Living near a big city, it's all too easy to think of my phone/smartphone experience as being typical of the norm. During the course of a week away in the country, I made several observations which show that we should never take 'our' mobile environment for granted or assume any level of capability in other mobile users. And, along the way, I managed to crash an 'iPhone' and get a couple of people to go all dizzy while explaining what I was doing with the N95 8GB...
Read on in the full article.
I got an N95-1 when the price dropped, after a year and a half of finding out a deperssingly long list of problems (not just non-smartphone non-features, but PROBLEMS) with my otherwise very nice Samsung A701, and that list of yours is just about my every day usage. With, also, MP3 player and audiobook reader (thank you Nokia Beta Labs for a dedicated player!)
Lots of people ask me why I bother with somethnig like that, and then when I start telling them, they quickly switch to thinking how weird I am and move rapidly away.
But at least they know that they can ask me questions about mobiles and get an informed answer.
P.S.: My partner and I were giving a friend a lift to his families property in the country, and he hadn't been back for so long that we got lost. No worries! I thought, and pulled out my Samsung. No network signal AT ALL. So Google Maps was just as useless as the idea of ringing for directions. I'm almost waiting for the day I can nonchalantly pull out my N95 when we're lost in a no-network area... And find out that the local roads are too insignificant to be included on Nokia's maps.
Well, sometimes Nokia Maps has better coverage than Google Maps. At least in Sri Lanka. Well, may be both have their own uniquenesses. Steve, I'm sure that you agree with me Sri Lanka is better than Somerset due to the fact that I'm under HSDPA while still being nearly 60km away from capital !
"Considering that he had in his hands one of the most iconic designs in mobile computing and still a candidate for best phone in the entire world, I have to admit feeling a little despair..."...
Sadly being a N95 8 GB user... i would have to be disagree with the words saying 'most inconic designs' and 'candidate for the best phone in the entire world'!
Iphone 2.0 simply blows n95 8Gb off... The kind of user productivity and friendly apps being released for iphone (that is only still in millions while so called N series is in tens of millions) say a long way about how user friendliness of the iphone...
Again I have a n95 8gb, n800 etc etc but I would never buy a nokia device again.... completely un intutive... especially if u consider n800...a simple waste of money! clumsy interface... frustrating slow experience.... no good apps compared to touch.....
Nokia needs to redefine their design and think from customer perspective to roll out intutive devices rather than feature rich paper tigers
Chendur, you're a troll. "iconic" essentially means recognisable, which the N95 range eminently IS.
"a simple waste of money! clumsy interface... frustrating slow experience.... no good apps compared to touch..... "
There you go, a troll. Personally, I speed around S60. And there are some great third party and Nokia-written apps. I don't deny the potential of Apple's creation, but they don't have a monopoly on good design and power.
Ah, network based satnav.
Thats why I have been saying till Im blue in the face that data reliant satnav programs are seriously flawed.
This includes Nokia maps, which needs an online connection to find an address or POI (please no-one tell me otherwise, the offline results are dire to non existant).
Your article amused me greatly, although I dont live that far into the boonies, I dont really see any 3G coverage. So I live with sub 56k speeds daily if I want to be mobile. Sounded like you felt your arm had been cut off 😊
Im suprised at what you say about the people though, thats what I thought most people were like. I work with techies, and dispite most of them being extremely technical, only one (apart from me) has a smartphone. The others are just not interested.
Ive seen loads of N95s about*, and yet Id wage a vast amount of money on the bet that most of them dont use a fraction of it.
*I haven't actually seen a single iphone in the wild, only in my O2 store. Maybe country yokels just dont like them?
Steve , I think you are getting into a habit of calling people trolls .Second time in as many weeks....
The N95 is certainly not the best "phone" in the entire world. I dont think any S60 device would get past the heats in such a comparison. Take any high end non-s60 phone and compare it with the N95 on the PIM front.
"one of the most iconic designs in mobile computing" - I guess so.....although I shudder every time I see an ad-line that says "is this what computers have become".
And that is because of some of the basic principles of the symbian os, especially in its security architecture do not lend themselves well to commoditization (the same commoditization you were talking about some time ago, and which is firmly established in the PC industry). If this is indeed what computers have become, then it is a giant leap backward - God help us all.
I was interested in your comments on Nokia maps.
Back in April I spent a week on the Isle of Wight and with 3 months free nav and voice guidance on my N82 decided it was the ideal time to try it out.
At the time I was using Nokia Maps 1.2 and rather to my surprise the routing was truly suburb.
Fast forward to a fortnight ago and a return to the IOW, same N82 but with Nokia maps 2.0, this time the routing was at times appalling, trying to take me down single track lanes frequently.
Up until this point I had been most impressed with maps 2.0 certainly on the mainland I hadn't been able to fault its routing.
There is no best phone in the world. Not for everyone, but for individuals there is.
Hence real world tests and reviews, to enable people to make their own indiviual decisions.
As for trolls, yes AAS gets a lot, of both sides. The blatent 'the iphone suxxors' or 'nokia sucks balls' are deleted. But theres a lot more saying 'I have the N95/iphone and its just rubbish copmpared to Nokias/iphones.'
I suspect a lot of these are simple fanboy comments, but since theres no way of telling, and AAS is not a biased site, they are left there.
You have no way of knowing if said person does have all those devices to compare and are making a genuine assumption, or just trolling. So in general, the comments get left.
Some of them though, you have to take a healthy dose of salt with.
Steve... Have you used N800? And ever used a ipod touch? Then you would know the difference...
a simple waste of money! clumsy interface... frustrating slow experience.... no good apps compared to touch..... " - These are for N800...
Again Dont say they are different devices blah blah... take one simple comparison... how touch interface works in itouch and how it works in n800.... how much intutive that device is?
I have been a nokia user for more than 8 odd years and seeing an apple device i realize how simple and intutive things can be....
working on a nokia device feels like using say linux (linux is Good/Great... i am just using it from UI / normal user point of view) or windows xp.... while itouch/phone feels and works like a mac... simple!
again I am a core techie and there are hundreds of so called advanced features and stuff that are provided by n95... but if i have to give something from a child to granny... the awe feature of iphone is simply missing in n95....
i had my n95 with me when my friend showed his iphone to my mom and she is 'awed' completely at ease while using the iphone while i had a different experience when i gave my n95 when i had to explain everything from unlocking the phone to hove to navigate through those small icons!
on my opinion n95 is for techies.... iphone is for both techies and non techies alike!
>>Steve... Have you used an ipod touch? Then you would know the difference...
Yes, I own an iPod Touch, with iPhone 2.0 firmware....
>>working on a nokia device feels like using say linux (linux is Good/Great... i am just using it from UI / normal user point of view) or windows xp.... while itouch/phone feels and works like a mac... simple!
All depends on what you're used to. Trying a Mac a few weeks ago, for a week, I found OS X decidedly non-simple. In fact, it was confusing. Having said that, I've got a Macbook arriving here shortly for a month's loan, so will give it another try in the interests of doing some S60-Mac connectivity features.
>>i had my n95 with me when my friend showed his iphone to my mom and she is 'awed' completely at ease while using the iphone while i had a different experience when i gave my n95 when i had to explain everything from unlocking the phone to hove to navigate through those small icons!
There's no doubting that full-screen capacitive touchscreen devices are the way forward for some people, mainly new users and those with leisure time and two hands free. But there's an arguably bigger market segment for 'phone-like' devices with real buttons and a one-handed interface. Room for both. At the moment the latter segment is dominated by Nokia and their high end devices have by far the greatest overall functionality.
>>on my opinion n95 is for techies.... iphone is for both techies and non techies alike!
I disagree. Any techie will be restricted by current iPhone functions the moment he needs to cut and paste something. Or send something by Bluetooth. Or send a photo by email. Or work on a spreadsheet. Or one of a dozen other things we've done for many years under S60.
Steve Litchfield
Steve,
it would help if you stopped saying, 'I have an iPod touch and it's the same." It isn't. Here are some points I've noticed since switching:
1. If I have two contacts with the same number in memory the iPhone says "John Doe or Jill Doe" when they call - it knows there are two matches.
2. Visual voicemail is brilliant - you have to try it!
3. Using a large touch screen to get in and out of conference calls etc is great.
4. Push mail on this thing blows ActiveSync / Dataviz Road Warrior out of the water. OK - not all features are there but the keyboard is spookily good and it renders the emails in a rich, HTML based, format.
5. It synchronizes well. I've not had any of those "Hmmm ... I'm sure I edited that number on the phone last time but it's gone / hasn't changed now"
6. The PIM functionality is far, far better. Multiple calanders! Hooray! Why NOKIA still can't see the importance of things like this is beyond me.
Other things in general:
7. The interface is simple - it's a palm. A screen full of icons you click on. Now you can complain that this isn't S60's fault per se but I'm sick to death of trying to help people set-up applications on a NOKIA phone only to find that apps are in this folder on this phone and that folder on that phone. Why????
8 The Settings are all in one place. Simple. Not all over the shop as on a S60 device.
9. The App Store tells me when an update is available for any of my apps and I can download it easily.
10. I can have 8 windows of web browsing open at any time. I never, ever (thank God) get that poxy "how do you want me to connect this time" dialogue. It switches from wifi to 3G as needed, silently.
11. I've not had an "out of memory" message nor have I been told that too many connections are open .
12. The iPod bit is great - not having to "Refresh" in order to get the thing to spot new tracks and you can get the iPod element up at anytime by associating it with a double press on the home button.
13. When I update this iPhone (based on all experiences to date) I'm not going to be left with a phone that insists on searching for apps that aren't there every time it reboots. I ended up formatting everything to try to stop the n95 8GB doing that! What a pain.
14. The keyboard is really quite good. The more you relax into using it the more it amazes you by working out what you meant to type.
However:
1. I miss a better bluetooth stack. Where the N95 failed to sync with the SAAB properly and used to mute the audio everytime an email arrived even when I said don't - the iPhone just pairs to a headset and that's it. No clever modem stuff. Ironic given the Symbian Bluetooth stack is a bag of spanners code wise.
2. I miss the camera. The one in the iPhone is okay - but it's no N95.
3. The n95 is easier to use one handed. However - as a smart phone I'm prepared to compromise on this in return for all the other features.
4. Cut and paste - definitely.
5. For now - some apps I liked are missing - and the App store is filling up slowly. This reminds me of the pain we all had as signing was introduced for Symbian 9.
regards,
Slart.
Chendur, if you want to be taken seriously and not mistaken for a troll, you shouldn't use phrases like "no good apps compared to touch" and "I would never buy a nokia device again". They're such extreme positions that it sounds like propaganda.
You say you used Nokias for eight years, if that's true there must have been something about them you liked. Yet from your text it sounds like you hated every inch of them.
If you showed a bit of respect for whatever gadget you're criticising, your criticism would actually sound a lot more convicing. Look at Slartibartfast's reply, that sounds MUCH more like a balanced comparison, so people will take a lot more notice of it. Even if someone disagrees with Slarti's post, the post still contributes to the discussion by being calm and specific, not ranting and generalised.
You have no way of knowing if said person does have all those devices to compare and are making a genuine assumption, or just trolling. So in general, the comments get left.
Someone who's genuinely trying to assess a device would say "these are good and bad on device X, these are good and bad on device Y, I personally prefer X/Y". Or something like that.
What most comments seem to actually be are "X is great, Y is rubbish", which doesn't really help or convince anyone. Those are the ones that most seem like trolls, because the only thing their statement does is provoke, it has no information content at all.
I got a comment on one of my YouTube videos recently which said "This phone is ****, this video is ****, you are full of ****, why do you even waste your time doing these?". Why do people say stuff like that?
From the reviewers comments I take it the use of a touch along with is some admission that media is handled better by apple? Or maybe just interested in various technologies, suspect the later! Nobody ever wins the my phone is better than yours, playground humour at best , bit sad at the extremes! The phone you decide on is usually the best, myself having used numerous Nokia products have decided to jump ship to apple mainly for the media, my collection is based on iTunes so makes sense to me. Nokia have great technology but its too scattered across numerous web sites and apps. It just feels dis-jointed. As someone said too little time to spend tweaking through layers of menus just want the basics to work etc
From the reviewers comments I take it the use of a touch along with is some admission that media is handled better by apple?
Steve (who wrote the article) also does a regular mobile device review show ( http://www.thephonesshow.com/ ) where he covers all formats, not just Symbian. He's often given positive reviews to non-Symbian devices including the iPhone.
Outside AAS, I run a site devoted to the Nokia internet tablets ( http://tabletschool.blogspot.com/ ), which are also non-Symbian, and I'd say the tablets have a much better interface than S60.
Ewan and Rafe also have non-AAS stuff they do.
All the writers on this site also write articles outside the Symbian world, and they're perfectly happy to use non-Symbian devices, it's just it would be "off-topic" if they posted their totally non-Symbian articles on AAS.
Nokia have great technology but its too scattered across numerous web sites and apps.
That's why they're doing the Ovi service, to unify all the different services into one site with one login.
They haven't got there yet, but that's clearly what they're aiming for.
I live out in the sticks where we have no 3G and no prospect of getting it any time soon. However, in May we were on an island off the West Coast of Ireland. We were rock climbing and I wanted to identify some possible routes. I got out my N95 8Gyte and got a solid 3G connection to the guidebook web site (don't mention roaming costs😊.
Much of rural Eire has 3G. Here in britain we are in a technological backwater.
Ian.
I liked this article so much, a one good article as I expect from Steve usually. I feel that experience every day here in Egypt (east-north corner of Africa) living in a village and working in a city, moving every day between both. I'm limited in my village to EDGE connection, while enjoy the 3G coverage in Mansoura. But thanks to the Opermini browser (I use it now from my home village) which gives me real good Web experience in poor connections.
I like the way you use in describing your smartphone life in real, even reviews. That is why AAS is my daily first reading site.
For N95 8GB which I feel in every article and comparison you make how much you LOVE it, I carried and tested this device (I don't own it), and know its power. But I still like my E61i that gives me a computer-like power on the move that N95 cannot give. Of course my must next phone should be E71, but hey. The E61i costed me 3000 Egyptian Pounds (1 � = 10 Egyptian Pounds) while my salary may equal this number, very shame. In fact I have to wait an additional year to upgrade, that is wisdom. That is our problem in Middle East. I can buy a one, but I'll be crazy if I did so.
Any way, E61i still give me the power I need in my normal daily smaryphone activity, while I'm thirsty for a real rich smartphone. That is one of the reasons make me wait for real revolution to pay for. The iPhone seems to be one of choices, but as Steve said, there is a huge gap Apple needs to fill. But who know what could happen in the next year. Apple achieved a good job as a new participant in smartphone world.
I got a comment on one of my YouTube videos recently which said "This phone is ****, this video is ****, you are full of ****, why do you even waste your time doing these?". Why do people say stuff like that?
Annoying. Idiots. They take pleasure in making abusive comments because they know they can hurt people. Don't let them get to you.
Great post from mst_dev. Good to hear from you in Egypt. I hope you get the best phone for you. I'm almost ready to upgrade and am looking at the new Samsung. Interested to hear Steve's thoughts on that one.
I've been re-reading my post and I think there's something I've missed from it. In a couple of cases I point out a flaw in the user experience provided by S60 which isn't NOKIA's fault. For example:
It's not NOKIA's fault the menus are all over the place as the networks appear to want that level of customisation. However - NOKIA could try forcing the issue with them as most Networks appear to know as much about a good UI as quantum physics. Equally - I see no technical reason at all why the download application couldn't be as good as the App Store - no network in the UK appears to be in any way bothered about selling apps so it's not as though that cuts into their plans/revenue stream. Finally - visual voicemail could easily be written as a S60 application. Patents not withstanding of course!
Now - having said all of that - you should look at the ambitions of the application authors now writing for iPhone. Take, for example, OmniFocus or Evernote (both now available). The former is a GTD (getting things done) uber-to-do manager that (a) synchronises with it's desktop counterpart via open protocols and (b) interfaces to the GPS and call list tasks that can be done *here* or *near here*. Neat.
Evernote is a multimedia note taker (OK - so NOKIA has something like this) that synchronises with a server that parses the entire note (images included) and renders the whole thing searchable to both the phone or desktop client. If it sees the word "apple" in a picture it knows to match that area of the picture if you search for apple - it works rather well. I've photographed recipes (yes - using the not-as-good-as-a-n95-camera) and evernote has allowed me to search for "soy sauce" successfully.
The latter application has also been ported over to Windows Mobile. However - as things stand - I've seen no indication of their being ported to Symbian (regardless of UI). Which is really odd - it's the largest installed base after all.
For me - using the iPhone is like have a SE P910 again. Having had palms for ages using the SE was a revelation - a palm that was permanently connected. I have the same feeling about the iPhone - it's a very, very capable piece of hardware that will benefit from some seriously powerful software being developed for it.
By the same token there is, to me, a glass ceiling over S60 at the moment that's holding most applications back. It may be the UI - it's great in a "purely as a phone" sense (and, okay, at the end of the day it *is* a phone) but it's a pain in a "I've stopped using you as a phone - please be something else for a minute or two" way. It could be available memory ... or perhaps it's the level of piracy. If the figures are to be believed then a number of application vendors on the iPhone have done really rather well out of the App Store. It may limit me as a user - but it does force us to accept a legal and thriving third party application marketplace - and that can only benefit everyone in the end.
regards,
Slart.
hi
I recently bought a N95 8GB...coming from an old E61 which i still love and lug around (nothing beats the QWERTY pad and the rock solid construction...i have dropped it quite a few time but other than the paint peeling off at the edges/corners...it still works fine). I fell in love with the phone fucntionality, the huge screen which i use for a lot of surfing internet, reading ebooks and watching videos and listening to music...only gripe is the lack of xenon flash...
i have seen the iphone with some friends who got it from US, it's yet to arrive in India...and loved the user interface and the HUGE display!
but i still love the n95-2 which i have...am amazed every time i use the wifi at home or the camera or the internet radio, the 3.5 mm jack....what to say am in love!
but still in a corner of the mind...i am a bit jealous of the n82...wish i could buy that too LOL....but having a third phone really does not make sense...
and yeah...nice article as always...AAS is one of the best around for s60 phones...
Brand new Mobile phone Plasma tv , Laptop game at cheap price come with complete accessories with one year international warranty.
Email address : [email][email protected][/email]
NINTENDO WII.......$250USD
NOKIA N95 8GB....$400USD
IPHONE 16GB……$350USD
iPHONE 8GB……..$300USD
IPOD 32GB.........$350USD
NOKIA N96.........$500USD
PS3 60GB……....$300USD
SAMSUNG SGH-U900...........$300USD
SONY ERICSSON XPERIA X1.......$450USD
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FULL SPECIFICATION FOR APPLE IPHONE 8GB
Display Type 16M colors
Size 480 x 320 pixels
Camera Resolution 2MP
Video Yes
Flashlight No
Connectivity GPRS Yes
HSDPA No
EDGE Yes
3G Yes
WiFi Yes
Bluetooth Yes
A2DP No
USB Yes
Ringtones Type yes
Memory
Card slot no
Internal user memory 8gb
Battery
Stand-by time Up to 250 hours
Talk time Up to 8 hours
Features Messaging SMS, Email
FM radio No
Games No
Speaker phone Yes
Operating System OS X v10.4.8
Touch-screen Yes
General Network GSM 850 / GSM 900 / GSM 1800 / GSM 1900
Announced 2007, January
Status Available
Size Dimensions 115 x 61 x 11.6 mm
Weight 135 g
Display Type Touchscreen, 16M colors
Size 320 x 480 pixels, 3.5 inches
Multi-touch input method
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
Ringtones Type Polyphonic, MP3
Customization Download
Vibration Yes
3.5 mm headset jack
Memory Phonebook Advanced, Photocall
Call records Yes
Card slot No
4/8 GB shared memory
Data GPRS Yes
HSCSD No
EDGE Yes
3G No
WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth Yes, v2.0
Infrared port No
USB Yes, v2.0
Features OS Mac OS X v10.4.8
Messaging SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser HTML (Safari)
Games Yes
Camera 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, video
Google Maps
Widgets support
iPod audio/video player
PIM including calendar, to-do list
Photo browser/editor
Voice memo
Integrated handsfree
Battery Standard battery, Li-Ion
Talk time Up to 5 h
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[email][email protected][/email]