Its always nice to read great reviews on your hot mobile devices, here we have one from one of my favorite Symbian themers, you all know him by now, he’s name is Dhanu Saud from DHSthemes

Recently I got a chance to trial the Nokia N900 from womworld, & I want to express big thanks to whole entire team for giving me a chance to understand & know the new OS as well as UI other than Symbian OS. N900 is one of the best of the best mobile computer by Nokia comes with full mobile computing & lots of features that every mobile geek needs. The Maemo 5 OS based on Debain Linux distribution, & lots of features included Nokia N900 definitely have a wow factor. It makes a different experience than mobile OS, feels like operating mini laptop.

Take a jump to Dhanu’s site for the full length review with great pictures here I enjoyed it very much I hope all of you do as well.

If you are searching for a brilliant smart phone that will serve the requirements which matter most, then the Nokia N8 is the perfect choice. With this mobile phone, you can access the Ovi Store applications, Web TV programs on demand and the major social networks like Facebook. Ever since the device is announced, there is a great expectation in the market and people are eagerly waiting for its release, which is expected to take place in the third quarter of 2010. The users of the European market can buy this device at EUR 370, which is the retail price without subsidies and taxes. Nokia N8 Contract deals will be available making the handset much cheaper. Just imagine how cool Gravity is going to look on this bad boy.

The Nokia N8 is going to provide solid network coverage to the users. It is supportive of both 2G and 3G networks. The users of the 2G network will get the support of the quad band GSM 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900; while the 3G network users will get access to HSDPA 850/ 900/ 1700/ 2100/ 1900. Those who want to use the internet with this handset will be pleased to know that the N8 backs HSDPA with 10.2 mbps speed and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n. Class 33 GPRS and EDGE are also serving the purpose. So its quite obvious the potential is limitless.

If you are eager to know what more the Nokia N8 has to offer, which can be touted among the best in the market, then you should check out the camera features of this phone. It comes with the irresistible 12 mega pixel auto focus camera that is capable of clicking images at 4000 x 3000 pixels resolution. Some of the major highlights of the camera include Carl Zeiss optics, Xenon flash, geo tagging, smile and face detection and LED video light for video recording at 720p@25fps. You can take some high quality images or videos and straightaway upload them using the social networking applications. The Nokia N8 allows you to share your best moments with the friends.

With the N8 you cannot just capture HD quality videos, but also edit them by using the integrated editing software that comes loaded with the device. Not only that, you can plug in the device with your home theater system and enjoy high quality home video viewing experience with superior surround sound effect. With the Web TV access, you can watch your favorite channels. Anyway stay tuned for a more personal hands on review when we get the device.

Guest Post

I still remember the day I received my E71 from Dell. The built quality was simply outstanding and having come from the Blackberry and WinMo world it was a refreshing breath on my mobile lifestyle. I quickly discovered how awesome it handled the native Google apps like Gmail, Google Maps, and Youtube which were and still are one of my favorite set of apps in any mobile platform.

I had never had a metal phone before and people would look at me and just kind off stare at me saying probably, “what kind off phone is that, wow it looks cool,” and deep down I always had a smirk on my face. As I got more into blogging I also discovered Python and WordMobi which always worked flawlessly, I must say that Marcelo, Wordmobi’s dev, was always very receptive to my various inputs i.e.. saving html code for post . Then I remember just churning blog post left and right all from my E71 quietly and unassumingly capable as can be. Those were the days, I still remember my enthusiasm for the E72, which I later received, and was generally happy but the bug ridden OS FP2, at least on the E72, left much to be desired, it took great pictures though with its 5MP and ran generally fast when it was crashing running various apps. But back on the E71 and its glorious BP-4L, this phone and this battery were and still is a match made in heaven. The phone lasted for hours even after heavy use and that’s when I discovered Muggen Power and thankfully they sent me several OEM batteries with 1800maH, holy cow guys, if you have an E71 and are happy with it, then do yourself a favor, get a Muggen Power battery for your E71, it will certainly bring back a breath of fresh air to an already legendary device that will surely be in the mobile phone hall of fame.

With Ovi Maps 3.0 adding support to the E71 I can think of no reason not to want the extra juice this battery provides.

Moving On

Going back now to the first time I set my eyes on the classic Nokia N95 8GB it was love at first site, it really was ,the screen size, the texture of the great keypad, and even the click sound it makes when you snap it closed. Navigating with Google Maps on this screen was very comforting to say the least when compared to the E71 but I really missed the extra juice of the E71. Using it moderately, nothing crazy, it would last all day but my user experience was heavily curtailed, you know the usual snapping pictures, watching YouTube, Profimail running all day and the rest of the usual suspects, oops I almost forgot, my favorite Symbian app – Gravity. But I remember as Gravity became more like a Snaptu, you know offering multiple services such as Google Reader, Facebook, Four Square, Save to Delicious, Posterous integration, and of course Twitter, my N95 started lasting longer and longer because I was using less and less apps. Which is really a testament to Jan Ole Suhr programming skills and making Gravity the king of Symbian in my opinion. After having been through various mobile operating systems I can honestly say that Gravity is the best all around application **in my humble opinion** out there. I still turn on the N95 and snaps some pics and I’m still amazed at the clarity and the subtle tones. Wow, two classic Nokia which are still providing a nice user experience to thousands out there. Ah, the good ole days.

Current Nokia devices: Nokia E71, Nokia XM 5530, Nokia N95 8GB

Notable Apps worthy of checking out

• Mobbler, the popular Last.fm streaming app
• Gravity, all in one behemoth of the Symbian World
• Skyfire, one of the best browsers
• Opera Mini 5 browser
• Pixelpipe
• Joikuspot

Since day 1 that I had this device that I thought: “Boy, I think I’m keeping this device for a loooong time”. And I wasn’t wrong at all! The things that changed were just the reasons to keep it. Want to know how the N95 keeps up against the N97 mini and N900? Well, read on!

When I got my trusty N95 8GB, I did so because of the huge screen (back then), nice keypad, the 5MP camera and the Wi-Fi capabilities. Boy, was I happy with it! I was playing with it all the time, installing all kinds of apps just because I could and hearing music using the still pretty darn good speakers! Well, time as moved on and new devices got released… Thanks to the fantastic guys and gals over at WOM World/Nokia I got the chance to trial 2 of the newest Nokia handsets. The “almost” flagship N97 mini and the Maemo beast N900. After trialing both and being back on my N95 I can only say: “Boy it’s good to be back!

Ok, let’s get to some comparing action!

1 – Texting

This is where most people would think that the N95 is out because of the lack of a QWERTY keyboard… Well, you are partially correct. I’ll explain:

The N900 has a fantastic texting app where it groups all your texts, IMs in a cool threaded view that is nothing short than amazing! And it has the QWERTY keyboard to back it up! The N97 mini has the same messaging app that you can see on the N95 8GB, but with the addiction of the QWERTY and the touchscreen. I wont lie, the QWERTY lives up to it’s name and is indeed a fantastic way of typing quickly, but let’s face it, both the N900 and N97 mini are pretty much stuck to two handed typing! The N900 only has support for landscape mode on the messaging app (or conversations as Nokia calls it) and the N97 mini in-screen alphanumeric keypad doesn’t work for me. I need to type without looking at the device and using only one hand. After saying this, I think that it’s pretty clear that the N95 8GB is my top pick! Don’t get me wrong, the N900 and the N97 mini are great for texting, but only at home where I can relax and text with time, but guess what? These are MOBILES and I don’t text only at home. In fact, I text more when I’m outside, and if we’re going to compare screen visibility in sunlight as well the N95 is the clear winner! Hardware wise, the N95 8GB isn’t the best in the spec-sheet, but it’s the best for my type of use! As for the the software vertent… I have to call the N900 a BIG winner here. The lack of a portrait mode is completely forgotten when you have all your SMS and IMs stores in the same app for your convenience! Genius! The N97 mini and the N95 are tied on this one as they’re messaging “apps” are VERY similar (bad sign that 2 years later, nothing changed, but that’s for another post!).

2 – E-mail
I was expecting that the N900 was the best in this one, but I was far from the truth. As for the built-in client on Symbian (both 3rd and 5th Edition) sucks big time for me! So I used the one Nokia suggests us to use: Nokia Messaging.

After using Nokia Messaging on both Symbian and Maemo, I have to say that the Maemo version is soooo bad! Any of you that have received an e-mail from Twitter would know that it comes in HTML with all that Twitter styling. Well, the N900 just doesn’t care about that… It shows text and images, but so much for HTML rendering! It isn’t there, period! Bad, really bad thing to do on an internet tablet. I was very glad that the N900 has such a powerful browser, because I really checked all my e-mail from the full Gmail website while I had the device.

Going back to the Symbian department I can only say that the N97 mini and the N95 8GB were veryyy close! Why? Well, Nokia Messaging worked flawlessly on both (although the N97 mini closed it for 2 or 3 times, but I think it’s more a problem with the device free RAM other than with the app itself), but the N97 mini better processor just made a difference! The e-mails opened way faster and everything was smoother, so the N95 8GB ranks 2nd here, but really close to the N97 mini!

3 – Multitasking

Oh yeah, here we go to the hard ones! The N900 has highly praised multitasking capabilities, but Symbian devices have been multitasking for the last 5 years (according to theyre own statement). It was suposed to be a clear win for the N900 with it’s 256MB of RAM… Not the case I am afraid… The N97 mini doesn’t have a chance on this one with it’s very limited RAM so it’s a “old vs. new” fight! The N95 8GB was praised back then for it’s improved 128 MB of RAM over the original N95 small 64MB. Let’s see if almost 3 years later, that is still enough! The N900 can indeed open all kinds of apps at the same time, but the usability decreased each time you open an app. Since the app is REALLY running on the background and not freezed the device processor has a LOT to work to keep everything running. For example, Skype call + Angry Birds + E-mail = laggy Angry Birds and that is just ridiculous! I can have a LOT of apps opened, but use a lot of them? Nah, not going to happen! The N95 8GB has the Symbian factor on it’s side! The device multitasks with ease and can easily be more functional and productive than the N900. I can open Opera Mobile + Google Maps + Gravity + Nimbuzz + Messaging + Nokia Messaging and do all of that at the same time with no lags on any of those apps. Why? Symbian freezes all the apps on the background and leaves the processor working only on the one that you are using. While that may sound bad to some, I  disagree. WHY do you need to waste processor power on apps that you are NOT using? I mean, come on… Symbian has the most efficient multitasking I have ever tried. So, sorry Nokia, but your powerhouse phone from 2007 still beats your most recent 2009 one .

4 – Browsing

That is the ONLY reason I ever though about upgrading my N95 8GB. I’ll have to be honest… 334MHz processor is not enough for me. Pages load awfully slow (it was rocket fast on 2007!), the lack of a touchscreen is a big pain and did I mention that it loads pages awfully slow???? So, long story short and since this isn’t a comparison between the N900 and the N97 mini, my N95 8GB just can’t keep up on the browsing department. BUT, how do I minimize this? For simple pages with only text and images I use the all-mighty Opera Mini 4.2! It’s blazing fast, loads everything perfectly rendered and it saves my data plan from disaster (yay!). For harder pages, the big brother steps up and Opera Mobile 10 beta 3 does the job. In case it isn’t working you have a lot more options! You can use Skyfire, UCWeb, just pick! The Symbian platform has loads of browsers for you to pick!

5 – Social Networks

I am so mad with the N900 on this point that I’ll be fast: it hasn’t a decent Twitter client! I used dabr.co.uk while I had the device! HUGE fail! I’m done with the N900 in this point. The N97 mini and N95 8GB obviously step up with Gravity for your needs! It’s really cheap and you get the BEST Symbian app ever! The N97 mini failed here as well, for one simple reason: RAM! It just can’t keep up with Gravity + Nimbuzz + Opera Mobile. Gravity and Nimbuzz come crashing on you and you are let alone with Opera Mobile opened… The N95 8GB lacks the great QWERTY keyboard you can get on the N97 mini, but it has everything else! A fast 3.5G connection to use anywhere, a Wi-Fi antenna for your convenience and a powerful 5MP camera to take your pics and share them! And if you’re a fan of Geo-tagged tweets and pics you won’t be losing that here as well. It’s capable as well thanks to the A-GPS support . I only use Twitter on the go, but for you Facebook addicts, the N95 8GB isn’t the best option. Nokia Messaging for Social Networks is about the best Facebook client you can get for the N97 mini and it’s only available (for now) to S60 5th Edition handsets. As for the Maemo beast, the Facebook full website should be the best you can get. But for my use, the N95 8Gb climbs on top once again.

8 – Usability in general

One of the most important topics in my opinion. The N900 isn’t very usable as a phone… That is a secondary feature. It’s a landscape orientated device so the N900 get’s pretty much excluded here from an usability point of view. It’s a device that always needs both hands to be operated and that kills the usability in most of the situations I face everyday. The N97 mini has some things that were ported from the Symbian 3rd Edition without even thinking. The calendar for example. With the bigger screen you could think that the squares representing each day on the monthly view would be bigger, right? Well, think again. They are just as small as the ones on  Symbian 3rd Edition. That’s one of the reasons I think that the Symbian OS isn’t ready for capacitive screens, like the one you see on the X6. You need a stylus precision level on some situations.

That leaves me once again looking at my N95 8GB! Everything is so stable and just… works! And for those making fun of the “ugly” UI on Symbian and the slow processor on the N95 8GB, I have some news for you. If I press “Play” on the same exact music at the same time on the N900 and on the N95, the N95 starts playing first (about half a second first). I can also launch the music player faster than on the N900 .

As for other points that you can be wondering such as GPS and Camera I’ll give you an idea. The GPS takes awfully long to lock on the N95 8GB compared to other devices, but only on 1st time use. If it has been used recently on the same location it will lock in about 20 seconds and more importantly, it will keep a lock very well. As for the camera, I still think that it is better than the other two on low light conditions. I’ll rephrase that: The flash isn’t as powerful, but the colours get much more real. In fact, the N900 hasn’t a good camera software at all. It’s poor in features and the image quality isn’t what I was expecting at all! I shot the same subject with my N95 8GB, N97 mini and N900 and the results were very awkward, at least for me. The N900 all mighty Cortex A8 processor obviously isn’t doing it’s thing as far as imaging processing is concerned. It processes the images very fast, but the quality is awfull (on Nokia standards that is! Still better than a lot of other cameraphones from other manufacturers). The N97 mini has a much more powerfull flash and can bright up the scene a lot more, but the image processing makes the colours look washed out. The N95 8GB can’t bright up the scene that much, but when the flash is enough, the colours on the photo just looks crisp.

On good lighting conditions I’ll have to remake my speach partially. The N900 gets the last place when compared with the other two. The N95 8GB and the N97 mini get very close, but I’ll have to give a slight edge to the N97 mini.

9 – Conclusion

As you can see there are some points where newer phones from the Nokia portfolio beat the oldie but goldie N95 8GB. I never denied they were there, but the point isn’t that. The point is that those differences are so small, that giving out around 480€ (N97 mini) or 600€ (N900) for a new phone isn’t really worth it for those that have any kind of love for money. But to be honest, I’ll happyly hand out 200€ for a 2nd hand N86 for example. That would fill on some of the gaps I have on my N95 (*cof* slow-almost-stoped browser *cof*).

But in these 2 years and an half of owning a N95 8GB I can assure that on 98% of the situations, I’ve been proud of it and an happy Nokia costumer.

I’ll leave you with a couple of Nokia slogans that I think fit the N95 8GB like a glove.

Entertainment. The next episode.

It’s what computers have become.

See new. Hear new. Feel new

It’s not one thing. It’s many
(Click on each one of the slogans to open an ilucidative YouTube video)

I can not say enough about this case guys, if I had to describe it with a few words, those words would be Simply Awesome. Now why is that you may ask yourselves, well let me explain with a video and a text review as well.

Ok, so you get two pieces of hardware a hard plastic type of outer covering and a neoprene like soft cover which goes inside. Folks, installation is a breeze and truly intuitive. What you guys really want to know besides the official description directly from Otterbox is, is this case worth $35 and will it protect my device, answer yes and yes.

When I first saw I thought hmm, that’s interesting this two piece thingy but believe me it snaps on just fine and it has the appropriate holes where you expect them to be and something that I really really liked is that the mic hole in the bottom of the case is large enough so that the cool black leather strap that comes in the box of the Nokia E72 fits just fine through this hole so now you’ve got your E72 wrist strapped with the case and it looks quite cool I must say. The volume keys are easily accessible and presented no problem at all alongside with the On/Off key and the 3.5 mm jack hole.

Check out the video below for some inside details:

Here is the official description by Otterbox

The OtterBox Commuter™ Series case for the Nokia® E72 offers the best of both worlds; incorporating elements from the rugged Defender™ Series line with the silicone, skin-like Impact™ Series line to create a slick case designed with your style in mind. It’s protection without the bulk. The exposed silicone corners dissipate impact away from the device for additional bump and shock protection and the smooth outer layer allows the case to easily slide into your pocket or purse. All buttons are fully functional through the case and the audio jack and USB port are accessible through silicone plugs.

Includes: Self-adhering clear protective film, microfiber cleaning cloth and installation card.

Features:

• All buttons are fully functional through the case
• Exposed silicone corners dissipate impact away from your device with added bump and shock protection
• Sleek, stylish design
• Smooth outer layer allows case to slide easily into your pocket or purse
• Self-adhering clear protective film, cleaning cloth and installation card included
• Audio jack accessible through silicone plugs

So there you have it folks, I hope you enjoyed it, next time I’ll try out the Defender Series and see how that matches up with the Commuter Series. But overall the Otterbox Commuter Series for the Nokia E72 is well worth the investment and their customer service is top notch, I highly recommend them. and yes they do ship worldwide, follow this link the details on international shipping.

Well here we are again, decisions, decisions. Like I mentioned in my previous post in reference to the Nokia Messaging hiccups I was extremely saddened by it failing but I must give credit to the folks that run Nokia Messaging as they promptly contacted me and are checking the matter and taking the necessary steps to ensure a smooth transition back to a functioning email client. But now I’m at a cross road, do I continue with another Nokia device or simply continue using my current device for a solid email experience, hmm, well guess what, let me explain.

Here are my reasons for wanting the successor of the E71(which I happen to own as well).

1. Symbian s60v.3 Feature Pack 2

I happen to love this version of Symbian as its the most mature version and it has everything that its awesome about Symbian. I won’t go into the features because a quick google search will do a better job than I can.

2. Camera 5 Megapixels

This is something I always wished the E71 had but never did. 5 megapixels is 5 mp and although there are folks out there that will refute this premise, I don’t really care. I’ve seen and owned various Nokia devices that also sport the famous 5 mp camera and the result are pretty outstanding for my needs. Granted it won’t do as good a job as the Nokia N86(which I also happen to own and will keep) but it will do the job the E71 had but a lot better, that I’m sure off.

Yes I do love the Nokia E72

3. Processor Speed

C’mon guys, the Nokia E72 has an amazing processor speed which makes FP2 run like its suppose to, transitions are snappy with no delay, good enough for me folks.

4. Built

After having been a Nokia E71user for a long time one gets used to having phones that are built like German cars ie. Mercedes Benz and I know the Nokia E72 does not disappoint in this regard. It may not be the same as the E71 but its pretty darn close plus that will be my power combination; Nokia N86, also built like a tank, and the E72 another tank. These characteristics are also good enough for me.

5. Applications

Let’s face it folks, we all use a set of core apps that are indispensable in our mobile phone usage and although there are other operating systems that do have a better visual allure, I’m happy with my Symbian apps. My phones must be phones first and then smartphones.
Applications I use daily:

a. Gravity, a Symbian super app

b. Best Profiles, without a doubt the best application across any platform for this kind of stuff

c. Nimbuzz, do I really have to explain; a multi messaging powerhouse.

d. Calendar for S60, guys I freaking love this app, its anything you want it to be.

e. Mobbler, got have my Last FM client handy

f. Maps, Ovi Maps 3.0 if you have not tried it, then I suggest you do.

g. Google Apps, Youtube, GMaps, and Gmail, for me this is an important part of my app arsenal

and I won’t bore you with the rest but you get the picture. Solid mature apps that simply work.

6. Keyboard, an outstanding qwerty keypad ala Nokia E63 and the Nokia E71x, enough said right

7. Share Online, the most versatile media sharing app that coupled with the San Francisco based Pixelpipe integration gives your media the wings it deserves to fly. Be free my children.

8. Battery, seriously folks, who has not seen what this battery can do, its like the energizer bunny on steroids, it just keeps going and going. Tried and proven Nokia engineering at its best and that’s why its the battery of choice in devices old and new like the famous Nokia Communicator E90, Nokia E71, Nokia N97 and now the Nokia E72.

So these are 8 reasons, why 8, its my favorite number but there are lots of more reasons. Guys, when buying a device analyze what your mobile phone needs are stick to them.

One last reason, native Nokia Messaging client which I don’t care what anyone tells me but when I owned the Nokia E75 NM never gave me a problem, so I’m convinced that devices that have native support always perform better, the experience is the same as Nokia’s photographic giant – the Nokia N86

If you have other reasons you wish to share by all means use the comments and shout it out loud. As I tweeted earlier tonight I’ll get the E72. Peace.

Hello, hello, folks, its been a while since I’ve written. First off, happy new year and thank you for your continued support. I want to thank some of my fellow bloggers for keeping it real and showing their support during this time of personal reflection I’ve been going through during last few months as some of you may know a divorce is not an easy situation regardless of the circumstances, also a very special thanks to all my twitter followers who kept the flame alive and all those great wishes that were sent to me via DM, you guys are great.

Back to Nokia now. Recently I acquired a Blackberry Bold 9700 for personal use after being disappointed with some the Symbian solutions out there, you all know what applications I’m talking about, native apps hmm, anyway having said that, we all know the BB’s are renowned for their messaging capabilities and despite an outage here and there they are flawless.

So now the question becomes what does Nokia E Series have on the Blackberries. I’ll answer that question in a series post addressing several factors that are important to you all, ie Sms, Email, 3rd Party applications, Twitter clients, multimedia, and hardware.

Let’s kick it off with my favorites Email and Sms. So by now most of you out there perhaps have used a Nokia E series device whether it be the Nokia E63 or a Nokia E71 or perhaps a Nokia E90. Since the Nokia E71 was and still is a very popular device in the Symbian community it makes for a great comparison against the Blackberry 9700.

I won’t dive into the specs of either phone, a quick google search will inundate you with all you need to know but what is worth mentioning is the keyboard to start off. I’ve always thought the Nokia E71 has a great keyboard but when comparing it with the Bold 9700 I must say that this Blackberry’s keyboard is way more intuitive that the E71’s. The Bold’s keyboard is somewhat wider making rapid text entry a breeze, the E71’s needs some getting used to, not to say that you can’t but in my humble opinion I think the 9700 wins in this category, notice how I just mentions the additional width, guys it really is that simple those extra millimeters of width make a huge difference. As you may know the E71 has a standard nav pad and the Bold uses a touch nav pad which is absolutely amazing and very responsive. Yes I know that the E72 has something similar but after seeing countless tweets from around the world, I hear its quite unusable and most people that own the E72 choose to turn it off. Why did Nokia make this nav pad so unusable is beyond me but it is what is guys. Back to the E71, after staring and using both OS’s I must say that the E71’s FP1 seems way outdated when compared to the Blackberries OS 5.0 which is simple and intuitive to use. After 3 weeks with the Blackberry, today I went back to the E71 mainly for Gravity and I had to think hard where to find the Profile application, it was super hilarious because I consider myself not a full blown Nokia guru but above average off course, hence the blog ah haha.

SMS on the Blackberry OS 5.0 is threaded and very very user friendly, not to mention the way the whole Blackberry operating system is very contact integrated throughout. Email, what can I say about this, it simply works all the time, enough, follow up flags, tons a searchable views and parameters to make all you phone geeks out there and myself extremely happy, lol. On the E71 well, what can I say you don’t already know, it comes with the dated messaging application but off course you can download Nokia Messaging but again its not a complete and dependable solution for folks that consider email mission critical. For the average mobile users it might suffice but it still needs a lot of nurturing and a result with seen a lot folks switch over to Profimail which was my favorite email solution on Symbian. Something interesting to mention here is Blackberry’s limits on attachment that is flat out ridiculous attachments are limited to 3 mg I believe or something silly like that and you can’t download huge files with the ease and dependability that Symbian can, that’s a huge plus for Nokia on that regard. Which now opens yet another question and that is Pixelpipe and Shozu two hugely popular apps that are well integrated into Nokia pretty much not useless in the Blackberry world but very limited. I’ve now adapted to sending pics that are less than a 1mg. Is it a big deal for me, not really as my smartphone usage is mainly text based but I do off course like creating content, my answer to that Nokia N86 a true mobile content creation workhorse.

To be continued.

ps. it feels good to be back

photo via ubergizmo

By now, many of you have already read plenty of reviews of the Nokia N97…there is a lot of bashing and praising of this device all over the internet. Hopefully this review will bring something fresh to the table for you. If you’re anything like me, you’re a gadget geek–you like your new toys, and are almost always on the search for the next. When I first heard about the N97, I wasn’t all that excited–I read many statements regarding the keyboard being total crap. Others bashed the low amount of RAM. And yet others bashed S60 in general. Being a Nokia E71 user at the time though, I wanted something fresh and new, and touch screen phones had garnered my interest. I decided I’d jump on the N97 and see what it was all about, ordered one the day it was available and got it the next day. This review covers my thoughts from initial impressions to now, about 3 months time using the N97….

When I first got the phone, my initial thoughts were, simply put, “Sweet!”. The phone feels good in the hand–not too heavy, not too light. It felt very solidly built. The hinges that allow the phone to slide open and closed feel very smooth and solid. After hearing complaints about the resistive screen, I found it to be very accurate and very responsive. I also found the keyboard to be different–but not bad or awful like many reviews had claimed. Yes, it took some getting used to, but I’ve found that to be true with every Blackberry I’ve used over the past 3 years as well. Once I got a few applications installed, my contacts/notes/to do’s synced up, I was off and running. I immediately enjoyed the 5MP camera over what my E71 had to offer, and the spacious keyboard felt easier to use in a couple days time. Touch screen really grew on me too, and I was used to it in a matter of a day or two as well…internet browsing, scrolling through posts on forums, scrolling within Gravity, and more were all made easier with the touch screen…and I had yet to touch the stylus for any reason at all other than to see “what the heck is this thing in the first place?” I was initially concerned about battery life too–bigger screen, touch UI, I was concerned that the N97 would suffer worse battery life than my E71 (which only lasted from about 5am to 10:30pm with Profimail running in the background). I was astonished to find that the N97, with the same (or slightly higher usage) lasted longer than my E71. Battery life is certainly one of the N97′s strong points, in my experience.

At the same time as I was starting to enjoy my new mobile device, review after review, and opinion after opinion were coming out in regards to the N97, Nokia’s self proclaimed “Flagship” device of 2009. Now there were even more complaints about the lack of RAM, resistive screen (and not capacitive), even the lack of space on the C: drive, the phone memory itself. At the time, I was able to say that none of these had truly affected me yet. I did notice within a couple weeks time several bugs with the firmware–the alarm randomly not working (although this could be considered a feature for some), ringtones randomly changing, and a few other things. I hadn’t noticed anything that made me think the phone was horrible by any means though, most of these issues could be attributed to firmware alone. I performed one hard reset (*#7370#) within the first few weeks, and probably twice a week or so had to pull the battery due to the phone freezing. I chalked these up to the phone being so new, and firmware issues that would be fixed–and in many cases I was right. There were two firmware updates within my first 3 months of ownership, and both helped the device significantly–improving the speed of the UI, as well as addressing a few bugs.

Around the 1.5 to 2 month period of use though, I did start noticing some of the complaints that I was reading about. I attribute this to having found more applications that were running on the N97, more multi-tasking. I started to experience errors related to phone memory, and applications simply shut down seemingly without explanation–although not very often. I had already learned to install everything I possibly could on the N97′s 32GB mass memory, but also found that I needed to delete the web browsers cache folder to keep the phone memory from getting clogged. I also found that the phone would slow down just a bit when I had several applications open. Gravity in conjunction with web browser (and of course Profimail running in the background) took a pretty big toll on the devices RAM, usually leaving me with only 10-15MB left (I usually saw about 40MB of RAM on boot, with Profimail running, on v12 firmware). Opening Nokia Maps, or one or two other smaller applications, or even receiving a text or a phone call while all this was going on could sometimes cause a freeze that required a battery pull to get out of.

I’m hopeful that the next software release, v20, will make a big difference for all N97 owners. It is supposed to include some memory management improvements, plus kinetic scrolling everywhere (this is a very cool feature, in my opinion), and more. While I was certainly glad to be able to get my hands on an N97 when I did, I would be hard pressed to say that I wouldn’t have rather had to wait another month or two to be given an N97 with v20 out of the box. From the sounds of it, v20 should make a very worthwhile improvement to the N97.

One of the things that made my experience with the N97 better than it would have been otherwise was the discovery of applications I hadn’t used before. Some of these I’ve already mentioned, like Gravity for Twitter and Facebook. Other applications I learned to really enjoy while using the N97 were Pixelpipe, an application that allows you to post images, videos, sounds, etc to multiple places all at one time, and even works through Nokia’s Share Online application–fully integrating Pixelpipe’s abilities with the phone. I also discovered Wordmobi, an application designed to allow you to manage and post directly to your WordPress blog. Both of these applications were a joy to use on the N97, and made my N97 experience better due to their abilities alone.

I always like to think I will enjoy the next “latest and greatest” device to come out–whether its cell phone related, or with any of my other hobbies–but sometimes, it pays to sit back and see what happens. As one of my friends said to me recently, there is something to be said for a device that comes out of the box doing what it has been advertised to do. I still do think the N97 can be a great phone–the touch screen (even though resistive) is very accurate and usable, the screen looks great, the battery life is excellent, and with some polishing of the firmware and some updates, it will make a great smart phone hence its no surprise that TestFreaks gave it a 9.1/10. It just a shame that Nokia didn’t add another 40MB of RAM and phone memory (or more) to the device–because then it would no doubt be the “flagship” it was advertised and promoted as.

Guest Post by Martin_j001

Let me start off by saying that I’ve been a full QWERTY phone user for the past several years. Started with Blackberry about 3-4 years ago and have gone through about 6 different devices over the years.  Then, I decided to try Nokia, and got myself an E71.  At the same time, I also decided to try the N95 8GB.  I loved the E71, but also loved the N95 8GB for its excellent media features, but just couldn’t convince myself to give up the full QWERTY device and switch fully to the N95.  Later, after having used the N97 for a while, and experiencing some of its shortcomings, I found myself being tempted very strongly by the Nokia N86.  So, I bought an N79 as both a backup and to re-teach myself to use T9 while I waited for the release of the N86 NAM.  And its finally here…

The Nokia N86 is everything I hoped it would be—I really do enjoy using this phone.  Coming from the N97, the fact that the N86 just WORKS well is a big selling point to me.  I have yet to run into an instance where RAM was lacking and the phone shut down apps on its own, and I have yet to experience any true bugs either.  I’ve moved every one of my required apps over to the N86—Profimail, Handy Safe, Gravity, Pixelpipe, Nimbuzz, and many more.  The N86 has definitely earned its place as my new daily use phone.

Coming from QWERTY, it took a while to get used to T9 again, but the keypad on the N86 made it even easier.  It is more than adequate (in my opinion) for typing out emails, text messages, short posts to Twitter, Posterous, Facebook, etc— the keys are spaced apart a bit, and have a positive “click” to them when you press them.  I do wish that one of the buttons had a bump on it so you could index better without having to look at the keypad, but other than that I find it excellent.

The 8MP camera on this phone is very, very nice.  I haven’t put it through its paces like some have done, but it has already taken noticeably better pictures than any of my other phones are capable of taking.  And the video capabilities of the N86 are a huge plus too.

In the end, I have to say I love the Nokia N86.  The media capabilities, the build quality, the sleek design and great look of the phone are all contributing factors, and add up to one very nice device.

Guest Post by Martin_j001

S60 file explorers and to some extent task managers are available dime and a  dozen these days however one software which has endured right from the early roots of Symbian is SBSH FExplorer Pro. The most famous file explorer has now been completely re written for S60 v3 and v5 and it surely does impress.

FExplorer Pro incorporates a powerful file manager , backlight control software and even a screenshot tool.What is more amazing is the fact that it can also provide complete details ofyour device including Network Status , Battery Details , Memory Card Details. Our friends at SBSH Softwares have gratefully provided us with a copy of this software.
While installing the software you get the usual options of installing to device memory or memory card.

Starting the software brings up the first screen which gives you access to the file manager tools. It displays all the drives available in the system ie C: (system memory), E: (Memory Card) , RAM , etc.
For devices with large internal mass memory like in the N97 , it will show the corresponding drive.

Scrolling up and down allows you to select corresponding drives and the centre button then opens the selected drive. From there , The left soft key functions as the option key allowing you to manipulate files, folders it to copy , past and move them. Selecting specific file types will open it in their respective viewers. For example, selecting an mp4 file opens it in Real Player.
The ‘5’ button activates toggling between several modes. From here you can shift to a Tools panel , Phone info panel and an application settings panel.

Shown here is the Tools panel which allows one to activate several options including taking screenshots , managing backlight , bluetooth and even compressing memory. Interestingly , the options to compress memory and dump files list show that this software was meant to be a one stop app for power users. The Phone panel allows  for quick access info on the device including the battery remaining , IMEI and IMSI details. Network details can also be accessed, Another interesting use here is to reboot the device.
After having used this software extensively for almost a week , i can say that it is fast becoming an indispensible application for me.  My only gripe with it was that the UI still does have some quirks and also can be made a bit simpler for new users. Experiened S60 users should be fine with it though.

Rating : 4/5

The application available for $7.95 is in my opinion a must have for experienced users. However we have managed to obtain 3 license keys for our readers !

All you have to do is to comment on why do you think you should get this software. 3 Most interesting and innovative entries get free licenses