Nokia N8 Megathread

bd250110 wrote: »

Those are fair points. As a long time iPhone user (Original, 3G, 3Gs(from work) and iPhone4), I think a lot of those points are fair. I also have an HTC Desire (again from work) and I've been running an E71 on 3 as well (until it got nicked in Heathrow!) So Im not a Nokia hater, or an iPhone lover, by any means.
Apps are not a big thing for me (wouldn't make or break), but e-mails and web browsing are. Some of what you raised are of little interest to me (I don't have a TV with HD, for example)

Fair enough.. I'm not trying to sell you a phone. You asked me what was better on the N8, so I made a list, having tried both.

I would argue with your points on
1) The charger (if you have an iPod, for example)
2) The FM radio (there are some great web radio apps, better quality than FM, granted they do use data).
3) on-board maps with the iPhone, everything from fairly basic maps for
free to TomTom, the free Nokia/Ovi maps far outclass anything free on the iPhone though.
4) Apps made available to the general public must be loaded via iTunes store, but corporate apps can be added without going through the store, or the approval process.
5) The iPhone is capable of running on any network. The 4 needs a SIM modification.

To reply to those:
1. Having an iPod won't help you when you're visiting a client/friend/family member with your phone nearly dead, and you need a charge. MicroUSB is the mandated charger connection for all phones sold in the EU from now on. Apple are dragging their feet, where every other phone maker has adopted it.

2. Radio transmitter, not receiver (although there's a receiver too). Not a major thing for me, but it's handy in rental cars, as it would allow you to listen to your own music on the car stereo.

3. The "Free" maps on iPhone aren't free if you're abroad - they rely on network download to display: it's basically the same as opening Google Maps in your browser. If you leave your data roaming on, you could end up being charged the cost of a standalone TomTom. Nokia's are pre-loaded into the handset, and that's the big advantage, not just the quality of the maps.

4. When last I checked (granted it was a year ago), the corporate Apple deployment is only available to accounts with 200 handsets. That still rules out a lot of companies. There are also some handy functions (such as network diagnostic apps) which Apple flat out forbid.

5. The iPhone can not operate on all 3G networks. There are currently five frequency bands in use for 3G worldwide. Despite early prototypes being certified for all bands, the released iPhone can operate on four of these, with an appropriate SIM (clipping a SIM down to "micro" size makes it pretty hard to use in another phone later). N8 can work on all five. If you don't go to the USA or Japan this is not an issue, if you do it could be.

I think the N8 has a lot going for it.

I think so too.. the next firmware in February promises to make it a whole lot slicker, and lack of polish is the only real shortcoming of this phone. Actually, I'm surprised at how viciously negative the reviews of this device were -- they certainly don't match my own experience. I will just add that it didn't take too long to notice that pretty much all of the bad reviews were from US-based sources that never covered phones until the iPhone arrived.

I would rate Symbian above Android for app stability and it's pretty easy to use for anyone with a Nokia background, battery life kicks arse as well, I used to easily get a week from the E71. iOS is limited in personalisation and some things like turning on BT, WiFi, etc drive me nuts, far too many swipes and taps required.

It's swings and roundabouts.. some stuff on the N8 is way to hard to access, or, like your Bluetooth example, there is a slow way, and really quick way that is completely non-obvious (tap "Call", then long-press on "*").

I (and 90% of those I sold phones to) don't need a HDMI output or a killer e-mail client. Battery life is a deal breaker for some, but the most important thing is a reliable handset, no one wants to bring their phone back and sales people don't want to see them back. Absolute time wasting for all involved, I knew I could send someone away with a HTC, BB or Apple handset with confidence. I couldn't say the same for SE or Nokia, often launch handsets were (and still are) rushed to market lacking features and reliability.

I'd say 90% of people you've sold phones to don't care if it runs Android or Symbian. People go by the maker's name, not the OS, despite what the "tech media" would have you believe.

My N8 is one of the earliest ones in Ireland, and has been flawless. I've had duds from Apple (not phones) in the past. Both makers' return rates are around industry average, but Nokia have such a wide range of phones it's hard to compare.

It seems there were manufacturing issues with some N8s (powers down, won't power up); this has been fixed, and the phones will be replaced. This seems to have been in the very first phones, and don't think any affected units were sold here.

I'd argue about "Killer e-mail client" not being important: Blackberry managed to build an entire business with only an email client to offer. As for the HDMI, it's a bit of a gimmick now, but it'll get a lot handier when office projectors start coming with HDMI inputs, and you can play presentations directly out of the email inbox on your phone..

In the end, it really depends on your priorities. If you want something "cool", get the iPhone; if you use GMail and Google Calendar, get an Android handset; if you want a phone, get the Nokia.

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bd250110 wrote: »

I agree with a lot of what you say. I would probably take issue with the line ' "cool" go for iPhone'. The iPhone is a very capable device, the browsing experience is unmatched by any Symbian or Android browser. As for Flash, it just crashes my Desire, or causes loading to hang more often than not, so I've deactivated it!

The iPhone may be capable, but the shenanigans that Apple play with developers are shocking. I know a few application developers, and there's a real love/hate relationship - Apple treat them like dirt, but they've got to put up with it. There's nothing so demoralising as spending months developing an app only to have Apple reject it for no adequately explained reason.

All of that said, Nokia has a real chance with the N8 (and the upcoming form-factor variations). I see some users commented on the Ovi store, I think it will grow quickly.

Definitely agree on this. Even in the four weeks I've had my N8, the store has grown from an odball collection of wierd applications to a much richer experience. The Ovi Store application itself is also much better on N8 than on older handsets, and there's really nothing between it and the other stores anymore on that front.

Ant it's not just the N8, it's this whole family of phones that will give them a foot back in the door - the cheaper C7 and C6-01 (note the "-01", the "C6" is an oder phone) are basically the N8 hardware, repackaged at a lower price. For developers, this is a big deal - as it gives them a consistent platform with a broad reach. I had a look at the C7 today briefly, and I think this (and the smaller C6-01) will really make Nokia a player in the "applications phone" business again. Apple sold 40 million iPhones last year; combine C7,C6-01,N8 and E7, and Nokia can easily sell twice that number this year.

Behind the scenes, Nokia have been making the right oevertures to developers too: they might look a lot like the previous Series60 phones, but under the hood a lot of the software has been improved in a ways that makes developing applications for these new handsets so much easier than before. Also, any applications you write for this OS will also work on Meego, Nokia and Intel's OS for tablets and super-smartphones. That's what devs want: a quick way to get their software onto as many handsets as possible.

The essential apps will be added and the most popular ones from Android/iOS will probably be ported too. Nokia is still a huge competitor in the US, particularly in the corporate world, so the chances of Ovi strengthening are good, I would think. Although in Europe it will be hard for Ovi to break the Android/iOS duoploy.

Surely you accidentally got "Europe" and "US" swapped over in that sentence Nokia are almost an unknown in the US market these days.

i had the same problem with mine bought on a thursday and had connection errors until the following monday dont know what was going on possibly meteor had to throw a few switches or something

I got one yesterday and like it a lot. I have to add a few apps to it now- anyone recommend any good apps on Ovi that i should be checking out?

swype - very important
opera - needed til the browser update in feb,
converter touch - also handy,
nokia panorama - very good,
marble maze - lots of fun,
tripadvisor - prob use it eventually,
anglemeter touch - handy for me anyway,
speedometer touch - cool if you dont trust the speedo!
joikuspot light- much faster than bluetooth tethering,
qtorch - always handy at this time of year,
profile scheduler - €1 but very handy for work, should be built in though.

Just picked this up today - very impressed and very useful tips guys, thanks!

First quick question of many - can one use RTE player on it? I doubt we can install real player or wmplayer on it?

Cheers

jeremyr62 wrote: »

Nokia Situations might be similar to profile scheduler. It's available free for the N8 at Nokia Beta Labs

downloaded and tested, quite a cool app and really handy and functional, when nokia do apps they really do good ones, really was wondering why this wasnt out there by nokia or built in when i was looking for it cos its so obviously needed but sure enough they were working on it, so far highly recommend it, excellent app