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Nokia has been preparing their Windows Phone 7 line-up. Their Nokia Lumia smart phone has beat sales in many European countries and Australia in December and November, even topping iPhone and every Android phone. It is also a very solid offering. I think both Microsoft and Nokia did the right to go together. Great hardware from Nokia and great software from Microsoft. That combination is pure gold.

I suppose you are confusing the Lumia with the MeeGo-powered N9, which is the phone that's been selling unexpectedly well despite the fact that it wasn't released in a lot of markets, including but not limited to the US and UK markets.

Nokia has been preparing their Windows Phone 7 line-up. Their Nokia Lumia smart phone has beat sales in many European countries and Australia in December and November, even topping iPhone and every Android phone. It is also a very solid offering. I think both Microsoft and Nokia did the right to go together. Great hardware from Nokia and great software from Microsoft. That combination is pure gold.

You silly little WP troll. The Lumina 800 has been a flop in Europe and it'll also be a flop in the US joining the list of all other WP7 flops that have come before it.

Here's The Guardian's review of the Lumina:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/dec/30/nokia-lumia-800-goodbye?newsfeed=true

Nokia has been preparing their Windows Phone 7 line-up. Their Nokia Lumia smart phone has beat sales in many European countries and Australia in December and November, even topping iPhone and every Android phone. It is also a very solid offering. I think both Microsoft and Nokia did the right to go together. Great hardware from Nokia and great software from Microsoft. That combination is pure gold.

> They couldn't even manage to get Nokia to release a phone in time for Christmas this year

eh, what? I think they did...

http://www.nokia.co.uk/gb-en/products/phone/lumia800/buynow/

And I'm serious. While not as versatile towards own-hosted solutions as the old Windows Mobiles, it's still light years beyond Android and iOS. You can easily use your own Exchange server to sync and share your contacts, calendar and other stuff, which gives you true privacy. It also doesn't leak data to Google like Android does, it doesn't have the malware problem that Android has and the phone itself is a full smart phone with an great UI (Windows Mobile somewhat started lacking in this in recent years).

The reason for this is simple too. Microsoft may be many things, but they have always respected privacy. In fact, they have never really cared about personal data the way Google does. All they want to do is sell you the software and be done with it. Google, on the other hand, gives you the software for free but then keeps tracking your every move. I rather choose the first one, but i guess it's everyone's own choice. I do value my privacy though.

The only time when you need contact with other servers is to download and install apps, which imo is a stupid decision fueled by iOS and Android doing it that way. Old Windows Mobiles always allowed you to install apps the way you wanted, the desktop Windows way. However, I guess that provides some extra security.

Nokia has also just unveiled Nokia Lumia 800, which looks really slick and has been praised by the people who have tested it. Personally I'm going to wait until it's released and read a few more user reviews, but I think that's going to be my next smart phone.

There is also Nokia's MeeGo-based linux phone, N9 which is really slick and has all the features you need, too. But support for that might be worse in the future, as Nokia is mostly going to do WP7 phones now.

That seems unlikely. I think pretty much all GSM devices have the capability (apparently it's in the spec, "112" should work globally). The N900 just doesn't advertise the feature. It's mentioned in the manual, though: http://www.nokia.co.uk/gb-en/support/product/nokia-n900/userguide/?action=onlineuserguidepagechange&pFile=GUID-67F9E8D2-51A2-4A60-B635-69F60530E852-139_FILE001.html

In it's heyday Nokia pushed out over *50* different, new phone models a year. Roughly 30% of those were Symbian phones. Apple pushes out *ONE* model with minor variations. Even with significant re-use, juggling several source trees, porting patches back and forth between them, building multiple releases of the OS with different feature sets is more of a headache than razorsharp focus on *ONE* good phone.

As a software engineer I've tried to make the point that, maybe, people don't want to choose between 19 different models that are minutely different. (Do I want a qwerty keyboard? If I buy the business version it (used to) come with a 2.5mm socket and my standard headphones won't fit. Do I want the business version? Which of the 19 available Nokia qwerty phone models should I get? -- have a play: http://www.nokia.co.uk/find-products/all-phones)

They are great at designing, building and marketing dumbphones. Smartphones, however, they they are certainly heading towards rank incompetence at a rapid pace, especially given how badly they've handled the ownership of Symbian, Meamo and MeeGo.

They aren't doing dumbphones very well any more either. For example, the Nokia 6600 fold has a bug where if you press the "6mno" key three times in a row during texting then every so often the phone will lock up solid. The only way to get back a working phone is to pop out the battery.

Since the issue was found (and reported on Nokia's forums) they've released no less than 6 updates - none of which have resolved the problem.

Nokia 3120 Classic (something went foobar with the link :( )

You must be in the US, in the UK wondering into my town centre I can put my hands on it in a O2 store and a Carphone Warehouse.

For an idea of it works try the N8, the interfaces are very similar however the N900 is quicker and the interface is better (think the best parts of Andriod added in). I had a quick look online and the video found here gives a pretty good impression of how it works.

The only downside is it is a heavy phone. For comparison I have a Nokia 5800 the N900 is slightly larger and noticeably heavier.

Very soon these devices will wirelessly talk to keyboard, monitors, each other, the public internet,/i>

You want Nokias, they already talk to bluetooth keyboards and have HDMI cable connectors for your TV at 720p at least. That's for the consumer stuff, try the N900 for the 'smart computing device'

I'm not sure if you can get a docking station for them that has the cable and BT set up - worth asking.

If the carrier doesn't market the phone then the manufacture will

There is no point manufacturing something and marketing it (both *hugely* expensive operations) if the carriers are not going to provide it to customers, and customers can't switch to competing carriers who will.

US handsets are in general a year or two behind the handsets available in the rest of the world largely because of this. The US mobile comms market is a nice little walled garden for favoured (by the carriers) manufacturers. Take a look at the handsets which Verizon actually provides vs what the *same* manufacturer provides to the rest of the world.

Nokia (largest phone manufacturer in the world) for example:

Verizon:
Nokia 7205 (silver keypad)
Nokia 7205 (pink keypad) just LOOK at that innovation...
Nokia 6205
Nokia 2605 Mirage

All (wow, a whole, 3 of them) of these are ancient.

And take a look at the handsets available from Nokia:

http://shop.nokia.co.uk/nokia-uk/searchresults.aspx?page=1&culture=en-GB&search_id=47&chka=0&chkp=1&pagesize=9999&sortorder=desc

124 produced and available (in the UK) vs 3 from a carrier.

The rest of the world, the carriers want the latest phones and network services because if they don't provide it, someone else will. The US, far less incentive, you take what you're given. I like the spin that monopoly promotes innovation though.

I doubt it would hurt the manufacture at all.

Not the manufacturer. You are the one getting the bad deal.
 

I will admit that perhaps I shouldn't have included texting (I included it as it is a feature I seldom use. I get a text 9/10 times I'll call the person back.)
The only feature I have on my mobile that I really use is the contacts, imo it's invaluable being able to have the numbers stored on the phone.
Aside from that I stand by what I said. If I want to take pictures I have a bloody expensive SLR, If I want to play music I have an ipod (not my choice, it was a gift).
My phone has gps... I used it once (novelty factor).
It has a camera used once to see the quality.
It has other features I have no idea what, I don't use them and I don't want to.


For those that care I have a Nokia 6220 Classic. The reason behind my choice, was simply it was the most expensive one that I could get free with my contract.

The difference between the iPhone and a Nokia N13569845769288479130917235 is that there is one iPhone. Just one model. If you are making a decision on which phone to buy, you either want an iPhone or some Nokia thing or some Samsung thing (and so on). Knowing what the difference between an N1234917 and an N438968 is requires a lot of research. Knowing the difference between an iPhone and an N3460976 requires playing with them. The thing Apple are really good at is producing one product for each market segment. Other mobile manufacturers are really terrible at this. Nokia'scurrent line up contains 65 devices (two are not phones). Trying to find one that actually suits your needs in that lot is really hard. If Apple makes a phone that suits your need, you can find it really easily. If Nokia does then you are likely to get bored with looking through their list before you find it.

iPhone: 115x61x12 mm, 135g
My phone 132x57x20 mm, 210g

Ok, it's a bit thicker and heavier than an iPhone, but nowhere near twice the size, and it fits in my pocket.

(It's an E90 if that interests anyone.)

actually, I would choose the Nokia N95 8Gb (v2.0). The version 2 of the nokia n95 solves the slowness and hangs of the previous version and has all the features the pp mentions including GPS, good camera etc. It has 8Gb of internal storage and a slightly updated symbian OS. battery life is excellent - especially if you switch off WiFi, 3G and the GPS if you are not using them - they are on by default when you get the device.

Personally, I travel with an N95 and a lenovo thinkpad X41 (fedora 8) with a wee bluetooth usb key that helps to synchronise calendar on the N95 8GB with kontact using Multisync

I'm getting an eeepc for travelling where I can't take much (hand luggage only trips).

Really? So, touch screen aside, what are the differences between the iPhone and N95? Neither of the two official retailers will even give me full specs on the iPhone. Here's what O2 has to say about each

Did you consider Apple or Nokia

So from everything I've gathered from looking at them both in bricks and mortar O2 shop and on the web the differences seem to me to be thus: [...] The rest is more or less the same

You missed:
iPhone: visual voice-mail, iTunes, iTunes Store, more space without having to buy and carry extra cards, bigger screen with twice the resolution, WiFi, superior browser, superior interface, nice box
N95: slightly smaller, slightly lighter, better camera

If the actual feature differences mean you would chose the N95, that's fine. I wouldn't chose either, given the price of both of them and what I use my phone for (though I would prefer the iPhone). I simply wish to correct the bizarre notion that there is nothing unique about the iPhone or that the only distinctive thing about it is the touchscreen.

I'm in the UK and have yet to see an iPhone, apart from the touch screen, can someone explain to me exactly why the iPhone is superior to my current one: a Nokia 6070; a low to mid range phone. Given that, how can it possibly be better than something like an N95; a high end phone. The only real feature I can see from the apple website is the touch screen, not really my priority in a phone. I just want something that can make calls, and send the odd SMS. Having a camera and a radio in my phone are bonuses that I hardly ever use (actually, that's a lie I've started to use the radio quite a bit recently). The only other way that apple tries to show it's differences are via it's ability to sync to my PC, but even my phone can (and does) do that with a data cable and software from Nokia.

I'm in the UK and have yet to see an iPhone, apart from the touch screen, can someone explain to me exactly why the iPhone is superior to my current one: a Nokia 6070; a low to mid range phone. Given that, how can it possibly be better than something like an N95; a high end phone. The only real feature I can see from the apple website is the touch screen, not really my priority in a phone. I just want something that can make calls, and send the odd SMS. Having a camera and a radio in my phone are bonuses that I hardly ever use (actually, that's a lie I've started to use the radio quite a bit recently). The only other way that apple tries to show it's differences are via it's ability to sync to my PC, but even my phone can (and does) do that with a data cable and software from Nokia.

Isn't this the iPhone killer http://www.nokia.co.uk/link?cid=PLAIN_TEXT_124883
at least in Europe...

I'm not sure about overseas sales, haven't been since the announcement. Compared to Nokia's current flagship phone, the N95, the iPhone looks pretty weak. It's possible that things will change before release but while the closed system will help Apple's support overheads it restricts access to logical extensions of the system like Skype and other VoIP systems and Blackberry and Blackberry-style email systems, possibly at the behest of Cingular. My Nokia E61 from T-Mobile does Skype and VoIP over 3G as well as WLAN, but only because Symbian 60 is an open platform. But that's where the iPhone has to be to truly compete. I'm a Mac user and Unix bigot but I'm not going to consider the iPhone if and when it gets to the UK unless it can so what my E61 does now.

Name one [smartphone] that plays wide screen movies? Name one with a full web browser? Name one with a full desktop OS? Name a current one with a screen that size? There are dozens of other features I've never seen in a cell phone.

My mum uses one of these. She's really not into the whole "get a jack-of-all-trades" thing, but just requires a very basic phone in case her car breaks down or in case she's out and wants peace of mind.

Nokia E60/E61.

There, that was easy. I have the E60 and it is amazing.


By the way, Jobs lied during the keynote when he says it is the first phone with a fully usable web browser, both the phones above use the Nokia browser that is based on the same WebKit as Safari on the iPhone.

smeat!

Nokia E60/E61.

There, that was easy. I have the E60 and it is amazing.


By the way, Jobs lied during the keynote when he says it is the first phone with a fully usable web browser, both the phones above use the Nokia browser that is based on the same WebKit as Safari on the iPhone.

smeat!

A lot of phones already have these.

A good example being my phone: http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,46548,00.html

Decent battery, really easy UI (Nokias are a lot easier to use), flashlight, alarm, texts, big fat buttons you can actually press comfortably. Cheap as all hell too. Looks better in black. Maybe it just hasn't been released in the US yet? A lot of people have this phone in the UK..

And yes, the flashlight is AMAZINGLY useful, just like the tiny screwdriver I have on my keyring. Not only is it good for screwing things, just as a sharp thin tool.

And yet the US has CEOs regularly earning ten times that for managing companies a tenth of the size.

Greed is, as always, God.

The Nokia E60, E61 and E70 are capable of SIP calls over WiFi.

I'll hopefully be getting mine this week, in the UK.

First, let's ask ourselves, who might be using this sort of software? Probably not Dad, as the office will set him up with the requisite Microsoft software for their environment. The kids though, they'll be at school, their friend's house, maybe a library if you're lucky. They'll have cell(smart?)-phones that let them moblog to their myspace or livejournal account. Google's deployment of their homepage services to mobile phones is the most revealing as it's a step in a direction towards a different content distribution system.

Writely and Google Spreadsheet (Will we see presentation software soon?) will let students use any computer to edit files. Losing a USB key (or hard drive) with your midterm papers is a students nightmare. The very privacy that we are concerned about when it comes to our porn is relinquished when it comes ensuring we will never lose our critical data. This online software will let students edit papers wherever they are so long as they have a computer and internet. Watch for Google's emerging interests in putting computers in the hands of students, as well as the hands of people who cannot afford them.

As well, the timing of the purchase of MySpace ad rights with the Writely registration release and the nearing school year is circumspect. Google is targeting the largest demographics it can reach for the most impact.

The real question to ask is, what's next?

Here's a review for it. You can run whatever you want on it. You can write your own programs in C++, Java or probably other languages too. At least my unit has no stupid lockings. I can install whatever mp3 songs I want as ringtones or for listening. And there's even a third-party internet radio player that you can install.

I remember checking out an OS similar to what you described a few years ago, but I can't remember what it was called.

From what I remember, it was Redhat-based and operated via an XUL interface... I seem to remember the front screen looking quite similar to Google's Personalised Home Page where you could add bits for weather, news, etc and there were a few applications such as Web, Email, and Word Processing. I actually found it extremely limiting in terms of what I could actually do outside the included applications, and very limited for tinkering under the hood.

I don't disagree with you at all, to be honest. I'm sure there will soon be an "operating system" similar to what you describe, which I'm sure will be more than enough for "Joe Consumer". If it's done correctly, I'm sure it would probably be suitable for myself too - right now, the only applications I have open are Firefox (with Gmail in one tab, BBC News in another, and Slashdot in the third), mIRC, Notepad, Live Messenger, Calc, and uTorrent (plus background processes).

Most, if not all, of the above could easily be moved to some sort of web application... I play games on a console and my S60 smartphone handles all my media requirements thanks to wi-fi and uPnP.

• Calendar - this is great, it has enriched my memory challenged life
  
  
• IMAP email - Very handy, I use https://www.fastmail.fm/ for webmail / imap. The only downside is that the phone can't use SSL for the connection. IMAP's header only approach keeps the data use down. I often email myself while I'm out & about if there's some useful snippet of info I will forget. It will be there in my inbox when I get home.
  
  
• Camera - quicker than using the keypad to note down any URIs, Emails, phone numbers, things in shops etc. etc. all sorts of stuff.
  
  
• Bluetooth - exchanging data with other phone users, though it is not surprising that when I say "Bluetooth me your number" plenty of people reply "I don't know how, you're the first person to ask me".
  
  

So you're saying that if I took this phone to some part of deepest Africa or Wyoming where there are no cellphone masts in the vicinity, and I turned it on, then although I wouldn't get a phone signal, the phone would still know exactly where I was in the world (subject to usual GPS accuracy limits)?

Or are you talking about cell triangulation systems?

The 770 was developed by the same team who put out the 7710 so it probably inherited some of the design problems in that first device.

Personally I think the whole form factor of the 77x(x) series is just wrong. I worked as electronics engineer for the big N in Southwood England a couple of years ago and I remember getting to play with the un-released 7700. All I can say is thank goodness they didn't release it, the software wasn't that bad but the design of the thing was like a kids toy. I actually originally though it was a proto and was somewhat shocked when I was told it was a soon to be released product.

It is the wrong size, yes you get screen real estate but it is too bulky to pocket and not big enough to act as a laptop replacement ( bit like UMPCs in that respect ). This is not even beginning to mention it's shortcomings with regards to user input.

It is interesting that Nokia is pursing this route when the rest of the industry seems to be moving from stylus based entry to small thumb boards ( Treo 650, HW6915 etc. )

The 770 was developed by the same team who put out the 7710 so it probably inherited some of the design problems in that first device.

Personally I think the whole form factor of the 77x(x) series is just wrong. I worked as electronics engineer for the big N in Southwood England a couple of years ago and I remember getting to play with the un-released 7700. All I can say is thank goodness they didn't release it, the software wasn't that bad but the design of the thing was like a kids toy. I actually originally though it was a proto and was somewhat shocked when I was told it was a soon to be released product.

It is the wrong size, yes you get screen real estate but it is too bulky to pocket and not big enough to act as a laptop replacement ( bit like UMPCs in that respect ). This is not even beginning to mention it's shortcomings with regards to user input.

It is interesting that Nokia is pursing this route when the rest of the industry seems to be moving from stylus based entry to small thumb boards ( Treo 650, HW6915 etc. )

I Quote:

Security features help provide peace-of-mind that corporate resources remain confidential.

• Device lock and Device restore
• The Nokia E60 has no camera, making it ideal for high security environments
• Compatible with add-on security solutions:
  • Nokia Mobile VPN
  • Symantec Firewall and Anti-Virus
  • Pointsec Data Protection

From the Nokia E60 benefits page.

Check out Nokia E-60. Bluetooth, no camera.

Nokia has started building 'business' phones without cameras. Check out their e-series of phone:
http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,82901,00.html

6 of those do not have a camera. There is a mixture of PDA, basic and more advanced phones in there. The one that stood out is the E60 which seems to have a lot of features without turning into a PDA or having a camera.

My phone is a Nokia 6600 with a 176 x 208 pixel screen.

I use python code on my phone to inject items into my phone's calendar, including via email (i.e. I send an email to 6600@domain.com with a specific format and it will get into my calendar)

My phone has IMAP capability which has proved extremely useful.

My phone has an SSH client which has saved me hundreds of miles of travel in it's time.

However, the Opera Web Browser is particularly useless. Sites rarely look good / work well.

I still have a Comodore 64 in the basement (alas since 15 years, or so) and I finally managed to emulate a C64 on my Nokia 9300 (And if I can finally figure out the German key mappings I oughta be able to play my favorite games from 15 years ago).

So what I wanted to say: You're an insensitive clod, you...

http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,85235,00.html
http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,57363,00.html

No snapping required. Oh... And *handbag* what're you like some kind of a girl?

http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,85235,00.html
http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,57363,00.html

No snapping required. Oh... And *handbag* what're you like some kind of a girl?

I already have 770 Linux pda. Works very well for watching movies and tv programs (Latest news etc. as in real player format over wlan)
The screen is really nice (800x480) for pda.

http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,8764,83163,00.html

This deal might bring mobile broadband to the masses, but with the mobile phones available these days - and the fact that most new laptops include bluetooth as standard, is it really necessary?

I have a Nokia N70 handset which uses 3G technology and provides me with connection speeds of around 400Kbps in 3G-enabled areas - 115Kbps in GPRS (2.5G) areas - and even though it's a separate device, I can simply hook it up to my laptop using bluetooth (or USB if I'm using a machine without bluetooth built in) and connect to the Internet anywhere. However, the flexibility of having a small handset allows me to sit in bed, on the couch, on public transport - ie, anywhere a laptop can be somewhat inconvenient - and check my email, logon to IRC, access web-pages and catch up on the latest news.

Even most non-smartphone devices these days are bluetooth enabled and allow this sort of wireless hookup to laptops and allow for the flexibility I mentioned earlier.

Nokia's E-series is probably for you.

There are some clever add-on keyboard designs

• for PDAs
• and mobile phones

Before any of you dismiss it with a "who wants to watch TV on their phone", you should give it a try at your local mobile phone reseller, you will be surprised. I purchased a Nokia 6630 and you should've seen the jaws of my co-workers when I showed them the latest TV news being streamed to my phone over a 3G connection. The 6630 can play fullscreen 16:9 video and has 16 bit 44Hz stereo sound. On a related note, the was recently a poll in Finland (which is where I live), asking people if they would be interested in watching TV on their phone. Slightly [b]over 60%[/b] answered YES.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet's software is upgradeable and currently runs on the Linux-based Internet Tablet 2005 software edition. There is a planned launch next year of an operating system upgrade - the Internet Tablet 2006 software addition - that will support additional services, including Internet telephony (VoIP) and Instant Messaging.