TamsS60 – the S60 Blog

Nokia Maps is a source of endless frustration: buy a 700€ N96, and it will not let you navigate out of the box. Users loath it, carrier reps are unable to explain it to customers, and store clerks tell your truly that it barely sells – but Nokia nevertheless remains committed to the product.

Their latest attempt is pictured below:

Even though Ovi Maps 3.0 adds a few features which are extremely useful for developers, the latter are nevertheless advised to stay far away from the product: many extremely popular handsets which sell loads of software are unsupported. For example, users of the E51, N93 and N73 handsets are left in the rain…these devices remain extremely popular and sell well. As for Samsung and LG boxen: don’t ask…

Let’s now assume that I switch LocaNote to this product rather than Google Maps. This will alienate all customers who use an Omnia HD – as most of these are bought unlocked by freaks, the financial impact there is more than one may think it is at first glance. No matter how much better Ovi Maps is: I am in the business to make money – and if I have to invest 10 extra hours to get loads of extra customers, you can guess what I will do.

Nokia is in the unique position of being able to earn money whenever their product gets used…and then throws this opportunity out the window. If Nokia wants to get developers off Google Maps, they need to offer their API for all popular devices – until this happens, Google Maps reigns supreme…

Nokia has just released two new firmware updates:

Nokia E51
The E51 definitely is on its way out, but Nokia still tries to improve it. As of now, no detailed change log is available – symbian-freak claims improvements to stability, WiFi and VoIP.

Nokia N96
Nokia’s N96 is also as good as dead. Nokia has nevertheless unveiled a final firmware update. It is said to improve a variety of unspecified things, but no definite information is available as of this writing!

Nokia’s Anssi Makela loves three things: low temperatures, beer and the Nokia N97’s keyboard layout (more on that soon). While his company can not change much about the first two, they just did a lot for #3.

Nokia has just released its first firmware update for the N97. Serie-N.it claims the following change log:

USB detection error fix:
-PC does not detect N97 or USB charging connection not detected.

Widget:
-Home screen online/offline widget crash fix
-Fix for “Alphabetical and Number input are mixed in facebook until end key is pressed.
-Widget UI improvement – New facebook widget fixes a problem of Home Screen background visible on soft-key area.
-Browser fixes to improve widgets stability.

MfE related fixes:
-Partial fix for Messaging/calendar entry lost.
-Mail for exchange calendar entry synchronization error fix.

UI transition error fixes (Portrait <-> landscape transition, there is a home screen corruption.):
-UI transition (Slowness and bad effects)
-Slow Touch UI response
-Picture of the device lock appears half of the screen when transitioning the UI sometimes
-Landscape: in some cases the soft buttons on touch (right hand) show the Home Screen in background (install maps.google.com)

Photos thumbnail performance and stability improvements:
-Device performance deteriorates when lots of content in the device – especially photos
-Partial fix no display backlight illumination when unlocking lock-key – CAP Genius reported already
-New version of Accueweather to improve the “Connection error” situation
-Device reset when browsing with high speed packet access (for Malaysia)
-“Browser soft key UI doesn’t work after putting Chinese character with qwerty keyboard”
-Java fixes (TCK, Pre-install app disappearing, *#7370#*)
-Operator fixes (CMCC, Hutchson and Telefonica, Vodafone)
-Ovi store client now embedded in the core image

As of now, no further information is available – stay tuned!

Nokia has just posted the following statement to its Twitter feed:

As of now, no further information is available – stay tuned!

Nokia’s 6790 Mako has been pictured quite a few times – unfortunately, no motion video was available so far.

This has now changed, with a tipster dubbed blipov posting a video showing the Mako (hje calls it Surge) in action. While there is not too much to see, one of his commentrs as struck my interest:

scheduled for mid-july… but that is subject to change

The full video is below:

Nokia has not been too much of an OLED pioneer – Sony started it off with its now famous VZ90 PDA, and Samsung then started to push the devices into the mass market. Nokia’s first attempt (the N85) was not too good – can the N86 stack up?

Our first handset is the Treo 680. Its (once great) LCD is now outclassed – the N86 dispatches it with ease:

HP’s ipaq rx4240 has one of the best LCD/TFT screens on the market. It generally ties with the N86, which sometimes manages to get in front. When it comes to black, the N86 (obviously) wins:

Nokia’s N96 also stacks up well, although the N86 manages to pummel it badly:

In the end, the OLED screen on the Nokia N86 has very decent color depth. Unfortunately, the device has two problems: first of all, common LCDs are now pretty darn good. Secondarily, Nokia’s default theme gives away a lot of the benefits…which makes the initial experience suboptimal…

Krusell is a huge Swedish manufacturer of protective cases. Their top list tends to be somehwhat representative for “average users” – and saw some severe changes this month.

RIM fell out, Palm didn’t get in (no wonder due to European focus)….and Sony Ericsson has gone amiss too:

1. (3) Nokia 6300
2. (-) Apple iPhone 3G
3. (-) HTC Touch Diamond 2
4. (2) Nokia 3109
5. (-) Nokia E51
6. (1) Nokia 5800
7. (5) Nokia E71
8. (6) HTC Touch HD
9. (-) HTC Magic
10. (-)HTC Touch Pro2

11. (4) Samsung SGH-i900/i910 Omnia

() = Last month’s position.

Last month Nokia took a Grand Slam by taking all Top 3 positions at Krusell’s best seller list for May. The list in June also gives an impression something is happening in the market. Nokia takes 5 out of 10 positions, HTC takes 4 and Apple one. Samsung, LG and Sony Ericsson are all out of the list.

To me it is surprising even the previous best seller Omnia had to leave the list this month, says Ulf Sandberg MD at Krusell. Yet another surprise is that everybody in the industry always talks about how short the lifecycles of mobile phones have become. This month’s No 1, Nokia 6300, was introduced in February 2007 in Krusell’s assortment and is now back on the No 1 position 28 months later, he ends.

People who own more than one handset can tell a tale of the charger eekers – every manufacturer has at least one (usually two or more) incompatible charger types.

This is not only annoying (extra weight), but also bad for the environment. As such things tend to attract EU regulators attention, manufacturers had to act – Yahoo Tech reports the following:

…

The agreement by Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other industry majors will mean phones compatible with standard charging devices are available in Europe from next year, said the EU executive, which has pushed for such a deal.

…

The Commission said the agreement would involve the creation of an EU norm, and that the new generation of mobile phones would use a standard micro-USB socket to ensure compatibility.

…

According to them, the situation will go even further: chargers and handsets will be unbundled one day (which would lead to even lower handset prices).

Even though I personally prefer MiniUSB as I feel it handles better, MicroUSB nevertheless seems to be a pretty robust solution. My Nokia XPressMusic 5800 is still alive and kicking, and Nokia’s large-scale roll-out has started with the Nokia N85 (review here)…

Nokia’s 6790 Mako has first been leaked in an AT&T roadmap – the image on the left is the first somewhat official image we see of the phone. it hits us via the Bluetooth SIG who describe the handset as follows:

The Nokia 6790 is messaging focused and optimized for landscape use to enhance the messaging and media experience. The optimized UI and multitasking ability of S60 combine to create a powerful device targeted for those that choose to browse, text, IM, or email rather than voice call.

As of now, no further information is available – visit the Bluetooth SIG in case you don’t trust us:
http://gadgetguide.bluetooth.com/gadgetGuide.cfm?lpid=8270

I have to say that it probably doesnt take an industry analyst to predict this – the UK branch of Hutchison 3G has just added the Nokia N97 to its web site:

Seeing that Three has traditionally endorsed Skype and seems to prefer users Skypeing rather than using voice calls to other networks, the carrier will likelz provide an excellent level of service to customers owning an N97. This post is written on a Hutchison 3G data connection – this should be endorsement enough…