Archive for the ‘Nokia 5800’ Category
The popular VOIP client Skype is now confirming that its ready for prime time. It now shows official support for the touch OS version s60v5. So make sure you head over to www.skype.com to download the app asap to start enjoying this jewel. Doesn’t the Mini look nice on this official screenshot. From your s60 mobile go to http://www.skype.com/m to download to your device.
This theme will look outstanding in your s60v5 I’m currently rocking on it my N97 and I’m sure it will look superb on your Nokia 5800 as well.
So its been a full two weeks with the Nokia 5800 courtesy of Nokia LTA and I must say this smartphone is truly amazing. Its been a complete delight to use but today I’m going to talk about something that is not really blogged about and that is the musical experience of the XM. Some days ago I wrote my first impressions and its been hard to blog about this phone because you simply can’t put it down, the touch screen is so darn addicting Read more
Scalado is one of my favorites Symbian software houses. They are the “mobile imaging experts” and tech like CAPS prove it. When Ovi Store was launched, one of the first surprises was to see a new Scalado product there. It’s called Autorama and it will help you to capture panoramic images with your Nokia phone. Read more
Just now our resident theme developer Tehk7 wrote his first impressions on the Nokia 5800. Its a great piece and everyone should read it. Its good to know that Tehk now has the hardware to work so that all his themes will sooner than later be running in all its glory on s60 5th edition.
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Hello and welcome to a new series called “Lifestyles of the XM“. This series will chronicle my experience with the famed Nokia Express Music 5800 or as I like to call it the XM. Last week I had a meeting with the folks of Nokia in the Miami headquarters and they presented me with this gorgeous smartphone for me to trial, this is my story. Read more
With its huge, high resolution touch screen, one might think that the 5800 is MADE for gaming, amongst other things. The problem is that the single, non 3D-accelerated processor and the resistive screen limits what games would actually be workable on the 5800. Read more
Hey there, ladies and gents. This is the first “My Top 5 Picks” (MT5P) segment, listing down my Top 5 for a variety of software, hardware and other Nokia Mobile stuff. Today’s Top 5 would focus on Freeware games on the 5800. But first, a quick recap on the background of Gaming on the 5800.
Hey there ladies and gents. It has been seven days since I first got my grubby paws on the Alpha pre-release of Nokia’s much awaited Messaging app for S60v5. Before that, my mailing needs were served by a combination of the built in mail app (which was inadequate, but was my only choice at the time for reliable Gmail retrieval) and Mail for Exchange (for fast push Email). I also tried Seven push mail (which was okay, but not without its problems) before settling into this combo.
Even though it’s branded with Carl Zeiss optics, the camera module equipped on the 5800 is slightly above average at best. It takes great pictures in adequate sunlight but fails miserably in low light conditions. The lack of a proper xenon flash makes things worse (the dual LED light included isn’t much help, really). Pictures are washed out and extremely noisy on the default automatic settings in low light (blame the tiny sensor), and the auto White Balance is a little off most of the time even with sufficient light.
As Nokia’s first mainstream, mid-tier fully Touchscreen mobile, Nokia has a lot riding on the 5800. And taking it as it is (a mid-tier mobile rather than the iPhone killer it was billed to be), the 5800 succeeds brilliantly, cramming as much features into its tubby – yet extremely handy – body as it could.
True, taken one at a time and broken down objectively, the separate functions of the 5800 is not really that awe-inspiring, to say the least. But taken as a entire, intergrated package, the 5800 is a thing of beauty.
True, the 5800 is not without its quirks, but for its price I would easily say that it is the first truly “complete” (in terms of features) fully touch mobile for the masses. As such, I personally hope that they would continue on to support and make the 5800 better, as I feel the phone that started the Mid-Tier Touch Revolution deserves at least that.
So, ladies and gents, sound off in the comments section and share with us what you think about the 5800!
On the telephony front, with access to all major GSM and UMTS bands, the 5800 performs well. It delivers exceptional voice call quality and acceptable 3G video calling performance, which is probably expected from all major brand mobiles at this point in time.
Although the first batch of 5800 suffered from a major blow to this front in the form of the infamous Earpiece Problem, as had been illustrated in the first part of the review. But Nokia must be credited for acknowledging this problem and rectifying it in later batches.
In terms of data connectivity, for local data transfers, you have Bluetooth and a speedy USB connection that makes full use of that Class-6 microSD card. On the Computer side, Nokia’s ubiquitous PC Suite and the newer Ovi Suite take care of most of the things you would like to do with your 5800, although for media transfers I usually just use Mass Storage mode to dump media files into the microSD.
For wireless data, there’s a whole boatload of choices on the 5800; with WIFI, GPRS, HSUPA, EDGE, 3G/UMTS, 3.5G/HSPDA – I doubt anyone would have trouble finding a way to suck data off the Interwebs. And what a wonderful experience that turns out to be, as the included Web browser coupled with the relatively huge, razor sharp screen means that the Internet is joy to see. The 5800 web browser’s main trump card is full Flash Lite support, which means that you can finally experience YouTube in its entire web streaming glory (if not in a slightly blockier mobile streaming form).
In general web browsing terms, however, it still pales in comparison to the general web experience that the iPhone offers (even if both browsers are based on Webkit), if not mainly due to the lack of both kinetic scrolling and a properly thought out full-screen mode.
But Symbian being Symbian (and Nokia being Nokia), it would only be a matter of time before someone comes up with a killer third party browser to trump everything else on the market (yes, Opera, I’m talking about you). Until then, my web needs will have to be fulfilled with Opera Mini (a version of which can be seen up top).
And again, with it running Symbian, great third party applications continue to fill up many gaps in web connectivity, with a honourable mention going out to the AWESOME looking Gravity twitter client (see shameless ad below), Joikuspot ad-hoc Internet sharing app and the Symtorrent torrent app; all of which work marvellously on the 5800 (and without any of which I would be much less happier).
Finally, a mention must be given on the GPS module on the 5800, which works well given that it’s simply an intergrated chip. The bundled Nokia Maps are all good and all, but it takes a third party GPS solution such as Garmin XT (which has been updated recently to fully support the 5800) or Sygic’s McGuider to make full use of the GPS.
Any downsides to all this connectivity and the before mentioned media options?
Yes, of course, the battery life. With the 1350mAh BL-5C provided, the 5800 would only last around 1 and a half day tops with my brand of hard use (heavy use of music player and SMS; some calls and E-mails, plus sporadic web surfing and Gravity twitting on EDGE/GPRS). Exclusive use of 3G would shorten that even more. Video playback will generally bring the battery to its knees from fully charged in around 4 hours.
Excellent, no, but it’s more than acceptable for a mobile in this price bracket.
THREE MONTHS LATER: Enjoying the mobile Internet, and is finding out that I’m relying more on packet data then WIFI over here where I am. Heavy use of packet data (especially 3G) puts a drain on the batteries, which is compensated by the use of a external USB battery pack (will blog more about this later). Gravity is FINALLY out by now, and I’m using it on a regular basis: trust me when I say it is even MORE awesome then it looks.
NEXT: Conclusions and more ranting!
