Video: PhoneArena and Nokia N9 hands on
Now it’s the turn of the folks from PhoneArena to check out the Nokia N9 (launched only last week, seems like I’ve been waiting forever already :p *want one now*). According to the N9, this was recorded on Tuesday.
- They’re really shy about showing facebook off.
- Love the use of subtle animation and motion to hide loading apps
- Demo guy seems to be having hard time to press buttons now and again (I don’t know if the N9 is loading and there is no animation to tell you or if the screen did not register a press for this handset)
- ‘no’ slowdowns in multitasking
- I like how we can slide both ways into one continuous panorama. Why WP has only left right panning I dunno. Part of Metro philosophy I guess, one that I don’t agree with and feels disjointed in comparison to rest of UI (that has continous pano)
- The quickbookmark that turns websites into app launcher icons is great. I live for these in Maemo 5 as they really did become my apps. Desktop facebook, desktop GMAIL, google docs on web, wordpress on web etc. I think it’s a great idea to turn them to feed them to the app grid because essentially quite a few Ovi Store downloadable apps do this. Like the crappy BBC app that is basically a link. I wonder if you can compose where the image of the icon is chosen (like with WP) for your bookmark icon.
- There’s a focus for one handed use (several sites are saying this has been something Nokia was recommending). That’s great considering that touch essentially makes people use two hands (and Nokia’s forte with non-touch was single handed phone control).
- With touch to focus, I’m not totally sue about having to choose the focus point and THEN press shutter. What about just tap where I want and then photo snaps? I guess for majority of compositions, the way Nokia’s done it is probably better.
- Map scrolling is possibly the only thing that has appeared laggy in demoes.
- Many apps locked to portrait (except browser and gallery). I guess with the focus for one hand use, it makes sense (and this was the UI shift that changed from two handed landscape N9(50)
In case you missed it, here are tons of Nokia N9 hands on we’ve collected so far.
- http://mynokiablog.com/2011/06/25/video-nokia-n9-hands-on-for-the-weekend-compilation-number-4-d/
- http://www.mynokiablog.com/2011/06/24/videos-nokia-n9-hands-on-batch-3/
- http://mynokiablog.com/2011/06/23/video-bunch-of-nokia-hands-on-wave-2/
- http://mynokiablog.com/2011/06/21/video-collection-every-single-nokia-n9-show-floor-hands-on/
Crickey, I can’t get enough of this thing. I love it, our readers love it, the blogosphere loves it, tech folks that don’t usually like Nokia love it, iPhone fans love it, I bet secretly inside Eldar loves it too :p.
Imagine this was ready last year.
via PhoneArena









We all already love it!
wish it was available earlier
move to Sweden, I preordered the Nokia N9 today
Where? Operator shop or free shop?
operator is a company that works with 3 but I get N9 unlocked
name of the company is Mobilizera
How did you do that? I couldn’t find any “order”-buttons on the site. Did you call one of the local stores? I’m from Norway, so it would be interesting to know if I could preorder too.
Mobilizera has a store in a shopping center in Stockholm, where I ordered it
Marcel are you from sweden?
No, I’m from Germany. However, it’s interesting in general that pre-orders are already possible, especially “safe” pre-orders, where availability and price is kind of guaranteed.
First time i saw the landscape keyboard!!! have a bad feeling about that, but now i see the light
what about the facebook app and all the rest of the apps available for MeeGo
I saw in one of the video that the fb app wasnt working too well. I think this is y they have avoided showcasing it. Its sad to say but i need a fb app for my phone.
They better fix it before its released
with a good browser there’s really no need for a facebook app
i really don’t enjoy apps that limit what FB has to offer .
There IS a need for working Facebook application.
All the integrated Facebook links and functions (notifications, contacts etc.) use the built-in Facebook application, so it’s paramount that it works flawlessly.
Nokia does not need another failure like Social in Symbian.
they need to rebuild it in Qt cause it’s really annoying cause 90% of us can’t even install the fucking thing
You have to reset the phone (Settings/Phone/Phone Management/Factory Settings/Delete data and restore) then install Qt from SDK and Social will work then. I had the same problem, after the reset, phone is working very well, just like clean windows reinstall. Just don’t forget to back-up everything.
Everytime i use social on my n8 i want to cry. This is y im not buying the n9 until i get a proper fb application. Also, i would love whatsapp bcuz no one uses sms anymore
http://kasvopus.substanceofcode.com/
i still want folders it makes this scrolling shit less annoying
Folders will come ..
As will many other features..They are already being worked on..Just a shame the N9 team didnt have the same time and resources as W7.. The things they could do..
+1
3 years is not long enough let alone 1.5 years
According to one of the team members, this version of the software was (re)started 9 months ago. Since then the project leader left (Jaaksi) and some of the senior engineers left. I kind of read between the lines that they left because Nokia did not embrace the project after Elop came… (not sure why Jaaksi left though)
I can be wrong of course.
So true. Waiting for Elop’s latest negative pr on meego.
that he can’t say shit about meego cause how good it as become …..it over shadowed Wp7 and it was just announced a week ago and WP7 is already deeper then it already was LOL……..i hope this wakes up all the other companies to start making a Meego Line and take out Microsoft out of the Industry so Nokia will be forced to use Meego again
Does anyone know if the numerous apps & the home-screens can be used in landscape mode ? Not just the VKB, but the entire app itself ? I’ve noticed that most of the hands-on videos that they’re locked to portrait mode. I know Nokia was trying to target the “head up, one handed use” experience, but i like having the option. Thoughts ??
Home screen only portrait at present , but apps and KB work landscape
it won’t be available by default but there is a ‘theme’ u can download and install which allows landscape home screens. One of the developers said this somewhere
that anna icons design can be made more attractive by applying 3D effect just like the icons you see in ovi suites
Did anyone recognize that it seems like the screen has the same “purple tint issue” like the N8? In the beginning of the first video look at the clock.
I hope it’s just because of the camera they used…
Looks like every AMOLED display manufactured this year has that infamous purple tint.
it’s samsung they fucked up again
all i need is physical keyboard.12mp from the N8 with LED flash and optical zoom and HDMI out with OTG and 4 inch and i’m SOLD 1000% and also a landscape view and Normal SIM
I will buy this since my N900 is dead after trying to fix the broken screen myself and I can’t be bothered sending it away to have it fixed. This should have been ready to ship this week IMO.
What happened to Elop promising to ship shortly after showing phones to the public?
Only applies to his beloved WP7 phones…
Either that or it will still ship very soon after “official release date”.
E.g. Elop comes out in 6wks and says:
Oh by the way, the n9′s available for purchase from your local retailer/carrier/or us now.
Hi guys
i just went back from watching Transformers n i noticed N9 has been shown up together with X7 in that sequel..super cool!!!
There are 2 things that conerns me with this phone..
1.The swype gesture – Where you would close/minimise an application to the background. Wouldn’t it be easily activated while panning around an application like the internet browser, maps or gallary? @ 2:12 while trying to press that conner button he accdiently activated the ‘swype’ gesture.
2. Facebook – I’m using the N8 right now and seriously the social app sucks big time. Its so bad that i have to resort to 3rd party apps like mobileways gravity just to get a descent facebooking experience. That’s why i’m really interested as in what facebook features are supported on Meego’s facebook app. Also who programs it? Facebook themselves or nokia?
There is an app written in QT called Kasvopus that seems to work rather well. Check it out. Someone above gave the link.
I share your concerns. All everyone seems to be talking about is how awesome the UI is. I want to know how well email, browsing and social networking perform before I’m sold. I hope a proper review (w/ shortcomings and all) surfaces soon. I bought into all the hype around Symbian^3 and found out NONE of the above perform very well. I don’t wnt to repeat that experience!
Seconded, all MeeGo currently offers is a different approach to UI/UX interaction.
While that is good, I want to see the core features that I use everyday. Until I see some more of that and in real life use I’m not sold on MeeGo yet.
There’s quite few vids around that go into quite a bit of detail in that regard now.
Those are vids just showing that they HAVE the feature. Not how well they work. When the N8 was released, there were dozens of these same type videos. I made the mistake in thinking that just because it had the capability, it would do them well. This is why I’m hesitant about getting the N9. I know it has these capabilities, but how well do they work?
wow this phone look amazing i want one now!
Ha ha you gave me a good laught with Eldar secretly loving the N9
No portrait music player? What about listenin/mountin in a car? Most mounts dont grip unless in landscape. This is really gonna suck. Hope winamp comes up with a music player for it. Love it on the android. Still dont like that there is no dedicated camera key. Best part of Nokia cams.. I cant ever get a stable pic with soft keys
oops i meant only* portrait mueic player
FYI, you can hold the virtual shutter key for normal autofocus. It will snap the picture once you release it.
If you change your mind, just slide your finger off of it and it won’t take it.