So with MWC just around the corner (Feb 27th) rumors have started to surface about what Nokia might unveil there, according to a source at forbes Nokias presence at MWC will be in the shape of:

run an unusual software feature normally found only on high-end smartphones.

Way to leave our minds roam freely in the cursed Rumor/dream land, well we’ll try our best, as far as I know there isn’t a specific software feature that lays the claim to “high-end smartphones” of course you have Voice Command/ Siri but that is present on all ranges of smartphones and even some dumb-phones. Of course just to add to the agonizing speculation we have no idea which OS this ‘special software feature’ is destined for! Could it be a new Feature phone (S40?) or maybe a low end S^3 device? possibly even a low end WP considering how all the Tango rumors have lead us to believe that Tango will bring increased support for cheaper lower range phones (smaller screens, no camera required….).

Personally I think it’s either going to be a dedicated Voice control system that can take apple head on (except for the fact that it wont set you back 600 dollars- come to think of it that would be a killer idea) or maybe some sort of swipe Ui on Symbian 3 devices? (now that Belles rolled out they can work on making it more amazing rather than having a million bugs to fix). Or possibly a extremely advanced gesture controlled screen that could be fully functional without the need for any buttons at all (extending on the N9s swipe interface)??

What do you think?

VIA

-After All this time? ….. “Always.”

It’s been over a year since the N8 was released, and yet according to techradar it’s still the king of cameraphones. The people at Techradar pitted the N8 against the Samsung Galaxy 2, the iPhone4S, HTC  Evo 3D, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc and the Motorola XT720; in a series of complicated and thorough tests of each phone. The phones tested were graded by their overall usability in every day life, the ease of using the camera and lowlight conditions.

Out of the five phones that where tested only the N8 and the Motorola had Xenon flash, and the N8 alone had more than 8MP; but also had the lowest pixel density on it’s screen; the N8 also had the largest amount of camera settings and options while the 4S and Xperia lacked a manual ISO change even.

The camera-phones were tested in a variety of settings under different conditions including a “Color Accuracy test” where they shot a mulit-colored chart and saw the best color differentiation and preservation, as well as a “Lab test” where they captured an image of a detailed graph and saw which phone captured the largest amount of detail at 100% crop.

In both the Color Accuracy test and the Lab Chart test the N8-00  came in first place (With the 4S coming in last in the color accuracy, and being disqualified from the Lab test due to lack of manual settings).

Our resolution tests reveal that the Nokia N8 records the most detail, achieving a resolution score of 2,200 line widths per picture height (LH/PH) at its lowest sensitivity.

Our color accuracy test reveals that the Nokia N8 performs the best, with a score of 102.5%

Our resolution tests reveal that the Nokia N8 records the most detail, achieving a resolution score of 2,200 line widths per picture height (LH/PH) at its lowest sensitivity. This is on a par with some top-end compact cameras.

Overall performance came down between the 4S and the N8 with a choice between detail or Natural colors:

In terms of all round image quality the battle is really between the iPhone 4S and the N8. The N8 is capable of capturing the most detail, but the iPhone 4S produces the most natural looking images – although the colour can vary a little from shot to shot. The Apple iPhone also has the benefit of being incredibly easy to use and has a startlingly fast shutter speed.

Final Verdict:

The winner of this test is the Nokia N8 – but only in terms of providing the best pictures quality in the widest range of areas. If you’re looking for the phone on the market that will offer you the best pictures in a wide variety of scenarios, we’d suggest you plump for this phone

The 4S came in as a runner-up, or basically for people who want a camera that’s always set on auto without the need for manual tinkering.

The winner of this test is the Nokia N8 – but only in terms of providing the best pictures quality in the widest range of areas. If you’re looking for the phone on the market that will offer you the best pictures in a wide variety of scenarios, we’d suggest you plump for this phone

Source Tech Radar (check it out really…)

Think your Newyears was amazing? Did you celebrate new years 7 different times in 7 time zone in one night? NO? well here’s a chance to redeem yourself! The Chinese New Years kicks in on Jan 23rd, and the thoughtful people at Vertu know that one must embrace the spirit of the dragon (It is the year of the dragon after all), hence the launch of three new devices; now of course these aren’t any plain old devices you can choose from three different combinations: stainless steel and emerald, black stainless steel and ruby or yellow gold and diamond models. (I guess this is what Billionaires do rather than buying different colored battery doors for their Lumia 710s).

Of course the phone is more about looks than power which means it could have a VGA camera and run S40 and it wouldn’t make a difference (seriously though it’s probably running S60 or S^1 as is the tradition).

Each phone will only cost about $26,800 so if you really want to prove you got money why not get all three? And to sweeten the deal Vertu will throw in a free one year concierge service a leather case and charging cradle, along with certification for the precious stones.

I wonder if Nokia are offering trial devices?

Source: Cnet;  thank to prashant for the tip!

Of all the Nokia phones I’ve owned the sturdy 2100 is the clear winner, that thing was a beast; not only was it impossible to break but one night I forgot it outside on the balcony in the pouring rain and all the buttons stopped working (of course I was too afraid to tell my dad), so I simply popped off the covers and put it on top of  the radiator over night… Next day it was as good as new.

Now of course as technology has advanced screens have grown in size, phones have become slimmer and a million new pieces of gadgetry have been crammed in… All the more things to go wrong. What truly surprises me is that not a lot does go wrong when it comes to modern Nokias, sure the body work gets messed up (will get to that later) but the main components of the phone seem to keep on truckin’.

I’m the last person in the world to whom the words ‘gentle’ or ‘careful’ can be applied, especially when it comes to emptying my pockets after a 6 hour lab, I’ve literally thrown my phones across the room; now alot of people do that but the difference is that with a Nokia you don’t run after it to make sure it’s alright, you either wait for it to bounce back to you or you pick it up in the morning on your way out. There is no need for excessive care that takes out the delights of what a phone should be, which in my opinion is ‘to make your life easier’; not to have you constantly worrying about what’s going to happen. With Nokias what’s going to happen to the phone in your pocket is an after-thought (if at all) rather than dictating your actions for fear of it’s safety.

The Body:

So we’ve established that dropping your phone probably won’t mess up your camera, or ruin your speaker; but what about the casing of modern Nokia phones? My past 3 Nokia phones have all faired nicely against the everyday test (which is basically living with me) but interestingly each one of them had it’s own critical design flaw. (starting in reverse order)

• N73- Amazing build overall (even-though it was just plastic) but the main problem was the joystick key in the middle, which would start to get screwy after a couple of months (not just in mine, more than 5 friends had the same problem).
• X5800- Sadly possibly one of the lesser quality Nokia phones as the plastic casing material felt ridiculously cheap, and  the Slider/Housing for the stylus was horrible; after just 3 days the stylus started falling out on its own. Plus the pins that kept the batter casing in place were also extremely flimsy.
• N8-00- (I don’t know why I bother with the ‘-00′ even though the N8 successor obviously isn’t going to be ‘-01′ ,but not the point right now) The casing on the N8 is a work of beauty, the Adonized Aluminum is truly a stroke of genius it absorbs more hits and damage than anything you could imagine, sadly the N8′s fatal flaw: the black plastic casing on the end-caps. I know the normal end-caps are there for increased reception-which is fine, sure they get a bit scratched but that’s only normal; however the black casing on both ends is just some REALLY thin and fragile, I mean this stuff just falls right off (I lost the part around the headphone jack when it fell from my pocket at the gym onto a carpeted floor- less than 2 feet! And I just noticed the part around the power button – FAIL). Also notice the hairline crack on the mini-HDMI port, if you head over to the Nokia forums you’ll see that loads of people (myself included) had that crack after just opening the port once. Another major problem I’m facing with the design of the N8 is the micro-USB port which doesn’t connect to my PC/Charger unless it’s set JUST right, meaning even the tiniest wiggle will cause it to disconnect; which of course makes it extremely difficult so synch or charge (not sure if this is only me or if it’s a common problem.)

Well that’s my take on Nokias build quality, let us know what you think about your recent Nokia devices, how do they stand everyday usage? do they have a “crucial Design Flaw”? What’s your all time ‘Best-Design Nokia”? (feel free to post links to photos of your phones, or even just tell us about a crazy Nokia survival story)

Side Note 1: I’m particularly interested in people with the E7, how’s that Hinge on the keyboard holding up?

Side Note 2: Regardless of all the N8s flaws I’m still hopelessly in love with it as a design (I think the camera bump on the back just gives it extra character)

Now it’s not really a secret that most US based tech sites have looked down upon Nokia for the past several years (Gizmodo refusing to review the N8, Engadget jumping at any chance to lash out against Nokia phones or the company), but as of now it seems that all of that is water under the bridge. Even-though there isn’t a single carrier-available ‘New Nokia’ in the US yet everyone seems to be fawning about it’s bold, sexy attitude and looks, it’s been given a complete revival after what most people assumed was the end.

Take a hop on over to any US tech site, you’d be hard pressed to find someone not applauding the new designs and strategies regarding the N9 and the Lumia 800; you can see that everything has changed, there’s no more intentional malice, no more digging deep for flaws in fact it would seem that they want to like the new devices rather than looking for a reason to hate them (and Nokia certainly hasn’t made it difficult for people to join the band-wagon).

Just by reading the gift guide itself you can notice a change in tone towards Nokia, no longer is being different a bad thing, it’s a pro when it comes to the N9 :

If you’re looking for something different — you know, that’s not Android or Samsung — have we got a choice for you. It’s the N9, and dare we say you’ll be the only one amongst your friends or family with a phone running MeeGo. The handset itself is one of the most lust-worthy slabs of engineering we’ve ever come across, which packs a beautiful display and excellent camera. We think you’ll be impressed with the battery life, too. What’s best, this unlocked phone features pentaband 3G support along with quadband GSM. MeeGo may be going the way of the dinosaur, but you can be sure the N9 will have your back.

Short version of the story is that the winds are changing, Nokia seems to have survived the long hurdle that of trying to make it’s way into the US market and more importantly into their Hearts. How deeply into their hearts remains to be seen once the Lumia 710 hit’s T-Mobile, although that’s small beans compared to what goes down after CES ’12, with the promise of a LTE WP coming to US shores and all this talk of of Champagne and 900s.

Nokia the time is now! The US market is ready for you waiting to celebrate- just bring the champagne (see what I did there?).

* Obviously the 800 isn’t available in the US yet, which is probably why it wasn’t on the list.

Howdy! Here’s something out of the depths of my heart… coming directly to your monitors (mobile screens?) – a retrospective featuring one of the very first Nseries crusaders.

(Full image size – 2.46 mb)

This is by no means a traditional review. If anything, take it as a positive fan -rant about Nokia N90. I’ve been piecing together this project at a casual pace, trying to see what works and what doesn’t… in my opinion.

And this is where you come in, dear readers. Sound off in the comments section your likes and dislikes – any sort of constructive feedback will be greatly appreciated, and will surely help me improve my future articles.

Since it’s impossible for me to predict on what resolution monitors you’ll be viewing this, you’ll have to set the zoom level manually. I’m using the ctrl+ mouse wheel in Firefox, but it should be pretty much the same with other web browsers out there. And, of course, here’s the link to the PDF version… Enjoy!

A friendly reminder: my first visual guide starring Nokia E7.

Bad experiences

I normally purchase my phones through carphone warehouse, but their customer service, for the 5 or more years I’ve been with them is appalling! One example is when I bought insurance with them for my N93 a while back and when that needed repair, I had to wait 4 months with endless phone calls only to still end up with another broken handset. The only positive that ever came out of that was that I had to come in several times to the store and the manager at the time was Paul Potts. Yup, THE Paul Potts, the winner of the first Britain’s Got Talent. Haha, how I wish I kept his notes and receipts – could have eBayed them as autographs!

Customer service calls

Today I made a few phone calls to different customer service departments, one to Nokia about the fact that the microphone on my N82 had stopped working again, and to logitech about my VX Revolution mouse. With Nokia, I got through pretty quickly today and within 5 minutes I was given the address of a Nokia Care Point 5 minutes away from me who will deal with the microphone.

This post is more about how fantastic the Logitech customer service was today.

I bought a VX revolution wireless laser mouse two years ago.

• I have no proof of purchase,
• I don’t have the box,
• I just have an excellent but slightly worn mouse.

The scroll wheel has become unresponsive and since I had no receipt for usual warranty claims I nearly bought a new one until I came across a forum post that as long as it’s within 3 years of purchase, they will send you a brand new one. For free!

How utterly fantastic is that? You don’t have to send anything away. Apparently all I need is to upload three pictures, with reference numbers and the serial number of the mouse and they send a new one to me. What’s really interesting is that the third picture you take is of a destroyed mouse! That’s right, they want you to smash it with a hammer or cut it with a saw. I thought it was a joke but apparently that’s standard procedure.

How awesome is that? You even get to have a bit of fun smashing up your mouse! I’m not going to do this until after my exams – I kind of need to have a mouse at all times for research/revision/coursework. But other than that, this is excellent customer service. No loops to jump through, so mailing products back out of my pocket, and most importantly, no need for a receipt!

Imagine if all manufacturers would have the same policy? Knowing that a few years down the line of purchasing their product, that company is not going to screw you over and ignore your pleas for help once you’ve you’ve parted with your hard earned cash.

Apple have recently announced something similar for the iPhone, whereby should you break your phone due to water damage, for $199, they replace your iPhone. Yes, there’s $199 out of your pocket, but considering that most of the time, water damage is the user’s fault, that’s a really good deal. Nokia don’t do something like this yet, but they do cover a lot within their warranty. They’re pretty good too, in my experience. Fingers crossed, it’ll continue being that way when it comes to fixing the microphone.

Of course, my two problems today with my mouse and N82 could have been solved if the wheel wasn’t so flimsy nor if the N82 didn’t have a recurrent microphone problem. Maybe poor build quality aside on those aspects,  it’s nice to know how relatively easy it is to get it sorted.

- JUSTAMP