The announcement of the Nokia N8 has certainly got the internet chattering, more than any other recent Nokia product launch. It’s not an out and out success, but that’s to be expected. No product in the real world can get 100% satisfaction on launch day, but it can get the buzz building from the time the press release goes public (or perhaps before - grrrrr). So what did the internet think of the N8? Lets find out.
Read on in the full article.
If you have written something about the N8 please do let us know here in the comments so everyone can share it.
stuclark: I've seen you post similar comments as contained in your blog elsewhere in the N8 stories today. Clearly you have been dragged over to the darkside 😊 invested in either iPhone or Android, or been burned by N97, and now are incapable of being objective. I could easily set up a little blog and claim the exact opposite to the points you've made, and then where would we be? Nowhere 😊
I think far more telling than a lone and unknown voice shouting in the wilderness is to see the general vibe from authoritative voices across the blogosphere and internet, and from comments on various news stories. They're pretty much all overwhelmingly positive, in favour of the N8, and congratulating Nokia on what is clearly an iPhone and Android beater (something which has got owners or fans of those devices seriously on the back foot today). (and as objective Nokia observers know, we certainly can't take seriously Eldar's 'review' at mobile-review, the man's a known Nokia hater, and Nokia have slapped him down for leaks so he has a massive anti-Nokia chip on his shoulder, quite apart from reviewing an N8 with unfinished hardware and software).
I think general consensus is Nokia's on a real winner with the N8.
Quote: "I think general consensus is Nokia's on a real winner with the N8."
Shades of the N97......
I have learned to temper my Nokia launch expectations because time after time they surely fail. It is what it is.
@Unregistered: I've only posted 3 things about the N8 today, or anytime actually. First was here; 2nd was on my blog and 3rd was just a few minutes ago on Twitter. So, you can't really say I've been spreading the same thing, being un-objective, or been dragged over to the dark side, based on that.
Infact I'm still using my i8910 as I think it still holds the best combination of hardware and software for me. However, I'm willing to accept that other offerings from other companies may now be more appealing to normobs.
If anything, that's being objective, not biased.
i won't be early adopting another nokia anytime soon... 😃
I just watched the N8 YouTube video from Nokia, I cringed, then I watched the video I most want to do on my cell phone and that is web browsing, N8 Web Browsing around time 0:11 I still see the ugly OPTIONS BLOCK on the side of the screen.
My guess from watching the Nokia Videos is its a N97 with a Capacitive screen, HDMI and supports both TMobile and ATT in the US with one phone. Not much there, I only switch carriers (if I do) once every two years. So not a big item for me to have one phone that works on both.
{Full Disclosure} I took a hammer to my N97 (it gave me great pleasure) and I now have a Google Nexus One which I like.
The only think I miss from Nokia is my Bluetooth transfer of photos with one click to my pc and my contacts list sync.
The N8 does not wow me.
Why are the Nokia haters out in force (referring to comments here, on Techcrunch and one or two other US-based places), putting down the N8 when it hasn't been released and no one's played with it yet (yep, not even Eldar at mobile-review who hates Nokia and is utterly biased)?
I'll tell you why - because it's shaping up to be a truly great handset that's why, and those who think Android/iPhone are the next big thing are on the back foot, in full defensive mode. They've realised the emperor has no clothes - that the platforms they've got behind are actually not very good after all and that actually Nokia have just hit back with one heck of a left hook and they're reeling.
The Symbian^3 / hardware specs / price combo of the N8 looks like it's going to really bring back to Nokia all but the most die hard iPhone/Android fans, and good thing too.
http://www.adonismobile.com/2010/04/nokia-announces-n8-first-symbian-3.html - Summary more tweaks with kick ass hardware. Still trying to bridge gaps rather than build bridges.
Shame.
The once mighty AAS is losing all credibility.
Have we forgotten the N97 fiasco? On this very site it was proudly proclaimed to be the next �killer� device. And we all know how that has turned out.
If you think that the only people who are going to bad mouth Nokia before a phone is released are iIdiots or Nexiots, you are mistaken. As early adopters of many recent Nokia phones, even those of us who have been loyal to a fault have come to feel as if we have been bopped in the head with a hammer time and again. Eventually you just want the hammering to stop. If Nokia don't want that negative spin early on then maybe they should earn that trust at some point. Surprise somebody and overshoot the expectations, as they did with the n95 4 years ago. Since then every new phone has had problems at release (except for my trusty e71). Whether it was memory problems (n97), battery issues, ringtone nonsense, faulty GPS's, scratchy lens covers, loose usb connectors, mediocre OS and the always useless Ovi Store - you are left waiting for 2-3 firmware updates and a warranty repair or two to get it close to right.
Don't get me wrong, I would love for this to be a success and shut up all the iphone zealots, but the truth is that recent history is not on Nokia's side. We'll see.
Well i was burnt on the N97 and foolishly the N900. On an iphone now and loving it and will probably sticl with Apple from now on being a more polished platform. Been loyal to Nokia over the years and they seem to have no respect to their customers based on recent experiences. Typed on my iphone using Opera.
With regards to quality I'd point out the much talked about 'delay' to Nokia's Symbian^3 phones is because of quality control. Nokia, in their last earnings call, said they 'would not release until its ready'. I think that's a very clear statement of intent.
Of course you can say you're not happy to wait and find out, but I think, given what they've gone on record and said about the N97, its probably fair to give them the benefit of the doubt.
My personal feeling is that I think Nokia have learnt from their mistake, but how much they have learnt is open to debate. Some people are never going to be happy so I don't think there'll ever be complete happiness on this issue. I can certainly understand a 'wait and see' attitude, but the 'dismiss out of hand' attitude seems short-sighted and dogmatic.
Benefit of the doubt! Maybe an appology for some of the recent devices they have released and people like myself and others who shelled over �500 for something that simply didn't work properly.
The N8 does look nice but I'd recommend people to wait for 6 months or so after it's release before buying. I'll bet good money this device will not work properly as advertised on release and we'll have an N97 debacle all ovr again.
I for one won't be burnt again.
@Rafe,
If OPK came out and said publicly: "hey everyone, we sold you shit and will continue to do so" you would still say: "give Nokia benefit of the doubt, they learned their lesson". Living with Nokia is like being in an abusive relationship where we are promised that we learned this time and won't do it again. But as sure as AAS will be a Nokia apologist, Nokia too will disappoint. That is not to say the other phone guys have their short comings, they all do, but Nokia seems to excel at them and AAS is right there to rub their back and say: "is't okay. they don't understand you".... You guys have really lost quite a bit of credibility. In effect, you are no better than the Apple zealot-wingnuts on the other side.
I think that nokia already learn their mistake.
If nokia didn't learn their mistake (yet), they will release this device last december.
well, nokia is learn BOTH of their mistake. bad product and wrong pricing.
the pricing of N8 make the world stop spinning for 1 minute.
great job nokia.
@N97 owner
I think you should be thankfull that nokia were constantly updating the N97 firmware, and giving new ability with each firmware. That's alone show that nokia is really serious about N97.
about pricing.
yes N97 is too overprice, but at that time it was launched that's the price, and it's normal (compared to competitor).
The one is not normal is the N8 price. but it's a great price, i won't complain.
My opinion is that it's pretty good, if not earth shattering.
Compared to the current high end Symbian devices, bearing in mind that the i8910 was announced and released more or less a year before the N8, we have:
Improvements:
- HDMI - This is something I would actually make good use of and am quite excited to see. I notice it can play back H264, VC1 and MPEG4 - hopefully in a DivX/Xvid wrapper. It would be great to carry HD films on your phone & just plug them into a TV to watch them.
- Camera - Looks like the Satio's camera, but the 12MPixels and Xenon are a step up from Vivaz and the i8910. From the specs I suspect that it will better the Satio's camera, and probably as good as we can reasonably expect in 2010.
- Symbian^3 - Hopefully an improvement over S60 5th. Time will tell how much better it is - I suspect it will start out rather disappointing & get better and better with new firmwares. It will also be interesting to see if we get any custom firmwares for the i8910 based on S^3 when the N8 is released.
- Nokia support & software - This is certainly going to be better than Samsung / Sony Ericsson, notably all the Nokia apps just working without having to hack them in and much better & more frequent Firmware updates.
- Price - This is actually a very good introductory price for a high end mobile.
Negatives:
- I am not too keen on the looks. Not quite as nice looking as a Vivaz, or even i8910
- Screen is nothing special - just a 3.5" version of the 3.7" i8910 display.
- I am left feeling that Nokia is still a little behind the times in terms of hardware compared with Samsung and HTC and even SE. Simplistically it is a i8910 with a Xenon flash and HDMI output, but with a slightly worse screen, released 1 year later.
It's certainly quite a significant improvement compared with 2009 Nokia Symbian devices, but perhaps not quite enough to wow Vivaz or i8910 owners. If the N8 had a higher resolution screen I would certainly consider this for my new phone. As it is, I may still be tempted away to Android or Bada. For the price, however, I feel Nokia has done a very good job.
Berty wrote:Benefit of the doubt! Maybe an appology for some of the recent devices they have released and people like myself and others who shelled over �500 for something that simply didn't work properly.The N8 does look nice but I'd recommend people to wait for 6 months or so after it's release before buying. I'll bet good money this device will not work properly as advertised on release and we'll have an N97 debacle all ovr again.
I for one won't be burnt again.
You might like to have a look at this coverage of the N97 issue and what Ansi Vanjoki said during our recent interview with him - http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/11183_Video_Anssi_Vanjoki_on_the_N97.php
Unregistered wrote:@Rafe,If OPK came out and said publicly: "hey everyone, we sold you shit and will continue to do so" you would still say: "give Nokia benefit of the doubt, they learned their lesson". Living with Nokia is like being in an abusive relationship where we are promised that we learned this time and won't do it again. But as sure as AAS will be a Nokia apologist, Nokia too will disappoint. That is not to say the other phone guys have their short comings, they all do, but Nokia seems to excel at them and AAS is right there to rub their back and say: "is't okay. they don't understand you".... You guys have really lost quite a bit of credibility. In effect, you are no better than the Apple zealot-wingnuts on the other side.
I would point out we're frequently criticise Nokia (and praise it too of course). But I have a sneaking suspicion you are one of the people who will never be happy to that I referred to above. You are entitled to your opinion of course.
Oh and I don't think OPK would use bad language in a public statement.
mwarner wrote:
It's certainly quite a significant improvement compared with 2009 Nokia Symbian devices, but perhaps not quite enough to wow Vivaz or i8910 owners. If the N8 had a higher resolution screen I would certainly consider this for my new phone. As it is, I may still be tempted away to Android or Bada. For the price, however, I feel Nokia has done a very good job.
I think you might be under estimating Symbian^3 myself... and there's a lot of stuff in the camera engineering / HD engineering (and other areas) that makes it stand out from the Vivaz and i8910. I think some of the services are also significant - people will like the idea of 'free TV', just as they like free navigation. The price point is competitive too given what you get.
But thank you for providing a thought out comment!
Please can all the hurt N97 owners be quiet or go away? Stop wallowing in the self pity. Please. It's getting boring. Grow up and get on with life.
It's not like nobody cares - Nokia clearly care, they've apologised, and they've reorganised and redesigned and restructured to improve quality control, design, management ethos etc. OK? They've changed.
AAS care, other owners care. But for goodness sakes, you weren't sold rubbish. The N97 is a good handset, you knew the hardware specs when you bought, and the software has had upgrades and improvements. It had a few not-very-big teething troubles. So what? Show me an iPhone or Android that hasn't. In fact, show me an iPhone or Android that offered anywhere near the spec for the price. You didn't get burned by the N97. Nobody did. You simply built up your expectations too much and then Nokia failed them slightly. Get over it.
Anyone criticising the N8 at this stage (and unless when it gets released it is really, genuinely, objectively compared to the iPhone and Android, actually rubbish) is speaking from one of 2 things: 1.) self pity at an N97 that failed to live up to YOUR expectations and/or 2.) defensiveness because you've bought an iPhone or Android and now realised the N8's hardware spec makes them looks overpriced and underpowered, and that actually the Symbian^3 software might just be better than the iPhone UI experience (shock, horror!) and better than Android. And THAT my friends is why it's easier for some people to slag off the N8 rather than admit it looks bloody amazing on paper, and in real life is likely to be a really big competitor to iPhone and Android.
Moan away all you whingers! At the end of the day, sales are what count - the customers ain't stupid, they vote with their money, and their good sense.
So N97's crap, right? Symbian's rubbish! Nokia are dying, S60 5th edition is the worst touch UI out there, nobody likes it and nobody wants to use it, no one will buy the N8! What the US blogs (despite being totally ignorant) say against Nokia and Symbian is right!
- That's why pre-Christmas Nokia grew Global smartphone marketshare by 5%. iPhone? ZERO growth.
- That's why 1st quarter of this year (post Christmas is always slow across the whole market) Nokia grew smartphone marketshare by 1%. iPhone? ZERO growth.
- That's why the total smartphone market was flat from Q4 last year and sold 52.6 million units. Yet Nokia grew unit sales 3% to 21.5 million smartphones - and grew market share to 41%. (iPhone? ZERO growth - you get the picture)
- That's why while Android sold a whole 7 million phones last year, Nokia/Symbian sold well over 10 times that!
Tell me Nokia/Symbian critics, exactly what sort of fantasy land do you live in? Because you DO live in one...
From an American's point of view who has owned the 5800 and currently the n97 mini, I think the best way for Nokia to make substantial headway into the US market is to actually support its US users. Beyond actually shipping its high-end devices over here without having to buy through Amazon (though I have no problem with that as I only buy unlocked phones), the most important things to me are that Nokia 1) keeps updating their OVI maps for America (especially for search) and 2) that when firmware updates come through, that America can actually get the update too! I never got an update for my NAM 5800 and by the time I move on from the n97 mini by the summer, I doubt I could have gotten an update either.
The mini is by far the best-built phone I've ever had, and like most high-end Nokias, it is very functional, but five months into my ownership and I'm sorely missing RAM and a faster CPU. The N8, in those departments, don't really seem to have improved for what the top 2010 devices have already come out with: 1Ghz processors and 512 RAM. Other than that, though the N8 looks fantastic, except for the part where it looks ugly. Still, I could be assured that Nokia would support my device once I purchased it, I'd be all in. The HTC Desire and the Samsung Galaxy S are really looking great right now. I've used nothing but WM and Symbian devices, but I told myself that I would be willing to give Android a try once they updated their hardware specs, and boy have they ever. Why is this so hard for Symbian? I understand lower clocked CPUs tax the battery less, but when the OS lags in return, where's the joy?
C'mon guys this is not their flagship. Why r u all expecting 1ghz and 512mb on a �370 device. For this price nothing out there comes even close. Wait for the flagship if u want all the goodies. And would all u moaners just quit it. You guys r living in fantasy land where your views r far from reality. You've been proven wrong again and again. Aren't u embarassed already. Predicting the downfall of Symbian and Nokia from your comfy chairs, and it still hasn't happened! You N97 owners should have known better. You build up your expectations, got highly excited, became early adopters, got burned, and then you keep on moaning here for the past year. The normob me saw from the beggining that N97 was going to b a mess. I never moan about it, I just didn't buy it. And u 'experts' didn't see what was coming to u? Serves u right! Nokia kept it's position and much of it's marketshare in the face of adversity, selling these so called (by u experts) bargain bin devices, at 'emerging markets'. I'd like to u say this �370 N8 'crap for the emerging markets' if u dare. This is only the first. The shit is yet to come and they will come in waves. Your 15 minutes of fame is up! Oh yeah in the real world (not your fantasy land wetdreams), the normobs are going to love this and it's going to sell by the shit loads, live with that.
Of course we NAM owners of Nokia phones are shafted. A Nokia phone in the U.S. is essentially abandon-ware. Samsung is worse at this post-sales support, but Nokia is right up there.
I've written this at the end of the night and am admittedly a bit gushy, but in any case I've put some sentences together re: my thoughts about the N8 here: http://rlaskey.org/words/2010/04/27/the-nokia-n8-woo/
The last Nokia flagship (N97 or N97 Mini?) was a total disaster in my book so I think A LOT of Nokia fans are going to be cautious with this one, me included.
"The N8, in those departments, don't really seem to have improved for what the top 2010 devices have already come out with: 1Ghz processors and 512 RAM."
-- You forget that the CPU in the N8 is not a vanilla ARM 11, but a _Tegra_ ARM 11(!)
Trust me, a Tegra ARM 11 can easily match a Snapdragon, in fact in some areas it is indeed faster (more instructions per clockcycle). The SnapDragon has a long instruction and data pipeline, making branch predictions costly, and hence slow down the processor, that is also why a SnapDragon needs to run at high clock speeds.
-- The N8 has 256 MB RAM (twice the amount of the 5800 and N97), yes. But since Symbian^3 has full demand paging (Symbian^1 only had it partially), it will truck on for quite a long stretch before running out of RAM, and the "closing apps on the background" problem that the 5800 and N97 have, will be history on the N8.
-- Android is quite significantly heavier that Symbian^3. The entire application in Andriod is running on the Dalvik virtual machine(!), and the UI and application layer services takes almost twice the amount of RAM, than Symbian will ever do.
If you still don't believe me, with regard to the performance of the N8, well, just look at the videos.
This device will be a hit, there is no arguing around it. It has the perfect power vs. price ratio of any smartphone, hands down.
On he face of it this seems the best phone out there (for my needs) notwithstanding iPhone. Desire is very nice but this looks like a big trumping of the HTC card.
My only worry, apart from this device proving its credentials, is that Symbian^3 is only a stepping stone to Symbian^4.
So will N8 buyers be able to reflash with Symbian^4?
I am one of ovi store publisher.
With current quality of OVI store we will have really poor applications for this nice device.
More and more developers moving out of OVI store for poor price share
OVI declare 70% but now it's 40-20%
As developers you paid share with mobile operator (it's 60% in some countries) as most people pay with premium sms
Another share 21% take Finnish gov. because OVI paid TAX 😊
And ovi store takes 30% ( downloading of apps isn't working if you are downloading big app over 4MB )
That is current shares in ovi store
More and more dev. moving out of OVI store
Nice phone but without app 😊
That is bright future of NOKIA phones