Nokia n97 to blitz the Iphone ???

damo2006

Well who's seen one, who's got one, who's ordered one.

I've mine ordered and paid and expect arrival around the end of the month.

I use the Iphone as a comparison due to the n97 being touch screen etc.

Opinions.........

damo2006

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O2Li74EYew

rosboy

damo2006 wrote: »

Opinions.........

...use the existing N97 thread?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055431716

elderlemon

damo2006 wrote: »

Well who's seen one, who's got one, who's ordered one.

I've mine ordered and paid and expect arrival around the end of the month.

yeah right. Difficult to see how you would get this at the end of the month when its now due for release until at least June!!!

Fighting Irish

Touchscreen is meh, and lol @ people thinking the iPhone is the dogs balls

seanybiker

dont like touch screen. The n95 is way better than the iphone so the n97 is gonna blow it away

BostonB

seanybiker wrote: »

dont like touch screen. The n95 is way better than the iphone so the n97 is gonna blow it away

The iPhone has always and still does have a very poor spec compared to many other phones. Has done since it was launched. Still sells like hot cakes. So theres obviously more to it than just specs. Personally I love a decent spec on a phone, and reall buttons. But you can't dismiss the iPhone GUI and App Store are a big attractions that the other phones can't match.

Rsaeire

BostonB wrote: »

The iPhone has always and still does have a very poor spec compared to many other phones. Has done since it was launched. Still sells like hot cakes. So theres obviously more to it than just specs. Personally I love a decent spec on a phone, and reall buttons. But you can't dismiss the iPhone GUI and App Store are a big attractions that the other phones can't match.

The main attraction of the iPhone, however, isn't as a result of any of the items you've mentioned. It's a sought after object as it's the latest fashion accessory. For the majority of users, this is why they buy it. As I’ve mentioned before on other threads on Boards, if any other manufacturer brought out a handset just like the iPhone, it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as successful.

The N97 looks interesting as at least it has a keyboard and a decent spec, but unfortunately I can’t say the same for the other handset I’ve mentioned.

BostonB

While thats obviously true. That only goes so far. Theres lot of technophiles and gadget freaks who have taken to the iPhone aswell. Most of the clones simply don't work as well or are as usable. If it was just a fashion item and didn't work well, people would have turned away from it.

Rsaeire

BostonB wrote: »

While thats obviously true. That only goes so far. Theres lot of technophiles and gadget freaks who have taken to the iPhone aswell. Most of the clones simply don't work as well or are as usable. If it was just a fashion item and didn't work well, people would have turned away from it.

Think back to the iPod. A lot of other manufacturers brought out mp3 players that surpassed the iPod in usability, battery life, audio quality and portability, yet the iPod still sold more and more. Apple has just done the same thing again with the iPhone.

I never understood how people who love gadgets and technology, like me, embraced the iPhone so fervently, as if it revolutionised handsets. What it did was bring touchscreen handsets to the forefront of consumer culture and allowed almost anyone interface with the handset with ease. It was a proof of concept for Apple’s mobile operating system skills and user interface, with features and specifications an afterthought. This is evidenced by Apple’s drip feeding of features and only now allowing users copy and paste, send/receive MMS and send files via Bluetooth; that is, the users who went out and bought the second iteration of the iPhone, as original users are left in the cold for the latter two features.

I will agree that Apple has put a fire beneath the other manufacturers when it comes to their own touchscreen implementations on handsets, but touchscreen technology is not the be all and end all. A lot of users still prefer standard buttons and others prefer them with the addition of a touchscreen, this is why the N97 will be a better product at launch and in time, get better with future firmware upgrades; which will be free I may add.

elderlemon

Why is it that iphone fans say this over and over again?. I agree with the second bit (are as usable) in that the iphone UI is great. The phone was designed from the ground up to have a touchscreen UI and a lot of thought went into its usability.

I don't accept the first piece (don't work as well). There are dozens of phones on the market that work perfectly well - email, browsing , podcasting, music etc and also have touchscreens. All work perfectly well and are simple to use out of the box.

My wife had an iphone 3g and has now switched to the Nokia 5800. Why? the iphone just frustrated her way too much. To many restrictions, too many barriers. I know that v3 will remove some of these but not all of them. For a phone that lists at €700 sim free vs the €290 for the 5800 sim free there's too much to give up.

BostonB wrote: »

Most of the clones simply don't work as well or are as usable. If it was just a fashion item and didn't work well, people would have turned away from it.

Mr Bloat

Rsaeire wrote: »

Think back to the iPod. A lot of other manufacturers brought out mp3 players that surpassed the iPod in usability, battery life, audio quality and portability, yet the iPod still sold more and more. Apple has just done the same thing again with the iPhone.

I never understood how people who love gadgets and technology, like me, embraced the iPhone so fervently, as if it revolutionised handsets. What it did was bring touchscreen handsets to the forefront of consumer culture and allowed almost anyone interface with the handset with ease. It was a proof of concept for Apple’s mobile operating system skills and user interface, with features and specifications an afterthought. This is evidenced by Apple’s drip feeding of features and only now allowing users copy and paste, send/receive MMS and send files via Bluetooth; that is, the users who went out and bought the second iteration of the iPhone, as original users are left in the cold for the latter two features.

I will agree that Apple has put a fire beneath the other manufacturers when it comes to their own touchscreen implementations on handsets, but touchscreen technology is not the be all and end all. A lot of users still prefer standard buttons and others prefer them with the addition of a touchscreen, this is why the N97 will be a better product at launch and in time, get better with future firmware upgrades; which will be free I may add.

Just like the iPhone got better with ongoing firmware upgrades, maybe?

Also, the iPhone's upgrades are also free.

I'm no Apple fan, the only product of theirs I own is the iPhone. I never had an iPod as I always went for the non-Apple product. I love gadgets and tech and I use my iPhone to it's maximum capabilities every day. To some it is a fashion accessory but to dismiss it as solely being a fashion accessory is doing it a great injustice. It has it's flaws, of course but to be fair to Apple, they are addressing the flaws bit by bit. How many other mobile manufacters would have applied all the updates that the new firmware will bring in to older handsets? Most of them would have just released a new handset and expected the user base to like it or lump it.

BostonB

I think your looking back with rose coloured glasses a tiny bit. I don't like iPods myself. But its highly debatable if the 1st gen iPod competition was as user friendly as the iPod. Definately there was nothing as stylish with as good industrial design as the iPod. We had the Nomad, Rio's and MD's from Sony. ATRAC etc. Ok sound quality was better, but the interfaces were clunky. I was big fan of MD/HiMD myself. Also the sad truth is the vast majority of people simple aren't interested in SQ. The manufacturers really don't push SQ either. Which always baffled me.

Theres more to the iPhone usability than the touch screen. The OS is far ahead of Nokia's attempt on the 5800 for example. Considering they had the iPhone to copy, its obviously they just don't get it either.

It down to basic things though. Take a simple example. The iPhone has a simple USB port, for data and charging. Simple, neat, and very handy. Look at Sony, Nokia, and all the other proprietary chargers and data cables. No customer wants that. So theres a basic difference in concept between these companies that causes differences like that.

Rsaeire

Mr Bloat wrote: »

Just like the iPhone got better with ongoing firmware upgrades, maybe?

Also, the iPhone's upgrades are also free.

I'm no Apple fan, the only product of theirs I own is the iPhone. I never had an iPod as I always went for the non-Apple product. I love gadgets and tech and I use my iPhone to it's maximum capabilities every day. To some it is a fashion accessory but to dismiss it as solely being a fashion accessory is doing it a great injustice. It has it's flaws, of course but to be fair to Apple, they are addressing the flaws bit by bit. How many other mobile manufacters would have applied all the updates that the new firmware will bring in to older handsets? Most of them would have just released a new handset and expected the user base to like it or lump it.

My comment regarding the price of upgrading was a subtle, clearly too much so, stab at Apple charging iTouch owners to upgrade their firmware; it’s $9.99 to upgrade to v3.0.

I haven’t dismissed the handset entirely as a fashion accessory, as noted in my last comment regarding the OS and UI, in case the fashion accessory reference was directed at me, but you have to admit that Apple are not so much concerned in resolving issues with the iPhone, but more so drip-feeding new features and making it a PR exercise in how great they are. They are masters of advertising and it shows in how many people own the handset and don’t use a lot of the features; and also how much they spend on advertising.

I’m happy that you find good use for the iPhone with its limited feature range and that is one of the main points I hold against Apple and their iPhone, the lack of features.

BostonB

Apple have always done drip feeding. Not nice but I can see why they do it.

BostonB

elderlemon wrote: »

Why is it that iphone fans say this over and over again?.

1st off I'm not a iPhone Fan.

elderlemon wrote: »

I don't accept the first piece (don't work as well). There are dozens of phones on the market that work perfectly well - email, browsing , podcasting, music etc and also have touchscreens. All work perfectly well and are simple to use out of the box.

Because its true. Windows Mobile which is on a lot of the competition has poor usability. Its simply not designed for touch screens no matter what front ends are bolted on. Most reviews will agree on that. I'm a long time user of Windows Mobile on PDA's, and its clunky. Its like Windows NT. Phones like the Samsung, Toco have touch screen that are far less sensitive, (I can't use them at all), no app store etc. Anyone I see using them has to make multiple taps to do things. Everyone I know who had one has sold it. Great camera though. Omnia. Needs a Stylus. Its windows mobile. Blackberry Storm? Being slated every where. Thats whole click the screen thing, nasty. 5800 has its own problems, slow poor camera, poor texting.

elderlemon wrote: »

My wife had an iphone 3g and has now switched to the Nokia 5800. Why? the iphone just frustrated her way too much. To many restrictions, too many barriers. I know that v3 will remove some of these but not all of them. For a phone that lists at €700 sim free vs the €290 for the 5800 sim free there's too much to give up.

I agree with the limitations, which is why I don't have one. But I'm not blind as to what it does well, and what other phone do badly. The predictive text on my Sony phone is woeful. predicts the weirdest words, often gibberish. Always correcting it, and adding words to the dictionary. I can pick up a Nokia, or a iPhone and text much faster.

The iPhone price, and tariffs are poor. No argument there.

Mr Bloat

Rsaeire wrote: »

My comment regarding the price of upgrading was a subtle, clearly too much so, stab at Apple charging iTouch owners to upgrade their firmware; it’s $9.99 to upgrade to v3.0.

I haven’t dismissed the handset entirely as a fashion accessory, as noted in my last comment regarding the OS and UI, in case the fashion accessory reference was directed at me, but you have to admit that Apple are not so much concerned in resolving issues with the iPhone, but more so drip-feeding new features and making it a PR exercise in how great they are. They are masters of advertising and it shows in how many people own the handset and don’t use a lot of the features; and also how much they spend on advertising.

I’m happy that you find good use for the iPhone with its limited feature range and that is one of the main points I hold against Apple and their iPhone, the lack of features.

I'm quite aware that Apple are charging for the iPod Touch firmware upgrade but we are discussing the iPhone vs N97 here. I don't own an iPod Touch so I can't comment on it but I'm not sure if many of the flagged updates (MMS, copy/paste, etc) would even be applicable to it. Maybe they are, I don't know. I agree that it doesn't look fair to a Touch owner that there is a charge but I can't see how it's relevant in a mobile phone feature discussion.

As I said before, I'm not a big Apple fan and I'm not defending them but to my eyes it looks like they are holding off on various features until they are good enough to release instead of 'drip-feeding new features'. Don't get me wrong, I wish they had released some of these features before but there are a good number of the proposed new features that don't interest me in the slightest - mms being top of that list.

I'll be the first to agree with you that they are the masters of pr though. Somehow they manage to get people salivating at the slightest bit of news or non-news as sometimes is the case. Not everyone is taken in by that, though.

That's a nice dig at the end too but not everyone that uses an iPhone is clueless. I'm quite capable of working around the restrictions of the phone to get the most from it and haven't been hampered by what you might consider to be a limited feature range.

I'd be interested to know what you would consider to be the limited feature range of the iPhone, apart from the usual ones trotted out at this stage (copy/paste, mms, etc)? As I said earlier, I love my gadgets - please suggest to me why I should ditch my iPhone for the N97.

elderlemon

BostonB wrote: »

I think your looking back with rose coloured glasses a tiny bit....

Theres more to the iPhone usability than the touch screen. The OS is far ahead of Nokia's attempt on the 5800 for example. Considering they had the iPhone to copy, its obviously they just don't get it either..

Who's looking through rose coloured glasses? OS far ahead? Are you talking about the OS or the UI? If its the OS its not even multitasking!!! The 5800 IS fully multitasking and this in a handset costing way less. I think Apple got this wrong and others got it spot on. The iphone UI is very good. Way ahead of the others.

BostonB wrote: »

It down to basic things though. Take a simple example. The iPhone has a simple USB port, for data and charging. Simple, neat, and very handy. Look at Sony, Nokia, and all the other proprietary chargers and data cables. No customer wants that. So theres a basic difference in concept between these companies that causes differences like that.

Thats a personal preference. I've no problem with a separate charger. Would have been nice to have it all in one but I don't see that as a design flaw.

Rsaeire

BostonB wrote: »

I think your looking back with rose coloured glasses a tiny bit. I don't like iPods myself. But its highly debatable if the 1st gen iPod competition was as user friendly as the iPod. Definately there was nothing as stylish with as good industrial design as the iPod. We had the Nomad, Rio's and MD's from Sony. ATRAC etc. Ok sound quality was better, but the interfaces were clunky. I was big fan of MD/HiMD myself. Also the sad truth is the vast majority of people simple aren't interested in SQ. The manufacturers really don't push SQ either. Which always baffled me.

I'm not referring to the 1st generation iPod, but the subsequent generations which were surpassed by the likes of Creative and others. I will never take away from Apple the fact that they revolutionised the portable music player market, just that after a while they were clearly surpassed by other manufacturers, yet people didn’t seem to care as owning an iPod was something to hold in esteem.

BostonB wrote: »

Theres more to the iPhone usability than the touch screen. The OS is far ahead of Nokia's attempt on the 5800 for example. Considering they had the iPhone to copy, its obviously they just don't get it either.

As I mentioned, the OS and UI are commendable and are the best parts of the iPhone in my opinion.

BostonB wrote: »

It down to basic things though. Take a simple example. The iPhone has a simple USB port, for data and charging. Simple, neat, and very handy. Look at Sony, Nokia, and all the other proprietary chargers and data cables. No customer wants that. So theres a basic difference in concept between these companies that causes differences like that.

Most Windows Mobile devices use mini-USB connections too, so its not as if Apple started the trend, but I do agree with regard to standard handset manufacturers with their proprietary connections.

I don’t wish to breakdown your posts and contradict the points you make, however, I feel that my main points that you’re replying to were either dismissed or completely looked over.

BostonB

elderlemon wrote: »

Who's looking through rose coloured glasses? OS far ahead? Are you talking about the OS or the UI? ...

I was replying to an earlier post. Rsaeire's I think. The 1st Gen iPod etc. Others manage to post before my post putting it out of context.

elderlemon wrote: »

Thats a personal preference. I've no problem with a separate charger. Would have been nice to have it all in one but I don't see that as a design flaw.

No its not personal preference. Its common sense. Are their ANY advantages to having proprietary connections? Theres loads of disadvantages.

Rsaeire

Mr Bloat wrote: »

I'm quite aware that Apple are charging for the iPod Touch firmware upgrade but we are discussing the iPhone vs N97 here. I don't own an iPod Touch so I can't comment on it but I'm not sure if many of the flagged updates (MMS, copy/paste, etc) would even be applicable to it. Maybe they are, I don't know. I agree that it doesn't look fair to a Touch owner that there is a charge but I can't see how it's relevant in a mobile phone feature discussion.

iPhone 2G users will not be able to receive MMS capabilities or the additional Bluetooth support that iPhone 3G users will receive when v3.0 of the firmware comes out. This is yet another instance where Apple is looking for customers to move to an iPhone 3G, even if they already own an iPhone 2G.

Mr Bloat wrote: »

That's a nice dig at the end too but not everyone that uses an iPhone is clueless. I'm quite capable of working around the restrictions of the phone to get the most from it and haven't been hampered by what you might consider to be a limited feature range.

I'd be interested to know what you would consider to be the limited feature range of the iPhone, apart from the usual ones trotted out at this stage (copy/paste, mms, etc)? As I said earlier, I love my gadgets - please suggest to me why I should ditch my iPhone for the N97.

If you read my comment and thought I was inferring that iPhone users, some, all or any, were clueless, then you were reading too deep into my comment. I was merely stating that I’m happy that you can enjoy the iPhone with its limited range of features, whereas I would have a problem with not being able to remove the battery, have background applications, actual push email support, video capture, Bluetooth file transfer, no FM radio, and that’s not even mentioning all the other more prevalent features that are lacking and generally mentioned.

Mr Bloat, I’m not trying to convert or move people away from their iPhones. My comments are merely an exercise in promoting the limitations of the iPhone for those who do not know and to also air my opinions on the iPhone vs N97 debate.

Honestly, if you enjoy your iPhone, then good for you. I just don’t understand how people who are into gadgets and technology can put up with using a touchscreen handset with a limited feature range; even with jailbreaking and installing 3rd party applications. Fundamental features are missing that have to be filled with 3rd party applications. In my eyes, 3rd party applications should step in to increase the functionality of a device on top of the core features, not act as stand-ins until the manufacturer can bother to allow the core features.

BostonB

Rsaeire wrote: »

I'm not referring to the 1st generation iPod, but the subsequent generations which were surpassed by the likes of Creative and others. I will never take away from Apple the fact that they revolutionised the portable music player market, just that after a while they were clearly surpassed by other manufacturers, yet people didn’t seem to care as owning an iPod was something to hold in esteem....

You'd have to be more specific, but maybe don't as its kinda a different subject. Suffice to say, over on HeadFi, the iPod has always had reasonable support, and people there are not blind to its faults and limitations, and other players where equally well supported. I guess if you know the limitations, you can find ways around them, like using a mini dock digital out to an amp instead of the headphone socket. Things like that.

Rsaeire wrote: »

I don’t wish to breakdown your posts and contradict the points you make, however, I feel that my main points that you’re replying to were either dismissed or completely looked over.

Me neither so I'm only commenting on the points I disagree with. The rest I agree with you.

BostonB

Rsaeire wrote: »

....
Honestly, if you enjoy your iPhone, then good for you. I just don’t understand how people who are into gadgets and technology can put up with using a touchscreen handset with a limited feature range....

I guess. Everyones show stoppers are different.

Tom Dunne

It's actually quite funny how every one wonders if the next phone will be an iPhone killer. If the iPhone is that crap, why such animosity towards it? Why such an obsession with "beating" it?

Yes, the specifications don't match any phones in it's class, but as I have said time and time again, it's horses for courses. I don't take photographs, I don't use MMS and while the lack of copy and paste is a pain, it's not going to stop me using the iPhone.

The simple fact of the matter is that in all the touch screen phones I have used (and in the interest of fairness, I have used a few), none compare. You won't get as smooth a user interface, you won't get as much eye-candy, you won't get as good a web-browsing experience.

Yes, it has it's limitations, but selling 17 million units says something about the quality of the product. Not all of those 17 million people are simply followers of fashion.

Random

I like how apple have implemented the touch screen gui. I hate how nokia are going to try and copy it and probably make a mess of it.

Victor_M

By the way you can multi task on the iPhone, I can listen to music, send texts, surf, take Photos, check emails all at the same time.

The major difference between multi tasking on it and my last WM6 HTC was that the the iPhone processor can actually handle the multitasking without, crashing or grinding to a slow halt.

As an earlier poster mentioned, if they are frowned upon so much by the Nokiaistas why is every phone that gets releases heralded as the iPhone Killer?

It does far more things, far better than most phones, even the camera as a 2Mp is better (granted only outdoors) than many with higher mp counts, some people just look at the mp's and presume that is the major factor that determines picture quality.

As a lover of gadgets, and the owner of many phones and PDA's I can say fairly subjectively (I'm not a fanboy, just love good quality well designed gadgets) that the iPhone is the best all round portable phone/web browsing/music playing device as far as I can see that's available on the market.

Solair

The OS certainly is multitasking, it's the GUI implementation that does not allow for it with downloaded Apps

It's just a cut-down Mac OS X under the hood.

Brian

So.. how about that N97 eh? Sure is iPhone in here.

Neo#

What about the Samsung Omnia HD. that could be the best of all. Does anyone know the price or release date?

muckwarrior

When a hi-spec android phone is released it'll blow them both away :pac:

Seriously though, I can see things from both sides of the arguement. I've had an n95 since launch and always scoffed at the idea of an iphone with it's puny specs. I thought that there's no way that a fancy touchy UI could compensate. Then I was given a... no not an iPhone, an android G1 for work. Even though it only has mid-range specs similar to the iphone it has now become my primary phone. Why? It's just so much nicer to use! The n95 just seems so horribly clunky now in comparison.

That said though, obviously the n97 has the opportunity to make ammends. It looks pretty impressive in that video. Lets just hope the OS isn't a dog!

justsomebloke

muckwarrior wrote: »

When a hi-spec android phone is released it'll blow them both away :pac:

so in roughly 10 years then

Oafley Jones

I'm curious about the N97 and I've always had nokia's, but I'm less than convinced that they'll take any great number of customers away from the iPhone.

If there is to be an 'iPhone killer' in the short term - and I hate that term - it'll be the Palm Pre. It builds on what the iPhone does well and seems to have none of it's weaknesses.

Rsaeire

Oafley Jones wrote: »

I'm curious about the N97 and I've always had nokia's, but I'm less than convinced that they'll take any great number of customers away from the iPhone.

If there is to be an 'iPhone killer' in the short term - and I hate that term - it'll be the Palm Pre. It builds on what the iPhone does well and seems to have none of it's weaknesses.

I agree. The term is used a lot of the time to drum up publicity for the latest touchscreen handset. I feel sorry for manufacturers who feel they have to obtain the success of a handset that isn’t all that well featured and only has a few things going for it.

What will be interesting with the N97 is that it will be Nokia’s first consumer take on their communicator range of handsets. To be honest, Nokia should have been working on this handset a lot sooner than now, since they already had the knowledge of designing a handset with a keyboard. I just hope that it’s well made and doesn’t look cheap; that in itself is a huge turn-off.

hideous ape

Never understood the Apple hate from some people....you buy or you don't buy!

Apple products usually succeed because they start with a human and design the technology around that, other companies start with the latest and greatest technology but don't put it all together for an ordinary human to use. User interface is everything for Apple! Thats why Apple designs their own mice, touchscreens, Operating Systems, etc.

Apple get things wrong, Apple get things right but controls every aspect of the product so they can drip feed or lockdown features at a software level. If you lined up every tech company on the planet they would kill to have Apples balance of good ideas, product control, financial position, etc.

There is no other company out there right now that is currently releasing a phone, a range of computers, mice and keyboards, an Operating System, a portable Multimedia device and multiple Pro software applications up to the standard that Apple are presently doing...give them some credit people!

Microsoft don't release computer hardware, phone hardware or Operating Systems...sorry couldn't resist:)

Kenno90

seems like a fantastic phone , maybe i'll get it after my phone now , which is new so i'm not upgrading for at least 2 years lol