Cali Lewis talks about the Nokia N97, needs some guidance from us
I had the chance to meet Cali Lewis, from Geekbrief TV, a couple of years ago at a Gnomedex conference and actually had her sign the back of my original iPhone because she was hosting the iCali show at the time. I heard that she spent a month with the N97 recently and you can find her video review of the device. Cali seemed to really like the hardware, but couldn’t quite get the hang of the S60 UI. I wish she would have contacted some of us in the Symbian community because we could have helped her quickly with issues that were really non-issues.
One thing Cali described in her video was how many taps it took her to call someone back who recently called her and she went the long route by going into contacts and back out to the dialer. The proper way to call back someone quickly is that you simply tap the green call button to see your recent dialed numbers, received calls, or missed calls so it takes just two taps to call a recent contact back.
Cali also mentioned trying Gravity, but then said it costs $30. This is so wrong and I have no idea where she heard that price from. As you can see on the Gravity website it is only $9.95 and well worth that price as I think it is the BEST client for S60 I have ever used.
I know that S60 can be a bit confusing for newbies, but it is completely customizable and once you get the hang of it then it is a pleasure to use. Not to mention the excellent Nokia hardware that Cali does go on about.
4 Comments to Cali Lewis talks about the Nokia N97, needs some guidance from us
Send her to Bellevue and I will give her private lessons on how to use the N97. =)
The S60 menu is so easy to useI think you’re probably right that you probably needs some private lessons and to spend time with somebody that has actually used one for a while.
meggmanSeptember 10, 2009
i was thinking much the same while watching her review. But even if the problems she points out are avoidable (not counting the fictional price for gravity), it points out a big problem with the s60 UI. There are too many ways to do the same thing. Sure, hitting the green call button is the best way to call somebody back, but why oh why is the other way even possible? Its a total leftover from s60 3rd edition, and even there i can’t find any use for it. For some reason, nokia feels that s60 must duplicate nearly every function within the softkey submenus. this makes for a confusing user experience. When I call somebody back on my n97 is use the green key approach, but i have to say that it does bug me knowing that the multi-click long approach is lurking there as a possibility. I just makes me feel as if there is a lot of unnecessary baggage towing along in the OS.
I agree that it would have helped her to ask an experienced s60 user for a tutorial, but that points out a major problem with the OS. Fundamental functions like making a phone call should be clear, and consistent for a novice, NOT requiring one to go on some s60 tips and tricks forum or ask an experienced s60 user for advice. Until nokia can sort that out (perhaps with maemo?) many will be turned off by the user experience.
NoahSeptember 1, 2010
I am wondering though: How do you easily call somebody back on their other phone number? I have a plan (Europe) with cheap calls to landline numbers while calling mobile phones is more expensive. So when I see I missed a call from somebody’s cell phone, I still want to try their landline number first. Older Nokias had a shortcut to the person’s whole address book entry. You’d hit the green call button to call them back and from THERE you could still choose from the person’s various phone numbers. ok, that’s one more button to hit, but far more practical when you do business calls a lot, and I’m still searching for this function on N97.
September 10, 2009