TamsS60 – the Symbian Blog

I first saw Brian Fling’s book on Mobile Design and Development on a local connection. Mark A. M. Kramer, an Austrian maven of the mobile computer scene read and praised it – can the tome stack up in the largely empty area of mobile user interface design books?

Brian starts out by looking at the history of mobile and the mobile landscape as it is today. Long-term followers will not find much new stuff here, but it nevertheless makes for an interesting read.

He then moves on to “mobile strategy”. Topics include questions like “What is special about mobile”, the influence of “context” also is explained in some detail. Finally, various options for creating a mobile app are explained – some of them are somewhat obscure and definitely aren’t something you deal with every day.

The next part analyzes the design process for mobile applications. These chapters are what make the book really interesting – you are introduced to design, prototyping and user testing methods for touchscreen and non-touchscreen applications.

The second half of the book looks at the design and creation of mobile web sites: frameworks, compatibility et al get covered in extreme detail. Native application developers are largely left twiddling their thumbs…

As usual for O’Reilly, the book is well-written and readable even for non-native English speakers. Code examples are provided in various web languages; an ample amount of images is included for clarification where beneficial.

In the end, Mobile Design and Development is a great book if you want to create a mobile web app. Creators of native applications can’t use half of the book: if you are interested in the mobile design process, it is a good if somewhat paper-heavy tutorial. Web heads, on the other hand, should buy it straight away…the 23$ shouldn’t hurt…

The folks at Nokia’s once built the greatest camera phones on the market. The quality achieved by the N95-8 still is unreached – unfortunately, devices like the N96 started a downward trend. The E72 has a 5MP camera – can it stack up?

Our first test is an outdoor shot – the E72’s picture is definitely better than the one produced by the XM5800:

Next up was a series of outdoor macro shots. The E72 had issues focusing – but also managed a decent macro shot. The XM5800 was better here, though:

Indoor test shots turn out a lot better on the E72, whose picture is on the left as always:

Finally, a little ISO tree. Noise is definitely managed better on the E72:

In the end, the Nokia E72’s camera is surprisingly good for a business device. No issues here…

Our review of the Nokia E66 and E71 was performed in parallel – while the E66 had a stunning screen, the E71 turned out “weak” compared to even Palm’s now three-year-old Treo 680. Given that the E72 is an upgrade intended to “right the E71’s wrongs”, I was wondering whether the QVGA screen is now better.

As usual, our first victim is the aforementioned Treo – which has no chance against the E72:

HP’s baby iPaq manages a draw:

Finally, a look at the N96:

In the end, there’s little to say here – the screen of the Nokia E72 is on par with the competition. The times of dark, dim screens (E71) are over for good…

Size-wise, the Nokia E72 was not changed from the E71 – it has the same form factor. Its predecessor had some weaknesses (keyboard, screen) – can the E72 succeed where its predecessor failed?

From the front, detecting a difference between the E71 and the E72 is not easy – except for the “E72″ designation . The build quality is the same as on its excellent predecessor:

The keyboard is largely unchanged from the E71. All it got are a few new shortcut keys instead of the wider space bar found on the E71 – it still can’t be compared to the keyboards found on a trusty old Treo or BlackBerry:

The back is still made of a thin sheet of metal, which fits snugly:

Removing the back allows you to access the SIM tray and battery:

3.5″ headphones can be connected at the top of the handset. The power button can be found there, too:

The bottom contains a familiar sight: Nokia’s charger port. TZhis means that the E72 can not be charged visa MicroUSB – this makes tethering especially fun as you need two cables and two USB ports to keep the critter charged…

As usual, the MicroUSB and MicroSD slots are on the side:

And, also as usual, they are covered with a weird little lid. This time, it is of the rubber variety:

Finally, a look at the volume buttons:

Given that the Nokia E71 is highly successful, Nokia doesn’t need to change much to its “winning proportion”. The E72 thus is an E71 with an updated camera and screen – not more, not less. The strengths are the same, and weaknesses of the original handset (especially the cramped keyboard) have not been addressed in an effective fashion…

PackT can be considered the newest kid on the block of tech publishing – consider them the APress of “design-related technologies”. Their book on “User Programming for Busy Programmers” hit my desk. But can the 80-page booklet stack up?

William Rice starts out by looking at a few “common myths” of the trade. What is user training, what isn’t it? Who needs to be trained?

Afterward, the book takes a strictly wizard-like approach. A repeating template not dissimilar to the one found in use cases takes you step-to-step from nothing to running user demo, which can be deployed to third-party instructors.

Style-wise, PackT is different from other, more “established” publishers. Their visual presentation is more “to the bone”, and less playful – the whole book didn’t contain a single image. Nevertheless, it was well written and easy to understand.

In the end, I predict that PackT has a bright future ahead of it. This book fulfills its need – if you have just been enlisted to teach at an university or often write manuals and online help systems, you definitely can benefit from it. The price of 13$ for the paperback is ok…

WOMWorld just sent us a Nokia E72 for review – thanks to the Austrian customs service and their master locksmiths, their locked promotional box was already open. This means that I don’t have to participate in the “clue bullshit” – and can start reviewing immediately. The E71 was not too great a device, but turned out to be insanely popular…can the E72 right its wrongs?

First of all, a comparison shot against the now-classic Treo 680:

RIM’s BlackBerry 8310 is a bit wider:

Sony Ericsson’s XPERIA X1 is less wide, but thicker:

Next up: the XM5800. It is slimmer, but thicker:

Nokia’s N96 is similar, but also thicker:

Here’s HP’s infamous baby iPaq:

Finally, a shot next to the first-gen iPod touch. It manages to beat the Nokia E72 by a slim margin:

In the end, there’s little to say about the size of the E72. Its pretty small, and insanely slim. But can the keyboard stack up? Find out more in the next part of the review!

Nokia’s N95 8GB is widely considered one of the best handsets Nokia ever made. Its rock-solid build quality set a high standard for its successors – can my (probably hand-selected) N96 stack up?

At first glance, the N96 looks clean – the front is dominated by the large screen and the excellent five-way navigator. The box also has a set of media keys, but I never used these…

Sliding the bottom downwards reveals the surprisingly usable keyboard:

Another set of gaming/media keys can be reached by sliding the box the other way. These keys didn’t impress me too much…

The back of the handset is plain except for the camera and the stand:

Removing the back reveals the battery:

The SIM tray is an extremely weird construction:

A 3.5″ headphone jack, the keyboard lock button and the power button are located at the top:

The bottom contains the standard charger and MicroUSB ports:

An excellent camera button, the volume rockers and the stereo speakers make up the left side of the box:

The right one contains the MicroSD slot:

In the end, my N96 is not as bad as most reviewer’s statements made it look. The prototype I handled in Berlin was a lot worse. OK – the N95 was a bit more solid…but I definitely handled worse handsets in the past…

Nokia’s N96 was often ridiculed for its size – many considered the critter way too large. But is this really true?

Our first comparison candidate was Palm’s Treo 680. The Treo is a nice bit larger:

HP’s Data Messenger is wider, but slimmer:

The touchscreenless HP Voice Messenger is a lot slimmer:

Surprisingly, the extremely powerful XPERIA X1 beats the N96 by a wide margin:

Nokia’s XM5800 is longer, but thinner:

Traditional PDA’s tend to be a bit larger, and a lot wider:

Finally, here is a shot next to an iPod touch:

In the end, the N96’s size is completely average, albeit a bit fat. However, fatness has always been unproblematic compared to a large footprint – the device is neither large nor small – toting it around should be no issue…

Our review of the E75 is now coming to an end. The device has undergone our standard tests and has been returned – hit the links below in case you missed something:
Nokia E75 review – unboxing
Nokia E75 review – size
Nokia E75 review – physical
Nokia E75 review – screen
Nokia E75 review – camera
Nokia E75 review – software

So far, so good – but can the handset fulfill its intended function of messaging? Cutting a long story short: the horrible keyboard makes messaging extremely difficult. Typing even the shortest messages is a pain…which completely defeats the purpose of the box as far as I am concerned.

If you forget the horrible internal keyboard, you actually end up with a likeable phone. The camera is pretty good, and the software bundle is outstanding. Unfortunately, it is fatter than most multitap boxen…and offers very little extra benefits to justify the higher price.

For me, the E75 sucks. Hands off if you feel like a good QWERTY keyboard – no matter how cheap the offer is…

Nokia’s E75 is based on S60v3 FP2 – an operating system we have covered quite a few times in the past. Nevertheless, the boys with the N sometimes add interesting software…can our box stack up?

First of all, a look at the homescreen. It has not been changed from the E66/E71:

However, a mode switcher was added. It allows you to switch between business mode (shown above) and private mode with one click:

As usual, a full version of QuickOffice is around:

As is a printing utility:

However, the box also contains a real surprise – it has an N-Gage client:

Don’t ask me why, but the box also contained a few WWF background images:

In the end, the E75’s software bundle is more than generous. No complaints here; final verdict coming soon.

So far, device fakers have not discovered that Symbian can be had for free. Due to this, their devices run on a variety of different operating systems – here is what I saw on the fake Nokia N97 I handled in Tunisia.

First of all, a look at the home screen. This home screen was likely taken from an S60v3 handset – the v5 screen looks completely different:

Here are two shows showing various menus:

The calculator shows an iPhoneesque influence. There also is a “slide-to-unlock” bar, but I couldnt photograph it:

Dual-SIM is a standard on these handsets: it seems to be implemented very well:

Text entry works pretty weirdly:

A shot of the Calendar and the file manager:

Finally, a somewhat blurry shot of the camera application:

Yours truly is currently on a little vacation in Tunisia – and guess what I stumbled upon. A taxi driver wielded an obviously fake N97, and let me handle it for some time. Here are my first impressions of the hardware…a detailed look at the software will follow soon.

First of all, a shot of the box. The screen is flush, but seems to be resistive. The buttons are real, and are comfortable to handle (unlike the soft buttons on the real N97):

The back of the box contains the camera. I should probably write “camera” here, as there is no slider to protect it:

Surprise 101 – the critter has no keyboard:

However, it has a stylus:

Finally, a shot of the box in action – more on the software in the next part of the review:

Nokia’s E-Series devices traditionally had very poor cameras. The E75’s 3MP shooter is not something which turns heads nowadays…but are its images usable?

Outdoors, most shots turn out fine:

That is, unless you get some issues with lens flare or brightness:

At night, the device is a decent performer:

The LED flash is extremely weak:

Finally, a test of the (surprisingly good) macro abilities:

Even though the Nokia E75 is not intended as an entertainment/multimedia device, its 3MP camera is surprisingly good. From that point of view, I have no complaints – but is the software bundle large enough?

Nokia’s non-touchscreen devices have used QVGA screens for the last few years: while this is not ideal for users, it relieves developers of a large burden (multiple screen resolutions). It furthermore gives Nokia more bargaining power – but how does the E75 stack up?

Our first test partner is Palm’s Treo 680.

Next up is HP’s iPaq rx4240. The E75 manages to beat it by a slight margin in some tests:

Finally, a few shots next to the Nokia N96. Its results are completely different due to the different color temperature of its screen:

In the end, the Nokia E75 has a surprisingly good screen which remains readable outdoors. Nothing to bicker about here – can the software stack up though?

Nokia’s E75 intends to fill the void between business QWERTY phones and small multitap phones for leisure usage. Its physical form confirms these intentions…but can the hardware stack up?

The front of the device is dominated by the screen and the multitap keyboard.

Looking at the number keys from the side shows that they are well-engineered..using them is a pleasure. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about the fiveway…it is way to small:

Slide the handset open to get to the QWERTY keyboard:

Don’t ask me what Nokia was smoking when they designed this part of the device…the keys are completely flat. This makes them impossible to keep apart, and makes typing a major pain (shown next to XPERIA X1):

It is as if Nokia was trying to tell us something – the external keypad is well-lit, while the QWERTY keyboard is dark:

The back cover consists of Nokia’s usual, pretty slick brushed metal:

Removing the back cover is a comfortable process, and lets you interact with the 1000mAH battery and the SIM slot:

Nokia seems to be a huge fan of the 3.5 inch headphone jack which can be found on the top of the device…which means that you can use every headphone with the handset.

The charger port at the bottom is not as good a sight: it means that the E75 can not be charged with a single cable while it is tethered:

The left side of the handset is dedicated to the MicroUSB port and MicroSD slot – they are both hidden under covers:

The right side contains volume and camera buttons:

In the end, the E75 does not leave me satisfied. Even though build quality is great, the internal keyboard is horrible…which IMHO defeats the purpose of the device. Yes, you can type on it – but most other QWERTY devices handle better.

Users who can live with the keyboard will find little other reason to complain though – tune in soon for a look at the screen…