Posts tagged symbian
Nokia X6 to come Down Under sooner rather then later and the N97 mini has been delayed
Feb 2nd
It seems as the trouble Nokia have been having with the N97 in regards to software issues has forced the delay of the “mini” Apparently this delay is to make sure that the issues that have plagued the N97 don’t also plague it’s little brother. While all this is going on Nokia have released another update to the N97 software, increasing the version from 20.0.0.019 to 21.0.0.045, Nokia have noted that this update improved scrolling, and call reliablity. As of yesterday this hadn;’t filtered through to Australian’s N97 variant.
Nokia’s latest XpressMusic range, the X Series, is coming to Australia. At this stage it is currently being tested by networks and is planning for a first half of the year release. Network availability and pricing is yet to be confirmed and also will depend on whether the Comes with Music version is taken or not. As more information comes to hand, I will update with details.
The 5800’s little brother – 5530 XpressMusic touches down in Australia, along with the E72
Nov 30th
The little brother to Nokia’s 5800 has finally landed in Australia. This nice little handset has already got the “kinetic scrolling” software on it, like what the N97 got in an update not long ago, and the same update the 5800 is yet to get. The update in question, changes the scrolling to be more iPhone-esque and in turn more accurate and easier to use. The 5530 XpressMusic on first glance is quite a nice handset, it has a great finish which shows good quality, something the 5800 lacked. Sporting a 3.2 megapixel camera + video, WiFi, 2.9″ resistive touch, built-in Facebook app and 4GB MicroSD included, it comes in 2 colour variants, White with Blue and Black with Red. The only downside of this handset is, it’s only 2G. Look for these to be south of the $250 mark. Definitely a good handset for a Christmas present.
Next is the E72, successor to the popular and well received E71. The handset is coming in 2 colours, Gold and Black, with the Gold colour being exclusive to Allphones for release. Packing a 5 megapixel camera, GPS with compass, 3.5mm stereo jack, WiFi, HSDPA 10.2Mbps, 4GB MicroSD included, optical track button instead of standard D-Pad (works exceptionally well BTW) and the standard S60 suite of apps, it also has a redesigned QWERTY keypad, borrowing heavily from the E63 which means, bigger keys. Virgin are really headlining this handset, bringing it out for $0 on the $49 Rollover Cap, this is cheaper then any of the major networks in Australia, all charging extra for the handset.
Samsung announces "bada" and gives Symbian the boot
Nov 11th
In a every increasing world of smartphone manufactures and software developers, there is the best and then there is the rest. Nokia’s own Symbian OS (S60), along with RIM’s Blackberry OS and Apple’s iPhone OS hold the top three spots in market share for smartphone OS’s, with everyone thing else making up the rest. The main reason for Symbian’s success has been it’s licensing. More smartphones around the world are sold with symbian due to two things, Nokia making it, it’s number 1 smartphone OS and also other manufactuers also using it in a range of handsets, Samsung being one of these. Samsung, which holds the umber 2 spot for global mobile sales currently uses a mix of Windows Mobile and Symbian for it’s smartphones with about a 80/20 split. This is all about to change.
UPDATE: Nokia 5800 to launch March/April in Australia
Feb 19th
UPDATE: The 9th of March is now the lucky date of launch, a month ahead of the information recieved earlier. I suppose this is what happens when you get information from a number of different sources. As this date is only 2 week away, i will definatley have an unboxing video and hands on for you as soon as i can get my hands on one.
Following on from my previous post regarding launch dates for the 5800, I have been able to get ahold of information confirming that it will launch end of March, start of April on Optus, Virgin and Three networks, with Optus having 18 months of “Comes with Music” downloads and the other having the standard 12 months.
Nokia is believed to be making this annoucment official on Feb 25th according to itnews.com.au
Android & Us
Dec 21st
Android, it’s a cool name for a cool piece of mobile OS but what does it really mean for the mobile landscape in the way of consumer choice? To start lets have a look at whats around in way of Operating Systems for mobiles:
- Nokia’s have a eternal bond with Symbian, using both S40 and S60 in most of their handsets.
- Samsung use a mixture of S60 Symbian and their own in-house software as well as WinMo.
- Sony Ericsson is the same with their own in-house and used to use UIQ which is based on Symbian for there higher end handsets eg P990i, P1i, though this software isn’t used anymore and we will talk about that soon, WinMo is another that is used by SE.
- Motorola uses a in-house solution built on a mixture of Java and Linux.
- LG use in-house software, Flash based UI’s for touch devices and WinMo in there “Enterprise” handsets.
Now lets consider a scenario, You are used to a Nokia and as such are looking at a purchasing a new phone, chances are you will look at another Nokia due to the fact that using it is no issue BUT what if say Motorola or Sony Ericsson has a handset you like better or has a particular that you want that Nokia doesn’t have (such as in-built Blogger.com software). This throws the whole decision making process out the window because you then need to prioritise features and find a handset that gives you enough of the features you want to be happy with your purchase.
Android i believe will change all of that, imagine walking into a phone shop and be able to purchase almost any handset from almost any manufacturer and it come with the same software with just little tweaks specific to both manufacturer and carrier it is purchased through. This is the beauty of Android, as well as it being an Open Source OS which means it is free to use and to tweak and hack to your or the carriers and manufacturers needs, it allows the manufacturers who are a part of the Open Handset Alliance which include all the manufacturers above with the exception of Nokia, to be able to use one single platform that is built on the same basis but can be completely customised to fit into their handset markets.
It’s a fun time to be in the mobile space i can tell you that 
