All about Smartphones and Tablets...

[ryanrich]

So what client do you use for twitter?

The official Twitter for iPhone app. It was previously called Tweetie, and was so good Twitter just bought it...

[KillerByte]

I am dying to play with the HTC Mozart that is on its way to me. Windows Phone 7 here I come...

[rustypup]

yet another device i'd sooner throw out the window than set up......

honestly, you'd think they were designing these things for mcdonalds employees and 5yr olds... :/

thanks, apple fanbois... this is entirely your doing...

[ADT]

yet another device i'd sooner throw out the window than set up......

honestly, you'd think they were designing these things for mcdonalds employees and 5yr olds... :/

thanks, apple fanbois... this is entirely your doing...

What a Hater

[Stuart]

A friend got this little Samsung gem to play with for two weeks and review. Played with it a little over the weekend and I must admit I was quite impressed. It's obviously a HUGE step up from WM6.

[rustypup]

A friend got <this>....

Omnia i8910

anyone responding positively to this should undergo an intervention... involving rabid chipmunks and electro shock therapy...

[THE_STIG]

Was it that bad rusty

[Stuart]

We all knew it was coming, but it is now official: ComScore: Android jumps ahead of iOS in total US smartphone subscribers

[DAE_JA_VOO]

That was inevitable...

[ryanrich]

Yup, considering there are tons of different Android devices on all of the US carriers. Things might change again a bit if Tuesday's Verizon announcement is indeed a CDMA iPhone.

[DAE_JA_VOO]

Even then, iOS doesn't stand a chance against Android, simply because iOS is on ONE phone, and Android is on every phone NOT running iOS, except for BB, but nobody cares about BB anyway

[ryanrich]

Indeed. It's estimated that the Verizon iPhone will add about 12 million new iPhone users though, so still quite an increase. BB market share is dropping like crazy as more and more people come to the realisation that there are much better devices out there. Windows Phone 7, hmmm, still not sure on that one, but sales aren't spectacular so far...

[ryanrich]

About time...

Nokia Finally Faces the Hard Truth

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop is pissed the Finnish cellphone maker relinquished their market dominance to Apple and Google. Real pissed. Fearing the company has reached a point of no return, Elop issued a no-holds-barred 1,300-word memo to employees, and seems primed to make some bold moves in the next week to help Nokia regain some of its former glory.

Bluntly stating that they've failed to compete with any of the major smartphone players, Elop, a former Microsoft executive, minced no words in the memo, which included the following bit:

"The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable."

Elop not only called out Nokia's lack of innovation in recent years, he even suggested that latching onto another smartphone platform was a possibility. Doom and gloom as this scenario may seem, it's actually a good thing for Nokia. We've been saying for a long time now that Nokia was traveling down a path of suck when it comes to their software. And finally, they realize change is necessary...radical change.

Elop compared Nokia's situation to a man on a burning oil rig who jumped from the rig's platform into freezing waters to save himself. He said Nokia is on a burning platform (which they poured gasoline all over) and it's time for them to jump.

Praising Apple's commitment to user experience, and Android's ability to attract the masses through innovation, Elop evaluated the current state of Nokia as well. While indicating that the MeeGo platform is promising, he worried MeeGo would be obsolete by the time a device hit the market, and conceded that Symbian's time has come and gone. Ultimately, he says a single product alone can't save Nokia, and that they need a unified ecosystem across all devices, whether it's one they create, or one they adopt.

While Nokia has tried to woo developers with Symbian's openness, the truth is that they've had an ambivalent attitude towards their smartphone OSes, and it shows. In fact, the main problem with Nokia smartphones is not the hardware. It's the software. The N8 and N97 phones were both well-constructed disasters, even by Nokia's standards.

When using their smartphones, rarely do the hardware and software feel like they're working together to deliver a quality user experience. It seems like if the internal hardware is up to speed, the OS is a mess. And when Nokia introduces something innovative on the software side, the phone lacks the proper hardware to make proper use of that innovation.

In the past, it was easy for Nokia to fall back on profits from international dumbphone sales. After all, they had the best-selling phone in the world. But now that the dumbphone market is drying up and smartphones are increasingly viewed as just phones by the average consumer, Nokia no longer has that security blanket. And in that spirit, Elop attributed Nokia's decline on a lack of leadership, a lack of internal collaboration and, most importantly, a lack of innovation.

Ah, innovation. Once upon a time, Nokia used to innovate. What Apple did for smartphones in 2007 with the iPhone, Nokia did for dumbphones in 1996 with the introduction of the 2160, which was lightyears ahead of most other phones. Even in the '00s they had some imaginative products; for example, the 6800, which featured one of the first foldout QWERTY keyboards on a phone, or even the N95, which made tech geeks swoon prior to the iPhone's release. But when the industry focus shifted to software, Nokia fell behind, because their strength had always been hardware.

Nokia says they'll start talking about the future on Friday. But where should they go from here? The possibility of Nokia functioning strictly as a hardware company sounds amazing. They make AWESOME hardware. They always pack great cameras in their phones. The build quality is always top notch. And when was the last time Nokia suffered anything resembling an Antennagate scandal? The only thing missing from their devices is a good mobile OS. If they adopt the Android platform (which would force them to conform to a set of required specifications) and put all their effort into hardware R&D, Nokia could really churn out some quality phones and tablets. Maybe then, they could become relevant in the tech world once again.

Source

[Prime]

Indeed. It's estimated that the Verizon iPhone will add about 12 million new iPhone users though, so still quite an increase. BB market share is dropping like crazy as more and more people come to the realisation that there are much better devices out there. Windows Phone 7, hmmm, still not sure on that one, but sales aren't spectacular so far...

I disagree. Have you seen the number of young people buying BB? BBM and "free" facebook.

[DAE_JA_VOO]

It's a fad. That'll all fade out soon. If you've used an Android or iOS phone a lot, using a BB feels like it should actually be some kind of joke. Sure, the BB phones have some great functionality, but in the grand scheme of things, BB's got nothing on the iOS and Android platforms.

[Prime]

It's a fad. That'll all fade out soon. If you've used an Android or iOS phone a lot, using a BB feels like it should actually be some kind of joke. Sure, the BB phones have some great functionality, but in the grand scheme of things, BB's got nothing on the iOS and Android platforms.

I'd still go for a hardware keyboard. I could type insanely fast on my old phone, I find the touch screen chokes on this phone. That said, for the browsing and other applications I run, the touchscreen wins hands down.

I met someone who has an iphone 3GS and a blackberry the other day.
He uses the black berry for texting and the Iphone for music and other things.

[Monty]

Indeed. It's estimated that the Verizon iPhone will add about 12 million new iPhone users though, so still quite an increase. BB market share is dropping like crazy as more and more people come to the realisation that there are much better devices out there. Windows Phone 7, hmmm, still not sure on that one, but sales aren't spectacular so far...

I disagree. Have you seen the number of young people buying BB? BBM and "free" facebook.

BB is big here, but not so much in the States. And the addition of WhatsApp to the Android and iPhone Store will draw the "Free SMS" crowd, as it does the exact same thing as BBM, but across platforms.


EDIT: Regarding typing, the Blackberry keys are way too small! I have huge problems with typing on BB keyboards, My fingers cover and press four keys simultaneously with ease

[ryanrich]

Yeah I've tried typing fast on the BB physical keyboards and I can type way faster on my iPhone, but I've had iPhones since the original so I'm probably just really used to the virtual keyboard.

[ryanrich]

I think going with WP7 will be a gamble for them. On one hand Android seems the obvious choice because of market dominance, but on the other, a lot of Nokia users are business people, and the Microsoft tie-ins might be a pulling factor. Time will tell for old Nokia. I'm looking forward to the announcement tomorrow...

Bloomberg: Nokia definitely in talks with Microsoft, partnership likely

Nokia will jump from the burning platform this Friday, but whither will it dive? Towards Microsoft and Windows Phone 7, as continually rumored, or towards Google and Android? Two turkeys told us the latter isn't likely, and Bloomberg's anonymous sources seem to agree, saying that Nokia is indeed in the final stages of talks with Microsoft, and is "close to announcing a software partnership." These spooks also say that Google was also in the running, but is no longer favored for the job, and as such we're very likely to see Windows Phone 7 running on Nokia devices soon.

Source

[Anakha56]

To update this. Nokia has partnered with Microsoft.

http://www.bgr.com/2011/02/11/official- ... ive-video/

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official. In a press release today, Microsoft and Nokia announced “plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.” This partnership will see Nokia, the world’s largest phone manufacturer, adopt Windows Phone as its “principle smartphone strategy” and the two companies will collaborate on marketing, search, maps, and development.
“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” said Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”
This certainly does bolster the global position of Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. The two companies are hosting a live press conference at 5AM ET. The live video feed and aforementioned press release are waiting for you after the break.

Nokia and Microsoft Announce Plans for a Broad Strategic Partnership to Build a New Global Mobile Ecosystem

Companies plan to combine assets and develop innovative mobile products on an unprecedented scale.

LONDON – Feb. 11, 2011 – Nokia and Microsoft today announced plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.
Nokia and Microsoft intend to jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity. As each company would focus on its core competencies, the partnership would create the opportunity for rapid time to market execution. Additionally, Nokia and Microsoft plan to work together to integrate key assets and create completely new service offerings, while extending established products and services to new markets.
• Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.
• Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone. Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.
• Nokia and Microsoft would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.
• Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.
• Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience
• Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements would make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.
• Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.
• Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.
“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”
“I am excited about this partnership with Nokia,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale.The partnership announced today provides incredible scale, vast expertise in hardware and software innovation and a proven ability to execute.

Please visit www.nokia.com/press for press materials.

And in other news...

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/11/noki ... -walk-out/

Nokia workers mourn death of Symbian, thousands walk out

We know how you feel about the apparent death of Symbian, and you had to figure that those most affected by it wouldn't be feeling too good either. Those people are, of course, the 1,500-odd workers at Nokia's Tampere office who have crafted the OS through the years, over a thousand of whom apparently walked away from their jobs today as a sort of non-violent protest -- or maybe just to get a preview of what their Friday afternoons will look like once Elop starts dropping the axe. It should be noted that they used their flexible work schedules to enable this, so this is one orderly bit of social dissonance that shouldn't result in any accelerations of whatever layoffs are to come.

So who thinks this is a good idea? Who thinks Nokia should have jumped Android instead? Or should Nokia have increased dev work on Meego/Symbian?

[Prime]

Wow, First they burnt bridges, then shot themselves in both feet?

they'd get far more reach with android. And they still haven't fixed the underlying problem of customer service.

[Synthesis]

I've been using my Nokia C7 for about a month now. It's all I want and need. I am impressed. I opted to go for Symbian, for reliability.
It's got live social apps, emails etc etc. It's purely for business and does it's job. The biggest points to me taking it was it's battery life and wireless. I was worried about getting a smart phone you need to charge every night. This one doesn't dissapoint.

Another nice thing I use daily is it's built in FM transmitter. No more need for flash drives or 12V MP3 players.

[shiv]

I was going to get the Nokia N8, now I am not so sure anymore, given the recent developments.
I am considering the HTC Desire HD, Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, or (cough) iPhone 4.
I just don't know!!!

[Monty]

Leave Nokia to Rot in a corner. Go iPhone 4.

[ryanrich]

I wouldn't want a Symbian phone now even if it was free.

What network are you on? If you're on Vodacom I'd wait for the Nexus S as it is coming to SA on Vodacom. If you're on MTN I'd go iPhone 4, because Vodacom still has no stock for months now. Heaven alone knows why they even list the iPhone on their list of phones...