Ever since the very first leak about the so called Nokia "EOS" being widely distributed across the internet, I have been fascinated by the hardware of the device. I want to witness myself during the launch of the "EOS" which is now known as the Nokia Lumia 1020 as I am really interested in the performance of the 41MP camera on the phone itself.
I gather that the initiative to launch a new 41MP camera device is nothing new to Nokia. If you noticed during the beginning of Steven Elop's address recently, he voiced out Nokia's innovation in creating good camera mobile phones which includes the Nokia N8, Nokia 808 Pureview and now the Nokia Lumia 1020.
Since the launch of the Nokia Lumia 1020 (hereinafter NL1020), many sample videos and still pictures have being uploaded onto Youtube. From my understanding, the six element Advanced Carl Zeiss lens 41MP camera is a serious threat to both the Apple Iphone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 range of mobile devices.
Traditionally, the camera function on the iOS is pretty slick as users can always experience zero lag shutter. There are still some lag on the Samsung Galaxy S4 despite the South Korean's beat effort in providing zero lag shutter speed. I believe that the NL1020 has the potential to chew away some of both Apple and Samsung's customer if users are longing to use an alternative device to an SLR camera.
On paper, the NL1020 is superb. The hardware and the design of the mobile device is somehow similar to the Nokia Lumia 920 minus the weight (The NL1020 is slighter lighter) and the NL1020 comes with a huge camera lens. I will be very interested to get myself a Nokia Lumia 1020 for a spin since I am in the mood of taking pictures. The good news is that the NL1020 will be available in the UK via both 3UK and O2 beginning of September 2013. I guess it will be worth waiting for the device to be purchased in September 2013.
Let's face it - Nokia has the upper hand in relation to the camera device on a mobile device but Nokia is not alone in this area. There are many companies who are offering 13MP cameras on mobile phones which includes Samsung. I think consumers might just get themselves a NL1020 although it is not running on a quadcore cpu or even loaded with an Adreno 330 gpu. However, the device will come with 2GB RAM which is worth mentioning. Most probably the NL1020 will come with the next generation of Windows Phone 8 or WP 8.1.
I think Nokia should release the NL1020 to users within two weeks of launch as it will help the company to regain some market share. Otherwise Nokia might face their biggest threat from Apple when they launch their successor to the Iphone 5.
Good luck to Nokia.
Showing posts with label Mobile Phone/Nokia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mobile Phone/Nokia. Show all posts
Friday, 12 July 2013
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE - I9305
If you are excited with the launch in New York on 14 March 2013 for Samsung's flagship Samsung Galaxy S4, you will be thrilled, at least, for now, with the Samsung Galaxy S3. If you think that the S3 is just plain, what about the upgraded S3 with 4G radio then?
The standard Galaxy S3 comes with lots of goodies including a 4.8" Super AMOLED screen and 8MP camera at the back and a 1.9MP camera at the front. It comes with a removable 2100mAh battery with NFC installed on the battery itself. The S3's hardware is quite new as it packs a quadcore 1.4Ghz and lots of 2012 hardware specification. With the purchase of an S3, a user will have up to 50GB usage of dropbox for two years for free. This is a bargain. I'm more interested in the satellite navigation as it comes with A-GPS and GLONASS. Best of all, the SAR UK is just 0.24 W/kg (head)! I'm truly amazed as not even Nokia can pull this off! I can remember that the Nokia Lumia 920 was more than 1W/kg! The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass II and it runs on the Android 4.1.2 OS at the time of writing this article.
The TouchWiz UI on the S3 is smooth and I have no complaints.
What about the S3 LTE then?
The Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE is definitely a step up from the normal S3. The difference between the S3 and the S3 LTE is minimal but nonetheless it is worth mentioning. Apart from the difference in the chipset of the S3 LTE which incorporates an LTE chipset, it comes with 2GB ROM instead of the standard 1GB ROM. Since I have the S3 LTE, it will be a good point to try out the 4G radio on the phone. I've managed to collect an average download speed of 45MB/s and an upload speed of 35MB/s in London so it is pretty good considering that the average 3G download speed is around 8MB/s and 1.5MB/s upload.
I'm not too happy with the 2100mAh battery as I need to recharge the phone once every day with Skype and the weather always working at the background. I was thinking of getting a beefier battery for the S3 LTE. Well, I've got a 3000mAh battery from Samsung the other day and guess what? I could stay on for two more days with the new 3000mAh battery! One downside to it is that the weight of the phone will increase from approximately 131g to around 145g but it feels good in my hand. This could never be compared to the Nokia Lumia 920 which I had before as it was pretty heavy.
In conclusion, the S3 LTE packs a punch with the 3000mAh extended battery from Samsung. if you are wondering whether I will be getting the S4, I would say no as I don't think a phone with a 5" screen is worth buying since I already have the S3. Maybe it will be a good idea to give it a pass until the next year when Samsung release a successor to the S4.
The standard Galaxy S3 comes with lots of goodies including a 4.8" Super AMOLED screen and 8MP camera at the back and a 1.9MP camera at the front. It comes with a removable 2100mAh battery with NFC installed on the battery itself. The S3's hardware is quite new as it packs a quadcore 1.4Ghz and lots of 2012 hardware specification. With the purchase of an S3, a user will have up to 50GB usage of dropbox for two years for free. This is a bargain. I'm more interested in the satellite navigation as it comes with A-GPS and GLONASS. Best of all, the SAR UK is just 0.24 W/kg (head)! I'm truly amazed as not even Nokia can pull this off! I can remember that the Nokia Lumia 920 was more than 1W/kg! The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass II and it runs on the Android 4.1.2 OS at the time of writing this article.
The TouchWiz UI on the S3 is smooth and I have no complaints.
What about the S3 LTE then?
The Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE is definitely a step up from the normal S3. The difference between the S3 and the S3 LTE is minimal but nonetheless it is worth mentioning. Apart from the difference in the chipset of the S3 LTE which incorporates an LTE chipset, it comes with 2GB ROM instead of the standard 1GB ROM. Since I have the S3 LTE, it will be a good point to try out the 4G radio on the phone. I've managed to collect an average download speed of 45MB/s and an upload speed of 35MB/s in London so it is pretty good considering that the average 3G download speed is around 8MB/s and 1.5MB/s upload.
I'm not too happy with the 2100mAh battery as I need to recharge the phone once every day with Skype and the weather always working at the background. I was thinking of getting a beefier battery for the S3 LTE. Well, I've got a 3000mAh battery from Samsung the other day and guess what? I could stay on for two more days with the new 3000mAh battery! One downside to it is that the weight of the phone will increase from approximately 131g to around 145g but it feels good in my hand. This could never be compared to the Nokia Lumia 920 which I had before as it was pretty heavy.
In conclusion, the S3 LTE packs a punch with the 3000mAh extended battery from Samsung. if you are wondering whether I will be getting the S4, I would say no as I don't think a phone with a 5" screen is worth buying since I already have the S3. Maybe it will be a good idea to give it a pass until the next year when Samsung release a successor to the S4.
Monday, 4 March 2013
Samsung Galaxy S IV - Worth the Wait?
I keep myself busy in reading e-books but nonetheless, I am overjoyed to have stumbled upon a leaked information regarding the upcoming Galaxy S IV. Mind you, I am a fan of Samsung as of late. I think I am going through a phrase whereby I'm pretty sick and tired of the Iphone as it is similar to the predecessors while the Nokia is trying to do some serious catch up. Mind you, the Iphone 5 is a good piece of hardware. Coupled with the stunning and superb iOS 6, the stability and speed of the menu will keep many people happy and consumers will be very willing to pay more for an Iphone 5.
Apart from that, consumers have lots of choices when it comes to the apps on the iOS. Nobody will be able to deny that Apple has the most apps available for consumers to download at this moment. In addition to that, the front 1.3MP camera on the Iphone 5 does very good indeed under low light too. The only complain which I have is the screen size on the Iphone 5. It is nothing compared to the modern 2012 specification flagship mobile phones. Does it justify to buy an Iphone 5? Most probably yes. This is because the Iphone 5 would retain its value for at least 60% even you have used it for more than 6 months.
On the other hand, the Nokia flagship, ie: Nokia Lumia 920, is heavy and loaded with Windows Phone 8 (WP8). While it is not the best looking phones around, it is one of the best featured WP8 phones around. I am truly impressed with the 4.5" screen with ClearBlackDisplay and High Definition plus and the 8.7MP digital camera with Pureview function. I am just not used to such a heavy phone as I have lost touch with the Nokia E90 for more than two years now. Presently, you can purchase a Nokia Lumia 920 for around £350 SIM FREE.
Samsung, on the other hand, is on the driving seat for the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S IV (SGS4)which will be launched on 14 March 2013 in New York. Presumably it has a 4.99" screen and all the specified hardware and software which were announced lately, I don't think I will stick to the SGS4 as it is just too big. While I can justify to have a 4.8" screen, having a 5" screen is just too big. I am only concern with the size of the screen which looks crazy when you are on the phone without using a headset.
If the leaked information is true, it will mean that the SGS4 has the best specification on a mobile phone until now. Perhaps Apple will be cooking a customised ARM processor next?
Update:
19 June 2013
We now know that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a formidable device. Samsung has just announced the Samsung Zoom and they might be releasing a Snapdragon 800 variant of the SGS4. I just could not wait to see the outcome when it is launched. It is also interested to know that Samsung will be releasing the next generation Samsung Galaxy range of mobile phones to include LTE- Advanced technology. I just could not wait for the launch of their new mobile devices!
Update:
19 June 2013
We now know that the Samsung Galaxy S4 is a formidable device. Samsung has just announced the Samsung Zoom and they might be releasing a Snapdragon 800 variant of the SGS4. I just could not wait to see the outcome when it is launched. It is also interested to know that Samsung will be releasing the next generation Samsung Galaxy range of mobile phones to include LTE- Advanced technology. I just could not wait for the launch of their new mobile devices!
25 June 2013
The Samsung Galaxt S4 LTE-A is launched in South Korea!!!
Monday, 25 February 2013
Nokia Lumia 720 vs Nokia Lumia 620
I'm really impressed with Nokia with the launching of the Nokia Lumia 720 in Barcelona today. I'm more impressed with the fact that the new Lumia 720 is a smack between the Nokia Lumia 820 and the Lumia 920.
With the launch of the Nokia Lumia 720, it will be a significant improvement over the Lumia 620. If you compare between the Lumia 620 and the Lumia 720, you will see that they are almost the same but the Lumia 720 has some upgrades as mentioned below:
(a) The main back camera is now 6.7MP with Carl Zeiss lens optics as compared to the 5MP without Carl Zeiss lens. The video camera in front of the Nokia Lumia 720 will get a bump to 1.3MP instead of the low resolution 0.3MP on the Lumia 620;
(b) The screen size of the Lumia 720 is now 4.3" and it comes with the same ClearBlack display as on the Lumia 620 but the Lumia 620 only clocked in 3.8" so this is a good improvement and I salute Nokia for the good improvement;
(c) The Wifi on the Lumia 720 now supports dual-band where else the Lumia 620 only supports single band; and
(d) The battery capacity on the Lumia 720 has increased to 2000mAh instead of the 1300mAh on the Lumia 620 so this is another good new on the part of Nokia!
Best of all, the Nokia Lumia 720 will be available in March 2013! This is great, don't you think so?
I believe that I will have faith once more in Nokia so we will see about it. According to reliable sources, the Lumia 720 will be affordable around £300 SIM FREE, unlike the Lumia 920 which is around £400 at this moment.
Update:
03 March 2013 - If you think that you should get the Nokia Lumia 920, perhaps you might want to try out the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE which will have no problem in taking pictures and videos in high quality. The best thing of all is that the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE has zero delay in taking a picture or videos, much unlike the Nokia Lumia 920. For the price of £450 for the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE locked to EE/T-Mobile/Orange which you can spend another £10 to unlock it online, It is a better price to pay and well worth the money spent rather than getting a Nokia Lumia 920.
With the launch of the Nokia Lumia 720, it will be a significant improvement over the Lumia 620. If you compare between the Lumia 620 and the Lumia 720, you will see that they are almost the same but the Lumia 720 has some upgrades as mentioned below:
(a) The main back camera is now 6.7MP with Carl Zeiss lens optics as compared to the 5MP without Carl Zeiss lens. The video camera in front of the Nokia Lumia 720 will get a bump to 1.3MP instead of the low resolution 0.3MP on the Lumia 620;
(b) The screen size of the Lumia 720 is now 4.3" and it comes with the same ClearBlack display as on the Lumia 620 but the Lumia 620 only clocked in 3.8" so this is a good improvement and I salute Nokia for the good improvement;
(c) The Wifi on the Lumia 720 now supports dual-band where else the Lumia 620 only supports single band; and
(d) The battery capacity on the Lumia 720 has increased to 2000mAh instead of the 1300mAh on the Lumia 620 so this is another good new on the part of Nokia!
Best of all, the Nokia Lumia 720 will be available in March 2013! This is great, don't you think so?
I believe that I will have faith once more in Nokia so we will see about it. According to reliable sources, the Lumia 720 will be affordable around £300 SIM FREE, unlike the Lumia 920 which is around £400 at this moment.
Update:
03 March 2013 - If you think that you should get the Nokia Lumia 920, perhaps you might want to try out the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE which will have no problem in taking pictures and videos in high quality. The best thing of all is that the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE has zero delay in taking a picture or videos, much unlike the Nokia Lumia 920. For the price of £450 for the Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE locked to EE/T-Mobile/Orange which you can spend another £10 to unlock it online, It is a better price to pay and well worth the money spent rather than getting a Nokia Lumia 920.
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Nokia Lumia 620 - Lumia 800 Replacement?
The Nokia Lumia 620 was recently launched to replace the aging Lumia 610. However, I believe that the Nokia Lumia 620 is just more than just a replacement unit. In fact, the Nokia Lumia 620 could be a replacement for the Nokia Lumia 800!
What I am most impressed with the Nokia Lumia 620 is that it comes with a VGA camera in front of the mobile phone. There is also a 5MP camera shooter at the back but the lens are not produced by Carl Zeiss. The digital camera does not have Pureview just like the Nokia 808 or the Nokia Lumia 820 or 920. What makes it stand out from the crowd is that the price which one needs to pay to get their hands on the Nokia Lumia 620.
If you shop around, you could get a brand new Nokia Lumia 620 for £200 SIM FREE (ie: Carphonewarehouse). With that, you will have access to an external memory card and the phone comes with all the 2012 specifications including NFC and bluetooth. Obviously, with the cheaper price tag, Nokia would have to save cost. One of the departments where the Lumia 620 had to compromise on will be the screen size. The 3.8" display with Clear Black Display is a reduced screen size of 4.5" with PureView HD and Clear Black Display on the Lumia 920. Apart from that, the internal memory on the Lumia 620 is only 512MB where else the Lumia 920 has 1GB. The Lumia 620 is also equipped with an internal memory of 8GB which is insufficient to install maps and apps which I have at this moment. I will have to delete some of the maps and apps which is not necessary.
In addition to this, the main camera on the Lumia 620 could only manage 5MP as mentioned as compared to the mighty 8.7MP digital camera on the Lumia 920. I have tried taking some pictures with the Nokia Lumia 620 and the quality of the picture is pretty decent during the day with ample sunshine. However, it does not do well under poor lighting as the videos and pictures will be pixelated.
The Nokia Lumia 620 seemed to be doing alright with a 1Ghz dualcore cpu by Qualcomm. I have no issues with it although you will notice the delay in executing a command if you are comparing the Nokia Lumia 620 to the Lumia 920. However, you need to bear in mind that the Lumia 920's cpu is 500Mhz faster than the Lumia 620 and the Lumia 920 has 0.5GB more memory so the slight delay is understandable.
Apart from that, I'm enjoying the changeable back facie of the Lumia 620. Moreover, I find that it is a novel way of removing the back facie by pressing onto the single LED flash on the Lumia 620 to remove the back facie. Once you have opened the back, you will see a removeable 1300mAh battery. I would really appreciate that Nokia would supply a bigger capacity battery but it last me for one day before I need to recharge the battery again.
Personally, I feel that Nokia has done it again where they have released a mobile device which is affordable and yet a device which is packed with serious hardware which I am totally impressed by them. However, the software on the Lumia 620 is not what I am looking for though.
If you are well versed with Windows Phone 7, it will come as no surprise for you in using the Lumia 620 as it runs on the Windows Phone 8. I like the live tiles but I find it quite difficult to get adjusted to it as I am so used to the iOS. However, I have started to feel comfortable in using a Windows Phone device. There is only one issue which I have with the Nokia Lumia 620. I can't install apps including Nokia's maps on the SD card!!!
I have raised this issue with Nokia but they pointed the finger to Microsoft. Unless Microsoft allow users to install apps on the SD card, users of the Lumia 620 will have a smaller capacity to install the many apps which they like. As for me, I like to install maps on the Lumia 620 but the system is saying that the device is running out of space even though I have just inserted a 32GB microSD card in it. What a shame! I hope that Microsoft will allow users to install apps on Windows Phone 8 enabled devices in general. At least Google will allow users to install apps on the microSD card on certain devices. Why not Microsoft?
Overall, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a very affordable smartphone at this moment. I think users should just avoid buying the Lumia 800 and stick to the Lumia 620 even though the price for a brand new Lumia 800 is selling at £150 SIM Free.
Update:
24 February 2013 - I have experienced a slight freezing of the menu whenever I am trying to move between two windows at one time. I think it is due to the fact that the Lumia 620 is only euipped with 512MB of memory, unlike the Lumia 920 where it is equipped with 1GB of memory. Perhaps Nokia should work on an update in the firmware to address this problem.
27 February 2013 - I have realised that the image of yours will be blurry if you use the front camera for video Skype. This is true as I am so disappointed with the quality of the image! I have not experienced any problem when I tried using video Skype on an Iphone 4 which has a VGA front camera. Shame on you, Nokia!
03 March 2013 - The Nokia 620 just frozen for the fifth time for the day. I feel that Nokia software engineers should release a bug fix as I had Skype and Whatsapp working at the background when it crashed. Since we know that Microsoft is going to release an update to WP8 devices in the near future, Nokia should take the opportunity to fix the fast draining of the battery too. I am not too impressed with the Whatsapp app on WP8 devices like the Nokia 620 as it will not allow uses to send videos being stored on the phone.
What I am most impressed with the Nokia Lumia 620 is that it comes with a VGA camera in front of the mobile phone. There is also a 5MP camera shooter at the back but the lens are not produced by Carl Zeiss. The digital camera does not have Pureview just like the Nokia 808 or the Nokia Lumia 820 or 920. What makes it stand out from the crowd is that the price which one needs to pay to get their hands on the Nokia Lumia 620.
If you shop around, you could get a brand new Nokia Lumia 620 for £200 SIM FREE (ie: Carphonewarehouse). With that, you will have access to an external memory card and the phone comes with all the 2012 specifications including NFC and bluetooth. Obviously, with the cheaper price tag, Nokia would have to save cost. One of the departments where the Lumia 620 had to compromise on will be the screen size. The 3.8" display with Clear Black Display is a reduced screen size of 4.5" with PureView HD and Clear Black Display on the Lumia 920. Apart from that, the internal memory on the Lumia 620 is only 512MB where else the Lumia 920 has 1GB. The Lumia 620 is also equipped with an internal memory of 8GB which is insufficient to install maps and apps which I have at this moment. I will have to delete some of the maps and apps which is not necessary.
In addition to this, the main camera on the Lumia 620 could only manage 5MP as mentioned as compared to the mighty 8.7MP digital camera on the Lumia 920. I have tried taking some pictures with the Nokia Lumia 620 and the quality of the picture is pretty decent during the day with ample sunshine. However, it does not do well under poor lighting as the videos and pictures will be pixelated.
The Nokia Lumia 620 seemed to be doing alright with a 1Ghz dualcore cpu by Qualcomm. I have no issues with it although you will notice the delay in executing a command if you are comparing the Nokia Lumia 620 to the Lumia 920. However, you need to bear in mind that the Lumia 920's cpu is 500Mhz faster than the Lumia 620 and the Lumia 920 has 0.5GB more memory so the slight delay is understandable.
Apart from that, I'm enjoying the changeable back facie of the Lumia 620. Moreover, I find that it is a novel way of removing the back facie by pressing onto the single LED flash on the Lumia 620 to remove the back facie. Once you have opened the back, you will see a removeable 1300mAh battery. I would really appreciate that Nokia would supply a bigger capacity battery but it last me for one day before I need to recharge the battery again.
Personally, I feel that Nokia has done it again where they have released a mobile device which is affordable and yet a device which is packed with serious hardware which I am totally impressed by them. However, the software on the Lumia 620 is not what I am looking for though.
If you are well versed with Windows Phone 7, it will come as no surprise for you in using the Lumia 620 as it runs on the Windows Phone 8. I like the live tiles but I find it quite difficult to get adjusted to it as I am so used to the iOS. However, I have started to feel comfortable in using a Windows Phone device. There is only one issue which I have with the Nokia Lumia 620. I can't install apps including Nokia's maps on the SD card!!!
I have raised this issue with Nokia but they pointed the finger to Microsoft. Unless Microsoft allow users to install apps on the SD card, users of the Lumia 620 will have a smaller capacity to install the many apps which they like. As for me, I like to install maps on the Lumia 620 but the system is saying that the device is running out of space even though I have just inserted a 32GB microSD card in it. What a shame! I hope that Microsoft will allow users to install apps on Windows Phone 8 enabled devices in general. At least Google will allow users to install apps on the microSD card on certain devices. Why not Microsoft?
Overall, the Nokia Lumia 620 is a very affordable smartphone at this moment. I think users should just avoid buying the Lumia 800 and stick to the Lumia 620 even though the price for a brand new Lumia 800 is selling at £150 SIM Free.
Update:
24 February 2013 - I have experienced a slight freezing of the menu whenever I am trying to move between two windows at one time. I think it is due to the fact that the Lumia 620 is only euipped with 512MB of memory, unlike the Lumia 920 where it is equipped with 1GB of memory. Perhaps Nokia should work on an update in the firmware to address this problem.
27 February 2013 - I have realised that the image of yours will be blurry if you use the front camera for video Skype. This is true as I am so disappointed with the quality of the image! I have not experienced any problem when I tried using video Skype on an Iphone 4 which has a VGA front camera. Shame on you, Nokia!
03 March 2013 - The Nokia 620 just frozen for the fifth time for the day. I feel that Nokia software engineers should release a bug fix as I had Skype and Whatsapp working at the background when it crashed. Since we know that Microsoft is going to release an update to WP8 devices in the near future, Nokia should take the opportunity to fix the fast draining of the battery too. I am not too impressed with the Whatsapp app on WP8 devices like the Nokia 620 as it will not allow uses to send videos being stored on the phone.
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Nokia Lumia 920 vs Apple Iphone 5 - Clash of the Titans Part II
I do remember posting an article which I have written many moons ago regarding one of the greatest battles in the history of mankind when it comes to the technology within a mobile phone. This article will continue the legacy of identifying whether it is worth while choosing the Nokia Lumia 920 over the Apple Iphone 5 or vice-versa. Best of all, should we just ditch this comparison and get an Android mobile instead?
Apple Iphone 5
Let's start off with the Apple Iphone 5. It is undoubtedly an icon for the past few months ever since the very first design was incepted by Steve Jobs in 2007. Many manufacturers after the debut of the Apple Iphone have started mimicking or even trying to design their mobile phones which resembles the Iphone and got themselves into trouble. It is understood that the battle in the world of patents is still going on around the world. The interests gained was so popular that there is a wikipedia entry into the said disputes. Many manufacturers particularly Samsung thinks that Apple is holding on to their treasure of a pool of patents too tightly. This will eventually result in the loss of an improvements in the field of designing new mobile phones and the technology in a mobile phone.
The Apple Iphone 5 continues the legacy of the success of the previous models which Apple has released, namely the Iphone 2G, 3G, 3Gs, 4 and 4S. The Iphone 5 departed from the usual 3.5" screen and it is now 4" instead. Many components have been changed too including the custom made A6 SoC with dualcore CPU and quadcore GPU. Apart from that, the internal memory has been increased from 512MB to 1GB with the usual internal flash storage of either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB. The main focus of the Iphone 5 lies within the new designed 8MP 1080p camera at the back of the mobile phone with an LED flash and a 1.3MP camera at the front for Video Calling. The Iphone 5 is also lighter than the Iphone 4S so much so users will not feel the Iphone 5 in their pocket as compared to the Iphone 4S.
There is no change in the functionality of the Iphone 5 when it comes to the software department. The iOS 6.1 is superb in handling any commands from any users. Moreover, it is understood that consumers will have a good feel when using the device as the interface is similar to previous generations. Best of all, it has enhanced a user's experience when using the Iphone 5 because there is virtually no issues when purchasing any apps from iTunes and users can easily backup the iphone 5's content with a few easy clicks. I enjoyed using the Iphone 5 very much. To sum up about the user experience of using the Iphone 5 in a word: Spectacular.
However, I have been having a problem with my thumb as I do experience pain while typing on the Iphone 5. I feel that there is a connection between the pain on my thumb and the narrow body of the Iphone 5. I then changed my focus to other mobile phone makers out there which will resolve the current problem. The phone which I have chosen is the Nokia Lumia 920.
Nokia 920
The Nokia Lumia 920 is based on Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 and it is designed to run multithread. This will increase productivity and it should be a perfect tool for day-to-day use. When the Lumia 920 was announced by Stephen Elop, I was skeptical about the phone because it is just too big even for my larger than average hand. I wish that the Lumia 920 could have been slightly thinner and slightly lighter to be exact. Nevertheless I took up the challenge of trying out the Nokia Lumia 920 for a few days.
Immediately I'm impressed with the 8.7MP digital camera on the Lumia 920. It performs much better than the camera on the Iphone 5 as it can take better low light pictures and that is what is lacking in the Iphone 5. I also like the Windows Phone 8 design although I'm not too keen in using the Live Tiles as it will just use up quite a lot of data if I am not connected to wifi as it will keep on updating on various apps in the background.
I like the brand Nokia very much but it is really hard to use the Lumia 920 as a day to day phone although the free turn-by-turn Satellite Navigation for around 70 countries in the world and the free Nokia Music app does turn me on. However, I have an offline Satellite Navigation app. so there is nothing special which wil attract me to the Lumia 920 anymore. Couple with the fact that there was an outage of the Microsoft's Marketplace last week which really annoyed me. The service was restored within 48 hours.
Advantages of using the Iphone 5 over the Nokia Lumia 920
If you are an Iphone lover or an Iphone user and you are using an Iphone 5 at this moment, you will feel that the Nokia Lumia 920 could not come close to the Iphone 5 in terms of its performance. This is true based on the fact that the Iphone 5's chassis is slimmer and significantly lighter than the bulky Nokia Lumia 920 where else the iOS 6 is smooth and refined over the Windows Phone 8. One good example will be in the area of taking a picture. Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will have to wait for around 1.5 seconds before they can take a picture or even a 1080p video once they have clicked on the camera shutter button. Users of the Iphone 5 will not experience any delay at all. Users of the Iphone 5 will find that they can easily backup their apps or the entire storage of the Iphone 5 on their PC or laptop via iTunes without a fuss but it is difficult to do so on the Nokia Lumia 920 because it requires a geek to backup everything a user will need on the PC or Laptop.
Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be very disappointed to know that Zune no longer work on the Lumia 920 and they have to use another software to backup the contents of the Nokia Lumia 920. The backup software for the Nokia Lumia 920 is not as good as backing up on the iTunes as it will not store everything which is on the Lumia 920 onto the PC or Laptop. This is because users will have to rely on the SkyDrive from Microsoft. This is quite a hassle for someone who is thinking of using a non iOS device in the near future. Since all information are being stored in the cloud, a user of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be most disappointed if he/she wants to view their documents offline without the need to store their information via the cloud, ie: on a local computer only.
iOS users will be very happy to know the Microsoft has developed a software to backup all a user's information on their iOS devices to be transferred over to their Windows Phone with ease. Microsoft even have an app which is designed to transfer all information from a user's iOS device to their new Windows Phone device.
If this does not persuade a user to move over to the Lumia 920, the device itself supports NFC and wireless charging. The device has a 2000mAh battery which is significantly larger than the 1440mAh battery on the Iphone 5. The Lumia 920 also equipped with a dedicated camera shutter button which is really helpful. Moreover, the Lumia 920 takes a slightly larger SIM card than the Iphone 5. Apart from that, the Nokia Lumia 920 has better resolution than the Iphone 5 and the Nokia Lumia 920 is equipped with Gorilla Glass II to protect the screen but this is nowhere to be found on the Iphone 5.
Apart from that, the Lumia 920 comes with a 4.5" screen but the Iphone 5 only managed 4". Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be very happy to view movies on the Nokia Lumia 920 as it has a gorgeous screen and if you were to compare the performance of the screen on the Nokia Lumia 920 with the Iphone 5, the Lumia 920 will emerged as the champion.
Best of all, the Nokia Lumia 920 is more affordable than the Iphone 5. This is true given the fact that a brand new Nokia Lumia 920 with 32GB of storage will cost a potential buyer of £500 but this is so much different as compared to the Iphone 5 as the 32GB version of the Iphone 5 will cost a potential buyer of £599.
Advantages of using the Iphone 5 over the Nokia Lumia 920
If you are an Iphone 5 user, most probably you will think that you can forget about using the Nokia Lumia 920 as you have all the tools of the trade ie: Bluetooth 4.0 and a superb iOS 6. Moreover, the iTunes marketplace does not crash often. The truth is, you are most probably right. That is why there are many people who will be willing to spend a premium to get a gadget which will last for a long period of time.
Which mobile phone should I choose then?
Honestly, if you are used to the Iphone 5, you might not find the Lumia 920 sexy or as good as the Iphone 5. However, you should give the Lumia 920 a chance as the Windows Phone 8 on the Lumia 920 does have a potential in providing the same level of expectation on the Iphone 5. Personally I will stick to the Iphone 5 for now although I have a Nokia device as a backup phone with me.
Apple Iphone 5
Let's start off with the Apple Iphone 5. It is undoubtedly an icon for the past few months ever since the very first design was incepted by Steve Jobs in 2007. Many manufacturers after the debut of the Apple Iphone have started mimicking or even trying to design their mobile phones which resembles the Iphone and got themselves into trouble. It is understood that the battle in the world of patents is still going on around the world. The interests gained was so popular that there is a wikipedia entry into the said disputes. Many manufacturers particularly Samsung thinks that Apple is holding on to their treasure of a pool of patents too tightly. This will eventually result in the loss of an improvements in the field of designing new mobile phones and the technology in a mobile phone.
The Apple Iphone 5 continues the legacy of the success of the previous models which Apple has released, namely the Iphone 2G, 3G, 3Gs, 4 and 4S. The Iphone 5 departed from the usual 3.5" screen and it is now 4" instead. Many components have been changed too including the custom made A6 SoC with dualcore CPU and quadcore GPU. Apart from that, the internal memory has been increased from 512MB to 1GB with the usual internal flash storage of either 16GB, 32GB or 64GB. The main focus of the Iphone 5 lies within the new designed 8MP 1080p camera at the back of the mobile phone with an LED flash and a 1.3MP camera at the front for Video Calling. The Iphone 5 is also lighter than the Iphone 4S so much so users will not feel the Iphone 5 in their pocket as compared to the Iphone 4S.
There is no change in the functionality of the Iphone 5 when it comes to the software department. The iOS 6.1 is superb in handling any commands from any users. Moreover, it is understood that consumers will have a good feel when using the device as the interface is similar to previous generations. Best of all, it has enhanced a user's experience when using the Iphone 5 because there is virtually no issues when purchasing any apps from iTunes and users can easily backup the iphone 5's content with a few easy clicks. I enjoyed using the Iphone 5 very much. To sum up about the user experience of using the Iphone 5 in a word: Spectacular.
However, I have been having a problem with my thumb as I do experience pain while typing on the Iphone 5. I feel that there is a connection between the pain on my thumb and the narrow body of the Iphone 5. I then changed my focus to other mobile phone makers out there which will resolve the current problem. The phone which I have chosen is the Nokia Lumia 920.
Nokia 920
The Nokia Lumia 920 is based on Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 and it is designed to run multithread. This will increase productivity and it should be a perfect tool for day-to-day use. When the Lumia 920 was announced by Stephen Elop, I was skeptical about the phone because it is just too big even for my larger than average hand. I wish that the Lumia 920 could have been slightly thinner and slightly lighter to be exact. Nevertheless I took up the challenge of trying out the Nokia Lumia 920 for a few days.
Immediately I'm impressed with the 8.7MP digital camera on the Lumia 920. It performs much better than the camera on the Iphone 5 as it can take better low light pictures and that is what is lacking in the Iphone 5. I also like the Windows Phone 8 design although I'm not too keen in using the Live Tiles as it will just use up quite a lot of data if I am not connected to wifi as it will keep on updating on various apps in the background.
I like the brand Nokia very much but it is really hard to use the Lumia 920 as a day to day phone although the free turn-by-turn Satellite Navigation for around 70 countries in the world and the free Nokia Music app does turn me on. However, I have an offline Satellite Navigation app. so there is nothing special which wil attract me to the Lumia 920 anymore. Couple with the fact that there was an outage of the Microsoft's Marketplace last week which really annoyed me. The service was restored within 48 hours.
Advantages of using the Iphone 5 over the Nokia Lumia 920
If you are an Iphone lover or an Iphone user and you are using an Iphone 5 at this moment, you will feel that the Nokia Lumia 920 could not come close to the Iphone 5 in terms of its performance. This is true based on the fact that the Iphone 5's chassis is slimmer and significantly lighter than the bulky Nokia Lumia 920 where else the iOS 6 is smooth and refined over the Windows Phone 8. One good example will be in the area of taking a picture. Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will have to wait for around 1.5 seconds before they can take a picture or even a 1080p video once they have clicked on the camera shutter button. Users of the Iphone 5 will not experience any delay at all. Users of the Iphone 5 will find that they can easily backup their apps or the entire storage of the Iphone 5 on their PC or laptop via iTunes without a fuss but it is difficult to do so on the Nokia Lumia 920 because it requires a geek to backup everything a user will need on the PC or Laptop.
Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be very disappointed to know that Zune no longer work on the Lumia 920 and they have to use another software to backup the contents of the Nokia Lumia 920. The backup software for the Nokia Lumia 920 is not as good as backing up on the iTunes as it will not store everything which is on the Lumia 920 onto the PC or Laptop. This is because users will have to rely on the SkyDrive from Microsoft. This is quite a hassle for someone who is thinking of using a non iOS device in the near future. Since all information are being stored in the cloud, a user of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be most disappointed if he/she wants to view their documents offline without the need to store their information via the cloud, ie: on a local computer only.
iOS users will be very happy to know the Microsoft has developed a software to backup all a user's information on their iOS devices to be transferred over to their Windows Phone with ease. Microsoft even have an app which is designed to transfer all information from a user's iOS device to their new Windows Phone device.
If this does not persuade a user to move over to the Lumia 920, the device itself supports NFC and wireless charging. The device has a 2000mAh battery which is significantly larger than the 1440mAh battery on the Iphone 5. The Lumia 920 also equipped with a dedicated camera shutter button which is really helpful. Moreover, the Lumia 920 takes a slightly larger SIM card than the Iphone 5. Apart from that, the Nokia Lumia 920 has better resolution than the Iphone 5 and the Nokia Lumia 920 is equipped with Gorilla Glass II to protect the screen but this is nowhere to be found on the Iphone 5.
Apart from that, the Lumia 920 comes with a 4.5" screen but the Iphone 5 only managed 4". Users of the Nokia Lumia 920 will be very happy to view movies on the Nokia Lumia 920 as it has a gorgeous screen and if you were to compare the performance of the screen on the Nokia Lumia 920 with the Iphone 5, the Lumia 920 will emerged as the champion.
Best of all, the Nokia Lumia 920 is more affordable than the Iphone 5. This is true given the fact that a brand new Nokia Lumia 920 with 32GB of storage will cost a potential buyer of £500 but this is so much different as compared to the Iphone 5 as the 32GB version of the Iphone 5 will cost a potential buyer of £599.
Advantages of using the Iphone 5 over the Nokia Lumia 920
If you are an Iphone 5 user, most probably you will think that you can forget about using the Nokia Lumia 920 as you have all the tools of the trade ie: Bluetooth 4.0 and a superb iOS 6. Moreover, the iTunes marketplace does not crash often. The truth is, you are most probably right. That is why there are many people who will be willing to spend a premium to get a gadget which will last for a long period of time.
Which mobile phone should I choose then?
Honestly, if you are used to the Iphone 5, you might not find the Lumia 920 sexy or as good as the Iphone 5. However, you should give the Lumia 920 a chance as the Windows Phone 8 on the Lumia 920 does have a potential in providing the same level of expectation on the Iphone 5. Personally I will stick to the Iphone 5 for now although I have a Nokia device as a backup phone with me.
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Sony Xperia J - A Simple Review
For those of you who are looking at a mid range mobile phone, you might want to check out a mobile phone from Sony which is called Sony Xperia J. From my personal point of view, the Xperia J is very similar to the predecessor, Xperia U but with a twist - lower SAR. Initially I was thinking of giving the Xperia U a try but decided against it later after finding out that the Xperia U had a SAR value of 1.62.
The Xperia J on the other hand is a beautiful mobile phone. The whole chasis is slightly curvy which is similar to the Xperia Arc. While the specifications of the device itself is not too spectacular, the mobile phone is quite value for money. First of all, the mobile device has a 4" capacitive screen which is coated with Corning's Gorilla Glass. Secondly, it is equipped with a 5MP autofocus digital camera at the back with a VGA camera at the front for video calling. The heart of the device is powered by a single core 1Ghz cpu from Qualcomm. It has GPS, bluetooth and many other 2012 mobile phone specification apart from the noticeable lack of NFC. I don't really expect Sony to include NFC for a mobile device to cost around £170 SIM Free which you can obtain from carphonewarehouse and phones4u.
If one were to have a look at the content of the box, he/she will definitely be disappointed. This is quite true as I was disappointed that Sony did not include a headset! The box only came with the mobile device, a battery, three back covers (black/white and pink) and a charger. It also came with some basic instructions but that is all.
Certainly one will notice that the phone is quite light even with the battery fitted. This will be quite handy for someone who does not want to hold on to a brick like the Nokia E90 (It is still one of my favourite phones) as it weights in at a mere 124g. Sony has done well over at the hardware department especially it comes with a big 1500mAh battery!
While I don't have any problems with the hardware department, the software department of the Xperia J is another matter. I have one major issue with the Xperia J which is the sheer sluggishness while trying to execute a command by pressing on the screen. I'm surprised at the performance of the Xperia J which the device came pre-installed with Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4) which is pretty slow.
Apart from the sluggishness while operating the mobile device, there is a limitation on how many programmes can a user install on the Xperia J due to the 2GB limitation on the OS itself. It will useful if someone could overcome that limitation by rooting the Xperia J and then install a custom ROM to bypass the limitation. Unless the user is technologically savvy, it will be quite a challenge for him/her to do the above.
Overall, if you are looking for a simple smartphone, the Xperia J will be for you. However, if you are an avid smartphone user, you might be disappointed with the menu speed especially with the constant lag while trying to execute a command. On the other hand, you might want to try out the Nokia Lumia 800 instead for £150 SIM Free which I will conduct a simple review very soon.
Update:
02/02/2013 - Personally, I am still disappointed as there is no updates to the Android OS. I feel that Sony should be able to provide a better solution to its software development as the menu does not feel smooth as compared to a Samsung Galaxy Ace II. What a shame!
The Xperia J on the other hand is a beautiful mobile phone. The whole chasis is slightly curvy which is similar to the Xperia Arc. While the specifications of the device itself is not too spectacular, the mobile phone is quite value for money. First of all, the mobile device has a 4" capacitive screen which is coated with Corning's Gorilla Glass. Secondly, it is equipped with a 5MP autofocus digital camera at the back with a VGA camera at the front for video calling. The heart of the device is powered by a single core 1Ghz cpu from Qualcomm. It has GPS, bluetooth and many other 2012 mobile phone specification apart from the noticeable lack of NFC. I don't really expect Sony to include NFC for a mobile device to cost around £170 SIM Free which you can obtain from carphonewarehouse and phones4u.
If one were to have a look at the content of the box, he/she will definitely be disappointed. This is quite true as I was disappointed that Sony did not include a headset! The box only came with the mobile device, a battery, three back covers (black/white and pink) and a charger. It also came with some basic instructions but that is all.
Certainly one will notice that the phone is quite light even with the battery fitted. This will be quite handy for someone who does not want to hold on to a brick like the Nokia E90 (It is still one of my favourite phones) as it weights in at a mere 124g. Sony has done well over at the hardware department especially it comes with a big 1500mAh battery!
While I don't have any problems with the hardware department, the software department of the Xperia J is another matter. I have one major issue with the Xperia J which is the sheer sluggishness while trying to execute a command by pressing on the screen. I'm surprised at the performance of the Xperia J which the device came pre-installed with Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.4) which is pretty slow.
Apart from the sluggishness while operating the mobile device, there is a limitation on how many programmes can a user install on the Xperia J due to the 2GB limitation on the OS itself. It will useful if someone could overcome that limitation by rooting the Xperia J and then install a custom ROM to bypass the limitation. Unless the user is technologically savvy, it will be quite a challenge for him/her to do the above.
Overall, if you are looking for a simple smartphone, the Xperia J will be for you. However, if you are an avid smartphone user, you might be disappointed with the menu speed especially with the constant lag while trying to execute a command. On the other hand, you might want to try out the Nokia Lumia 800 instead for £150 SIM Free which I will conduct a simple review very soon.
Update:
02/02/2013 - Personally, I am still disappointed as there is no updates to the Android OS. I feel that Sony should be able to provide a better solution to its software development as the menu does not feel smooth as compared to a Samsung Galaxy Ace II. What a shame!
Thursday, 28 June 2012
Offline Google Maps - Goodbye Nokia Drive?
It was 2011 when Google announced that its Google Maps will be able to store data offline to speed up navigation and to avoid consuming too much of data. The aim was to resolve some of the problems faced by many consumers especially Andriod users who does not have much of inclusive data to spare every month. Even though Google has lauched some sort of offline maps, it could not compete with standalone navigation apps like TomTom and Co-Pilot.
What we need to do is to fast forward one year later, Google finally made it clear that they are going to introduce better offline maps for its Google Turn-by-Turn navigation apps for many countries. When I saw the news online, I could not believe my eyes and I am very happy about the news. However, it might spell trouble for Nokia.
The reason why I am thinking that Nokia will suffer from the announcement from Google is because one of the many reasons why there are still many diehard Nokia user is due to the existance of Nokia Drive. Nokia Drive allow users to install offline maps of up to 77 countries in the world on their Nokia device without the need to consume any data while using the map service overseas. I believe that this is Nokia's selling point up to date.
I was quite upset when Nokia concentrated in developing its OS using Microsoft's Windows Phone (WP) OS. I am not particularly happy with the existing WP 7.5 on my Nokia 710. I was even upset when it is announced by Nokia that existing WP 7.5 devices will not be able to upgrade to WP 8 which supports a whole lot of new features including the most important feature of all - multitasking. Existing WP 7.5 devices will instead be upgraded to WP 7.8 but not WP 8 Apollo OS. This is such a shame as I am always a fan of Nokia but I might think twice when buying a backup phone now.
I believe that Nokia fans will not be put off with their existing single core mobile phones but the news which came from Microsoft that existing WP 7.5 devices including the Nokia Lumia 900 will not be receiving the WP 8 OS upgrade is simply shocking. Well, what do you expect consumers to react? I think many Nokia users might abandone ship this time to Andriod. I don't think Stephen Elop can blame them when you have marvellous devices like the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X. Presently, Nokia devices could not even come close to the features and specifications of the named devices previously.
Well, Nokia, what are you going to do then? Are you simply going to cater more for third world countries with your Asha range or are you going to tackle mainstream devices? I hope that Nokia will rebound to take the crown from Apple and Samsung.
Update:
04 July 2012
It seems that there is a so called "Plan B" with Nokia if Windows Phone OS is not going to revive Nokia's business and it will be using Android OS instead. Well, I think Nokia should have used the Android OS in the first place and not using it as a "Plan B". If Nokia have used the Android OS, Samsung would not have stolen the crown from Nokia in the first place.
13 February 2013
With Google Maps back on the iOS, it is just refreshing and Apple fans rejoice!
What we need to do is to fast forward one year later, Google finally made it clear that they are going to introduce better offline maps for its Google Turn-by-Turn navigation apps for many countries. When I saw the news online, I could not believe my eyes and I am very happy about the news. However, it might spell trouble for Nokia.
The reason why I am thinking that Nokia will suffer from the announcement from Google is because one of the many reasons why there are still many diehard Nokia user is due to the existance of Nokia Drive. Nokia Drive allow users to install offline maps of up to 77 countries in the world on their Nokia device without the need to consume any data while using the map service overseas. I believe that this is Nokia's selling point up to date.
I was quite upset when Nokia concentrated in developing its OS using Microsoft's Windows Phone (WP) OS. I am not particularly happy with the existing WP 7.5 on my Nokia 710. I was even upset when it is announced by Nokia that existing WP 7.5 devices will not be able to upgrade to WP 8 which supports a whole lot of new features including the most important feature of all - multitasking. Existing WP 7.5 devices will instead be upgraded to WP 7.8 but not WP 8 Apollo OS. This is such a shame as I am always a fan of Nokia but I might think twice when buying a backup phone now.
I believe that Nokia fans will not be put off with their existing single core mobile phones but the news which came from Microsoft that existing WP 7.5 devices including the Nokia Lumia 900 will not be receiving the WP 8 OS upgrade is simply shocking. Well, what do you expect consumers to react? I think many Nokia users might abandone ship this time to Andriod. I don't think Stephen Elop can blame them when you have marvellous devices like the Samsung Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X. Presently, Nokia devices could not even come close to the features and specifications of the named devices previously.
Well, Nokia, what are you going to do then? Are you simply going to cater more for third world countries with your Asha range or are you going to tackle mainstream devices? I hope that Nokia will rebound to take the crown from Apple and Samsung.
Update:
04 July 2012
It seems that there is a so called "Plan B" with Nokia if Windows Phone OS is not going to revive Nokia's business and it will be using Android OS instead. Well, I think Nokia should have used the Android OS in the first place and not using it as a "Plan B". If Nokia have used the Android OS, Samsung would not have stolen the crown from Nokia in the first place.
13 February 2013
With Google Maps back on the iOS, it is just refreshing and Apple fans rejoice!
Sunday, 17 June 2012
The Struggle of Nokia
I am quite upset with the recent news from Nokia which includes selling off Vertu and laying off tens of thousand employees across the globe. Apart from that, Nokia will be laying off more employees in the coming months.
Personally, I don't really understand Nokia anymore. Initially it started off by itself as the number one mobile phone manufacturer of the world only for more than 14 years until it was beaten by Samsung just recently. They have managed to release new and more advanced technological mobile phones at a competitive price. I would remember using a Symbian S40 or S60 mobile device from Nokia and I was really happy with it..until recently.
There were talks of Nokia is running low on its cash reserve and they need to think fast before they completely run out of money to survive. Personally, I don't know whether it is true or false but I do observe one thing throughout these two years - Nokia is losing its charm.
One could ask me why have I shifted my loyalty towards some other manufacturers and not stick with Nokia. Personally, I have not shifted my loyalty towards Android or iOS as I am using a Lumia 710 at this moment as my backup phone. Why would I not use a Nokia Lumia 900 or 800 instead? Well, I could answer that question by simply informing you that I believe that the Lumia 900 is below my expectation.
It has been a long struggle for me to use any recent Nokia devices which runs on the Windows Phone OS due to the lack of multitasking. Nevermind the small capacity battery on some of the Windows Phone powered Nokia devices but I was thinking about a better capacity and better cpu on Nokia devices. One thing for sure is that I could not understand why Nokia is still using a single core cpu for its Lumia 900!!! You could argue that there is no need for a dualcore cpu as it will most probably use more energy but if many manufacturers can overcome this problem, why not Nokia? I would love to see that future Windows Phone OS support multitasking. This is one problem which Microsoft has yet to resolve. Maybe the problem will be resolved with the upcoming "Apollo OS" by Microsoft. Even the latest Windows Phone 7.5 "Tango" does not support true multitaking akin to Symbian S60 series. It is like using Symbian S40 devices again which is so backwards. When will Microsoft realise that they need to release a true multitasking OS to draw in more customers? When will they finally realise that something needs to be done to encourage more people to use Windows Phone? I don't think it is wise for Microsoft to rely on the Nokia brand to market their products without true multitasking!
In conclusion, I would really hope that Nokia will survive. The question of whether Microsoft will buy Nokia might be still on the table but it might be rejected by shareholders taking into account the profitability of Nokia. Well, we'll see about it in the next 18 months whether Nokia will pull through. They need to release at least dualcore mobile phones with good graphics to draw the heat away from Android mobile devices e.g. the Samsung Galaxy SII and SIII.
Update:
29 June 2012
With UK carriers not going to release the upcoming Nokia Pure View 808, it might spell more trouble for Nokia in the UK. I have got in touch with Vodafone UK and Orange UK and they have no idea of when the handset will be arriving in the store, most probably not going to stock them; T-Mobile UK and O2 UK could not give me a straight answer while both Carphonewarehouse and Phones4u said that they will stock them earliest at the end of next month or early August 2012. This will mean that if consumers want to have a taste of the mighty 41MP camera mobile phone, they will have to go through a third party to sign on a contract for the phone. Well, alternatively, the phone could be purchased SIM free from £500 which is a little bit too much for a 4" single core mobile device.
04 July 2012
It is a sad day where Meego will be parting ways with Nokia. According to this website, Meego will be heading off to other companies e.g. Samsung! I sincerely wish them well! Well, Nokia, what's next? Can you see that you need to buck up and not just releasing budget s40 phones anymore? Where is your fighting spirit which you have shown previously before Apple and Samsung took over?
Personally, I don't really understand Nokia anymore. Initially it started off by itself as the number one mobile phone manufacturer of the world only for more than 14 years until it was beaten by Samsung just recently. They have managed to release new and more advanced technological mobile phones at a competitive price. I would remember using a Symbian S40 or S60 mobile device from Nokia and I was really happy with it..until recently.
There were talks of Nokia is running low on its cash reserve and they need to think fast before they completely run out of money to survive. Personally, I don't know whether it is true or false but I do observe one thing throughout these two years - Nokia is losing its charm.
One could ask me why have I shifted my loyalty towards some other manufacturers and not stick with Nokia. Personally, I have not shifted my loyalty towards Android or iOS as I am using a Lumia 710 at this moment as my backup phone. Why would I not use a Nokia Lumia 900 or 800 instead? Well, I could answer that question by simply informing you that I believe that the Lumia 900 is below my expectation.
It has been a long struggle for me to use any recent Nokia devices which runs on the Windows Phone OS due to the lack of multitasking. Nevermind the small capacity battery on some of the Windows Phone powered Nokia devices but I was thinking about a better capacity and better cpu on Nokia devices. One thing for sure is that I could not understand why Nokia is still using a single core cpu for its Lumia 900!!! You could argue that there is no need for a dualcore cpu as it will most probably use more energy but if many manufacturers can overcome this problem, why not Nokia? I would love to see that future Windows Phone OS support multitasking. This is one problem which Microsoft has yet to resolve. Maybe the problem will be resolved with the upcoming "Apollo OS" by Microsoft. Even the latest Windows Phone 7.5 "Tango" does not support true multitaking akin to Symbian S60 series. It is like using Symbian S40 devices again which is so backwards. When will Microsoft realise that they need to release a true multitasking OS to draw in more customers? When will they finally realise that something needs to be done to encourage more people to use Windows Phone? I don't think it is wise for Microsoft to rely on the Nokia brand to market their products without true multitasking!
In conclusion, I would really hope that Nokia will survive. The question of whether Microsoft will buy Nokia might be still on the table but it might be rejected by shareholders taking into account the profitability of Nokia. Well, we'll see about it in the next 18 months whether Nokia will pull through. They need to release at least dualcore mobile phones with good graphics to draw the heat away from Android mobile devices e.g. the Samsung Galaxy SII and SIII.
Update:
29 June 2012
With UK carriers not going to release the upcoming Nokia Pure View 808, it might spell more trouble for Nokia in the UK. I have got in touch with Vodafone UK and Orange UK and they have no idea of when the handset will be arriving in the store, most probably not going to stock them; T-Mobile UK and O2 UK could not give me a straight answer while both Carphonewarehouse and Phones4u said that they will stock them earliest at the end of next month or early August 2012. This will mean that if consumers want to have a taste of the mighty 41MP camera mobile phone, they will have to go through a third party to sign on a contract for the phone. Well, alternatively, the phone could be purchased SIM free from £500 which is a little bit too much for a 4" single core mobile device.
04 July 2012
It is a sad day where Meego will be parting ways with Nokia. According to this website, Meego will be heading off to other companies e.g. Samsung! I sincerely wish them well! Well, Nokia, what's next? Can you see that you need to buck up and not just releasing budget s40 phones anymore? Where is your fighting spirit which you have shown previously before Apple and Samsung took over?
Wednesday, 9 May 2012
Windows Phone 7 - Good, Bad and Ugly
It has been quite a while since I last posted an article on my blog. Nevertheless, it will not stop me from doing it any time soon as I am getting quite upset with Microsoft.
Don't get me wrong as I like Microsoft for introducing Windows 7 as it has simplified human tasks e.g. sending documents with attachments via e-mail and Office Suits and so on. In fact, I would most probably remain a loyal Windows 7 customer until Microsoft release a better OS rather than the ugly Metro UI on their upcoming Windows 8. They need to understand that not everyone likes the Metro UI and certainly not all computers are equipped with a touch screen computer! Anyway, that would be another article to read. I will be focusing onto the userbility of Windows Phone 7 instead.
Having the opportunity to witness my very first Windows Phone 7 (hereinafter WP7)device i.e. Nokia Lumia 710, I have to give Microsoft the thumbs up for the smoothness of the Operating System (Hereinafter OS). This is evident when Micorosft released the WP 7.5 "Tango" update for major mobile devices. The upgrade from WP7.0 to WP 7.5 was not significant but no one will able to doubt Microsoft in terms of its speed bump along the way. In a nutshell, the menu speed has increased around 30% as I would imagine. That would be the beauty of upgrading your mobile device from WP7 to WP 7.5.
Apart from that, using a WP 7 device will transform your perception about the boring bits of a mundane menu from a typical Andriod or Iphone OS device. WP7 device users see that their mobile phones use Live tiles as opposed to icons. I don't think it is a bad idea as using Live tiles is refreshing! In addition to that, I can witness that installing apps from the MarketPlace on the Nokia Lumia 710 is easy and without much fuss. I am suprised to see that I have never experienced any lag or app crashing while running on the Nokia Lumia 710. That would tell me that the OS is stable. You may ask me whether it is reliable and I would have to give you an affirmation. This is because the WP 7 OS runs as smooth as a baby's butt even though the Lumia 710 is only a single core device with 512MB RAM.
Even though the latest offering from Micorosft runs smooth on many mobile devices, it has its fair share of criticisms. The major issue which I have with the WP7.5 OS is the lack of multitasking on its devices. This is quite sad taking into the fact that it is the year 2012 and their OS does not support multitasking. Have they not learned from mistakes where multitasking is vital in a mobile device? I find it very frustrating particularly when I have text messages and I want to have a look at it while I am using Skype. Once I've pressed on the Windows logo to access the text message, you will find that Skype would have shut down. You would then have to re-establish the connection later. I think this is so frustrating! How I wish that Microsoft will cook a better OS instead. Will they ever think of enabling multitasking in their upcoming OS update? I hope so.
If you think that without enabling multitasking on WP7 devices is bad enough, you would soon know that there is another problem with WP7 devices as they do not support external memory cards! I don't really know why would Micorosft not support external memory cards. This is quite sad taking into account that many users these days will have to store on the average of 16GB of data on their devices so Nokia Lumi 710 will be something which they will not want to use it as their main mobile device. I am pretty certain that many people will buy another device and not the Lumia 710 because it has a small 8GB of storage space and 20% of it would have been non-user accessible. Users would have to rely on cloud storage but this is quite a hassle. This is because it will use your 3G connectivity or any Wifi and it will take time to download or upload.
The Nokia Lumia 710 seeks to attract first time smartphone buyers or the younger generation. As for me, I don't think the 8GB is sufficient taking into account that the free maps offered would have taken up quite bit of space and so it will leave not much room for storing pictures and videos. This is quite sad though.
From my research of the WP7 OS, one of the main reasons why WP7 enabled devices are running on single core is because the OS itself does not support dualcore or quadcore. Oh no, that is not a positive sign, isn't it?
So what have we got so far? The WP7 OS does not support multitaking so you can't run more than one application at one time. Besides that, the OS does not support or utilise more than a single core so it will be quite difficult for a user to run programmes smoothly at all times. Worst of all, the OS does not support external memory card!
Personally, I think Microsoft should work harder in ensuring that the shortcomings which have been described above is overcomed. Otherwise, users will not flock to a Nokia boot or buy any Nokia devices which runs on the WP7 OS because it is simply not good. There is no use if Nokia were to release a fantastic mobile device only to be destroyed by the OS of such devices. When will Nokia wake up?
Don't get me wrong as I like Microsoft for introducing Windows 7 as it has simplified human tasks e.g. sending documents with attachments via e-mail and Office Suits and so on. In fact, I would most probably remain a loyal Windows 7 customer until Microsoft release a better OS rather than the ugly Metro UI on their upcoming Windows 8. They need to understand that not everyone likes the Metro UI and certainly not all computers are equipped with a touch screen computer! Anyway, that would be another article to read. I will be focusing onto the userbility of Windows Phone 7 instead.
Having the opportunity to witness my very first Windows Phone 7 (hereinafter WP7)device i.e. Nokia Lumia 710, I have to give Microsoft the thumbs up for the smoothness of the Operating System (Hereinafter OS). This is evident when Micorosft released the WP 7.5 "Tango" update for major mobile devices. The upgrade from WP7.0 to WP 7.5 was not significant but no one will able to doubt Microsoft in terms of its speed bump along the way. In a nutshell, the menu speed has increased around 30% as I would imagine. That would be the beauty of upgrading your mobile device from WP7 to WP 7.5.
Apart from that, using a WP 7 device will transform your perception about the boring bits of a mundane menu from a typical Andriod or Iphone OS device. WP7 device users see that their mobile phones use Live tiles as opposed to icons. I don't think it is a bad idea as using Live tiles is refreshing! In addition to that, I can witness that installing apps from the MarketPlace on the Nokia Lumia 710 is easy and without much fuss. I am suprised to see that I have never experienced any lag or app crashing while running on the Nokia Lumia 710. That would tell me that the OS is stable. You may ask me whether it is reliable and I would have to give you an affirmation. This is because the WP 7 OS runs as smooth as a baby's butt even though the Lumia 710 is only a single core device with 512MB RAM.
Even though the latest offering from Micorosft runs smooth on many mobile devices, it has its fair share of criticisms. The major issue which I have with the WP7.5 OS is the lack of multitasking on its devices. This is quite sad taking into the fact that it is the year 2012 and their OS does not support multitasking. Have they not learned from mistakes where multitasking is vital in a mobile device? I find it very frustrating particularly when I have text messages and I want to have a look at it while I am using Skype. Once I've pressed on the Windows logo to access the text message, you will find that Skype would have shut down. You would then have to re-establish the connection later. I think this is so frustrating! How I wish that Microsoft will cook a better OS instead. Will they ever think of enabling multitasking in their upcoming OS update? I hope so.
If you think that without enabling multitasking on WP7 devices is bad enough, you would soon know that there is another problem with WP7 devices as they do not support external memory cards! I don't really know why would Micorosft not support external memory cards. This is quite sad taking into account that many users these days will have to store on the average of 16GB of data on their devices so Nokia Lumi 710 will be something which they will not want to use it as their main mobile device. I am pretty certain that many people will buy another device and not the Lumia 710 because it has a small 8GB of storage space and 20% of it would have been non-user accessible. Users would have to rely on cloud storage but this is quite a hassle. This is because it will use your 3G connectivity or any Wifi and it will take time to download or upload.
The Nokia Lumia 710 seeks to attract first time smartphone buyers or the younger generation. As for me, I don't think the 8GB is sufficient taking into account that the free maps offered would have taken up quite bit of space and so it will leave not much room for storing pictures and videos. This is quite sad though.
From my research of the WP7 OS, one of the main reasons why WP7 enabled devices are running on single core is because the OS itself does not support dualcore or quadcore. Oh no, that is not a positive sign, isn't it?
So what have we got so far? The WP7 OS does not support multitaking so you can't run more than one application at one time. Besides that, the OS does not support or utilise more than a single core so it will be quite difficult for a user to run programmes smoothly at all times. Worst of all, the OS does not support external memory card!
Personally, I think Microsoft should work harder in ensuring that the shortcomings which have been described above is overcomed. Otherwise, users will not flock to a Nokia boot or buy any Nokia devices which runs on the WP7 OS because it is simply not good. There is no use if Nokia were to release a fantastic mobile device only to be destroyed by the OS of such devices. When will Nokia wake up?
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Nokia Lumia 710 - First Impression
Introduction
As I have mentioned before, I am always a diehard Nokia fan irrespective of what sort of mobile phone I am using at the moment. This is because I feel that I am always connected to Nokia. No doubt that the Iphone 4s brings about innovation and user friendliness but it needs a soul which I think I can find it in Nokia again especially they have cooperated with Microsoft to introduce their Windows Phone 7 OS to Nokia.
Presently, you could argue that there are not many choices when it comes to a proper Windows Mobile device. I could not agree with you guys anymore but nontheless we need to start using the OS from Nokia's point of view. Naturally I could have waited for the upcoming Nokia Lumia 900 which will be released in the UK next month or I could have chosen the Nokia Lumia 800 at this moment since Nokia has provided a few updates to the firmware itself and got rid of some bugs in the OS. Apart from this, I could have chosen a HTC device which powers the Windows Phone 7 but I have decided to stick to my plan in getting a Nokia Lumia 710. The main reason why I come to that conclusion was mainly due to the price decrease of the Lumia 710 from £289 down to £139 which you could get your hands from Carphonewarehouse at this moment. I have checked with Phones4u and they are still selling it at £199.
The Feel
I quite like the plastic surface and bottom of the Lumia 710 and I feel that it is very light compared to the Iphone 4. Apart from that, I feel that it can easily slip into my back pocket and slip out again easily. I would recommend users to make a purchase for a rubber phone cover for the Lumia 710 so that you will have more grip on the device. If I were to compare the Lumia 710 with the Lumia 800, it wil be obvious to note that the Lumia 800 feels much better but you need to take into account that the Lumia 800 cost twice the amount of the Lumia 710 so there is no comparison at all. For the price of £139, I believe that it is worth every penny, isn't it?
Hardware
Well, if you are a surfer, you will notice that the Lumia 710 is powered by a single core 1.4Ghz cpu from Qualcomm. I wonder why would Nokia not use a dualcore cpu instead. After doing some research, I have come to a conclusion that Nokia would not need to use a dualcore cpu as Windows Phone 7.5 will not be able to utilise multicore cpu anyway so they can save some money in purchasing single core cpu for their mobile device. However, all these will change when the next generation of the Windows Phone OS arrive as it will support multicore and external memory card reader, unlike the present Windows Phone devices which does not come with an external memory slot. It does not really matter to me but I would hope that manufacturers should allocate more memory into their devices by default as it will be accessible on a faster pace than using an external memory card.
If you look at the Lumia 710, it does not support external memory card and users will have to stick to its palty 8GB memory. This is quite sad as the storage will easily used up in no time so consumers will have to be smart in managing the storage space on the Lumia 710. I think most probably I will fully utilise the 8GB for maps instead. Oh wait...
I have forgotten about the 5MP autofocus digital camera on the Lumia 710! It is a powered by a non Carl Zeiss optics and comes with a LED flash. There is not much to talk about apart from the fact that the picture quality is certainly much better than the Iphone 4 and I am so used to the way how would someone take a picture on a Nokia device as compared to the Iphone range. The only 5MP from the back will allow a user to take 720p video (or HD video) up to 30fps which is not too bad. However, if you guys want to use a mobile phone to take good pictures and high quality videos, I would suggest waiting for the Nokia Pureview 808 which consist of a 41MP digital camera powered by Carl Zeiss optics.
Overall, I am impressed with the performance of the Lumia 710's picture quality and video quality. I will post some pictures and videos later.
Apart from that, I do find bluetooth and the usual 2012 specification of a modern smartphone to be quite equipped on the Lumia 710 with the exception of not including NFC but it is understandable. However, I am not too sure about that as the Nokia Lumia 610 NFC comes with build in NFC so I don't understand why would Nokia not include NFC technology on the Lumia 710.
I am also impressed with the 3.7" with Nokia's Clear Black Display coated with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. I have to admit that the display work wonders under direct sunlight as compared to the Iphone 4. Kudos to Nokia!
I have no issues with the buttons on the phone and same goes to the touchscreen as it is quite responsive. I am slightly concern with the 1300mAh battery as it will last a full day with 3G usage and standby the whole day but it is much better than the Iphone 4's 1432mAh as it would not last one full day and I have to recharge the Iphone twice a day.
OS
I do not have much of a problem with Windows Phone 7 apart from the fact that it is using more battery since it is 'live tiles'. It takes some time for a person who comes from Symbian, Android or the iOS to get used to it. It will be easier for someone who is using the Nokia N9 to get used to the OS as compared to an Android user.
Early impression/Criticisms
I am quite happy to use the Nokia Lumia 710 as my backup phone. In fact, I feel that Nokia should have installed a Carl Zeiss optics on the Lumia 710 but nontheless, I believe that the price is justified. I do not have any problems with the phone as the volume on the speaker is loud. The only concern which I have is the SAR for the Lumia 710 as it is rated at 1.3. Oh well, it is still far below the threshold of 2.0 anyway.
Another problem with the Windows Phone 7 OS is that there are not many applications which you could actually download, so unlike the Android and on the iOS platform. Worst of all, there is no Skype unless you are referring to Skype beta! Well, it is not really relevant taking into account there is no front camera on the Lumia 710. What a shame. Above all, there is no true multitasking on the Windows Phone 7.5! This is so backwards as compared to the Symbian OS!
Update:
14/04/2012 - Apparently the Lumia 710 is suffering from a death grip!!! I am so shocked that Nokia has succumbed to it! The death grip is present if you hold onto the bottom part of the phone. You will see that the signal level will drop and it will increase again if you were to hold on to the side of the phone instead. This is not happening to Nokia! I am so shocked! I think I need to buy myself a protective cover for the Lumia 710 to resolve this problem. By the way, I have updated the Lumia 710 to WP 7.5 so there is no issue of not updating the software on the Lumia 710. I hope that Nokia will find a fix for this!
As I have mentioned before, I am always a diehard Nokia fan irrespective of what sort of mobile phone I am using at the moment. This is because I feel that I am always connected to Nokia. No doubt that the Iphone 4s brings about innovation and user friendliness but it needs a soul which I think I can find it in Nokia again especially they have cooperated with Microsoft to introduce their Windows Phone 7 OS to Nokia.
Presently, you could argue that there are not many choices when it comes to a proper Windows Mobile device. I could not agree with you guys anymore but nontheless we need to start using the OS from Nokia's point of view. Naturally I could have waited for the upcoming Nokia Lumia 900 which will be released in the UK next month or I could have chosen the Nokia Lumia 800 at this moment since Nokia has provided a few updates to the firmware itself and got rid of some bugs in the OS. Apart from this, I could have chosen a HTC device which powers the Windows Phone 7 but I have decided to stick to my plan in getting a Nokia Lumia 710. The main reason why I come to that conclusion was mainly due to the price decrease of the Lumia 710 from £289 down to £139 which you could get your hands from Carphonewarehouse at this moment. I have checked with Phones4u and they are still selling it at £199.
The Feel
I quite like the plastic surface and bottom of the Lumia 710 and I feel that it is very light compared to the Iphone 4. Apart from that, I feel that it can easily slip into my back pocket and slip out again easily. I would recommend users to make a purchase for a rubber phone cover for the Lumia 710 so that you will have more grip on the device. If I were to compare the Lumia 710 with the Lumia 800, it wil be obvious to note that the Lumia 800 feels much better but you need to take into account that the Lumia 800 cost twice the amount of the Lumia 710 so there is no comparison at all. For the price of £139, I believe that it is worth every penny, isn't it?
Hardware
Well, if you are a surfer, you will notice that the Lumia 710 is powered by a single core 1.4Ghz cpu from Qualcomm. I wonder why would Nokia not use a dualcore cpu instead. After doing some research, I have come to a conclusion that Nokia would not need to use a dualcore cpu as Windows Phone 7.5 will not be able to utilise multicore cpu anyway so they can save some money in purchasing single core cpu for their mobile device. However, all these will change when the next generation of the Windows Phone OS arrive as it will support multicore and external memory card reader, unlike the present Windows Phone devices which does not come with an external memory slot. It does not really matter to me but I would hope that manufacturers should allocate more memory into their devices by default as it will be accessible on a faster pace than using an external memory card.
If you look at the Lumia 710, it does not support external memory card and users will have to stick to its palty 8GB memory. This is quite sad as the storage will easily used up in no time so consumers will have to be smart in managing the storage space on the Lumia 710. I think most probably I will fully utilise the 8GB for maps instead. Oh wait...
I have forgotten about the 5MP autofocus digital camera on the Lumia 710! It is a powered by a non Carl Zeiss optics and comes with a LED flash. There is not much to talk about apart from the fact that the picture quality is certainly much better than the Iphone 4 and I am so used to the way how would someone take a picture on a Nokia device as compared to the Iphone range. The only 5MP from the back will allow a user to take 720p video (or HD video) up to 30fps which is not too bad. However, if you guys want to use a mobile phone to take good pictures and high quality videos, I would suggest waiting for the Nokia Pureview 808 which consist of a 41MP digital camera powered by Carl Zeiss optics.
Overall, I am impressed with the performance of the Lumia 710's picture quality and video quality. I will post some pictures and videos later.
Apart from that, I do find bluetooth and the usual 2012 specification of a modern smartphone to be quite equipped on the Lumia 710 with the exception of not including NFC but it is understandable. However, I am not too sure about that as the Nokia Lumia 610 NFC comes with build in NFC so I don't understand why would Nokia not include NFC technology on the Lumia 710.
I am also impressed with the 3.7" with Nokia's Clear Black Display coated with a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass. I have to admit that the display work wonders under direct sunlight as compared to the Iphone 4. Kudos to Nokia!
I have no issues with the buttons on the phone and same goes to the touchscreen as it is quite responsive. I am slightly concern with the 1300mAh battery as it will last a full day with 3G usage and standby the whole day but it is much better than the Iphone 4's 1432mAh as it would not last one full day and I have to recharge the Iphone twice a day.
OS
I do not have much of a problem with Windows Phone 7 apart from the fact that it is using more battery since it is 'live tiles'. It takes some time for a person who comes from Symbian, Android or the iOS to get used to it. It will be easier for someone who is using the Nokia N9 to get used to the OS as compared to an Android user.
Early impression/Criticisms
I am quite happy to use the Nokia Lumia 710 as my backup phone. In fact, I feel that Nokia should have installed a Carl Zeiss optics on the Lumia 710 but nontheless, I believe that the price is justified. I do not have any problems with the phone as the volume on the speaker is loud. The only concern which I have is the SAR for the Lumia 710 as it is rated at 1.3. Oh well, it is still far below the threshold of 2.0 anyway.
Another problem with the Windows Phone 7 OS is that there are not many applications which you could actually download, so unlike the Android and on the iOS platform. Worst of all, there is no Skype unless you are referring to Skype beta! Well, it is not really relevant taking into account there is no front camera on the Lumia 710. What a shame. Above all, there is no true multitasking on the Windows Phone 7.5! This is so backwards as compared to the Symbian OS!
Update:
14/04/2012 - Apparently the Lumia 710 is suffering from a death grip!!! I am so shocked that Nokia has succumbed to it! The death grip is present if you hold onto the bottom part of the phone. You will see that the signal level will drop and it will increase again if you were to hold on to the side of the phone instead. This is not happening to Nokia! I am so shocked! I think I need to buy myself a protective cover for the Lumia 710 to resolve this problem. By the way, I have updated the Lumia 710 to WP 7.5 so there is no issue of not updating the software on the Lumia 710. I hope that Nokia will find a fix for this!
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
Nokia Lumia 900
I am quite excited to see that Nokia has developed the Nokia Lumia 900 which was announced not too long ago during CES 2012 yesterday. After going through the specification of the Lumia 900, clearly, there is not much of a difference between the Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 but the beefier Lumia 900 is welcomed by many people.
I am sure that you would also agree with me that the Lumia 900 should have been the Lumia 800 at the first place. It is a pity that at this moment, the Lumia 900 is exclusive to USA's AT&T so there is no word as to whether it will be made available out of the USA. It reminds me of some years ago where Nokia released the Nokia E73 which is exclusive to USA's T-Mobile. Until now, I still can't get hold of one in the UK unless I am willing to import from the USA.
The Lumia 900 is powered by the same cpu which you could find on the Lumia 800. Most of the specifications are the same as the Lumia 800 apart from the larger 4.3" capacitive screen with Clear Black Display. It is also 4G LTE enabled so download and upload should not be a problem at all. Apart from that, the Lumia 900 comes in either 16GB or 32GB version without any possibility of increasing its internal storage with an external memory card. Besides that, the position of the headphone jack and the micro-SIM card slot is slightly different from the Lumia 800. The best upgrade of all is the inclusion of a front facing camera for video calling. I hope that Skype on Windows Phone enabled OS will be able to use video call which is similar to Skype on the iOS and on the Android platform. Perhaps Nokia is moving on to video calling on Skype since Microsoft bought over Skype not too long ago.
Perhaps consumers will get the Lumia 900 if it is made available worldwide and if video calls on Skype is made available on Windows Phone devices.
Check out for more information here .
I am sure that you would also agree with me that the Lumia 900 should have been the Lumia 800 at the first place. It is a pity that at this moment, the Lumia 900 is exclusive to USA's AT&T so there is no word as to whether it will be made available out of the USA. It reminds me of some years ago where Nokia released the Nokia E73 which is exclusive to USA's T-Mobile. Until now, I still can't get hold of one in the UK unless I am willing to import from the USA.
The Lumia 900 is powered by the same cpu which you could find on the Lumia 800. Most of the specifications are the same as the Lumia 800 apart from the larger 4.3" capacitive screen with Clear Black Display. It is also 4G LTE enabled so download and upload should not be a problem at all. Apart from that, the Lumia 900 comes in either 16GB or 32GB version without any possibility of increasing its internal storage with an external memory card. Besides that, the position of the headphone jack and the micro-SIM card slot is slightly different from the Lumia 800. The best upgrade of all is the inclusion of a front facing camera for video calling. I hope that Skype on Windows Phone enabled OS will be able to use video call which is similar to Skype on the iOS and on the Android platform. Perhaps Nokia is moving on to video calling on Skype since Microsoft bought over Skype not too long ago.
Perhaps consumers will get the Lumia 900 if it is made available worldwide and if video calls on Skype is made available on Windows Phone devices.
Check out for more information here .
Friday, 6 January 2012
Nokia N8 with Nokia Belle
I am pretty certain that many of you would have been able to install Nokia Belle on your existing Nokia N8. Well, it was something which I have waited a long time to do so. Let's face the fact, Nokia Belle on the Nokia C7-00 looks good; the menu speed has increased tremendously and certainly connectivity has improved. Moreover, it gives the user a fresh new UI which is remarkable.
As you all know, I have a Nokia N8 with me to test out installing Nokia Belle just for fun. According to some forums after doing some extensive research, the latest firmware version of the Nokia Belle is 111.030.0607 so I have taken the risk to flash the Nokia N8 to Belle.
It did not take long to flash the N8 as all you need is some important softwares with some common sense. What you need is (a) Pheonix Software; (b) Anna OS for the N8; and (c) Belle OS for the N8. The whole flashing would only take you around 10 minutes to do but you need to bear in mind that I am not responsible if you brick your phone! I will provide you with a link to all the necessary websites to download the files together with the instructions.
My first impression on Nokia Belle was: "Wow"! I could not imagine the Nokia Belle could run on a single core 680mhz ARM cpu! This is just perfect! After flashing it, I would recommend users to reset the N8 before using it. I have to give a two thumbs up to Nokia this time for the Nokia Belle. I am quite happy with it because after flashing the N8 with Nokia Belle, the menu speed has increased and it takes a shorter time for me to install an application from the Nokia Store, as compared to the Anna OS previously where you will see a circle kept on turning round and round for some time before the application will be installed completely.
With Nokia Belle, it opens up a user to a different kind of UI. Obviously the icons are different (much smoother now) and you can slide down from the top (just like an Android and iOS 5) for any notification. The best of all would be the silky smooth firmware, although not an official firmware, can offer to a user! Nokia should not wait for next month before releasing the Nokia Belle on existing mobile phones. They should release it right now!!!
At this moment, even though I am quite happy with the UI of Nokia Belle, I am trying to flash it to other languages so I am still working on it. Watch this space as I will be back!
Link
Enjoy!!!
Update:
2000hours - Seems like if I were to just flash the three chinese firmware files onto the N8 will cause a speed decrease on the N8 so I've managed to flash the three files to support Chinese and the original core Nokia Belle file. After doing so, the OS is now as good as new! It is so much faster now! I love it!
07/01/2012 - Most of the applications will run but Skype does not seem to run past the registration page. I don't know why. When I tried to log on to skype.com/m to download the application, it states that the device is not supported. Oh well, at least I have Nimbuzz installed.
As you all know, I have a Nokia N8 with me to test out installing Nokia Belle just for fun. According to some forums after doing some extensive research, the latest firmware version of the Nokia Belle is 111.030.0607 so I have taken the risk to flash the Nokia N8 to Belle.
It did not take long to flash the N8 as all you need is some important softwares with some common sense. What you need is (a) Pheonix Software; (b) Anna OS for the N8; and (c) Belle OS for the N8. The whole flashing would only take you around 10 minutes to do but you need to bear in mind that I am not responsible if you brick your phone! I will provide you with a link to all the necessary websites to download the files together with the instructions.
My first impression on Nokia Belle was: "Wow"! I could not imagine the Nokia Belle could run on a single core 680mhz ARM cpu! This is just perfect! After flashing it, I would recommend users to reset the N8 before using it. I have to give a two thumbs up to Nokia this time for the Nokia Belle. I am quite happy with it because after flashing the N8 with Nokia Belle, the menu speed has increased and it takes a shorter time for me to install an application from the Nokia Store, as compared to the Anna OS previously where you will see a circle kept on turning round and round for some time before the application will be installed completely.
With Nokia Belle, it opens up a user to a different kind of UI. Obviously the icons are different (much smoother now) and you can slide down from the top (just like an Android and iOS 5) for any notification. The best of all would be the silky smooth firmware, although not an official firmware, can offer to a user! Nokia should not wait for next month before releasing the Nokia Belle on existing mobile phones. They should release it right now!!!
At this moment, even though I am quite happy with the UI of Nokia Belle, I am trying to flash it to other languages so I am still working on it. Watch this space as I will be back!
Link
Enjoy!!!
Update:
2000hours - Seems like if I were to just flash the three chinese firmware files onto the N8 will cause a speed decrease on the N8 so I've managed to flash the three files to support Chinese and the original core Nokia Belle file. After doing so, the OS is now as good as new! It is so much faster now! I love it!
07/01/2012 - Most of the applications will run but Skype does not seem to run past the registration page. I don't know why. When I tried to log on to skype.com/m to download the application, it states that the device is not supported. Oh well, at least I have Nimbuzz installed.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
In Love with Nokia...(Again)
After a brief disappearance, I am back with Nokia again! This time, I am using the good old Nokia N8 which I have managed to update its firmware to Anna. I know that I could try updating the N8 to Belle but I think I will wait for February 2012 before doing so. After all, it is only two months away so it is not a problem for me.
The more pressing issue is with Nokia's ability to maintain its lead as the leader of smartphones in the world. Unfortunately, Samsung is fighting back hard and fast so I hope that Nokia will be able to ship its mobile phone not only in quantity but also in good quality. We need more up to date hardware coming from the Finnish company. After all, they used to be the market leader so it will be a shame if they lose the market share to other companies.
I think Nokia should reinvest their mobile devices. Take a good example at Samsung. They have managed to capitalise on their own dual core CPU design and produced many worthy mobile phones e.g. Samsung Galaxy S2 and the Galaxy Y and The Galaxy X. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy S2 is the most sort out mobile phone (non Iphone category).
The question is whether Nokia can rise up to the challenge. Their foray into the Meego infrastructure is a good start but they seemed to have halt the development of such firmware on future mobile devices. Nokia seems to have just places the Nokia N9 and the Nokia n950 on Meego 1.2. The rest of the high end phone will still be getting the Windows Phone OS.
Personally, I don't quite understand Windows Phone 7.5 and I will not be able to understand why would Microsoft not providing the necessary support for an external memory stick. That is why you can never find an external memory card slot for any Windows Phone devices.
I like Nokia Drive on the Lumia 800. Perhaps it is the only selling factor for Nokia at the moment so what to do?
Friday, 16 September 2011
Windows Phone 7 OS - Any luck this time?
Windows Phone 7 has been the talk of the town recently. It is mentioned by Microsoft that the WP 7 offers better user interface and improved connectivity than previous generation of Windows Mobile. I beg to differ.
Ever sinced Microsoft released the WP7, it was dodged with bugs which took a good few months for Microsoft to release their 'No-Do' update on the WP7. Apart from this, the updated WP7 will not allow customers to transfer files via Wi-fi, so unlike the Samsung Kies Air or the Nokia PC Suite/ Ovi Suite. Is that an improvement over WM6.5?
Arguably WP7 is faster than the WM6.5 but we need an update badly. The so-called 'Mango' WP7.5 should be released quite soon. It will boost the existing user interface twice the experience of WP7. Well, it is not a good news after all, isn't it?
Microsoft (via Steve Ballmer) that WP7 mobile phones are not selling as many as they have expected. Well, there is a reason for it - User friendliness and functionality. Both of these can't match the superiority of the Android and iOS platform. While Nokia is moving over to use Microsoft products in the near future for their high end phones, perhaps it will help Microsoft to overcome their fear of being the last in line of OS used on a mobile device.
Well, don't hold your breath yet as Nokia is still developing on their existing Symbian OS. What does the future hold for WP7?
Ever sinced Microsoft released the WP7, it was dodged with bugs which took a good few months for Microsoft to release their 'No-Do' update on the WP7. Apart from this, the updated WP7 will not allow customers to transfer files via Wi-fi, so unlike the Samsung Kies Air or the Nokia PC Suite/ Ovi Suite. Is that an improvement over WM6.5?
Arguably WP7 is faster than the WM6.5 but we need an update badly. The so-called 'Mango' WP7.5 should be released quite soon. It will boost the existing user interface twice the experience of WP7. Well, it is not a good news after all, isn't it?
Microsoft (via Steve Ballmer) that WP7 mobile phones are not selling as many as they have expected. Well, there is a reason for it - User friendliness and functionality. Both of these can't match the superiority of the Android and iOS platform. While Nokia is moving over to use Microsoft products in the near future for their high end phones, perhaps it will help Microsoft to overcome their fear of being the last in line of OS used on a mobile device.
Well, don't hold your breath yet as Nokia is still developing on their existing Symbian OS. What does the future hold for WP7?
Wednesday, 7 September 2011
Nokia N9 - Anything good?
It seems that Nokia N9 is now on pre-order in Romania and also Germany. I am not entirely sure the justification of spending €620 of your hard earn money to get one of those highly anticipated Nokia mobile phone - the Nokia N9.
Let's face the fact - you have a 4" screen which is inline with most of the 2011 specification. However, I am not buying the fact that it only comes with a tiny battery and a single core 1Ghz cpu. Even if you could overlook these two shortcomings, the Meego OS is potentially useless as Intel has pulled out of the Meego project. Moreover, Nokia is pushing the development of WP7 on their high end handset and have cut down on the expenditure on Symbian OS so there is no good prospect of users of the N9 if Nokia is not going to further develop the OS.
I may be interested in the N9 but I am just hoping that Nokia will release much better mobile phone - the rumoured Nokia 801, perhaps?
Let's face the fact - you have a 4" screen which is inline with most of the 2011 specification. However, I am not buying the fact that it only comes with a tiny battery and a single core 1Ghz cpu. Even if you could overlook these two shortcomings, the Meego OS is potentially useless as Intel has pulled out of the Meego project. Moreover, Nokia is pushing the development of WP7 on their high end handset and have cut down on the expenditure on Symbian OS so there is no good prospect of users of the N9 if Nokia is not going to further develop the OS.
I may be interested in the N9 but I am just hoping that Nokia will release much better mobile phone - the rumoured Nokia 801, perhaps?
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Anna OS on Nokia N8
I am a big fan of the Nokia N8. This is because I'm attracted to its Carl Zeiss optical lens and 12MP digital camera. Besides that, I could also sync contacts, messages, calender and tasks using Nokia PC Suite or Nokia Ovi Suite via bluetooth. This is not possible with many other mobile phones e.g. Apple's Iphone unless you are using a PC and you have jailbroken your Iphone. You can also sync your PIM with Samsung's Keiss. Most Android powered mobile phones will be using Google's PIM to sync with their mobile phones. Nothing beats Nokia PC Suite. Well, you need to take note as I've mentioned Nokia PC Suite and not Nokia Ovi Suite. The only good thing with Nokia Ovi Suite is that it will allow users to update the maps on their Nokia phones with ease, unlike the PC Suite.
I do have a Nokia N8 and it runs on PR1.1 when I first purchased it. Later on, I've managed to flash it to PR1.2 when it was officially released. I would have the say that even with the updates, the OS is still very much running like a snail and lacked speed. That was where Nokia announced that they will be releasing Anna OS early in the year. Actually, they have been talking about Anna OS for Symbian ^3 mobile phones for a long time but it has yet to materialised saved for the Nokia E6 and the E7. I am sure that the official Anna OS for Symbian ^3 mobile phones will be released towards the end of this month.
It was just last night that I've come across an unofficial Anna OS for Nokia N8. Well, once I have downloaded the firmware, I would just need to use Pheonix to flash it onto my N8. It is perfect as it has both English and Chinese support! That's brilliant!
Even though it has just been less than a day since I've had the Anna OS update, I have seen some improvements. First of all, the menu has speed up. Secondly, I have noticed the new style icons. It is good and refreshing but some of the colours on the icons are just too bright; Thirdly, I have noticed that the ambient lighting sensor is working properly now; Fourthly, Purple tint in the screen has vanished; Fifthly, Skype is working so much better now - People on the other side of the phone can hear me properly without much effort; and last but not least - better reception.
I can't comment on the battery life because it seems to me that there is no change into the life of the battery as I have just used it for less than a day. Perhaps I might be able to see wonders in the coming days but I'm not expecting miracles. After all, it is just a single core ARM v6 processor with a dedicated gpu chip and the cpu is just 680mhz even though Nokia could have remove the limitation of the cpu and stick it with 772mhz as it was designed to do so.
I am happy with the Anna OS so far. Bring on Belle OS! What's going to happen when the next generation of the Iphone is scheduled to be released soon? At this moment, apparently mobile network providers in the UK have received those next generation Iphones to be tested on their systems. Well, the next generation of the Iphone will not be able to match the 12MP Carl Zeiss optics on the N8, not even the Nokia N9.
Update:
07/01/2012 - I have successfully upgraded the N8 to Nokia Belle (RC) with Chinese support. The only annoying thing is that I can't install Skype on the N8 as Skype does not support the N8 with Nokia Belle. Apart from that, it is just cool!!!
I do have a Nokia N8 and it runs on PR1.1 when I first purchased it. Later on, I've managed to flash it to PR1.2 when it was officially released. I would have the say that even with the updates, the OS is still very much running like a snail and lacked speed. That was where Nokia announced that they will be releasing Anna OS early in the year. Actually, they have been talking about Anna OS for Symbian ^3 mobile phones for a long time but it has yet to materialised saved for the Nokia E6 and the E7. I am sure that the official Anna OS for Symbian ^3 mobile phones will be released towards the end of this month.
It was just last night that I've come across an unofficial Anna OS for Nokia N8. Well, once I have downloaded the firmware, I would just need to use Pheonix to flash it onto my N8. It is perfect as it has both English and Chinese support! That's brilliant!
Even though it has just been less than a day since I've had the Anna OS update, I have seen some improvements. First of all, the menu has speed up. Secondly, I have noticed the new style icons. It is good and refreshing but some of the colours on the icons are just too bright; Thirdly, I have noticed that the ambient lighting sensor is working properly now; Fourthly, Purple tint in the screen has vanished; Fifthly, Skype is working so much better now - People on the other side of the phone can hear me properly without much effort; and last but not least - better reception.
I can't comment on the battery life because it seems to me that there is no change into the life of the battery as I have just used it for less than a day. Perhaps I might be able to see wonders in the coming days but I'm not expecting miracles. After all, it is just a single core ARM v6 processor with a dedicated gpu chip and the cpu is just 680mhz even though Nokia could have remove the limitation of the cpu and stick it with 772mhz as it was designed to do so.
I am happy with the Anna OS so far. Bring on Belle OS! What's going to happen when the next generation of the Iphone is scheduled to be released soon? At this moment, apparently mobile network providers in the UK have received those next generation Iphones to be tested on their systems. Well, the next generation of the Iphone will not be able to match the 12MP Carl Zeiss optics on the N8, not even the Nokia N9.
Update:
07/01/2012 - I have successfully upgraded the N8 to Nokia Belle (RC) with Chinese support. The only annoying thing is that I can't install Skype on the N8 as Skype does not support the N8 with Nokia Belle. Apart from that, it is just cool!!!
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
Anna OS - July 2011
It was a relieved to know that the Anna OS will be released next month (July 2011) for all existing Symbian ^3 devices which includes the N8. I am thrilled!!! Nokia should stick to their guns and released more updates sooner than ever!
Nevertheless, it is good to know that Nokia is listening to its customers. Speed up, Nokia!
Nevertheless, it is good to know that Nokia is listening to its customers. Speed up, Nokia!
Nokia N9 and N950
I am thrilled! Do you know why? Well, finally, Nokia has come up with some good products to showcase their development especially during an important event such as the Nokia Communications 2011 in Singapore. The show is still running at this moment and I am really proud to be one of Nokia's fan again! I
It is mentioned by Elop that there will be two Meego devices, one which is targetted at consumers, i.e. the Nokia N9 and a developers' unit, the N950. Whatever it is, I am really happy to see that Nokia has taken Meego quite seriously! I hope that they have awaken especially after Intel criticised Nokia for joining the alliance with Microsoft. I would have foreseen it as Elop has strong ties with Microsft. Besides that, releasing WP7 on a Nokia device should not come as a surprise taking into account that many other manufacturers have done so.
The N9 will be equipped with a 1Ghz single core ARM A8 cpu with 1GB of ROM. That is pretty good. If that does not get you excited, it comes with a 3.9" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen! I am quite amazed at Nokia because they have Clear Black Display - Why not use it? The screen itself reminds me of the N8. Perhaps Nokia would just use up their existing stock instead?
Nokia has done it again by applying an 8MP autofocus lens on the N9. It is equipped with a Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. I think it is superb although Xenon flash will be more appealing and the fact that it does not have a secondary camera to support video calling. Personally, I don't think a secondary camera is useful unless Skype release an updated software which will support video calling. Well, until now, it is only available on the iOS. Terrible!
The device supports quadband GSM and Pentaband UTMS. I do find the battery life would increase especially with a 1450mAh battery. This is just perfect! Shouldn't Nokia just use the exisintg 1500mAh battery on the E90, E71, E72 and E73? That would save a lot of money, don't you think so? Perhaps the exisitng battery takes up a lot of space and it is heavy! Just look at Samsung's 1650mAh battery on their Samsung Galaxy S2!!! It is light and packed with power!!!
I am thrilled!!! I just can't wait for Nokia to release the N9! Perhaps by then Nokia will recapture the crown as the number one mobile phone producer and seller in the world!
It is mentioned by Elop that there will be two Meego devices, one which is targetted at consumers, i.e. the Nokia N9 and a developers' unit, the N950. Whatever it is, I am really happy to see that Nokia has taken Meego quite seriously! I hope that they have awaken especially after Intel criticised Nokia for joining the alliance with Microsoft. I would have foreseen it as Elop has strong ties with Microsft. Besides that, releasing WP7 on a Nokia device should not come as a surprise taking into account that many other manufacturers have done so.
The N9 will be equipped with a 1Ghz single core ARM A8 cpu with 1GB of ROM. That is pretty good. If that does not get you excited, it comes with a 3.9" AMOLED capacitive touchscreen! I am quite amazed at Nokia because they have Clear Black Display - Why not use it? The screen itself reminds me of the N8. Perhaps Nokia would just use up their existing stock instead?
Nokia has done it again by applying an 8MP autofocus lens on the N9. It is equipped with a Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash. I think it is superb although Xenon flash will be more appealing and the fact that it does not have a secondary camera to support video calling. Personally, I don't think a secondary camera is useful unless Skype release an updated software which will support video calling. Well, until now, it is only available on the iOS. Terrible!
The device supports quadband GSM and Pentaband UTMS. I do find the battery life would increase especially with a 1450mAh battery. This is just perfect! Shouldn't Nokia just use the exisintg 1500mAh battery on the E90, E71, E72 and E73? That would save a lot of money, don't you think so? Perhaps the exisitng battery takes up a lot of space and it is heavy! Just look at Samsung's 1650mAh battery on their Samsung Galaxy S2!!! It is light and packed with power!!!
I am thrilled!!! I just can't wait for Nokia to release the N9! Perhaps by then Nokia will recapture the crown as the number one mobile phone producer and seller in the world!
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Bravo, Nokia!
Finally, I can smell something good coming from Nokia's factory! It is confirmed that the Anna OS will be launched next month as mentioned on Nokia' official channel. This is suc a good news to eveyone! I will be lookin forward to upgrding my Nokia N8! I think the upgrading from PR1.2 to PR2.0 has taken a long time for Nokia to do so.
However, I think Nokia will start making money from royalties. This time would be from Apple. Oh yes, Apple just lost their case and they would have to pay Nokia royalties for using their technology. In return, Nokia wil stop pressing charges against them. I think this is just a fair game and you will see that Nokia might be able to stay afloat longer this time. For more information, click here.
Keep up the good work and never let down your customers!!!
However, I think Nokia will start making money from royalties. This time would be from Apple. Oh yes, Apple just lost their case and they would have to pay Nokia royalties for using their technology. In return, Nokia wil stop pressing charges against them. I think this is just a fair game and you will see that Nokia might be able to stay afloat longer this time. For more information, click here.
Keep up the good work and never let down your customers!!!
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