Stupid to Buy a Symbian phone now???

Actually I too have big hands and use to love Nokia and their keyboards, but I really have to tell you I have been converted to Swype and no longer need a physical keyboard. My big hands have no problem dragging them over the Swype keyboard.

I also switched to T-Mobile, you can buy any of their phones and return them in 30 days. I returned the first phone I had with the keyboard and now love my My Touch 4G with Swype. I no longer have to worry about hunt and peck on the vitural keyboards.

They only key with Swype is that you should know how to spell. it makes it easier.

/A

I have T-mobile also, using it with my N900

Ill never give up a physical keyboard, I really truly hate touch keyboards... I hate they way the pull up and cover half of the browser, I hate hitting menu keys to change the keyboard for numbers and symbols... Ill always stick with a physical keyboard.

I have been looking hard at the E7, its going to be expensive & I would hate to see Symbian totally faded out right after the phone gets in my hands.

The E7 will not get any worse, if Nokia wouldn't do any other Symbian phones after it. However, Nokia has said it still inteds to produce and sell 150 million Symbian based phones (with current volumes, that's 18-24 months of worth). Of course, their objective in this might not be met, but the main point is that if you like the E7 and it meets your needs, there's no point in not buying it.

Yeah I suppose your right.

I was a sidekick user from 2002 (the original) to 2010. The sidekicks always had a very nice keyboard, actually probably the best yet to date (fully spaced 5-row) hence why I stuck with the platform for soo long. I broke away last year to get the N900 after reading about it for a year on different linux gaming forums & love my N900, its been an amazing phone. But... the keyboard has always been too small...

I honestly forgot about Nokia. The N900 made me a fan & I was closely watching the N9/E7 rumors last Fall when I saw that big screen and Keyboard & Macbook like alloy body.

I guess Ill shell out for the last symbian device. I do so much email/text on my phone the keyboard is key to me. Right now in the USA with T-mobile (my carrier) options are just ok with keyboards. The T-mobile G2 is small to hold in your hands & the recently introduced Cliq 2 coulod have had a massive keyboard, but went with this small web one (its not bad) the E7 has just an amazing looking keyboard & is one of the nicest looking phones out there.

Funny that I would jump to Symbian as the ship was sinking... oh well... I really Nokia Adopted Androir & put their polish on the UI vs. the bland W7 format? A company this big should have had something in the works.... sad end for a unique line of phones.

N/A wrote:The E7 will not get any worse, if Nokia wouldn't do any other Symbian phones after it. However, Nokia has said it still inteds to produce and sell 150 million Symbian based phones (with current volumes, that's 18-24 months of worth). Of course, their objective in this might not be met, but the main point is that if you like the E7 and it meets your needs, there's no point in not buying it.

My only thoughts on this N/A are as follows:-

1. Both the N8 and the E7 (which still won't be launched in the UK until April!) are end of their line.

2. We are told that symbian^3 will not be used on high end smartphones in future.

3. Did Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, sound the death knell for symbian*3 on high end smartphones by stating... "...Symbian is proving to be an increasingly difficult environment in which to develop to meet the continuously expanding consumer requirements...", and, "The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable."

4. Are not the 150,000,000 million symbian phones referred to likely to be the mid and low end for which developement will obviously continue as they "intend" to franchise symbian.

5. Will developers/Nokia therefore continue to bring out specific app's/features for the the end of line, high end, smartphones. In particular the business related features for the E7 or are these going to be just general symbian updates to enhance their platform across the board for franchise purposes.

6. Is there any chance of WM7 being ported to the likes of the N8 and E7 with their 680MHz processors when WM7 is running on 1 GHz processors in the main.

I guess that I'm viewing this a bit like the Betamax/VHS battle of the late 1970's and 80's when I owned a Betamax but was forced to buy VHS because of the lack of support.

E7 is still a very good phone and this wont stop me from buying it.

There is no chance of WP on the N8 or E7, for one WP currently specifies 3 buttons plus camera button.

Dazzy wrote:
There is no chance of WP on the N8 or E7, for one WP currently specifies 3 buttons plus camera button.

The operative word there is, "currently".

I was thinking of, say, in a years time.

ironass wrote:The operative word there is, "currently".

I was thinking of, say, in a years time.

My guesstimate is that in a years time, or later, Nokia will not make WP7 available for the N8, E7 or any current or future Symbian^3 based phone model. They will always run just Symbian.

N/A wrote:My guesstimate is that in a years time, or later, Nokia will not make WP7 available for the N8, E7 or any current or future Symbian^3 based phone model. They will always run just Symbian.

That was my line of thinking too N/A.

So really speaking, the N8 and E7 are the end of an era for symbian^3 on high end smartphones.

UPDATE

Maybe not the end of an era after all:-

http://mobile.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12590_Reports_of_Symbians_death_have.php

ironass wrote:That was my line of thinking too N/A.

So really speaking, the N8 and E7 are the end of an era for symbian^3 on high end smartphones.

What about the promise of GHz+ phones coming running Symbian as announced earlier today?

JayTay wrote:What about the promise of GHz+ phones coming running Symbian as announced earlier today?

Hadn't heard that.

Nokia have stated they are not using symbian on future, new, high end smartphones.

UPDATE

OK. Just read this here:-

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/12590_Reports_of_Symbians_death_have.php

They don't say if they are high end smartphones or maybe just gaming handsets.

kev187 wrote:I have been drooling over the E7 for months now, I love qwerty keyboards & I am a big guy with Big hands... the E7 just looks fantastic hardware wise... but whats going to happen?

Is Nokia going to stop producing any symbian phones at all, or keep low end phones running symbian? Will support for the E7 be dead on arrival?

I'm getting one anyway, it's the best phone on the market regardless of OS.

martinharnevie wrote:It appears to me that support for E7 won't be affected.

I'm getting one anyway, it's the best phone on the market regardless of OS.

Have you tried symbian^3 on the N8 yet?

Yeah I think Ill give the E7 a try... the keyboard looks absolutely fantastic!

I have never used Symbian, just toyed with some of the S60 phones. The UI looks basic, but remember.. before my N900 I was happily using a T-mobile Sidekick LX. Its all about the Keyboard. The Sidekick was very basic (had a nice web browser) but I could type all day on that damn thing & it kept me from upgrading to a "real" smart phone for years. So Maemo has been good to me, but since I have yet to use a Android device & wont buy an ios device till it has a qwerty keyboard (I am a verteran mac user also) The E7 on looks and the keyboard look like a fun phone to try.

As long as I can get on my internet radio like I do on Maemo (and it seems through a shoutcast Client Symbian3 can) Ill be perfectly happy!

Thanks everyone!

Read also this E7 preview: http://my-symbian.com/s60v3/preview_nokia_e7.php

It's actually brilliant time.

We're just beginning to see new waves of app coming up, it's a very refined platform at the end of the day - just got N8, and couldn't be happier! 😉

junchao8 wrote:It's actually brilliant time.

We're just beginning to see new waves of app coming up, it's a very refined platform at the end of the day - just got N8, and couldn't be happier! 😉

Seems like you've taken the opposite drugs to what Stephen "Flop" have been taking.. just dont jump into the ocean too quickly.. the Sharks in the water like their meat whole!

bchliu wrote:Seems like you've taken the opposite drugs to what Stephen "Flop" have been taking.. just dont jump into the ocean too quickly.. the Sharks in the water like their meat whole!

All I'm saying, is N8 suits my usage very well!

Hardly carry mobile, camera and ipod everywhere - what N8 offers in one compact package, is practically indistinguishable in function and output to the combo - and that's enough for me. Beside I doubt there would be any mobile capable of matching N8's pace photo wise.

As long as you buy knowing the features it has now are likely to be as good as it gets.

Dont count on the updates and more apps, as they may or may not see the light of day. There are no guarantees

Tbh I never had hopes up getting latest apps on Symbian. Beside got it for a bargain, so I know exactly what I paid for.

junchao8 wrote:All I'm saying, is N8 suits my usage very well!

Hardly carry mobile, camera and ipod everywhere - what N8 offers in one compact package, is practically indistinguishable in function and output to the combo - and that's enough for me. Beside I doubt there would be any mobile capable of matching N8's pace photo wise.

Precisely.

The camera is equal to or possibly better than my compact (which is an expensive panasonic waterproof). Music quality is better than my iPod. And it happens to do an incredibly good job of making phone calls.