The Nokia N8 is the best Nokia has to offer. A few years back thousands of people would take this to mean the best on the market. Things are not that simple today and Nokia has been learning it the hard way. But the company has been learning.

It’s been a long losing streak for Nokia in the game of touch phones. You can’t expect it to suddenly turn the game around and start beating the snot out of the competition. It makes much more sense to try and be better one step at a time. The best camera in business is one such step.

We’ve given up looking for the ultimate smartphone, haven’t we? The Nokia N8 most certainly isn’t in contention there. And Symbian ^3 is not the best touchscreen experience you can get – although what’s fair is fair – it’s an improvement over S60 5th. And the Ovi store isn’t the best app market, but the guys behind it try really hard.

Symbian sucks on touchscreen – yeah, but there are some nice multimedia features. The web browser is not that good – yeah, but you get USB-on-the-go. There are better screens out there – but no better cameras. Not necessarily in this order.

The Nokia N8 seems capable of sustaining balance. In one particular area, it’s the unquestioned winner. Elsewhere, it’s just fair – there are ups and downs all along its spec sheet. As always, it boils down to picking your priorities.

Now let’s take a look at the competition to put things in perspective.

The Samsung S8500 Wave wins a few points against the N8 on pricing and comes with a much better (though slightly smaller) display. The Bada OS offers better touch experience than Symbian^3. Again, it’s the camera that helps the N8 strike back and this time it even has the apps count in its favor. Not to mention that unlike Samsung’s Bada phone, the Symbian smartphone has a very decent and free SatNav solution in the face of Nokia maps.

Samsung S8500 Wave

The Motorola MILESTONE XT720 is the best full-touch cameraphone that the American company has to offer and the N8 won’t avoid comparisons to that one either. The Milestone matches the HDMI capabilities of the Nokia and offers a superior screen (though no AMOLED). Unfortunately, the MILESTONE XT720 is not as impressive as the N8 in terms of image and mostly video quality. Not to mention the rather limited system storage for installing third-party apps. This is a really serious drawback for any Android smartphone that doesn’t use the latest Android OS ver 2.2.

Motorola MILESTONE XT720

You might also want to consider the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 as a potential alternative to the Nokia N8. With a larger and higher res-screen it also packs a very decent camera (though no HD video, at least for now) so it’s a viable option if you’re shopping for a smart cameraphone. It’s still Android 1.6 though and the XPERIA X10 is more expensive and there’s no HDMI or DivX/Xvid support on that one either.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10

So with free lifetime navigation, some great multimedia features, impressive build quality and little (but important) perks like USB-on-the-go and HDMI, the Nokia N8 can stand its ground against the competition. It’s also only just about starting and Nokia has a reputation for delivering major software updates to its smartphones on a regular basis.

The combination of all the things above is a unique selling point on its own, but it’s the camera that puts the Nokia N8 in a class of its own and changes the nature of the competition altogether. The ultimate cameraphone will always be compared to the best in business.

The N8 puts the Nseries back to the top where it belongs. Nokia can be proud but they must know it’s just the beginning. Right now they have a winning cameraphone set in pole position. It will be a while before they have one phone to rule them all, if ever.

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Hello,

Why divide a platform in releases? That is exactly what Nokia was doing. They divided Symbian in versions, and generally, the release of a new version also meant the release of new hardware. This way of managing releases isn’t very good for users, since they need to buy a new device to get the new features in the new version. But, this old fashioned way of doing business is over! Nokia is now dropping Symbian^3, and Symbian^4. From now on, it is just Symbian. The way it will work is very similar to Android. Symbian will release updates that will bring features from Symbian^4, to devices initially shipped with Symbian^3. Just like a Nexus One getting Froyo 2.2 after being shipped with Eclair 2.1. Why is this relevant? Well, this means devices like the E7, N8 and C7 will be getting features planned for Symbian^4 if hardware permits. Of course there will be a point in which a determined device won’t support the new updates because lack of hardware.

The decision seems brilliant in our opinion. Now awesome hardware, like the N8 and E7, will keep being updated, receiving new features, and fixing annoyances. Now the N8 will receive a new web browser, and all the future native apps Nokia codes in Qt. There will be a point in which the N8 won’t look anything like the device it initially was. Every time an update is released, it will be like using a brand new phone.

In other news, the Symbian Foundation CEO, Lee Williams, resigned for “personal reasons.” Now the Symbian Foundation’s CFO will succeed him with immediate effect. We are a bit suspicious on William’s sudden leave. It happened right when the new Symbian news were announced, could everything be interconnected? We probably will never know…

So I finally got Swype on the Nokia N8, however, just as I was afraid, there is no portrait keyboard! That is classical Nokia, release something that works half-way well. But don’t get me wrong, Swype might come with portrait mode in the future, but we can’t tell for sure. The Swype I got is official, I downloaded it from the Ovi Store by tricking it to believe I was using a C7 – because Swype is available right now officially for the C7. So those who say I am criticizing something before it is available, just think of it like this: if you had a C7 and had “legitimately” downloaded Swype, you would get landscape mode only, yeah, frustrating. And who Swypes in landscape mode? It is the most inconvenient thing to do since you have to slide your thumb on a very wide surface, is just bad design and ergonomics.

Anyway, to get Swype on your Nokia N8, just follow these steps:

1. Go to http://store.ovi.com/content/58438/ and select your phone to be a Nokia C7. Then select “Send to a Friend” and send the link to yourself.

2. After you receive the SMS on your N8, open the link. You should now be in the Ovi Store, seeing the Swype app. Just download it and wait for it to be installed.

3. Make sure it finished installing, and restart the N8. Now go to “Apps” and you will find Swype right there.

4. I don’t remember well if you have to turn on Swype on the menu from the last step, but you can play with the settings. Anyway, you will know Swype is on when you rotate the phone to landscape and see the keyboard is now different. And like we told you already, no portrait Swype…

Hopefully Nokia will make Swype available for the N8, and with portrait mode too. We’ll keep you informed!

I have been waiting for the Nokia N8 for a very long time. Nokia made sure to take all the time they needed in order to ship a stable phone. And they did! The Nokia N8 is stable, and is fast, for the most part. Symbian^3 also solved many problems S^1 had, like double tapping and scrolling. However, I am not sure whether Symbian^3 could be considered a high-end smartphone OS. The direct competitors for S^3 right now are Android, iOS, and Windows Phone 7. All modern OSs that can get the job done in a beautiful way. Symbian^3′s problem is that it can get the job done, but not in an intuitive, or user-friendly way. Symbian^3 is lacking design, that aspect that has made Apple the greatest tech company in the world. Symbian^3 still has many annoyances, many things that must be changed. The Symbian^3 that currently runs on the N8 is far inferior to Android, for example. To demonstrate that, I have made a video comparing the N8, to my Galaxy S. I am in the process of establishing a standpoint on the N8, and S^3, so all comments, questions, and concerns are very welcomed.

The wait for the N8 has been ridiculous….really. While most major companies announce a product and put it in the market within months, Nokia has this horrible custom of letting fans wait for months, months, and months. To put it in perspective, the iPhone 4, announced this past June, was released that same month. The Blackberry Torch, announced this past August, was released too, the same month. Compare that to the N8, we know about the N8 officially since April, and it’s September and no news about it? Well, until now because we got some answers!

Today I got in contact with the folks over at Nokia USA, and got some interesting information on the status of the N8. First of, they said there is a very strong pre-order demand. This means, there’s actually a queue. If you were one of the very first people to pre-order the N8, you will get your N8 shipped tomorrow, September 30th. If you ordered after that first batch, you will get your N8 shipped anytime during October. That is all the info we got, but is pretty substantial. In our own personal opinion, we think that Nokia didn’t foresee the huge demand this phone would have in the US, so they might take some extra days to deliver those N8s. Keep us updated! Tell us below whether your N8 shipped, or not….

Angry Birds was first available for the Nokia N900, but later, as Nokia pushed Qt forward, Angry Birds was ported to Symbian^3. These are really great news for Nokia, not only because more Nokia users can now enjoy one of the best mobile games ever, but because Qt is really encouraging developers to create apps since they can serve a wide range of platforms with minor changes in code. Nice strategy Nokia!

Anyway, Angry Birds is now at the Ovi Store! There is a “Lite” version that will let you play the game on your N8, E7, C6, or C7 (if you are a lucky person with one of those) for free. Of course, you will get addicted to the game like everyone else and end up buying it. Here is the link to Angry Birds at the Ovi Store, make sure to check it out: Ovi Store

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Angry Birds was first available for the Nokia N900, but later, as Nokia pushed Qt forward, Angry Birds was ported to Symbian^3. These are really great news for Nokia, not only because more Nokia users can now enjoy one of the best mobile games ever, but because Qt is really encouraging developers to create apps since they can serve a wide range of platforms with minor changes in code. Nice strategy Nokia!

Anyway, Angry Birds is now at the Ovi Store! There is a “Lite” version that will let you play the game on your N8, E7, C6, or C7 (if you are a lucky person with one of those) for free. Of course, you will get addicted to the game like everyone else and end up buying it. Here is the link to Angry Birds at the Ovi Store, make sure to check it out: Ovi Store

With all the talking about the Nokia E7 and N8, the C7 hasn’t had an opportunity to shine. And with a valid reason, these handsets and their amazing specs can easily get all the attention, leaving the C7 looking as just “another” Symbian^3 smartphone.

It wasn’t until a meeting with C7 product manager that the C7 seemed like a brilliant device. First of all, the man behind the C7 is totally passionate about what he does. It was evident that he was trying to create something that users would enjoy using; he also was really thankful for all the direct talk that we did about the C7 while the meeting lasted.

The C7 was introduced, according to the product manager, as the phone for everyone. They made sure that “everything was there,” meaning that the C7 has all the features somebody would need. The product manager described the C7 as the phone that most people would agree, that “it has everything.” Of course it doesn’t, and this phone isn’t targeted at the high-end of the market. However, it is targeted at that key level in which people want a really nice phone, but don’t want to spend a considerable amount on it. The key, is that the C7 offers a lot for its value.

The C7 is indeed a perfect phone to cover this important level of the market. The C7 has very advanced features, like 3.5″ CBD AMOLED display, and 8 Megapixel Camera, and it does all this in a really compact and user friendly design. The C7 is made out of mostly metal, and glass; it feels solid, an has an excellent construction I must say. The C7 has a lot in common with the very successful E71. I almost see the C7 as the E71, minus the keyboard which was replaced by a touchscreen. This very slim and metallic design is a winner, Nokia has proved it before.

The C7 is similar to the Nokia N8, but of course, the camera was replaced, and the construction, although really nice, isn’t the aluminium that the N8 uses. The C7 is a really fast phone, you can see in the pic below how the UI was going so fast that the camera produced a blurry shot. The C7, in the short time we handled it, seemed like a practical device that most people would enjoy using. The screen is top-quality, the UI is fast and responsive, and it comes with social Ovi services that many people will surely use. There are also many apps available on the new version of the Ovi Store installed on the C7, which by the way, is responsive and enjoyable to browse. For example, according to a Nokia rep, Swype will be available to download from the Ovi Store.

So what is the Nokia C7? It is the phone you would recommend to everyone. You know, family, friends etc… who want a nice phone but don’t want to spend high-end prices. Its features, and design, make it an “universal” phone. Lets wait and see if the C7 takes the market as we believe it can.

Nokia World was the opportunity for Nokia to make a positive change. And they did.

Lets start with Nokia’s leadership. CEO Olli-Pekka is out, Stephen Elop is in. This change is a very significant one because Elop is a totally unexpected person to come in and take the leadership at Nokia. The fact that he is the first non-Finnish person to direct the company already assures that there will be change in Espoo. The North American mentality surely differs from what Nokia is used to. By talking with some Nokia employees at Nokia World, we discovered that they aren’t sure what they are expecting, and they are right: no one knows what Elop will change during his first months at Nokia. What we know about Elop is that he is a software guy, and is exactly what Nokia is needing. He highlighted the importance for “Developers, developers, developers” at the closing speech of Nokia World, which by the way was a fun and fresh speech to hear. Another important change among Nokia’s lines is the entrance of Peter Skillman as the head of MeeGo User Experience and Services. Skillman is a renowned designer, responsible for designing and creating WebOS.

With this leadership change we will see that Nokia will start doing things differently in the future.

Next, are devices announced. Nokia announced three new Symbian^3 devices at Nokia World, which proves that Nokia World was all about this platform. MeeGo, however, was named at the conference several times. When the press was entering the conference room for the keynote, the speaker announced that they had some cool things to reveal, and that they would let us know about MeeGo “later this year.” This, in other words, means there will be a MeeGo device announced anytime soon. But lets talk about Symbian^3. Devices built on this platform differ radically from previous Nokia handsets. To start, these new generation of devices are FAST. And we mean iPhone, Android fast. The menus and overall UI is like nothing you have seen before on a Nokia phone, it just works! Check out the image below, you can see that the UI was going so fast that my Nikon produced a blurry screen! The hardware is also an upgrade of anything we have seen before. The new Nokia devices are built with solid aluminium; the tradition that Nseries devices have a cheap build quality ended with the N8. This device doesn’t crack, or produce sounds when pressed. The phone is one solid unit. Nokia also put very welcomed features on new devices like penta-band 3G, AMOLED (CBD) displays, and finally, capacitive displays. We will see whether the N8 is a winner the next couple of months when the N8 ships worldwide.

Services and software is next. We have seen now how Nokia has organized its mess of developing software. A simple visit to Forum Nokia shows how everything has been redesigned and put in an easy way for developers to use. The fact that they no longer charge to sign apps published through the Store, and that developers can enjoy cross platform compatibility with Qt, is a huge step towards a rich selection of new apps. The proof are the apps that were developed during Nokia World in a period of 36 hours. The results looked professional and powerful at the same time. The app that won the contest is an app that uses biometrics to protect your phone, it lets you use your face to unlock your phone. We also saw new apps like Ovi Maps v3.06, and Foursquare which will be available shortly.

Nokia changed a lot of things during this Nokia World, but the interesting detail is that change is just starting. Nokia has a future in which Symbian^3, Symbian^4, Stephen Elop, and MeeGo will determine the position that Nokia will hold for the next couple of years.

The second day after revealing all the devices at Nokia World, Nokia unexpectedly introduced the Nokia C3 Touch and Type. Wait, C3? Yeah, this phone has the same name than the other C3, the one with a full QWERTY keyboard. This is very confusing, adding the suffix “Touch and Type” doesn’t do it.

The Nokia C3 Touch and Type is the second Touch and Type device from Nokia. And when it was introduced, Nokia said they had many more Touch and Type devices coming up. In fact, the C3 Touch and Type came during Mary McDowell’s keynote after something like “we have many Touch and Type devices, and oh! Here is one…” So expect more Touch and Type devices from Nokia.

The C3 is really solid. Unlike the X3, the C3 is all metal with some plastic details. The C3 has a 5 Megapixel Camera with two LED flashes, WI-FI b/g/n (impressive), and a full mobile web browser. The C3 is a really complete phone, it offers outstanding features, in a convenient form factor. We briefly tried the C3 and really liked it, the phone is fast, and the touchscreen is really responsive. What we liked about the C3 is that it aimed at the low-end of the market, yet it has a lot of smartphone-like features. The users are getting a lot for their money with this device.  Check out the short demo of the C3 Touch and Type at Nokia World:

“Three letters, CBD, CBD” Said Anssi Vanjoki when Nokia introduced the technology at Nokia World 2010. He explained that CBD, which stands for Clear Black Display, is “a premium touchscreen that provides higher contrast viewing experience than anything before.”

But lets remember that Nokia’s phones with CBD are also AMOLED, so technically, the E7 has a CBD AMOLED display. It is really nice to see that Nokia is up there competing with Samsung in display technology, but what is the difference between Samsung’s SuperAMOLED and Nokia’s CBD AMOLED displays? Here is the E7 vs. the Galaxy S. They have both a 4″ display, but they have different technologies over the standard AMOLED.

The E7 product manager explained that CBD is a filter that blocks light from entering the screen, so annoying reflections won’t show in the screen hindering the user’s view. The result? According to Nokia, you should be able to see your CDB AMOLED display comfortably outdoors.

So which one is better? I believe that this is a very subjective opinion. Some people will think that SuperAMOLED produces better colors, and others will think the E7′s CBD AMOLED is superior. The truth is that the Galaxy S display might be better than the E7′s, but that will be because of the resolution. The Galaxy S has a 480 x 800 display, while the E7 has the typical 360 x 640 nHD display. Which screen do you think is better?

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“Three letters, CBD, CBD” Said Anssi Vanjoki when Nokia introduced the technology at Nokia World 2010. He explained that CBD, which stands for Clear Black Display, is “a premium touchscreen that provides higher contrast viewing experience than anything before.”

But lets remember that Nokia’s phones with CBD are also AMOLED, so technically, the E7 has a CBD AMOLED display. It is really nice to see that Nokia is up there competing with Samsung in display technology, but what is the difference between Samsung’s SuperAMOLED and Nokia’s CBD AMOLED displays? Here is the E7 vs. the Galaxy S. They have both a 4″ display, but they have different technologies over the standard AMOLED.

The E7 product manager explained that CBD is a filter that blocks light from entering the screen, so annoying reflections won’t show in the screen hindering the user’s view. The result? According to Nokia, you should be able to see your CDB AMOLED display comfortably outdoors.

So which one is better? I believe that this is a very subjective opinion. Some people will think that SuperAMOLED produces better colors, and others will think the E7′s CBD AMOLED is superior. The truth is that the Galaxy S display might be better than the E7′s, but that will be because of the resolution. The Galaxy S has a 480 x 800 display, while the E7 has the typical 360 x 640 nHD display. Which screen do you think is better?

Since the day Nokia announced the X3 Touch and Type I have been looking forward to get my hands on it. The concept of what Nokia calls a “Touch and Type” device is brilliant in theory, but practice is often different. The small screen of the X3 is what worried me the most; the UI was my second concern.

The first time I held the X3 Touch and Type I couldn’t recognize it as anything I had seen before. The arranging of the buttons is a bit odd and adds a special look to it, a cool look I have to say. The second thing that came to my mind is how light, slim, and well built this device is. The X3 has overall excellent hardware. The touchscreen is a resistive one, yet it behaves like a capacitive. The X3 is snappy and responsive to the touch.

The next thing is the usability. So here is how it works, you browse through the UI with your finger, any time you need to type, you use the physical T9. Nokia has tweaked the UI on the X3 so elements on the screen are touchscreen friendly, and they did a really good job. You can easily navigate and use the X3 without needing a stylus, which by the way, doesn’t even come with the phone.

The UI is fast and well designed. There are shortcut buttons, and they aren’t just launchers. You can select the music button and a little window will open on top of anything you are doing, it will let you go forward/backwards and play/stop really quick without even changing the screen.

The X3 seems like an excellent device. The features on this phone, and its concept design, make it a really appealing handset for everyone. The only suggestion I would have to do, is adding a QWERTY keyboard. Or are they reserving that for future Eseries devices? You know, the E72′s successor.

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While having an interesting talk with the product managers of the Nokia E7 at Nokia World, Devin from The Nokia Guide had the brilliant idea of checking the Flash version capable of running on the E7. With Android already supporting Flash 10.1, Nokia definitely couldn’t lag behind in the area in which they were always leaders: Nokia phones were for years the only smartphones in the market that were Flash enabled.

The E7 pictured above is running an “early” firmware, and, as you can see from the official Adobe site, is supporting Flash 10.1. I am not sure what version that web browser was, but it has certainly improved from previous S^1 versions as several sites that fail to open in, lets say the N97, can be viewed on the E7. There is also a rumor about a brand new web browser for S^3 devices which will come later this year. The web browser is supposed to be built on QtWebKit and support new technologies like HTML5, CSS3, and a new Javascript engine.

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Remember the Nokia N93? It was a pretty advanced phone in its era, but, I specially remember it because of the awesome flashlight feature. You just pressed a button and the LED Flash lighted your way, showed you your lost keys, and let you bug your friends by pointing the flash to their faces.

This awesome feature is back! And it is better integrated this time as there is no dedicated flashlight button, yet it works better than if it there was one. By holding the unlock key on the Nokia E7 or the Nokia C7, the flash will turn on. You can either hold to it for the light to remain on, or you can hold it shortly and the flashlight will remain on for a couple of seconds before automatically going off. This feature is a small one, but little things like this is what makes a device great. We are already waiting for the E7 and C7 to start shipping! (for those asking whether the N8 has this feature, just remember the N8 has a Xenon flash, so it can’t remain ON)

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Today at Nokia World we had a Q&A session with Pino from the Ovi Blog. He showed us the new Ovi Maps 3.06 running on his black Nokia N8. The v3.06 is still a beta, but it brings an impressive amount of improvements to Ovi Maps. Among my favorite ones is the way in which now the search function works; it is more powerful and complete. The main new feature, however, is that the new Ovi Maps now lets you check into your favorite social networks (But FourSquare which will come as a separate app and will be released very soon). The next big thing with the Ovi Maps v3.06 is the public transportation feature, which works in 85 cities! The overall feel and look of the app has also been improved. All I can say is that Ovi Maps looks beautiful on the AMOLED screen of the N8, very fast too. Watch the video below for the intro!

You can download the beta here: Beta Labs

Last week, the Nokia N8 broke a world record for the world’s smallest stop motion animation, named Dot. Then on Saturday, the folks at Nokia Sweden decided to go the other way, erecting what must count as one of the world’s biggest cinema screens. Residents of the city district of Roseng?rd were treated to a movie night they will never forget, powered by a Nokia N8 through it’s HDMI port in stunning high-definition.

Creating the world’s biggest cinema screen is no easy task, as it takes a lot of planning, teams of people and specialised equipment to make sure it all comes together. The 1,428 square metre (that’s 51 metres x 28 metres) cinema screen is so large that it had to be assembled, and watched, outside. The screen was hoisted up in front of a tower block, and held in place by two giant cranes while four XLM HD30 projectors, each weighing 140 kilos, projected the Prince of Persia movie onto it. Onlookers were amazed and delighted to witness this world record happening in their own district.

Day

Night

About 1,500 people turned up to see this massive movie and it’s estimated that another 1,000 local people simply watched it from their apartments or balconies. The previous world record was held by Pinewood Studios in Middlesex, Great Britain, with a cinema screen measuring 73.1 metres wide and 18.3 metres high and with a total area of 1,338 square metres.

Which one is better? HTC Desire Z or Nokia E7? We are offered by these phones a same slide-out QWERTY keyboard, but very different operating system. So, what else do they offer to attract the future customer? Let’s check their specifications thoroughly. Size and Display Let’s start from the screen. HTC Desire Z has a [...]

[There is a video that cannot be displayed in this feed. Visit the blog entry to see the video.] Nokia E7 comes with new display technology called Clear Black Display (CBD).  Wondering how it perform compared to Nokia N900? Take a look at this new display technology that Nokia put in the E7 phone.