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I'm tempted to say I believe him. I mean, if there's one man who should be able to tell when something is Vaporware it's him, he has maybe the most experience with that kind of spin in the IT biz.

Worldwide market share for smart phone operating systems is about 70% Symbian, 20% Linux, and single digits for Palm, Microsoft, and Blackberry.

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/images/shareworld2006.jpg

The market share figures for the US are different mostly because Palm and Blackberry still manage to hang on (they wouldn't stand a chance anywhere else) and because Microsoft is up to their usual monopolistic tricks with Windows Mobile.

In most markets, Linux competes only against Symbian. In the US, Linux should be able to grab Palm's and Blackberry's share easily, and eat substantially into Microsoft's market share, such as it is.

They missed Stephen Fry, who's the cleverest person I don't know, celeb or otherwise.

Here's a direct link to his web site (taken from the above article).

God yes - and with Official support form Nokia to boot. You use the nokia pc suite to add new software, or in many cases you can install the software straight from the phone my browsing to the relevant web page.

There are hundreds of apps available, from the standard google ones (maps, gmail etc.)
To free games, command line utilities & ebook readers.

There are also lots of pay-for apps, including 3D games and MS Office viewers available.

Have a look on Nokia.com and http://allaboutsymbian.com/

for a huge amount of info.

I sent you an e-mail, but here you go:

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/forum/showpost.php? p=308192&postcount=11

So, that should take care of Adobe Flash, though I'm not 100% certain on this.

No flash or java support. I guess Steve Jobs thinks flash is too great of a security risk too. By the way, how do you have the real internet without java or flash??

Okay, granted, that would be nice. Then again, you have a browser - Google Docs to the rescue? I'll grant this isn't as nice as it could be, but it is possible.

Do you really want to upload your Office docs to Google every time you open them? That would be pretty retarded, no? That's what you'll have to do with a "rich web 2.0 app." Not only that, I hope you're near a wi-fi hotspot. The iPhone doesn't support 3G. MS Office documents can be really bloated, like everything else MS... So launch "rich web 2.0 app" then spend 10 to 15 seconds to upload that doc over your 2.5G connection, then spend the same amount of time downloading it back to your phone as html, all the while paying data charges in both directions... this is starting to sound *very* cumbersome, no? It may be possible, but it hardly qualifies as a solution.

Uhh... how many people need this? This being Slashdot, I anticipate seeing about 15 replies here all saying, "Yeah, I need a barcode reader! How could you not?"

I'm not pointing it out because I need it. I'm pointing it out because I have it on my new phone, and the iPhone will never be able to do it, under any circumstances. It would not only require a native app, but it would probably also require better camera hardware.

You know what comes with OS X? A little application called "Preview". It opens PDFs.

But it doesn't open encrypted e-books. My phone has a native app to do that. The iPhone will be unable to due to the lack of an SDK.

Voice mail? I know, not the same thing. Yeah, that would be nice.

No, a voice recorder. As in record your phone conversation. Record a note to yourself. Record your professor's lecture... not on the iPhone. Not unless Apple decides to throw you a bone at some future date.

That said, even if the providers allowed it, Apple still wouldn't include VOIP support. Not directly. Why? Because it's complicated.

We're talking about Apple. They could make it less complicated. That's one of the things Apple does best. VoIP is important because not everyone gets great cell reception indoors and it's WAY cheaper than any other calling (worst case scenario for US to Hong Kong is 2 cents per minute). And it really doesn't matter what the carriers think. It doesn't touch their network at all... what possible legitimate complaint could they make? I have GizmoVoIP on my N95 right now. You'll never see it on an iPhone though. It's just another missing feature you'll never see because of the lack of an SDK.

And that's just apps that came with my phone. Do you think Apple will ever release gnutella file sharing software for the iPhone? Doubt it, but it's available now on my phone. How about an MMORPG? Available now on my phone. Maybe... um, an app to keep up with my girls menstruation cycles... Yeah, like you'll *ever* see that on an iPhone. Available now for the Symbian... [still waiting on that 3rd edition update for my phone though ;)]

Are you beginning to see why I chose something besides an iPhone? There's really no comparison. The iPhone is pretty, and the Nokia is better at everything else. The iPhone isn't even in the same league. It's totally outclassed.

I have a shortlist of requirements which, to me, are pretty simple, but which seem to be confounding the mobile phone industry:

• a decent-ish qwerty-like keyboard
• simple spreadsheet/database/document apps as well as calendar/address book
• compatibility with Mac iSync
• no vendor or application lock-in

I was looking at the Nokia Communicator machines (9300i particularly), only to see them withdrawn from the market the week I attempted to order one. Since I want a Windows Mobile device like I want a hole in the head, all that's left is the Treo.

I'm not a great fan of Palm OS - in particular, I've never liked the handwriting recognition and the stylus interface - but I'm hoping that a qwerty-enabled Treo will address points (i)...(iv) for a while, until we get to see how the iPhone works out (hint: wait for second generation, people), or until Nokia get their new communicator platform (E90) up and running.

But: I'm British, so of course I mourn the Psion Organiser; I would so love to see a small, modern, equivalent.

mod parent up.

symbian has recently announced the sale of 100 million series 60 devices.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/5198_One_ Hundred_Million_S60s.php

that does not count series 40 or series 80 devices which make up a huge market in them selves.

last year 2006, 80 million smart phones were sold. symbian had 38 million of those. they are the market.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/4969_Ever y_other_smartphone_sold_ac.php

now if i could only learn python on my nokia e61.

mod parent up.

symbian has recently announced the sale of 100 million series 60 devices.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/5198_One_ Hundred_Million_S60s.php

that does not count series 40 or series 80 devices which make up a huge market in them selves.

last year 2006, 80 million smart phones were sold. symbian had 38 million of those. they are the market.
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/4969_Ever y_other_smartphone_sold_ac.php

now if i could only learn python on my nokia e61.

Its the low end digital cameras that are going to lose market - and possible disappear.

No one that would consider buying a dSLR would seriously consider using a camera phone for anything more than quick snaps when you forgot or chose not to brig your proper camera along. The cameras in phones these days are good enough for the snaps most people want to take - especially if they include an led flash (pretty pathetic in real terms but again good enough to take a snap of your friend while in the pub)

I've seen a fairly indepth review of the nokia N95 on here http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/reviews/item/Nokia_ N95-part_3_the_Camera.php that gives some interesting comparisons with a proper camera - I'll admit I almost bought the phone though in the end price difference drove me to the HTC P3300.

If you have in your pocket something that can take good pictures anyway, then the quality difference you are going to require to justufy having a digital camera is going to be quite large.

I don't have a dSLR myself, I wanted something more all round when I got a digital camera - ie small enough to carry easily to take snaps. So I got the cannon powershot S50. This was 6 years ago and at the time it had the features closest to an SLR while still being a compact design.

Now I have a fairly good 2mp camera in my phone. Its got no zoom and no flash but its good enough that unless I specifically want a camera I'll leave the cannon at home. Because of thisnext camera I buy will probably be a dSLR - it doesn't need to fit the compact requirement as I have a device for that, for the separate device I want something with quality.

So yes, I think camera phones will spell the end of the camera market - atleast part of it. Cameras will become the province of specialists, people looking for holiday snaps will use their phones. All in all not a huge change from the way things used to be with SLRs for the serious people and 35mm compacts and disposable cameras for those wanting holiday snaps. The vast availablility of digital cameras with ease of use and low cost blurred these lines for a while, but I suspect it will settle right back where it used to be, but with dSLRs for the specialists and camera phones for the rest in almost all cases.

My only worry is what this will do to the choice of dSLRs, how many companies will be able to cope with losing their mass market revenues to phones...

I just picked up this spiffing http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/4328_Noki a_N95-HSDPA_WiFi_5MP_Camer.php phone with 5 MegaPixel and GPS built in. To pimp my own work, my company (http:www.shozu.com) makes a free mobile replication engine for uploading your exiffed / tagged content to various sites, including Flickr.

There will be no new N-Gage phone. All future Nokia smartphones will however be compatible with the future N-Gage platform (it may not even end up being called N-Gage).

So, you won't have to own a special N-Gage phone. Any Nokia smartphone will be able to play these games. Bear in mind that Nokia sold 9 million (if memory serves) smartphones is 2005 alone. And some of the phones that are already being sold (such as the Nokia N93) will be able to play these games.

MP3-player sales are dropping, because everybody already has a cell phone that can play MP3s. Will the same happen to the PSP and Nintendo DS? Unlikely, but it's an interesting thought.

For more information: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/4685_N-Ga ge_Future_Watch_site_launc.php.

I've been using VOIP (SIP) at home for a few years now. From the UK I call my girlfriend on her landline in the USA for almost nothing.

I've used lots of different phones and adapters. I don't generally use any "softphones" (VOIP applications that require a PC), nor any of the phones that require your PC to be on.

The absolute best voice quality, and ease-of-use is the Nokia E60 I recently bought. It was about US$300 from eBay (SIM free - i.e. generic, not locked to any network). It's standards-compliant (802.11 + SIP) and connects to both of my current VOIP providers (Sipgate and VoipBuster) without trouble.

Whenever I get home (within range of my access point) it instantly registers with my VOIP provider of choice as well as staying connected to the cell network via 3G/GSM. Whenever I click a contact to make a call it simply asks whether I want to call by "Cell" or "Internet" - and that decides how the call is routed. Incoming calls on SIP and cell work great - so you can have more than one number on your phone at the same time.

The voice quality is superb and it is so totally easy-to-use once configured (configuration is slow when you have to type all the server names on a numeric pad). The only downsides are that I only get about 2 hours of talk time over WiFi (after that I have to plug in the charger to keep talking), and that there is no built-in camera.

There is a review here: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Nokia _E60_Preview_The_Candybar_With_Almost_Everything.p hp

It's very stable and reliable, unlike it's N-Series brothers which are a POS. I can highly recommend the phone.

If you just take the free phones your provider offers, then games won't be that great. But if you get a decent phone and have a decent provider there are plenty of free games. There are ports of Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Frozen Bubble. There are also free or cheap emulators for the Genesis, the NES, and the SNES.

If you get one of the great phones running Symbian OS, you can buy/download several programs that will do the job (such as BlackBaller). Unlike other phone operating systems, you also have the opportunity to write your own software that has access to the telephony features of the phone.

state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s

The Nokia N80 due out this May has 40MB of internal memory expandable to 2GB flash, if it's like comparable Nokia phones it has a 32-bit ARM-9 RISC CPU running at 220MHz, it has a 3 megapixel camera, wifi, bluetooth, infrared, can run Java, a web browser, PDF viewer, and a lot of other demanding applications that wouldn't have a prayer on a home computer of the 80s.

Very low-end phones today are comparable to the home computers of the 80s, maybe. But I don't think you'll find a single home computer from the 80s that comes anywhere near a spec like today's state of the art phones.

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news.php?id=37075
well I do for one...

~Gildas

>I'm told Symbian has good feedback into Metroworks and gets their CW specifically tailored for them so maybe it's better than their usual product. As far as I know Nokia bought the Symbian OS parts of Metrowerks last year. At least it says so here. I would call that rather complete tailoring. Of course it is a bit worrying for companies using other flavors of Symbian OS than Series 60/80/90 as Nokia will probably focus on those.

Or at least bring back the original model's best feature.

All About Symbian is a good starting point for everything in the Symbian World. That's the SonyEricsson P800 and P900, Nokia's 3650, 7650, 6600 and 9210, Motorola A920, Siemens SX1, Samsung SGH-D700, Sendo X etc.

Symbian's own site has some good background on the OS and developing for it too.

Mobitopia has plenty of news and analysis of mobile and wireless tech and a *big* list of links to other mobile sites.