From AAS's department of the bleedin' obvious come comments from me after looking into data from the last ten years in the Symbian world, looking at screen sizes across a range of form factors and interfaces (including Series 80 and UIQ). Yes, form factors are gradually converging, and yes, screens are getting larger. No real surprise there then, but I thought you might be interested in the charts themselves below...
Read on in the full article.
I hope you are right and that Nokia does bring a bigger screen device (to clarify, a bigger SYMBIAN screen device, the N900 screen size is just fine).
As a i8910 and X6 owner, i found the X6 screen to be just too small, as i do the N97 Mini and 5800. While i appreciate that not everyone wants a large screen, there is a niche for a larger (than currently available) Nokia screen (cough, N8).
I also had the Touch HD2 (for a while). really like that screen size too. Might seem big, but because it was so thin it still fit comfortably in a backpocket.
One would think that 4.3 inches would be too big for a phone/pda, but it's not.
Yesterday I checked out the new Motorola Droid X at a Verizon Wireless store, and the device feels great in the hand, is really thin, as in Nokia E72 thin, and has a jaw dropping display and home screen (oh, and it takes pretty nice pictures, too).
I pulled up the new Kindle books app for it, and the resolution was awesome (I picked Steig Larson's 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo'😉. It was almost like reading from a paperback novel.
High resolution on phones really helps with reading text, so here's to hoping that Nokia ups their screens from the current 640x320.
You mean 640 by 360...
To be honest, that's fine for my 48 year old eyes.... but I accept that younger people, on a 4" screen, might be able to see a degree of blockiness.
The form factor of current Nokia handsets are ideal right now. Just imagine Nintendo DSi with Nintendo DSi XL. I can still use one hand accessing functions with my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Can that be managed with larger form factors like iPhone and HTC? Remember that they are being called "handheld" not "handsheld" with the "s" in between. The best thing they could do is retain the form factor, but make the front of the handset all touch and all physical buttons on screen software driven.
I'm sure we've all seen the E7/N8-01 photos floating around, so we know that they've got something brewing over there in Espoo. But I'd love nothing more than to see a Droid X device from Nokia. If they offered that, I could deal with not having a physical keyboard since the display is so big. The market would love it, especially the US market.
For me, it's a matter of being able to read the screen. For many apps, an extra fraction of an inch is likely not going to make that much of a difference. You just use a larger font and wrap the text around. For looking at web pages, the screen size begin to matter more. With the browsers I use, you need to zoom in to read the text. If the web page and/or browser is not designed that well to display the text, you end up having to scroll left and right in addition to up and down and that can be annoying.
Right now, I haven't had very many issues with my N97 (3.5" display). There are a few here and there where I need to adjust the font or I won't be able to read everything properly. I do want a slightly larger display (probably 4"😉 at those times and can probably live with a slightly larger device.
slitchfield wrote:You mean 640 by 360...To be honest, that's fine for my 48 year old eyes.... but I accept that younger people, on a 4" screen, might be able to see a degree of blockiness.
But at the same time I don't want a large device, certainly don't want a 4" device.
Mobile screens have really got changed nowdays,just look at the Nokia 6230 screen to now just released the Samsung Galaxy an it really shows how things have changed,theres a some good an bad advantages towards the screens sizes,even just look how Normal Camera Screens have changed as well,they were small but now alot bigger,Large Screens are Super for Displaying Images an Videos on your Mobile an this is the Trend now,but some screens are way to big for mobiles the X10 Experia an Samsung Gaxalay an Htc Hd2 are way to big for mobiles an makes the mobile look Odd an Boring,but the Public do not seem to Realise if you Break the Screens on the large screen mobiles they are twice as much to Replace so you really have take care of mobile nowdays,thats why at work i leave my Satio inside a Leather Case an do not want damage the Lcd Screen,So for Brickies an Plumbers not a good idea to use a Large touch screen mobile at work without a Case
Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, I put it to you that the Xperia X10 mini and Xperia X10 mini PRO are genius, properly pocketable and portable. Not like the recent crop of chopping boards that I can use flat to carry 5 drinks back from the bar. I really don't miss big screens. What does my X10 mini not do?
I'll tell you what it doesn't do, look like an embarassing big geek-toy.
@unregistered you must be kidding with the xperia x10 mini pro. It is almost completely unusable as a phone and certainly does not show off Android - although it is probably because version 1.6 is a bit of a half baked OS.
Unregistered wrote:@unregistered you must be kidding with the xperia x10 mini pro. It is almost completely unusable as a phone and certainly does not show off Android - although it is probably because version 1.6 is a bit of a half baked OS.
I find it very usable and useful. It's true Android is a half baked OS, but that doesn't make it unusable. I also have iPhone4, and a Desire (and some older Symbian phones) but the X10 mini is the one I carry because it's so carryable. Why would I want to lug around more size and weight?
As for the "retina" screen on the iPhone, can somebody tell me the advantage of it? Because apart from looking a bit nicer, it does the same thing as my old 3GS. Emperors new clothes.
And as for being luddites, after years of useful miniaturisation in electronic devices, suddenly - starting with the iPhone, suddenly we have electronic device bloat and bulk because obese americans have clumsy fat fingers and can't be bothered to develop skills.
Ex 5800 user here,now proud owner of the big SE X10, and i absolutely love using it due to this 854x480 4inch gorgeous display 😃. I use my X10 one handed with no problem,i see/have no issues with its large display mainly due to the fact that the phone itself is super thin and nice and wide making it so pleasant to hold and slip in the pocket. Yes,its a big phone, but its DEFINETLY NOT embarrassing, actualy its the opposite,its such beautiful device with such a great presence due to its size that people are always giving realy nice compliments about it. At uni most guys in my classes generaly say its a wicked phone, girls say its stunning and actualy like the big one more than the small one, most older people say its a realy fancy phone or that its beautiful, so its by no means embarrassing,even if it was i personaly love its size and look,its a gorgeous geek device, it suits me very well,as although im a mobile geek i certainly dont look like one.
Tsepz_011 wrote:Finally managed to login.
Watching videos on the 4inch of my X10 is very enjoyable,i can finaly watch movies comfortably on my mobile, the slim profild and huge display make it look like a mini flatscreen,its a nice effect i must say. I understand huge screens are not for everyone but i HIGHLY recommend you people go and test a device like the X10, HD2, Droid X, Desire etc....you may find that its actualy not that bad, i simply wont be able to go back to anything smaller than 4" inch display,its just a whole lot better experience.
For movie watching I recommend LCD or Plasma TVs with 42 inch screens. Beats a phone anytime.
Billy-O,
You are correct! But last time I take my 42 inch LCD to the plane I had some problems...
jmvdinis wrote:Billy-O,You are correct! But last time I take my 42 inch LCD to the plane I had some problems...
Those seat-back screens in economy seats even at 6 inches are too small.
Screens are getting bigger because touch screen phones are getting more ubiquitous by the day, and you do need to be generous with the screen display real estate for the various touch motions and your big fat fingers.
Then again, phones cannot get too big or they can't fit into your pocket or in your bag.
Phone manufacturers can consider building phones with dimensions based on the Golden Ratio: