Nokia N9 wins special place in GSM Arena’s geeky hearts (and a look at N9 camera UI)
GSM Arena are possibly one of the most objective places on the net with regards to phones. They’ve just published a four-page article on Nokia’s new N9. What do they think of it?
They’ve got some hands on time with the Nokia N9 Harmattan-MeeGo phone and love it.
- Although demo was short, “it was enough for it to earn a special place in our geeky hearts”
- premium finish and the outward curved screen are nothing short of outstanding.
- The N9 screen is bordering on perfection – (read their review as to why, is sounds great!)
- We were pleasantly surprised by the MeeGo Harmattan platform and starting to doubt whether switching to Windows Phone 7 was the only option available to Nokia.
- it appears that the wait has been worth it as MeeGo in its current version offers a is already a pretty cool platform.
- The camera interface is pretty cool,
- What we don’t need is further proof of the MeeGo and N9′s great potential.
- now up to Nokia to capitalize on that and help MeeGo make the leap from a hot prospect to a serious source of income (Hopefully WP leak won’t dash that too much?)
New improved Camera Interface from Nokia N9- should really be a post in itself, seems they’ve managed to cut down the number of taps necessary to get anywhere.
See this rant: http://mynokiablog.com/2010/11/13/rant-fixing-nokias-symbian-touch-camera-ui-perfecting-the-nokia-n8-camera-experience/
now main UI demo
GSM Arena via @camb078
About the Author (Author Profile)
Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Jay and I'm a medical student at the University of Manchester. When I can, I blog here at mynokiablog.com and tweet now and again @jaymontano. We also have a twitter and facebook accounts @mynokiablog and facebook.com/MyNokiaBlog. Contact us at tips(@)mynokiablog.com or email me directly on jay[at]mynokiablog.comSubscribe
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wow, great work done by gsmarena for the ui demo!
n9 phone design is modern AND the best user interface! EVERYTHING ON IT ARE JUST GREAT, IF NOKIA PRICE IT euro 330 for 16G, it will be a best seller phone
lol… XD … if that will be the pricing the market share of nokia will go up again and surpasses the last 2 years of nokia… but that was just a dream… ahahahaha… but who knows, we have at least 1% chance…
off topic. Sea ray has virtual buttons. leak photo.http://wmpoweruser.com/new-nokia-sea-ray-picture-reveals-virtual-buttons/ does that both can be dual booted?
The virtual button feels like WP7 emulator on Meego…
As a shareholder I _seriously_ hope that’s not the price for it. It would be plain stupidity from the business perspective and would cost them dearly. Expect it to be around 500 euros and almost 600e for the 64GB.
This is high end Nokia, people are willing to pay for it, especially early adopter geeks.
You are right. I hope Nokia makes a lot of profit from it! And of course, decide to keep improving and updating Harmattan and release more devices with it!
This mobile is going to kill Apple so it has to be expensive.
I will bet it at least euro 500.
Would somebody please upload a demo of Nokia Tune on the N9? a.k.a. The Melody of Victory
nice. why would any one want a wp7 over this.
i don’t know…i kinda want them both…only if there was a qwerty variant as well…talking about qwerty, wonder if e6 will get any love anymore.
Probably Belle update at least.
+1
N9 UI and homescreen is way better than the ugly Win7 ugly tiles.
+1000
Because its actually being supported by an ecosystem whereas Nokia would still have to build one which could easily take years.
Having a great OS is no longer the standard the standard now is to have a great ecosystem, there is nothing in MeeGo to suggest that, however if MeeGo does manage to create an ecosystem then maybe it has a shot
The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that this ecosystem wank is just that- a load of wank.
Post of mine yesterday…
“I tend to agree.
I either just don’t “get it”, or I don’t know what an ecosystem is.
All I want from my phone is the standard, phone, messages, email, internet, organiser, camera, media player and a few apps/games. Oh and making it all easy/nice/fun to use.
I don’t need an “ecosystem” for this do I? Which is why I think an N9 may be perfect for me as long as it is actualy supported.
Am I missing something?
I also don’t really have any issues with Symbian being phased out, as long as it is still supported by Nokia. It was being phased out anyway with MeeGo, I just pray that the N9 isn’t a one off thing.
One of the things that has made Nokia special is that they do it their own way (they used to do it exceptionally well) and aren’t just another hardware company (as good as their hardware is).
THAT is a differentiator!”
Even Andre’s post today doesn’t realy explain what the hell Nokia are playing at by killing MeeGo. If of course that’s what they’re doing (speculation of the N9 being a one off.
Thats you everyone is different although I should point out that there are 200 iOS user out there using iPod touches, iPad’s and iPhone’s because of the ecosystem. People feel comfortable that they can add content when ever they want that the great benefit of a well executed ecosystem.
I completely agree on the point that Nokia doing everything was a differentiator, but they dug themselves into this hole and they need to get themselves out of it, and it has been proven in the last few years they need some help, I am not saying I hate MeeGo or anything.
I do believe that if they can transition smoothly 5 or 6 years from with windows phone and get relatively successful again then they can again start doing their own thing.
Again everyone is different, I have already said before we have one life to live who cares what people think about the N9 buy it an enjoy it the heck out of it, its your opinion, and its only your opinion that counts when it comes to your buying decision, no one is going to judge you on what phone you, I certainly wont, what Andre and me are trying to say are the probably reasons why Nokia jumped ship.
Totally agree. Apart from half a dozen apps or so I don’t care about all that nonsense. If it can download from Nokia music then that’s that taken care of to.
The whole apps thing just feels pointless now all the major gaps have been filled. It’s just another bubble.
you are quite right…it is just a curse of the times we live in
With people who have too much time, even at work and school to play with their phones. The phone has become an entertainment system for people who can’t find anything useful to do nowadays.
Sad truth, but the dumbasses screw our beloved devices all over, forcing manufacturers to make shitphones.
IMO Nokia already has decent ecosystem. They ship a lot of quality apps with the phone already so you won’t need to rely so much on the app store.
They have music store, maps and used to have a cloud service too (maybe its taken down now).
They have always supported a lot of business apps in their devices.
So these things are enough for a device like N9 which on its own is a great thing. Facebook, twitter, IM chat integrations comes with the phone already, maps etc.
Community will also help to add more content to the phone.
The N900 was a great geek device unfortunately 98% of Nokia’s user base are not geeks. In the end its the average consumer that dictates the fate of a phone
But the flagship dictates the number of the fans.
indeed
General customer always outweighs geeks, there is no denying that we are only a small fraction, we might be the loudest but will always remain the smallest unfortunately.
If the geeks really made a difference then I am sure Nokia would be at the top because the enthusiasm for Nokia is truly amazing and mind boggling. I might not agree with everyone, but it is truly amazing to speak to so many Nokia enthusiasts.
Lets hope Nokia turn out to be successful who knows MeeGo will become the next big thing that Elop keeps talking about.
That settings page is superb!
Scene, Flash, White Balance, Speed, Aspect Ratio, Resolution, Face Detection and Timer all configurable on the same page.
Oh how I wish my N8 was like this!
I hope Nokia allow us to flash the N8 with Meego
+1
I too want meego for n8
I would love that too.. But i think Nokia N8 cant run MeeGo :/
That’s it I’m buying it! I don’t care if it is the last Linux phone Nokia ever makes, I don’t care if there is no support for it in the future, I don’t care if it’s underpowered and I really don’t care if there are is no “ecosystem” for it!
I am going to buy it and still use it long after Nokia realises it made a mistake…
+1000
+9999
couldn’t agree more, same thoughts here
I think the same and I will bet my money on Nokia N9 and prove that to put Elop as a fireman on the “Burning platform” was a big mistake.
I’m not attracted to WP, but enormous by MeeGo. Android looks like something from ancient times in comparison.
if i can get my hands on the N950 it will be much better for me
i hope i can get it
Every single video\review of N9 is strengthening my desire to buy this phone..
Agreed. Here’s what I don’t get:
It looks like Elop is willing to crush this phone’s success to ensure WP7′s success. The evidence I see is:
- The release of this video. He smirks and says “this is a top secret video of WP7! Don’t tell anyone!” If he didn’t know that was going to be released, he is incompetent. He’s not incompetent, so it is planned.
- IMMEDIATELY after the launch, he made a statement saying “this awesome stuff will live on in a variety of ways” (to that effect), implying the end of Meego after this phone.
- Nokia’s website where you check availability dates does not have the USA, UK, or any of the other countries where WP7 is to be launched.
My reasoning is that he is concerned about splitting the Nokia user base into WP7 and non-WP7. He wants all Nokia users to jump into WP7 so that it will have a big user base and get a lot of application developers.
This is why it won’t work:
- Some percentage of Nokia customers will switch over to a WP7 device without problem. IF Nokia pushed Meego too, a percentage of those existing customers would switch to Meego instead of WP7. If Nokia doesn’t push Meego, a percentage of existing customers will switch to Android or WebOS. I’m one of these. Nokia is saying that the cost of supporting Meego is greater than the loss of some % of their user base combined with the risk associated with being entirely beholden to Elop’s old company.
- If informed Non-Nokia consumers wanted a WP7 device, they would have bought one. There is nothing special about a Nokia WP7 that will push it way ahead of the pack of other WP7 devices. People will look at the Nokia and the Samsung. The Nokia will have a premium look, and the Samsung will have a premium processor for super cheap. Most will take the super cheap phone with the higher end processor. (I would)
- Look at Sony Ericsson as a case study for the above. They have (generally) premium looking phones with good cameras running Android. Almost NOBODY CARES. They are doing quite poorly compared to competitors who put out cheaper phones with more advanced chipsets. The same thing will happen to Nokia. They will not be able to charge more as the software experience will be superior on the Samsung (due to its higher processor per cost).
i completely agree with you.
F**! me
That is one slick UI
I wonder if N9 OS support themes.
That would defeat the purpose of the concept Nokia are trying to portray here with MeeGo. The UI here has a lot inspiration from Windows Phone.
Well the OS should be configurable in many ways, just don’t know if they allow it
At least with N950 you should be able to do a lot of things i suppose.
Very impressive stuff.
There are things that need to be worked on like:
Cut Copy/Paste did not look good
Portrait video
Background audio play
etc…
But it definitely had potential, too bad Nokia killed it.
I liked the list scrolling with those big bars with letters showing up at 0:40. Nice!
Me too. It makes it easier to scroll down to find stuff. Much better than having to first touch something to bring up an alphabet list (e.g. old symbian contact search style/windows phone contact search style)
So… you give positive feedback – this device MUST be stunning!
Codpiece likes something AT LAST!
Hurrah!
“Cut Copy/Paste did not look good”
Read the GSM arena review. They say that this is the best implementation of copy paste that they have ever seen !
“Very impressive stuff.”
Can we print this out and frame it?
The biggest troll on this site just said something positive about Nokia. Wow, what happened?
From the preview:
“Messaging is also pretty cool with the copy/paste functionally having one of the greatest implementations we have seen. To mark text you just swipe your finger over it. The copy and cut shortcuts appear automatically and after you pick the one you need all you need to do is hold over the field where you need to paste the text and voila.”
As for music playback in the background, that isn’t a problem as can be seen in one of the other videos. Portrait video is something I’ve never seen in any phone, and I quite frankly can not imagine why anyone would want that. But considering that the phone runs Linux adding the functionality will be a breeze.
Nokia reps already said you could add audio plug-ins to the phone so that it will always be able to play any kind of media!
I also hope this is true for video codecs too.
Just like in N900 you could download a lot of extra codecs for the device. Like theora etc.
N9 supports FLAC out of the box
nice. That 64GB is really needed then.
There IS background audio play, you uninformed person!
WHY would ANYONE want portrait video? It would be like playing a 16:9 video on a 1,9″ sized small screen on the center of a full screened device.
You are trying too hard to find fault on this phone, yet you have found NONE and are bitching about things and problems that do not exist.
GSM Arena said copy and paste is the best implementation they’ve ever seen, and I’ve already told you about background audio play (IT IS POSSIBLE AND CURRENTLY WORKS) and portrait video (useless huge black bars on top and botton of the screen making the video space tiny. Useless feature if you ask me, nobody wants that!)
careful…. we might start thinking you are giving Nokia a complement
I’m so disappointed. No release in uk, france or germany? It seems they’re trying hard to kill that superb piece of software.
At least Nokia could’ve offer some kind of dual boot option for wp7/meego… their windows device even looks like (or IS?) the N9.
I’ve always supported Nokia, even bought that “software dinosaur” N8, will buy their phones in the future, but today i’m angry and sad cause I don’t understand the decisions they make.
I’ll ship it if thats what it takes.
So will I… but that way they won’t have economic success…
It doesn’t really matter much where in the EU it’s released. You’ll still be able to order one duty-free, and Nokia has to honor any warranty-claims.
Guys it can multitask up to 200 apps at a time
imagine symbian ………if as well XD
MeeGo UI is awesome. The only problem I see with MeeGo is that Nokia would have to invest a lot to create the proper ecosystem, and it would take some valuable time, where iOS and Android could take advantage (again).
With WP7, Microsoft is creating and setting up the ecosystem while Nokia creates the phone, plus the SDKs to port from Android and iOS, giving cash to Nokia to support the sales drop while the transition.
I don’t see why people complain about Elop’s decision. If you look at my statements above, it seems clear to me that Elop used 10% bussines knowledge and 90% common sense.
+10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
this is what Jay, Andre and me and the whole MNB have been saying all along bravo sir at least someone gets it.
this is a business people jobs are on the line Nokia just can’t go with MeeGo because a few geeks like it. They need something they can get behind and support 100%. MeeGo hasn’t got that. Maemo/MeeGo always was and will be an experiment, which is a shame because if they really released it when it was supposed then Nokia wouldn’t be in this situation.
You underestimate Nokia’s cash vault and size. They could have done it and succeed because people choose the slickest phone. MeeGo is the best.
Its speed thats killing Nokia not Nokia’s cash vault or size, Nokia can innovate but they are too slow plus they have never been that good at software. It took 3 years to get to where MeeGo is right know, and it still isn’t fully there yet. It has a lot of promise but it also has a lot questions to it in terms of real life usage.
Yes, it’s just not about cash. It’s about the biggest software company in the world doing most of the ecosystem work, while Nokia focus on what they have been better that others: awesome hardware.
Let me give an example with the almighty n95:
Does anyone EVER mention S60 3rd as one of its standouts?? No, but why? Because Symbian is not outstanding as a mobile OS (which doesn’t mean it’s bad!!). Everyone talks about its excellent hardware and how Nokia f*cked up with n96 and n97 hardware (but the same OS with n96).
So my point is:
Two of the greatest companies in the world focusing in what they’re best at, to build one product.
It makes sense to me
+1
N95 was awesome in terms of both hardware *and software*.
Samsung made S60 phones that had more powerful hardware than the ones from Nokia. But they were less successful, because they lacked Nokia’s specific *software* applications and services, and had worse *software* upgrades after sale.
The same can be said for the “software ecosystem” applications that Nokia developed at the time: PC Suite was miles ahead of the equivalent solutions proposed by Nokia’s competitors (I tried Samsung PC Studio, Motorola Mobile Phone Tools, HTC sync).
To me, whenever Nokia wins, it’s because of the tight integration between the development of the hardware and the software. That’s what Apple does with the iPhone, and that’s what happened with the N9.
You’re tottally missing the point.
Symbian S60 3rd was not outstanding, it was n95′s hardware (camera one of it’s biggest advantages). So if there were other S60 phones that means that n95 was outstanding because its hardware.
The ecosystems back in 2007 were not even close to what they are now, and I don’t think that anyone would buy a phone for its PC syncing program (that would be a big LOL)
- Good internet connection for mobiles
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Youtube
- Good maps service
Those things were not so important in 2007, but now they are, and that’s what WP7 targets.
BTW, Android is a living proof that “tight development integration” isn’t completely necesarry when both parts are good enough (which IMHO they are).
“- Good internet connection for mobiles
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Youtube
- Good maps service”
Facebook and Twitter are integrated to N9 already in a superioir way imo. Maps are the best there is, youtube I bet theres a youtube app. N9 also has cat10 HSPA
Why does everyone have to give statements without support?
“Facebook and Twitter are integrated to N9 already in a superioir way imo”
You haven’t tried Mango’s facebook or twitter, but the reviews say they are awesome.
See? The decisions must have support, and just because we like one thing more than other that doesn’t mean it’s a good business decision.
Nokia IS BUSINESS. It’s not a company dedicated to spoil geek people (me included)
“Symbian S60 3rd was not outstanding, it was n95′s hardware (camera one of it’s biggest advantages). So if there were other S60 phones that means that n95 was outstanding because its hardware.”
No. As I said, non-Nokia S60 phones with *better* hardware failed because they lacked the plus which was Nokia’s N-series specific *software*.
“I don’t think that anyone would buy a phone for its PC syncing program (that would be a big LOL)”
Yeah, except that now they’re trying to sell us WP7 because of its Windows-tethering abilities. Which, as you’re saying yourself, nobody is interested in. On the contrary, people want to be *free* from the need to connect the phone to a PC, and currently WP7 goes in the opposite direction (see for example the need to use Zune to put music on your phone).
“- Good internet connection for mobiles
- Facebook
- Twitter
- Youtube
- Good maps service”
None of these are part of MS “ecosystem”. On the contrary, MS tried to replace many of these services with their own ones, always failing. I still remember when they tried to replace even the Internet with their own private “MS Network”. The rest is history.
By the way, if we’re looking for a good internet browser, WebKit is miles ahead of IE9. And Nokia already *owns* one of the best mapping service out there, so why should they look in WP7 for it? In fact, the opposite is happening.
It’s still nonsense. There’s no reason why they couldn’t have both.
N9 is the best out-of-box experience of all phones; maps with navigation, browser, social, camera, connectivity etc. are the best what is on any phone right now. You don’t have that on Android even if you hunt and pray for months.
MeeGo is about openness and open ecosystem where everyone can participate. You can easily integrate it with any cloud services. No one is restricting what you can do.
WP ecosystem is bullshit, it’s just talk. No-one uses Microsoft’s services now, why would it change. IE on phone is pathetic and ridiculous, what a piece of shit. WP doesn’t attract serious developers, they laugh at it.
We have already seen why devs are abandoning Android because of the fragmentation issues; no-one bothers to optimize and craft their apps like on the iPhone. Same will happen with WP.
The only working strategy is Apple’s: one device a year. That would work for Nokia too.
I agree with Nokia not needing so much phones, Apple has proven that, but I do not agree with the MeeGo thing.
And don’t get me wrong, the N9 is an astonishing device. My only reason for not buying it is that I can’t afford it right now. But, I don’t think that’s enough (don’t get mad,relax and let me explain
)
Some of the main reasons of iOS success:
- has a powerfull ecosystem
- has Apple software knowledge behind (Apple, the ones that introduced the computer mouse to the masses)
- has a very eye-candy intuitive UI.
MeeGo has the eye-candy intuitive UI but lacks the 2 other things. That’s how I understand Nokia’s decision to do not use it as its main smartphone OS.
Could Nokia create a MeeGo ecosystem?
Yes
Does Nokia have the time to build the ecosystem and not fall way behind other phone companies?
I really don’t think so. Nokia was so delayed with Symbian that now there’s no much time left to build up MeeGo. And Nokia’s financial reports support this answer.
Hope it’s clear
BTW: Jay, if you need another blogger you just tell me, lol
To me, the first iPhone was successful on the basis of the beautiful UI only. It wasn’t even a smartphone back then (remember SJ, “Safari is the iPhone’s SDK”?). At the time, Microsoft, RIM and Nokia were apparently unreachable giants, with huge developers support and decades of experience in developing mobile phones, internet tablets and personal organizers (to make an analogy with Apple and the mouse, Symbian was designed by the people who more or less invented the PDA).
After the iPhone kicked in, and it was a success (if local to the USA), I think few people felt the need for Android. Yet Google delivered a competitive product, and they were successful too.
In the end, when it comes to market success, the quality of the product is king. And it’s not that Nokia hasn’t got millions of customers around the world who would buy their products just because of the brand (well, perhaps they’re a little less now that some of them bought the N96 or the N97
).
Of course every investment is always a risk, but then that’s the definition of a business enterprise.
We disagree on several things, but I have to admit that I agree with you on this.
N9 is a superb quality smartphone, but shamefully it does not have Nokia’s full support, and what I try to explain is the reasons I think are behind this strategy.
If this phone had been ready on Q4 2010 I really think the strategy would have been different, but at this time the ship is in another direction…
IE on a phone is pathetic eh? Compared to the Symbian browsers it’s been a godsend but keep on ranting dude
Nokia – MS is all about OS & services => not ecosystem.
All integration of Nokia – MS OS partnership is a same thing if they choose google or any other OS.
Its not to make a new ecosystem.
New ecosystem was start to build feb 2010 when Nokia & Intel partnership begin to made MeeGo => OS for all. Freedom for all. Connecting all. and its need support.
So, talking about ecosystem in feb 2011 when Nokia – MS partnership is bullshit because Windows is nothing new.
MeeGo change ecosystem paradigm => connect to all.
MeeGo change the OS paradigm => open for all (not just google)
MeeGo is the whole idea.
Stop talking about ecosystem!!!
Spoiled geek facts.
Give some supported business point of view and I’ll believe you, hell! even support you!
Elder from mobile review said this is the last meego device from nokia as it was announced from Elop.
Is it really going to happen Jay.A company which is struggling so bad, does it really going to bury it just like that !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was really impressed when I saw Marko Ahtisaari presenting N9 live. But I am even more impressed each day when I find out something new about it. Gsmarena did great job presenting the UI.
I am going to by two of these beauties. One for me and another for the missus.
I really hope that Elop pull his head out of some bodys (míght even be one of his ex-coworker’s) ass and smell the rose(s). Nokia really has one now.
After this video sure it would be mine hurrah
Just WOW. Nokia you do more than amazing hardware.
The problem is , W7 is selling as an Eco System, whereas the N9 is basically a phone..Yes, but what phone.. what an impressive UI..
Forget the Eco.. i want the phone…!!!
A couple of improvements, and this would be huge success..Might even be anyway..
Im sold..
The idea is :
Belle was implementation from N9 UI for Symbian (not the swipe UX, but it will be nice if symbian got that).
And we know the N9 is done.
So, i think Belle is ready for Symbian.
The question,
why Nokia dont release it know?
There will be huge blow if Nokia announce Belle update together with N9 days ago.
Both will kill Nokia WP before its born.
Just like WP trying to kill Nokia MeeGo before its gone.
The question,
why Nokia dont announce N9 & Belle together?
This is not BS.
This is an idea.
And the MeeGo is the whole idea…