Discuss iPhone and Nokia – Smartphone Round Robin Contest

FYI, that link above needs fixing — it’s missing a ‘d’, as in:

http://www.smartphoneroundrobin.com/

Do I still qualify for a prize?

I personally do nothave a wholelot of experience with the nokia OS however I am now very intrigued by it! It seems like it is very user friendly. From what i know the only thing you will lose out on when it comes to apple to nokia is the genereal web surfing and internet experience that you get with an iphone. other than that you will not lose out on pretty much anything!

• S60 or Maemo - S60 2 years ago, Maemo in 2 years time. S60 is solid, has a lot of abilities but is not nice to use and the phones available using it (even the N97) are not good enough, particularly when it comes to speed, smoothness and multitasking (i.e. not enough ram). Maemo is potentially amazing, especially married to brilliant hardware aka the N900. But it’s still a little baby, missing lots of basic stuff (portrait and a documents editor in particular).

iPhone -v- Nokia?

Both the N97 and N900 are very good when it comes to connectivity and openness. Nokia but everything into their phones (bluetooth, fm transmittter, tv out etc etc) and let developers use that hardware however you want (e.g. joikuspot 3g wifi router). The other thing is live widgets and a customizable home screen, which both S60 and Maemo have (but Maemo is way better again).

What they don’t do is user interface (with S60 devices anyway) and bringing all your apps to one place. but again, Maemo could solve both problems. If it gets the apps going.

If you haven’t guessed, I am a big N900 fan. But at this stage i can’t justify the cost for something that still doesn’t have the basic apps yet. So i’m on android, for the moment. Still, would love a free N900

I support phones at a company that travels a lot internationally so I have a European E52 phone to work with.

Ugh. It’s a complete pain to find settings on it and what it does do it does poorly.

Nokia needs to make low end phones that drive people to their high end phones if they want to be taken seriously in the high end market.

Especially since the iphone is in so many countries where Nokia is. I can see Apple driving down the cost of the 3G and spreading it even more in Nokia’s traditional markets.

1. How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what. Yes, both are powerhouses. When deciding between the two, I believe it would come down to one basic difference. Would you like a phone/smartphone feel or a desktop feel. Maemo is a lot about getting a desktop experience on your phone. While symbian will still give you a more phone experience. Internet browsing is also a key feature of Maemo, which if you read any blog online will tell you that the browsing experience with N900 is the best of all smartphones out there today.
2. Nokia platform’s strengths against iPhone OS: Better camera/video experience. Multitasking and fast access to open apps. Customizable homescreen, lets each individual user have his/her homescreen with the most important info to them being displayed. Cheaper GPS option, with free maps. Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone?
3. And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple?

I am an E71 user (first smart phone ever). Using this phone as my navigator everywhere I travel (Ovi Maps 3), as my home phone using VOIP (build in VOIP client), for all my work email (MFE, exchange) when I am away from the office (roughly 50% of the time) and as my access point to the web (Opera Mobile 10). Before making my choice about 12 months ago I made comparisons with the iPhone, because that was also available to me (along with the Blackberry Bold).

Here is what I found the iPhone was lacking: - Hardware QUERTY key board, I just cannot go typing halfway blind without any tactile feedback. I have to admit that the iPhone has one of the best, if not the best soft keyboard out there. What I am trying to say here is that there is just no hardware choice out there when it comes to iPhones. You cannot buy a smaller iPhone, or one with a keyboard.

• Software all locked down on the iPhone. What I just despise is someone telling me what I can and cannot do with my gadgets. Not allowing me to get my programs from anywhere else but the app-store is bad, just out of principle and I don’t like the possible data mining that comes with it.

• In quite a lot of countries you can only get an iPhone with a certain carrier, limiting my choices.

• At the time when I made my choice there the iPhone was missing out on very basic things like cut & paste and their exchange integration had more limitations that MFE by Nokia. From what I read the iPhone is now pretty much on par.

I would have liked to have that big screen the iPhone provides, I would have liked all these nice gadget apps made possible by the brilliant touch UI and the accelerometer and the superb media capabilities. My E71 crashes from time to time, it could be a lot snappier and you really need to know your way around to make things work for you. Still, even after getting to know all the negatives, my choice today would be with the E71 (or E72 now).

1. How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what. Yes, both are powerhouses. When deciding between the two, I believe it would come down to one basic difference. Would you like a phone/smartphone feel or a desktop feel. Maemo is a lot about getting a desktop experience on your phone. While S60 will still give you a more phone experience. Internet browsing is also a key feature of Maemo, which if you read any blog online will tell you that the browsing experience with N900 is the best of all smartphones out there today.

2.Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone? Nokia platform’s strengths against iPhone OS: More hardware options. Better camera/video experience. Better Flash support. Multitasking and quick access to open apps. Customizable homescreen, lets each individual user have his/her homescreen with the most important info to them being displayed. It basically lets you personalize it in your own unique way. Built in FM transmitter(standard on most but not all N-Series phones) Cheaper GPS option, with free maps. Have to mention 2-way video calling I use it via fring and its free! My parents are in India, and I am in the US. We no longer need a webcam or a laptop .

1. And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple? Better UI, Nokia is getting there…but still need work. Better gaming experience.

Things I did not include which I believe is pretty much same between both platforms: Music experience. I would place internet browsing experience in this order Maemo>iPhone>S60. Apps…I know a lot of people will start shouting that I am wrong…there are like more than 100,000 apps for the iPhone and stuff. But remember, “apps” includes games as well, and I’ve already given that to the iPhone. When it comes to useful(keyword here “useful”…I don’t need a $999 app to tell me I am rich http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=2368) apps which are not games…they are pretty much in the same boat. The other day, my friend told me about Qik, I was like its been there for S60 way before iPhone. Fring..same thing. eBuddy, youtube, google maps, gmail you name it. Its all there…

1. How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what.

I agree with the desktop/phone feel. Honestly, the best way for trying out phones is to just play with them for a few days.

1. Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone?

Multitasking. Need there be more? Plus hardware stuf, software you can modify without resorting to jailbraking your phone…

1. And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple?

The App Store, The Music Store, and just the multi-touch experience. I’ve used phones from everyone, and no one has beat the iPhone when it comes to their integration of every part software wise and the genius of multi-touch on a phone. WinMo, Palm, Blackberry, and Nokia are close, but haven’t beaten the iPhone yet.

Sorry about the double posting, the first time I accidentally hit submit while trying to select some thing.

The biggest thing imho is the state of mind and expectations when it comes to Nokia devices.

As a Nokia fan I’ve never been impressed by the iphone 2g or 3g despite spending tons of money on it. Its a great media player due to the itunes integration but as a phone its unreliable and still remains years behind Nokia devices imho.

S60 is dragged through dirt due to its UI but the people who have invested in it know what its capable of and have been able to do things that users in the USA are just getting around to….and herein lies the problem.

S60 and even Maemo5 is “difficult” for a novice. You need to dig into setting and put work in customization. Once thats done you get the best in phone quality, some of the best smartphone camera’s that allow you to create and upload media to whatever website/blog that you’d like. Send all kinds of messages (text,media,data,contacts etc etc) to any kind of number in the world and expect it to work. I could go on and the features may sound small but once you get used to them, you expect them in every other phone.

As for what you gain with a Nokia device over the iPhone, I’d have to point to multitasking, and software modification. It makes a huge difference to day to day use and enjoyment of the phone. I don’t have an iPhone but I do have an iPod Touch and the lack of multitasking frustrates me to no end!

1. How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what. S60, booo. Maemo is frustrating, but the future.
   1. Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone? Multitasking!
   2. And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple? UI experience. Apple dominates here

I dunno but I’d like to enter the contest or whatever

It is all about multitasking. Without that, Nokia has a usability edge as far as I am concerned.

The N900 looks like a real big powerhouse for the Nokia brand. The phone (computer) looks amazing and sleek, but like stated in the early video previews, Nokia needs to get its act together and work on making this phone more mainstream. It is good to target the ‘geek’ audience but if Nokia is able to appeal to all audiences with the N900 it will be able to become a real big contender in the smart phone world.

1. Maemo is the future.
   1. Multitasking.
   2. App Store.

I have the Nokia E71 and it’s a great phone. Nokia phones definitely have the best sound reception I’ve ever heard. The iPhone is a great device too but to me is better as a media device. The phone part isn’t all that great as calls drop and you can’t hear the other person even half as well as you can on the Nokia E71. The N900 makes me drool and I’d love to get one someday.

I’m not a huge multitasker but Nokia sure has that covered well compared to the iPhone.

The iPhone’s UI is easier for me to use than Nokia’s. Nokia’s UI reminds me of a BlackBerry because you have to search inside of different folders.

1. S60 or Maemo… Variations of Nokia’s Symbian S60 OS have been sold on million units, mostly outside the US. Clearly s60 has the install base, but in my opinion, it’s merely effective at retaining the percentage of the population happy with the status quo rather than providing the flash and opportunity that consumers are starting to see in the newer platforms such as Maemo, WebOS, and iPhone OS. Nokia risks becoming the “Windows Mobile” carrier, satisfying an increasingly smaller audience.

2. Maemo Linux is clearly Nokia’s future.. but not the now. The OS is basically a desktop Linux system in a tiny package–the mobile computer Nokia has been so desperate to sell to us. The browser is unadulterated Mozilla code with full Flash 9 support. while the OS has power to spare, and offers far more potential customization and divergence from iPhone-type platforms, it’s simply not nearly as optimized as it should be. The experience on paper is far better than the reality at the moment.

3. Finally, there’s simply not as much app support at this stage vs. iPhone or Blackberry OS. However, with it’s Linux backbone, and with the power of Nokia behind it, there is the potential to easily see its future success. With current Mobile applications now focused on web apps, there is the increased possibility for easy interpolation between systems.

I honestly do not know the difference between S60 and Maemo, however a co-worker has the N900 and love it and the the power that Maemo gives him. He’s able to customize his ‘desktop’, multitask, view webpages just like they were rendered on a true desktop PC instead of a mobile website, which I like.

While the N900 does not have a lot of the apps that the iPhone has, it is different from the iPhone in that it’s more of a mobile laptop, while the iPhone is more of a mobile device that allows you to launch different applications. The multitasking is truely stunning on the N900 coming from the iPhone as it is smooth and you’re able to keep apps, videos, websites, running while performing other task and switch between them.

“How do I decide between S60 and Maemo…?”

I’m a long time S60 user but I’m always eager to try something new so I’d go with Maemo. Plus none of the 5th edition phones really excite me, they all are RAM limited and the UI seems rather half baked. The only new S60 that’s tempting me is the E72.

“Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? …” Multitask!!! The better S60 phones like the N95 8GB and the E71 have 80+ MB free RAM which lets you run a dozen apps at once and switch quickly between them just like on a PC. Plus access to all the things that Apple blocks including VOIP over 3G, uploading and downloading files directly to the filesystem, Flash Lite, a choice of totally different browsers (I especially like Opera Mobile and Mini and Skyfire), FTP and SSH clients.

“And what will I lose out on?…” You will miss the most beautiful, easy to use and intuitive mobile user interface ever created. Nokia build quality is not as consistently high as Apple’s either. The E series devices are generally pretty solid, N series less so. Apple has an edge in industrial design too. The 3 year old iPhone is far more attractive than anything from Nokia and feels better in the hand too.

(1. How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what.)

Well, Symbian and Maemo are completely different software platforms and have little in common aside from Nokia. Think of it as akin to comparing Windows Mobile and Android. Truthfully, if you live in the browser (Social networking, sharing photos and videos online, etc.), you’ll love Maemo, but if require apps, then you’re going to want to stick with Symbian for now, till Maemo develops.

(2. Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone?)

Nokia is much more hardware forward than Apple. It’s not as shiney-pretty-glittery, but the tech geeks love it. You can get video calling, widgets, hi-res 800×480 displays, linux-style development, etc. However, to get that you give up on…

(3. And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple?)

…a cradled ecosystem. The difference in Maemo and Apple is who’s in control. Apple gives you what they give you. It’s developers seek approval for all apps and homebrew COULD potentially vanish at any point in a future generation. The Maemo community is very community driven with software available from multiple channels. There’s also a Maemo Council and community-elected officials who have a definite voice in the ultimate development of the OS.

[...] get some extra help, I’ve got a post up at NokiaExperts.com, where I’m really hoping to get my understanding expanded a notch (or [...]

[...] get some extra help, I’ve got a post up at NokiaExperts.com, where I’m really hoping to get my understanding expanded a notch (or [...]

[...] get some extra help, I’ve got a post up at NokiaExperts.com, where I’m really hoping to get my understanding expanded a notch (or [...]

The conversation here seems to be slowing down today–Let’s fix that. I’ve heard some pretty great opinion so far, enough to change a mind? Perhaps. With that in said, how about we generate some questions to keep the civil debate ongoing. .. Perhaps I’ll start with a few for Casey: .. 1. Are you content with where the Apple iPhone is currently, or are you pining for some specific changes / additions found in other platforms? .. 2. More specifically, If there was no Homebrew (jailbreaking) and you were left only with stock feature set? .. 3. How important is a centralized App repository to you in your device choices and usage? .. 4. What have you read recently (or today!) that might interest you, as a consumer, in furthering your knowledge of the s60 / Maemo platforms?

There’s an error on my part in my above comment… Dieter, not Casey. Sorry! I thought posing a few questions such as those might further stimulate the conversational flow.

1. Are you content with where the Apple iPhone is currently, or are you pining for some specific changes / additions found in other platforms?

I personally am waiting for thinks like multi-task. That’s a big one right now.

1. More specifically, If there was no Homebrew (jailbreaking) and you were left only with stock feature set?

Oh gosh. Haha. For me, jailbreaking is a necessity. I’ve had WinMo phones before and cooking ROMs was a must for the best experience.

1. How important is a centralized App repository to you in your device choices and usage?

Partly. It’s one of those where it is nice to have, but most of the time I get apps from my computer and transfer them

1. What have you read recently (or today!) that might interest you, as a consumer, in furthering your knowledge of the s60 / Maemo platforms?

I’ll admit I’ve always wanted to get a little more familiar with Symbian. The closet I’ve got is with a string of Motos back in the earlier part of this decade.

Reading the above comments, the key thing which stands out is the ability to multitask on Nokia devices effeciently. I believe the day (if it comes), Apple decides to include true multitasking in the iPhone, the gap in the disadvantages of switching to an iPhone from a Nokia device will shorten greatly.

Honestly, after being able to multitask its painful to switch to a phone with which you can do just one function at a time.

I don’t really like either of these phones but a friend of mine could really use a new phone… Ideally I win one. Will post again tomorrow…

How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what. S60 is more mature, but getting old in the tooth. It still has plenty of life if they choose to work on it. But will they invest money into an old OS? Maemo has been around but is still fairly new and has a ton of potential. If touch screen powerhouses is what you crave……Maemo is the future

Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone? Multitasking, bigger better cameras, side loading without hacking, market share strength

And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). You’ll be leaving behind a very vanilla platform where everybody has the same looking handset. At times, I feel sorry for the iPhoners because its like looking at a bunch of lemmings. I cringe at the thought of everybody owning the same plain Jane device. Variety is GOOD. While the app store is good, you would also be leaving behind their gestapo ways. On the flip side, Apple is the giant right now and is comfortably in the drivers seat in many ways. You would be leaving behind quite arguably the most solidified and revolutionary platform available

What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple? Mindshare mindshare mindshare

I thought I might touch upon a couple more advantages of the n900 and Maemo that I felt were really compelling…

Firstly, the N900’s supports Flash files embedded in pages ( real Youtube, Flash games, etc.) bring more of the internet you’ve grown accustomed to on your home computer into the mobile space. Also, since the browser on the N900 is based on Firefox, it can be extended with add-ons such as Adblock Plus!

Finally, With the iPhone, you’re limited to 8, 16, or 32 GB of memory, period. The Nokia N900 includes a microSD card slot. The micro sd helps to both expand the memory and also another cool feature is that you can clone your Os into the sd card. But generally, if you run out of memory for all your photos, videos and music, you can simply add or swap memory cards. Basically you are negating going back to your house and connecting to your pc and then transferring to your device which is a real comfort.

1. If you’re looking for a traditional, straight up smart phone pick the S60, If you’re looking for a device that is more powerful and flexible and are willing to put in the required work to get the most out of it go for the n900
   1. a few things off the top of my head; with Maemo and Nokia you’ll get: flash support, expandable memory, intergrated Skype support, wider video and audio codec support, superior networking experience with Nokia messaging, easy ability to port linux apps as well as support for the programing language Python which opens this platform to a lot more potential developers, larger choice of cellular network carriers, changeable batteries for long trips, multiple and customizable desktops,widgets and icons, higher quality camera, you can multitask, richer browser experience, and since Nokia so far has besides a few exceptions stuck to resistive screens you can count on the ability to stretch with a stylus and you can use you’re phone comfortably while wearing gloves in colder climate.
   2. From what I can see you’d lose arguably the most fluid and simplest interface on the market today, it’s ease of multimedia syncing, as well as assured compatibility with any apps and media within apples eco system, you’d lose a wide range of third party items for your phone and apples splendid applecare plan.

The way I see it at least with Maemo 5 and Nokia’s n900 vs Apples Iphone 3gs is… If you want an environment where things are limited yet work together splendidly; if you’d gladly trade customization and freedom of use for ease of use: stick with the Iphone. If you want a device that gives you complete freedom of choice (software speaking) in what you use it for and how you use it. If you don’t mind trading in being a bit more savvy for greater possibilities, then the Nokia N900 is for you. Both phones are great and both fill a need. As for me the N900 is my cup of tea.

Wow. You people are fantastic. Easy to see why those who love Nokia love Nokia.

So far, based on your feedback, I’m leaning towards Maemo as the future, even if it’s taking a while to get there. Better forward looking and aspiring, and I’m patient.

So, if Nokia does go all in with Maemo, what do they need to do to make it a viable platform. It’s got rough edges, but do they just need filling or does the paradigm they’re using need to evolve as well? Do we need a mobile desktop just when the desktop is going mobile?

And how do they penetrate North America? Apple has done it through ease-of-use and the iPod ecosystem. Is Nokia destined to niche, high-tech adoption here, or is there a way they can get iPhone or BlackBerry-level numbers?

Much appreciated!

I’d love to get hold of the latest Nokia phone to see what it has to offer.

someone posted a great comment… there really is not perfect phone out there for anyone… and as a consumer you really need to determine exactly what features are going to be the deal breaker for you!

[...] still struggling with Nokia, the S60 N97-mini, and N900. Yeah, wish me luck with that. (Or give me some help and maybe win a Nokia smartphone as [...]

[...] I’m still struggling with Nokia, the S60 N97-mini, and N900. Yeah, wish me luck with that. (Orgive me some helpand maybe win a Nokia smartphone as [...]

The key thing with Nokia’s success or failure in North America is advertising. People never hear of Nokia phones other than the dumb feature phones. And even those aren’t advertised. lol..just the other day at best buy I was just checking out the phones on display, one guy was asking one of the sales rep at the Verizon counter that his daughter wants the phone which has a hole like a key ring in it. I knew instantly that he was talking about the new Nokia Twist. The guy didn’t know it was a Nokia neither did the sales rep and to top it off it seems that best buy didn’t have that device for display and one would need to visit an actual verizon store to get that.

The Nokia booklet is on display in best buy, but it is just sitting there in a small corner between the cell phones and computers section. Nokia need more devices and some dedicated store space.

HTC has recently launched a massive ad campaign about their phones. I love their ads. They have a few different ads with different phones and aren’t specific to any carrier nor OS. But HTC is being popularized. It is very important for Nokia to advertise their high end phones.

It was comparatively easy for Apple since they already had a dedicated fan following and they had a huge success with their ipod line up.

Nokia needs to do a lot of ground work to establish a fan following in North America. Its not going to be easy and it may take more than a couple of years. But the sooner they start the better.

Like some others who have posted, I’m not familiar with all the differences in Maemo and S60. But from what I’ve been reading here, Maemo is really sounding great. I love the fact that it has flash support and the expandable memory. Not that I require THAT much memory with my iPhone, but just having the choice to add more makes me more comfortable. I was fiddling around with my Nokia N810 last night and Wow, has Nokia come a long way since that device!! From watching the Round Robin video and Matt’s videos, it’s easy to see how much more smoothly one can navigate on a web page with the current Nokia touchscreen device. The Nokia N900 looks like a top notch gadget.

2nd day of entry

[...] still struggling with Nokia, the S60 N97-mini, and N900. Yeah, wish me luck with that. (Or give me some help and maybe win a Nokia smartphone as [...]

Get the S60. Maemo is still a developer tool (analogous to Google unleashing the NexusOne). The E-series is definitely way more of a productivity tool. N series phones pretty much offer most of what the E-series does but with a resistive touch screen. I don’t really see a need for it. Get an E-72.

S60 multitasks. End of discussion.

Nokia has an app store (with useful apps), no need for jailbreaking, multitasking, 5+ megapixel cameras with flash/flashlights, incredibly well built hardware (in the E-series at least) and are not forced into awkward binding terms in addition to the usual 2-yr contract. (Coming from a sales background, I’m talking about the hoops that AT&T goes through with its special iphone contracts).

iPhone is made up of the cheapest parts (especially the battery and antennae), drops calls like no other on the same network, does not multitask, and strings their fanbase along for incremental features that should have been on the phone 3 years ago.

Nokia wins (and so do BB, Droid, and even WinMo).

entering again… don’t have a smartphone right now.

I’ll admit that part of Nokia’s problem is they’re lack of familiarity with the general public in regards to their Smartphone line.

Hey, I don’t use an iPhone, but I know all about it. Who outside of us nerds can thoughtfully articulate the differences between Maemo and S60… In fact, I’m doubtful the average Smartphone consumer has ever heard of either. That’s unfortunate and so easy to fix! Look at Android, at Windows Mobile, at iPhone OS; they’re advertised, and people recognize them as relevant and powerful.

I agree Sayo. Especially here in the States, you really don’t hear much from Nokia. The iPhone and the Droid are big right now for specific phones, and Blackberry has done a lot of advertising as well. So whereas a normal person might not know the difference between a 9700 and a 9000, they know Blackberry.

I third the comment by Sayo and Soccernamlak regarding S60/Maemo confusion. Where are the ads? Nokia’s not a small comany, and the US is a huge market for smartphones with advanced software features.. yet they seem intent on falling behind. Even HTC is advertising their new units!

1. S60 is still the more tried and true of the two OSs, Maemo is for that uber-hacker geek.
2. Nokia lets you use your phone like a computer in your hand, Apple still feels it needs to make it a mobile experience.
3. You will lose out on the huge development community for iPhone that is there now because of all of the hype, but I think that it will die down in a couple of years. Also not being tied down to iTunes is a wonderful thing.

I haven’t used a Nokia in a very long time, but I’ve been interested in the recent additions to the playing field. I hope I win so I can try out one of these cool new phones, and maybe be able to do a head to head with my blackberry bold 9700.

[...] still struggling with Nokia, the S60 N97-mini, and N900. Yeah, wish me luck with that. (Or give me some help and maybe win a Nokia smartphone as [...]

I too have not used nokia in a long time… prob since one of my first cell phones…and long before the smartphone era! I do think that nokia would have alot more recognition and better sales in the us if they put a bit more strategy behind their advertising in the states!

If Nokia can leverage the area where their smartphones are strong, such as, their camera and video quality. If the ovi store is stocked with well thought apps, games and the downloading process is easy. If they can keep the interface intuitive and simple yet customizable to the power user and turn the geeky image of Maemo in to a more trendy one; they’ll do well.

day 3 of entries…

Nokia really does have the hardware side of the equation figured out. Their newer smartphone units, compared to any others on a strictly hardware basis, are among the top of the pack in features and overall quality.

E71 and E72 rock like no other. Build quality is amazing.

Anyone here know if there is any truth to the rumors I’ve heard over at Precentral recently about Nokia eyeballing Palm as an aquisition target?

@rodhnc

Eh, that’s been going around for a while now, but there’s no indication of it happening, or of either company wanting it to happen. Simply analyst chatter.

I don’t know if I’d want it to happen honestly. I think they both appeal towards different markets…

Writing up my final Nokia thoughts now, and will post them up on TiPb.com tomorrow, but I wanted to thank everyone again for the extraordinary help, advice, and just plain expertise they’ve shared. Matt and NokiaExperts have a phenomenal community!

1. Doesn’t matter which both suck *** at this point.

2. Nothing and none.

3. Convenience, ease of use, 100k apps, iTunes, capacitive screen, cool factor, and probaly sanity.

Im guessing everyone out there that isnot a blackberry fan is loving the fact that RIM had that giant email outage yesterday! huh? it makes us blackberry people look stupid!

day 4 of entries…

“Im guessing everyone out there that isnot a blackberry fan is loving the fact that RIM had that giant email outage yesterday! huh? it makes us blackberry people look stupid!”

I have a Curve 8900 and I don’t think it makes blackberry people look stupid. It happens occasionally where BIS goes down. Just like networks go down for cell providers. What can you do? I will admit it was frustrating around 1AM last night getting 12 hours worth of emails scattered all at once.

I like the how the iPhone does things. It presents hard concepts and ideas in a simple and innovative way all while keeping a compact form factor. I think this is what appeals to many people and the fat that it is one of the best mp3 players around. Nokia could take this and use it for Mameo. Nokia needs to try and present its os in a new and innovative and inviting way.

I enjoyed the review. I didn’t realize how similar Nokia and BB were in several respects.

@abezapata I don’t see anything innovative about the iphone (except for mobile Safari and maybe the App Store). What’s inviting about it is the bright icons and big touch buttons, aside from the Apple branding and style. Otherwise there isn’t much that is unique. Every other OS had a launch menu of icons, GPS, 3G, mp3 player of some kind, downloadable apps, and all those features before the iphone.

What Nokia doesn’t have is the Apple marketing. Also S60 looks more dated than it actually is (font and lack of eye candy kill it).

iPhone really isn’t any simpler than the other smartphones. It still takes the same button pushes to get to all the same features on all other phones. (The iPhone doesn’t have to deal with memory management due to lack of multitasking, but I wouldn’t call that a positive simplification).

Yeah, mark me down as not a fan of a Nokia / Palm merger.

I just doubt they’re much of a match.. they seem to be diverging more than converging.

1) How do I decide between S60 and Maemo. Both are powerhouses, but I really need help figuring out which is better at what.

First, one must decide what you want from the phone in the next 12months. Something that just works? Then S60 is the obvious choice at this point in time, brilliant phone experience with a trade-off in the internet experience quality. Willing to live with a very simple phone capability, small number of simple apps and maybe resorting to beta testing for many more, in an OS that is still not perfectly stable but in the long-run will offer more power use and a supreme browser experience? Then take Maemo.

2) Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did? (Aside from 2-way video calling!) What are the Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone?

The S60 will provide a supreme day to day call experience. However, like the iPhone, IMHO it will do a lot of other things like GPS, maps, email etc etc but none of them satisfactorily except for the E71, which is a great phone. Compared to the iPhone, Maemo is a supreme multi-tasking device, a brilliantly integrated messaging and VOIP device, better video support plus TV out and will allow a lot of customisation. Some people say that’s a bad thing, but not when it occurs over time as you use the device.

3) And what will I lose out on? No one device is the best at everything, so I need a real, honest assessment of what I’ll be leaving behind (other than iTunes!). What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple?

Overall polish – S60 can be chuggy, and maybe it’s because I’ve known it for so long, but it just seems really old. Though I consider the iPhone interface old too. Both S60 and Maemo are a bit weaker on the music front, though some S609 device have the handy shortcut keys. And of course, apps. Not just the **** apps, but things like the recently released Guardian newspaper app, Domino’s app, ebook readers etc all show just how widespread the app base has become and I think if you were using them currently, you will miss them very quickly.

I don’t have much experience with the iphone (not a very popular device here in Kenya – it’s only offered by one service provide on contract) or Maemo (well, I’ve played with the N800 for a few hours), but I am quite familiar with S60.

I have a Nokia E63 and had an N95 for a few months and I must say I especially like the E63, especially the QWERTY keyboard. It’s a solid phone and its size is reasonable; I find the Maemo based phones to be quite large. The iphone is also a bit too big for my taste. I’ve used the Nokia 5800 a bit and if it’s anything to go by, S60 fifth edition is on its way there but still has some kinks to work out.

(1) How to decide between S60 and Maemo: well, I’d say finding and installing software for S60 is fairly easy and there is quite a lot of good software available out there. Maemo doesn’t have nearly as much software available, but you still find plenty of cool apps (I was pleasantly surprised to find Geany, an IDE I use on Ubuntu Linux, available for Maemo).

(2) Coming from the iPhone, what will S60 or Maemo let me do that Apple never did?

Let’s see.. there’s the multi-tasking of 3rd party apps by allowing them to run in the background, it’s easier to deploy your own applications on S60/Meamo if you are a developer (I do my own Python apps, sign them and run them on my phone), expandable memory via MicroSD, more phones models to choose from, better camera etc.

(3) And what will I lose out on?

Apple store, capacitive screen and, I submit, the iphone is more responsive.

Here in Kenya, Apple hardly advertises at all. Look around and all you see is Nokia, Samsung, Motorolla, LG, Sony Ericsson and some other brands. I guess that explains why the iphone is yet to become popular here.

But all things considered, the N97 Mini is just fine by me

another day, another entry

Smarhphone round-robin contest entry

Janky,

Agreed about the E71 and E72. They have pretty top notch build quality, from my brief experiences with them.

From above.. “Compared to the iPhone, Maemo is a supreme multi-tasking device, a brilliantly integrated messaging and VOIP device, better video support plus TV out and will allow a lot of customisation.”

Once these benefits are as great in practice as they are on-the-box, Nokia will really have a device that might sway all the iPhone converts back into their realm.

making another comment… -

“Once these benefits are as great in practice as they are on-the-box, Nokia will really have a device that might sway all the iPhone converts back into their realm.”

I don’t think so. Apple has these people in a locked system now. It would be harder to switch.

In reply to Tacos – From above.. “Compared to the iPhone, Maemo is a supreme multi-tasking device, a brilliantly integrated messaging and VOIP device, better video support plus TV out and will allow a lot of customisation.” Once these benefits are as great in practice as they are on-the-box, Nokia will really have a device that might sway all the iPhone converts back into their realm.”

That is true, but the N900 is merely step 4 of 5. The N97 is still the flagship (as bad as it is). Besides, nobody has managed all those features to my knowledge yet anyway. One would hope they would get it right with the follow up device next year, but I would also say Nokia are pretty occupied with the 11 trillion models (slight exaggeration) they put out each year.

Apple on the other hand, have just one device to get right

I have been using Nokia since last 6 years atleast, the first s60 phone i saw was 6600 and if i remember correctly it had multi-tasking even then… i have had 5 or 6 nokia s60 phones since then and I gotta say that the UI hasn’t really changed a lot at all, but its just like second nature to me now.

comparing iPhone and Nokia: don’t get me wrong, iPhone is a fine device, but it just doesn’t compare to all the customization abilities of the symbian OS.

App store arguement doesn’t hold true imho because 99% of the apps on app stores are junk. no app on iphone can compare to joikuspot and irremote, and garmin mobile xt.

You don’t have to jump through hoops to develop for S60/Maemo. You can find the right tools for basically and platform.

For iPhone however, if you don’t have a Mac you’ll have to develop for jailbroken iPhones or virtualize OSX.

[...] His tremendous knowledge and enthusiasm — along with the incredible help I received from the NokiaExperts community — are the only reason this review was able to happen. So to him and to them; [...]

another round

Is anyone using a NAM edition Nokia on AT&T?

Are you paying the cheaper dumbphone data plan? $10-$15?

@jankyhanky

I’m not but I know people who do use NAM edition Nokias on AT&T and pay the cheaper data plan. You can do this for any smartphone that is unbranded and unlocked with AT&T…just call them up from a dumbphone, get internet, swap SIM to smartphone, and go.

Hope it’s not too late to get into this contest.

I have to say I’ve been pretty unhappy with Nokia when it comes to dumbphones, stuck as I am on a 6085, which has an awful camera and is always locking up. For a smartphone, though, I think it might be a lot better, as I imagine the hardware is a lot more capable, and I’m hoping the software is more stable. Especially the N900, which looks fantastic.

@Fobok

Nokia has a bit of a stigma to jump over when it comes to the US market. Many are familiar with the Nokia name, but few with anything outside of cheap, pre-paid, or free-with-contract non-smartphones.

The requirements to develop for the iPhone platform are somewhat unfortunate, but it seems to have only had a minor impact, looking at the many, many apps they’ve been able to herd in. It’s one of the largestdraws of the iPhone.

another Smarhphone round robin contest entry

An iPhone would be a very compelling option if it was the size of the new iPod touch (considering the weight from the steel finish).

love nokia contest entry

Is this post good any more for giveaway entries now that there’s another one for week 2?

Definitely S60. Less restrictions on what you can do with the hardware.

another day of entry

Smartphone round-robin contest entry

Definitely S60!

Well, I really believe in Maemo’s apps progress! And we can’t forget the great multitasking of maemo!!

Thread still active?

1. Maemo v S60

Maemo is made with the internet first in mind… Mozilla who made FIrefox, the world’s no.1. browser are on board. Everything is optimised to get the best from the web.

1. The Nokia platforms strengths compared to the iPhone are that it allows you to have multiple windows open – alot of browsing habits involve looking at a number of windows simultaneously so the Maemo browser can be said to be the closest-to-desktop browsing experience out there.

2. What’s Nokia just not keeping up with compared to Apple?I guess the Nokia isn’t as beautiful as the iphone… it looks somewhat conventional compared to the streamlined iphone. and the moe player on the iphone is familar to mac users, so you lose a little on the mp3 player side with the nokia.

If you’ve been holding out for the N900, then you’ll patience is now rewarded – retailers are shipping orders IMMEDIATELY!

http://www.omio.com/phones/nokia/n900/deals

…And on two different networks – Tmobile and Vodafone,unlike the iphone, whihc initially came out on only one network.

@murage

There’s a newer thread up discussing Nokia from the WebOS perspective (or, at least, with Dieter in mind). However, this thread still seems to be relatively active all the same. Whether or not you’ll be entered into the contest is anyone’s guess though.

how about full in-browser flash? seems like Maemo’s got some great things going for it, and if Nokia actually tries to push it rather than let it die like the N810 it could be good

smartphone contest

sweepstakes entry…

i wanna win!

Not giving up…

a few of us are still going…

Nokia used to be my preferred phone till 2008. Even after the iPhone came, I was still looking towards a Nokis bcos of Skype. But now after the Appstore, nothing can beat an iPhone. Nokia phones have only couple of advantages now — can run Flash apps, expandable memory slot, better camera.

persistence is a virtue

Oops, missed a day.

back for more

Nokia needs to step up its presence in the USA so that can have a more loyal fan base. Its like selling video game consoles. They all need a massive user base to be successful.

I like the iPhone platform get ready for this wednesday!

another week, another entry

another post

one more

hi me want n900

never give up!

How long ’til contest ends?

Let’s not forget the weekend.

Is this contest over?

Last week for me

Nearing the end

we’re on the home stretch…

a couple more days

our very last chance!

I would say querty=s60. Touchscreen=maemo