Interesting you mention the N82; the HTC marketing materials claim the One has the largest imaging sensor in a mobile.
The N82 actually had a larger sensor than what HTC are using in the One, and had 5mp vs the 4mp of the One. So yet again, HTC are demonstrably unable to even match the figures of a 5 year old Nokia...
So yes, physics does win, the problem is that HTC don't really have the ability to back up the physics with suitable engineering.
The lens on *most* camera phones aren't that good. There's only one notable exception, Nokias 808. Which is beyond the quality of (all?) compact cameras, and rivals bridge cameras for still image quality.
So having an ARM based device on you at all times is a benefit for what purpose?
Do you regularly write ARM code directly on the device, and then later target it at a small scale computational problem? Or do you browse the web, take pictures, listen to music and tweet a bit?
Whilst I do really like both my N8 and the 808 (and kinda despise my iPhone), anyone who thinks that Nokia were in a great position prior to Q4 2010 are smoking something dubious.
It has taken Nokia 2 years to get Symbian into something like a decent state (as seen on the latest 808 firmwares) - Android and Apple were improving and growing at a much greater pace.
Of course Nokias problem is down to stupendous levels of incompetence at the top end, management who don't know their posterior from their elbow, that were happily allowing teams to compete with each other, politics that would have made MS management happy beyond their wildest dreams. On that count, Nokia and MS are a match made in heaven/hell (delete as appropriate)
Their intention several years ago was for Symbian to become entry level, and to a certain extent that was happening with devices like the 5230/5530.
The 808 is a truly excellent device, with a camera that I doubt anyone will get close to for a few years (as the N8 has yet to be bettered by anything other than the 808).
I've got the last Symbian phone; Nokia 808 - works perfectly.
And of course the camera on it is truly excellent, truly decent optics, and image quality thats resulted in my DSLR being used quite a lot less.
Not true; bought my son the NXT2.0 kit for christmas - the software works fine on Windows 7 (but not Win7 SE).
As far as I understood it, the sensors are completely compatible between versions.
The one caveat is that Nokia is rumoured to have a version of the N810 that can take a SIM card.... then it'll be an interesting option.
Although if its as reliable as my 770 (or my colleages 770 with the 2007 firmware), then its not a viable option as a phone. Nice toy, but nothing much more.
It'll be interesting to see how the figures compare for the UK launch when it occurs.
The US plans do seem relatively good for data, but how do AT&T compare to Verizon and T-Mob for data plans?
In the UK, the selected carrier for the iPhone (O2) isn't offering particularly competitive data plans - its circa 200meg per month for around £7.50 (US $15?). Where the main competition for data - T-Mobile and 3 are offering 1gig for the same price.
I know a LOT of people who are intending to get iPhones out of contract, unlock them and stick T-Mobile SIMs in them - the web'n'walk plans are generally the best option for data in the UK. Shame that the iPhone doesn't have the data speed to carry it off though.
Not sure if's that easy to be selective, but it was pretty cool to find my venerable (!) Nokia N73 dropping to EDGE when there was no 3G signal (which wasn't that often).
That would have been an alternative for apple - drop in a chipset that supports EDGE and 3G, and possibly give the user the option of which one they prefered (kinda like a battery life/net speed slider).
Sure, it takes more power, but not a significant amount.
I've gone through this on two distinct 3G phones - Nokia N73 and an SE K800i. Switching 3G off on either doesn't make a significant improvement on battery life.
And the browser on the 770 is painfully slow at times! Still love it as a handy little toy though:)
The big difference is that when you unlock a Nokia (which is either free, or just a few quid over here in the UK), you can still do the various firmware updates without bricking the device.
Until Apple came to the party, unlocking of phones to allow use on other networks was pretty much taken for granted. They've now chosen to change this mode of operation, and people are starting to get just a little ticked off.
Unlocking is extremely popular in the UK (obviously, can't comment on the US), with market stalls regularly offering unlocking services for a relatively small outlay.
Its not that nationwide, and coverage is considerably worse than our pretty comprehensive 3G coverage, which is the biggest area that the iPhone sucks. There are plenty of points on in the countryside that I can get decent 3G reception, but there isn't a cat in hecks chance of getting WiFi.
So if I want to do some browsing, any 3G phone would be massively faster than the iPhone.
And not to mention that the O2 tariffs are considerably worse than the offerings from the competition (ie. T-Mobile, 3).
Apple are definitely not the Rolls Royce of mobile telephony.
That award squarely goes to Vertu (ie. Nokia). Vertu to a regular phone is very similar to what Rolls Royce are to others. They do the same ultimate job, but do it in a considerably more stylish, well made manner. The efforts that Vertu go for the quality of components is similar to a quality watch maker.
I had some late 80s/early 90s Aiwa pipephone buds - HP-V99. Still had them working fine up to maybe 6 months back. The sound was absolutely stellar - probably the closest any earbuds have come to my Stax Lambda Electrostatics (which are now maybe over 20 years old, and still equal the best out there).
Then again, the Aiwas did make you look a bit pimped - two golden looking pipes sticking out of each ear?
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting you mention the N82; the HTC marketing materials claim the One has the largest imaging sensor in a mobile.
...
The N82 actually had a larger sensor than what HTC are using in the One, and had 5mp vs the 4mp of the One. So yet again, HTC are demonstrably unable to even match the figures of a 5 year old Nokia
So yes, physics does win, the problem is that HTC don't really have the ability to back up the physics with suitable engineering.
The lens on *most* camera phones aren't that good. There's only one notable exception, Nokias 808. Which is beyond the quality of (all?) compact cameras, and rivals bridge cameras for still image quality.
So having an ARM based device on you at all times is a benefit for what purpose?
Do you regularly write ARM code directly on the device, and then later target it at a small scale computational problem? Or do you browse the web, take pictures, listen to music and tweet a bit?
Whilst I do really like both my N8 and the 808 (and kinda despise my iPhone), anyone who thinks that Nokia were in a great position prior to Q4 2010 are smoking something dubious. It has taken Nokia 2 years to get Symbian into something like a decent state (as seen on the latest 808 firmwares) - Android and Apple were improving and growing at a much greater pace. Of course Nokias problem is down to stupendous levels of incompetence at the top end, management who don't know their posterior from their elbow, that were happily allowing teams to compete with each other, politics that would have made MS management happy beyond their wildest dreams. On that count, Nokia and MS are a match made in heaven/hell (delete as appropriate)
Their intention several years ago was for Symbian to become entry level, and to a certain extent that was happening with devices like the 5230/5530. The 808 is a truly excellent device, with a camera that I doubt anyone will get close to for a few years (as the N8 has yet to be bettered by anything other than the 808).
I've got the last Symbian phone; Nokia 808 - works perfectly. And of course the camera on it is truly excellent, truly decent optics, and image quality thats resulted in my DSLR being used quite a lot less.
Not true; bought my son the NXT2.0 kit for christmas - the software works fine on Windows 7 (but not Win7 SE). As far as I understood it, the sensors are completely compatible between versions.
BG can easily say something like that, he's never appeared to have any real sense of humour.
The one caveat is that Nokia is rumoured to have a version of the N810 that can take a SIM card .... then it'll be an interesting option.
Although if its as reliable as my 770 (or my colleages 770 with the 2007 firmware), then its not a viable option as a phone. Nice toy, but nothing much more.
Nope, you're absolutely right - its not fifty million stupid applications, its closer to 20 million.
And at least 99.999% of them suck.
It'll be interesting to see how the figures compare for the UK launch when it occurs.
The US plans do seem relatively good for data, but how do AT&T compare to Verizon and T-Mob for data plans?
In the UK, the selected carrier for the iPhone (O2) isn't offering particularly competitive data plans - its circa 200meg per month for around £7.50 (US $15?). Where the main competition for data - T-Mobile and 3 are offering 1gig for the same price.
I know a LOT of people who are intending to get iPhones out of contract, unlock them and stick T-Mobile SIMs in them - the web'n'walk plans are generally the best option for data in the UK. Shame that the iPhone doesn't have the data speed to carry it off though.
Unless you find that the battery doesn't even last a full day .... but otherwise I'd tend to agree with you.
Not sure if's that easy to be selective, but it was pretty cool to find my venerable (!) Nokia N73 dropping to EDGE when there was no 3G signal (which wasn't that often).
That would have been an alternative for apple - drop in a chipset that supports EDGE and 3G, and possibly give the user the option of which one they prefered (kinda like a battery life/net speed slider).
Sure, it takes more power, but not a significant amount.
:)
I've gone through this on two distinct 3G phones - Nokia N73 and an SE K800i. Switching 3G off on either doesn't make a significant improvement on battery life.
And the browser on the 770 is painfully slow at times! Still love it as a handy little toy though
Yesterday?
But then I'm a total luddite, and one of my housemates is a part-time DJ, nowt but vinyl for him.
Why would a german type of fast food served at the Oktoberfest need retuning?
....
Ooohhhh, you meant Steinberger
The big difference is that when you unlock a Nokia (which is either free, or just a few quid over here in the UK), you can still do the various firmware updates without bricking the device.
Until Apple came to the party, unlocking of phones to allow use on other networks was pretty much taken for granted. They've now chosen to change this mode of operation, and people are starting to get just a little ticked off.
Unlocking is extremely popular in the UK (obviously, can't comment on the US), with market stalls regularly offering unlocking services for a relatively small outlay.
lol ... I don't know any project managers that have any ability that would even consider working for such a salary.
I'd figure that project managers here in the city are starting out with little experience at £50k.
And doing the dollarpound conversion, £20k (ie. $40k) is what, trainee A/P pay levels?
Its not that nationwide, and coverage is considerably worse than our pretty comprehensive 3G coverage, which is the biggest area that the iPhone sucks. There are plenty of points on in the countryside that I can get decent 3G reception, but there isn't a cat in hecks chance of getting WiFi.
So if I want to do some browsing, any 3G phone would be massively faster than the iPhone.
And not to mention that the O2 tariffs are considerably worse than the offerings from the competition (ie. T-Mobile, 3).
So what, the next Nintendo games console will be the Nintendo Ecky- ecky- ecky- ecky- pikang- zoop- boing- goodem- zoo- owli- zhiv
.....
I dunno, its just nowhere near as catchy As Wii
Apple are definitely not the Rolls Royce of mobile telephony.
That award squarely goes to Vertu (ie. Nokia). Vertu to a regular phone is very similar to what Rolls Royce are to others. They do the same ultimate job, but do it in a considerably more stylish, well made manner. The efforts that Vertu go for the quality of components is similar to a quality watch maker.
The analog switch off is scheduled for 2007 to 2012. You must be in one of the "lucky" areas.
Whilst H264/HD support is pretty cool, for the UK at least, decent coverage of such is about 4-5 years off.
.....
If they live that long, Sony will probably have the PS4 Uberbox out on the market
Its a "nice to have" feature for sure, but even the quality of the broadcast image doesn't even slightly justify them putting 1080p in there.
I had some late 80s/early 90s Aiwa pipephone buds - HP-V99. Still had them working fine up to maybe 6 months back. The sound was absolutely stellar - probably the closest any earbuds have come to my Stax Lambda Electrostatics (which are now maybe over 20 years old, and still equal the best out there).
Then again, the Aiwas did make you look a bit pimped - two golden looking pipes sticking out of each ear?