I want to take a little break away from the major Nokia X6 review I'm doing just now to directly address one of the issues that I'm seeing in the comments both of the X6 review and in other products that are reviewed both here on AAS and on other tech sites: the use of third party software to compensate for a manufacturer's omissions.
Read on in the full article.
What about users with different needs? Do manufacturers have to cater to all the needs, thereby introducing heaps of options, which is definitely not my expectation of a modern device.
Also, who elects which features are "basic" and should be supported?
I think that coming out of the box with all features needed is only possible in case when a user buys a phone to make calls and send sms. And this phone is Nokia 6500. You and I, and all readers of AAS are advanced users. And advanced users always need something that is not included in device functionality list. For example you need optional music playback functions, but I don't need that. I rather need blacklist functionality. You see, all advanced users are different. So there is no sence for Nokia (for example) to even try to make everyone happy. They have another problems - coming Samsung to touchscreen devices segment for example.
Klafbang, buyers of a consumer-oriented phone have a reasonable set of expectations as to what should be included, and it is faults in those things that Ewan seems to be speaking of. If we take your position to an extreme, we could argue, "Why should they bother including a phone? There's an app for that!"
It's all what I think about actual hardware ecosystems.
It's even worse since some Nokia 6300 features has disappeared on new S60 v5 devices.
I love Symbian because I hope the Open Source choice will succeed to fix these problems.
You should post your article on http://ideas.symbian.org since it's a great summary what we would love to have with Symbian ^3 or ^4.
Smartphone does a lot of thing but all things are incomplete and a huge work must be done in order to find and correct this. The main problem is the phone business model. Each year phones became obsolete. Thus manufacturer don't try to make a perfect phone because next year it'll be throw away.
Nice article but you should have chosen a better example of major missing feature, I think. As an explanation, I think Nokia had released to many smartphone devices and forget to focus on the content. By narrowing their offer this year, we can all hope of better features in futur handsets... See how they have released numbers of free apps and games recently. The change has begun (I really hope!).
To create a workable 3rd party application environment where do you draw the line? What would you considered to be core "phone" functionality and what is part of the device?
Think back to IE / Windows debates?
You, and alot of reviewers need to realize that you are reviewing SMARTPHONES. Not feature phones. If there is "an app for that" then that is a legitimate plus feature for that phone. I'll give you an example. The iphone. Widely regarded as the number one gaming phone on the planet(and rightly so). But guess what. It doesn't have ONE SINGLE GAME preinstalled.
s60 music player not up to the task? I don't give a shit. I use spotify, or kinoma play, or core player. Bad codec support? So what? Coreplayer fixes that.
I'll argue that the phone manufacturer taking care of too much functionality with built in apps is bad for the platform. A good example is podcasting. Since nokia has done such a good job with their built in app. No developers will bother making any podcast apps. So what? you ask. Well look at what happens if you buy a non nokia s60 phone. Or nokia decides they won't include it like the e72.
When you, the reviewer hits a problem in a smartphone you should do some invetigation to see if there are any solutions to the problems and write the problems down in the review along with the solutions.
When setting up a new smartphone for myself, I always spend a good deal of time uninstalling all the rubbish and clutter that I don't want - and being infuriated that I can't reclaim the space wasted by some of the stuff that I can't uninstall - myspace app being a good example.
Some Nokia phones have a poor mail client - fixed by profimail - I don't think there is a mail app on any phone as good as profimail. Another example is the Australian company that does the contacts app.
I agree that the phone should be shipped bare, and the stuff that is wanted installed on a selection screen during initial setup, and added and taken away later - much like add/remove window components in Windows control panel.
As for music players not having some features that not everybody even know exist, let alone need (like gapless for example... I couldn't care less) but in the case of the phone named "XpressMusic" - it should do that particular function out of the box at least as well as any competitor product.
(bear with me, i'm at the bottom of my 2nd glass of wine)
Here's my take, my corner of the room that's currently being painted in this thread. I've become the 'Phone Guy' at my current job, mainly as i'm the saddo who's all about the smartphone in my office.
We use Touch's, Treo's, Diamonds, Touch Pro's, Touch Pro 2's, Several different Blackberry's,
and Nokia E71's.
Approximately 70% of all requestors for "WMD's" (yes, i know 🙄. I've kinda given up explaining the difference, bless 'em) are issued E71's. I have 15 on my desk right now that i'm setting up.
Nokia (and the subsequent vendors) tout the E71 as a Business Centric device, capable of competing against the other manufacturers and their offerings.
Really?
Any idea how embarrassing it is to have a shiny new user who has just been issued a shiny new E71 ask me "how do i get to my email subfolders?"
"you can't"
"What?"
"The E71, with Mail for Exchange, it's 'out of the box' email software doesn't do subfolders. You can only access the inbox" (yes, i know its not even truely 'out of the box', you have install it)
":con?"
"Yeah, i know. Sorry."
"Well, what about the Blackberry's? The Touch's, Treo's, Diamonds, Touch Pro's, Touch Pro 2's"
"Yup, they all do it. Oh, and by the way. If you're a heavy email user, chances are that when you get to 600 emails in your inbox (no, you can't filter them into subfolders, see the above) Mail for Exchange will probably fall over."
"Well, what about the Blackberry's? The Touch's, Treo's, Diamonds, Touch Pro's, Touch Pro 2's"
"Oh, yes. they all handle large inboxes and subfolders"
":con?"
"Yeah, i know. Sorry. Hey, listen i'm trying to get them to start buying Roadsync. It's a 3rd party software that fixes all the issues like subfolders and large amounts of email, etc"
"So, for us to use the Nokia's to do the same job that the Blackberry's? The Touch's, Treo's, Diamonds, Touch Pro's, Touch Pro 2's do out of the box, we have to pay for a 3rd party software?". ":con?"
"Yeah, i know. Sorry."
:con?
"Well, what phone do you use?"
"Erm, i have the Samsung i8910. It's more of a media centric phone. Not a business centric phone."
"Oh. Can that have Mail for Exchange, like the E71?"
"No, its got Roadsync. Out of the box."..........
It's especially problematic when there is no method provided to make any particular application the "default" app for a certain function. Sure, I can replace Nokia's lackluster built-in music player on my N86 with LCG Jukebox, but if I open a mp3 directly it's still going to play it in the built-in music player.
As a better example, I can install Opera Mobile, which is wonderful, but is there any way for me to open links from emails or txts directly in that app, instead of Nokia's middling built-in browser? Not that I can tell.
In some cases, the purpose of hacks are to improve pre-loaded applications. Let us say the hack that used to improve camera algorithms of a Nokia phone; hack that is used to heal music library update problem. But majority of these hacks are used to break the law. Hehe. The word "hack" never ever seems to have positive vibes on its definition. Examples: hack that is used to break trial-period of freewares; hack that is used to bypass legal and copyrights issue.
Third party applications serve to be "additional" or the old way Nokia called it "extras" because it will be primarily used to add functionality to the package. But the thought of conflict arrive and became deeper when I think about third party music players which "push in" new features yet "pull out" default ones. I have Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Sleep, lyrics, skins, numerous equalizer presets, folder playing, shortcuts, etc are some of the best delicious and tempting features of third party apps. But default capabilities (few but outstanding compare to 3P apps) of Nokia Music Player was overlooked like high quality playback, search function, and great power management (e.g. max of 30hrs). Same goes with visually appealing 3P photo browsers with lots of dramatic transition effect but lacks standard capability to send, edit, slideshow, etc. Video players that can play popular file types (flv, avi, etc) of even large resolution with plenty of options (brightness, contrast, frame rate, orientation, audio presets, etc)-- no question that it can play a 700mb .avi movie file but story become totally different when you think about playback quality (results to choppy and obvious-image-to-image transition). Imagine if I wanted a folder playlist feature for my music player yet I want to get same quality playback. Or a non-techie colleague of mine have explored and amazed by fluid navigation of my images on a third party app and but confounded after due to the fact that I have to go back to the static world of default gallery just to send the image he wanted to copy his device.
Third party apps used to spice up my phone during the times I am starting to get bored of default features since they reproduce as fast as possible like mad. New games, updates, cool applications like xpressbeer, strobe light, angle meter, labyrinthe, step counter, egg timer, voice changer, banner, baby rattle, OS simulator, etc are these small weird dedicated applications that make me laugh out loud and add reason why not to replace my Nokia 5800 the soonest. Haha. I will never forget that Shake It! which proved to be the best amazing work-out game everytime I introduce my phone to a friend. It never had multiple levels, game story, nor 3d graphics but still a stunner. It's like a Nintendo Wii against Sony PS series...
Lastly, I have this attitude that nothing can beat a pre-loaded applications to a phone for these were tailored best to be used out of the box. These third party apps are just eye-opener for the manufacturers to the possibilities of upgrade of their default and standard applications. And I always have the same excitement again and again on how a manufacturer, specifically Nokia, will do these new features on their own engineered way.
~Marvin from Philippines
One thing that would certainly help both manufactures and consumers is to decide what is "basic" functionality. I am guessing that would have to come from polling a very large group of users and to make sure that you are not polling only from one or very few mindsets.
I don't really think that most devices lack basic functionality, I just think that there are other devices that do things better. That makes for dissatisfied users as they have seen and know that there is a better way to do what they are trying to accomplish. And of course there will always be those that are never satisfied...
Excellent Article, I'm glad you raised it.
Btw, Nokia while you're at it. Hire some professional beta testers too. I had my eyes set on X6, not anymore. Thanks.
I'm writing this message on a MacBook Pro. An awesome machine on which I have installed numerous 3rd party applications (quicksilver, chrome, transmission etc) that make my life much easier and improve my laptop experience.
Why treat our phones any differently?
Well, in the X6 comment thread,I mentioned that 3rd party apps don't provide neither the quality nor the reliability as manufacturer developed apps(there are exceptions).
For example, I find Gravity/Slick to be more utilitarian than the built in Ovi chat app in my phone and I use them frequently,but,once it so happened (when I was using these apps) my phone (Nokia N86) froze and the only solution was removing and re-seating the battery.Later, it got stuck in an infinite startup-hang-shutdown loop.I was mortified, I had a whole workday ahead of me and my phone had died on me!
I never had the time to go home and try something.Heck, I was on my way to work and you could imagine my fear of losing precious data on the mass memory.So, I, on the way to work ,had to 'compulsively' buy an E63,plonk the N86s memory card,SIM card and hope to resume my day.
Back at home, I got my PC, and tried booting the N86. None of the known methods worked, It was stuck in a loop!
SOLUTION: Re-flash using DEAD USB using phoenix with full format use case.
I still use that app due to non-availability of an alternative and because it is now updated to a new version.
My opinion is that 3rd party developers can never be so sure of their apps working rock solid on a variety of devices,as they cannot test on each and every S60 device available in the market, whereas companies have teams dedicated to the development of ,A particular series of devices, If not each and every device. So it becomes their responsibility to ensure core applications on every device perform as expected with total reliability.
Still, Manufacturers leave room for errors.
I am no expert , just an end user voicing a thought. So please bear with me if this is off target.
I have used Nokia smartphones mostly, but there was a period of time where I used a P1i (uiq3). I was amazed to see how "complete" the phone software was, for a user who would want to use it as a phone cum organizer(I did not use the phone too much for media functions except for listning to songs or radio occasionally, so I can't comment on that) The only built-in app that was not as good as it could have been , or should have been was Contacts, and that is why the only serious commercial apps I had to buy was DreamConnect. Which brings me to my point....
What is really attractive to me personally about S60 in spite of its weaknesses in user applications(Contacts,Mail etc) is the buzz and activity that surrounds it - sites like yours, people making applications and publishing them and then my discovering the same, trying out stuff etc etc. That is why my phone is also my hobby. If a phone was as complete as a UIQ3 phone, then it would be just that - an extremely powerful utility for day to day use. Nothing more, nothing less. Although there were good applications out there for uiq3, they were, for want of a better word, just auxilliaries, addons. I didn't need any of those to get my basic stuff done.
->But this also meant that I had very little invested in that phone, and when I had to move on (when uiq stopped), I was not losing much except for the device itself.
This might be true for third party developers also - if the phone itself is good enough, then where would they be? But I don't know enough to talk about them.
Compare this to my scene with Nokia - over the years, I have bought a couple of hundred dollars worth of useful software, and most developers allow you transfer the license a few times. So there is money invested, a community to keep my interest going - and this is why I am still with Nokia (5800 currently).
Perhaps phone makers have a motivation not to make their phone app software extremely sophisticated.
P.S. To be honest, I also had bought one other software for uiq - Projekt, but that is not "core" phone software and has no equivalent anywhere AFAIK, so I didn't consider that in my comment.
My simple take on this is that if the software is on the phone, it should do its job. It shouldn't frustrate me, it shoudn't challenge me, and it shouldn't need a degree in IT to be able to use it. An example is the standard agenda in all S60 phones. Why can't I copy paste appointments? Why can't I find a standard input choice of All Day Event without having to wade through all sorts of sub-menu's? I'm not too bothered about missing applications. I can find what I need in the same way I do for a computer. I just want the installed software to work properly and instinctively. Nokia's music player is not instinctive. My iPod is (once I was told by my teenage daughter how to set up Playlists). The user experience should measure up to the competition.
I agree with the author's premise. When you buy anything you should be given a complete solution. That doesn't mean that it needs to have every feature (but it might, to remain competitive) but it should not have any obvious holes or problem areas. Increasingly, Nokia and Symbian are expecting paying customers to alpha test their products. That this should be thought to be acceptable is incredible.
The policy seems to be: rush to market with a shoddy, unrefined product; see what the customers scream about; downplay or ignore legitimate complaints; come out with new firmware for only some of many product codes for the same device; regress old problems or introduce new ones; repeat.
You guys have learned too many lessons from MicroSlop. The aftermarket should not be about filling holes and patching fundamental issues in a platform, it should about extending functionality and offering addons to an already stable, complete, and correctly functioning platform. When part or most of your aftermarket exists solely to fill gaping holes in your features or function, this is a very strong indication that your quality and business are in jconsiderable jeopardy.
Don't confuse the sheer mass and momentum of your business with long term success. That model may have worked in manufacturing in the old days but in the technology sector you adapt and innovate or you die. Even the biggest fattest kid on the block is eventually going to run out of steam if he doesn't straighten himself out. It's hard to remember that when he's been able to push everybody around for so long.
Sincerely,
A software guy who gives a damn
Excellent article, Ewan.
In regards to how reviewers should handle this, I'm on 2 sides of the fence.
On the one side (and how we do reviews at MobileBurn.com and Symbian-Guru.com), the review isn't supposed to cover the phone and its ecosystem, it's supposed to cover the phone. How well does the phone, out of the box, accomplish what the manufacturer say it does?
Beyond that, I typically come back with some followup articles to specifically mention third party alternatives that might fix or replace default features/apps.
The other big issue with this argument, as mentioned by a few commenters already, is who decides what's important and what's not? Gapless playback, for me, is a miniscule issue compared to the lack of ratings and playcount storage/synchronization in the native Symbian music player. The lack of both completely eliminates the possibility of having a complete desktop-mobile music experience, for me.
Yes,Yes and Yes.This is what we like our phones to do straight out of the box,the things they are meant to DO!
Nokia has always been Oh, so secretive about their firmware policies. Heck! they even don't release a proper changelog of their firmware updates. They should try doing that.
Where are the old days where Nokia phones were rock solid software wise?
Now, even their business devices crash.
Will anyone like if they buy a new Ferrari/Lamborghini/Veyron which doesn't go over 50 miles an hour and the manufacturer makes a promise that it will do so in the next 10 years or so(mobiles seldom last more than 3-5 years)
I think it is impossible for a device manufacturer to do all well for all people. It is good to have 3rd party applications but a Xpress Music device should have better music player then an business centric device. I owned my N70, 6110 Navigator and 5800 Xpress music and used e61, all this phones have different s60 versions but PIM application (Calender, to do, alarmclock etc) off all this devices is the same poor one. Off you sale a device als music centric or media centric or nusiness centric then you have the add some value in it. Some special apps or features.