funtionality, productivity and design vs windows. However, a long time smartphone user, my trusty E61 is still leaps ahead of the iphone imo for three reasons.
1) Apple decided that I do not need a replaceable battery
2) Apple decided to lock me from my phone carrier of choice both locally and globally
3) No hot swapable memory cards ( no mac, no sync of data such as photos, pdf etc)

Everything that Apple means to me on the desktop unfortunately is all thrown out with the iphone. Nokia with their N series tablets, E series phones continues the spirit of user choice, that is, we the user decide how to use the phone, not the device determining how you work (which is my main criticism of windows).

Of course, for the average (non-interested techie) none of the above really applies. For now I hope that the competitive challenge that iphone has presented will force the industry to improve as a whole. Nokia dropped the ball with the 9300/9500 series change to S60 on the E90. Let's hope that E90 version 2 will come to pass and show apple a real modern replacement to the Apple Newtons and Psion's incredible legacy of the 5mx and Series 7. In the end, competition is good but I think momentum shows that the tech user is in the minority to the bulk of the market, and might skew innovation further to the lowest common denominator (ipod land).

martinharnevie wrote:You're probably referring to S60 here, not Symbian.

Given MOAP's popularity in Japan, it's pretty sure Chinese character input on Symbian does not need to 'suck'.

And UIQ on Symbian is awfully popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Yes, I was talking about S60. And UIQ is not that popular in PRC compared to S60...or at least, I see a lot more N73 phones and older than I see SE smartphones. But that is besides the point. Even if S60 Chinese character entry is not that great, Chinese average consumers are not that picky about that feature...they are more concerned about the status / fashion of a high-end phone.

I think you'll find that the guy who wrote to Steve was not "trolling the All About Symbian site!". He wrote directly to Steve after watching Steve's Smartphones Show...

I think it's good - every once in a while - to check your own prejudices and respond to non-ranty emails like this. And I think that Steve was pretty measured in his reponse, with "OS X just for beginners" excepted 😉

From Unregistered:

"Everything that Apple means to me on the desktop unfortunately is all thrown out with the iphone. Nokia with their N series tablets, E series phones continues the spirit of user choice, that is, we the user decide how to use the phone, not the device determining how you work (which is my main criticism of windows)."

That is one of the main drawbacks of a iPhone - it's effectively a closed ecosystem. Apps are coming, but only if you get the nod from Apple. Imagine if that was the case with OS X or Windows? I believe this difference will become more marked as people begin using their phones as general computing platforms.

Oh, and I'm sure Steve will do a larger exposition, btu I've already had a very quick look at Nokia Backup vs. Mobile Me:
http://www.allaboutiphone.net/2008/07/comparing-nokia-backup-and-mobileme/

I find the N95 far, far better and lot more fullfiling my needs than iPhone.

Dear Steve,
in your defense of the N95 against the iPhone 3G Juggernaut you wrote:

"It's the same with many Windows users who do not understand why Macs are so much better untill for some reason they end with with one for a week or two and can never get back to the PC."

"Ah, you've hit a nerve here. Without wishing to stray away from AAS's core themes here, let me just say that I've been trying a Mac Mini with Leopard for the last week. And I was very glad indeed to get back to my Windows Vista laptop. I can see that a Mac is perfect for a 'consumer' and/or a computing beginner, but for someone who's tech savvy and wants to use specialist apps and get lots of work done, Windows applications and file systems knock OS X into a cocked hat. Sorry."

Steve you thread in troubling waters! You only have a point if you refer to apps which runs only on Windows (be that XP or Vista) and with "computer-savy" you mean somebody who only knows and uses Windows and Windows Exchange.
I for once use Mac OSX, Windows XP and Vista, Epoc 5 (yes I still play with two Psions), Symbian 9/S60 on my E61i and used Palm Garnet (n�e 5.4) before the hardware gave up.
And the winner is, by leaps and bound ... Mac OSX!
May be I am beginner... my 20 yrs old PhD is in the theoretical physics, not in computer science, but when I was discussing Grid computing at CERN people did not laugh at was I was saying.
And the way Mac OSX multitasks, deals with multiple windows, offers all the sophistication you need but accomplishes with one drag and drop what it takes multiple confirmation in Windows is simply brilliant.
And Snow Leopard seem finally to take seriously the need to polish up OSs, reducing their footprint, something that Vista does not seem to shine over particularly.
And I prefer the colours of Mac OSX!

Steve, defend what is defendable: Symbian is still OK because it comes in more form factors that the one and only iPhone. I like my E61i; I might wish to buy the next version - if and when it comes - of the E90. But the day Apple answers my secret prayers and launches an iPhone Pro with the form factor of the Nokia Communicator, Symbian is toast.
As for laptops - aka Mac OSX (full) vs XP & Vista debate - what is the fuss all about ? Is anybody but Apple producing a usable personal computer nowadays?

All the best and always very friendly yours,
SymFranco

I got an iphone and an N82..hoorayyy...

SymFranco wrote:As for laptops - aka Mac OSX (full) vs XP & Vista debate - what is the fuss all about ? Is anybody but Apple producing a usable personal computer nowadays?

And again, your comments are largely invalid, as you appear to be a fanboy.

Many many people find using windows and linux extremely usable.

Why do most of the apple users must convince other people that they own the best and the others have rubbish?
Use apple if you want and... don't be a pain!!!

From a happy owner of a N95 that uses also Windows XP, Vista and sometimes Linux.

I find the comments on CJK support somewhat laughable. Until very recently, I lived in Beijing and people there had no trouble using S60-based phones. They work very similarly to other phones and even computers. People there are very used to the pinyin-style input methods, but those aren't the only ones - there are several. It seems that the pinyin input method is the most used.

Each Chinese character is represented by pinyin. There isn't a one-to-one mapping between pinyin and chaacters, so the user is presented with a list of characters that have that pinyin[1], from which the user has to choose.

This method of inputting characters does have certain implications for the design of phones. One obvious one is that, in order to choose characters, a user needs to move their thumb from keypad to d-pad very often - pretty much once per character; so that means that the D-pad needs to be very close to the keypad and I imagine (though could be wrong) that it's better if the D-pad is on the same level as the keypad.

However, this method of inputting characters is very similar to the method on Microsoft Windows, and, hee hee, Apple Mac OS X; and the Chinese are very used to entering things in this way. They are extremely quick at doing so - I have had some Chinese friends claim they can enter faster than native English can in English, though that might also be something to do with Chinese being based on pictograms.

I wonder what the statistics are for S60 phones in CJK. I imagine close to 100% of the phones use the same or similar methods, so I the poster's comments seem ludicrous to me - since he seemed to be suggesting it wasn't even possible (I'd have to look back at the original words, but can't right now, else this stupid forum will time out[2]).

Anyway...

Max.

[1] the pinyin represents the pronunciation, but doesn't include the accent
[2] If you, like me, take some care over your posts, it can take some time. Unfortunately, the timeout is quite short and you can end up losing what you wrote 😞 I notice it also Capitalises my 'Title' from "CJK' to Cjk", which is annoying too. Sigh.

I own my N95 for one year and never uploaded a picture to Flikr. Why? Because I do not care about Flickr. I share my 5 megapixels pictures trough mail for exchange and my wifi connection or thorugh MMS at smaller size. Does it make the Iphone better because Iphone owners use Flickr??? Does it even mean something???

I have at least 9 excellent third party apps installed and a couple of games. And garmin XT does the job� Two years ahead of the Iphone.

Iphone is sure a nice gadget and I accept it. Why can�t Iphone users accept that the N95 is better for us??? I am happy for them and their Iphones�

tatoo1000 wrote:Because I do not care about Flickr.

I agree. As Steve has pointed out, not only is it not correct that Apple iPhone users have posted more pictures to flikr (if you believe the user angets) at the moment, but the whole idea that flkr usage is anything more than a data point is rediculous.

I reminds me of when someone said that Google's web logs containing more iPhone than n95 (or something) user-agents means that iPhone users use the web more. No. What it means is that more iPhone users access Google. There are many countries where Google just isn't important or used anywhere near as often as in the US (or Europe) - it certainly doesn't have too many users in China, for example.

Of course, I bet things would be different if the iPhone didn't always have unlimited data (it does, right?), or if everything else did too. We have that to thank Apple for - they're pushing unlimited data, which isn't a bad thing, IMO - though perhaps Steve would prefer to always stick with his PAYG (?) schemes. There are probably similar things we have Apple to thanks for, and Google too - making the US market open up to unlocked devices, for example...etc etc.

Bored,

Max.

Until the iPhone has a worthwhile camera with video function, proper MMS support, a decent golf game (should be excellent if they get the gestures right) and a user-replaceable battery, there's no point in me getting one.

I was pretty surprised by the amount of people I know who got one, got frustrated by the fact that the ONLY thing good about it is the UI, and went back to whatever they were using before. Out of what, about 10 people I know who bought one, only two of them still use it, pretty much purely as a fashion accessory (both upgraded from the Prada phone, which tells you just about everything you need to know about what they're looking for in the market, i.e. not a smartphone. Which is what they got 😉).

" Is anybody but Apple producing a usable personal computer nowadays?"

This makes me laugh, whilst it might be arguable that Apple make the most usable desktop OS, that is not to say that all other OS are unusable.

In fact, the vast majority of users find Windows quite usable enough to launch their apps. (An OS is primarily there to manage and launch apps. So, if it is doing more than is needed already, why should anyone pay a premium for something they don't need? Why would the average driver trade in a station wagon for a VW Bug? The bug might be cute and easy to drive and park but the station wagon moves the stuff from A to B. Job done.

Some people would have you believe that having a sexy way of launching an OS is the be all and end all of life. Get real, it's a tool to do a job and they all do the job. Now, what's the cheapest bundled OS package?

Oh but OS/X does obscure X function with one drag and drop and has a smaller footprint.....thanks that's very nice but show me something substantial that makes a big difference to me when I am writing lesson plans.

Barkotron wrote:(both upgraded from the Prada phone, which tells you just about everything you need to know about what they're looking for in the market, i.e. not a smartphone. Which is what they got 😉).

Exactly! except for the mac fanboys most of the new users that bought iphone, got it just for the looks and the UI. Basically the likes of people who bought MOTORAZR. Apple wasn't able to fool any of the techies into buying an iphone.