All About Symbian - Feature Articles - S60 3rd Edition

Features - S60 3rd Edition - Hardware

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Ideal keyboard design in smartphones - looking at Aspect Ratios

David Gilson has a theory. It concerns correlating the aspect ratio of a smartphone's virtual or physical qwerty keyboard with text entry speed, on the grounds that one's thumbs have more (or less) work to do, depending on form factor. Read on for his data and the theory in detail - and see if you can help produce more data points with your own device(s).

# Posted by David in Comment, Hardware at 14:03 BST, Aug 1st

The sadly flawed Symbian world top-end line-up

In this feature, I've been taking a long hard look at the top-end smartphones in the Symbian powered world over the last three years, pointing out their flaws and frailties, and - where appropriate - pointing out what should have been done to fix things up. Yes, Symbian has been cracking along at record momentum in the mid-tier, with Nokia trouncing the iPhones, Blackberries and Android phones in terms of raw unit sales, but as many others have pointed out, Symbian's partners have been scoring rather a lot of own goals in recent times. And what of the 2010 Symbian^3 crop - will these suffer a similar fate?

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 11:08 BST, Jul 27th || 69 Comments

Defining the Smartphone - part 2 (testing the definition, head to head)

As mentioned in part one of my Defining the Smartphone feature from earlier in the week, the very word now encompasses a surprising range of hardware, with some claiming that the older phone-like devices are outdated when compared to the modern capacitive touch slabs and that the former shouldn't even be called smartphones. In this, part two, I attempt to quantify the various attributes of two of the extremes from the smartphone world, I take the latest evolution of Nokia's classic S60 slider form factor, the N86, and pitch it head to head with the current highest rated Android smartphone in the UK, the HTC Desire. Will my own smartphone definition hold water?

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 12:41 BST, Jul 21st || 31 Comments

Defining the Smartphone - part 1

In leaps and bounds, the term 'smartphone' is being bandied about by manufacturers, analysts, journalists, developers and end users across the world. Which would normally be a good thing, except that there are many definitions, all totally different. What exactly defines a smartphone in 2010? What did it used to mean in 2007? Or 2003? With reports regularly quoting the word, it would be good to all agree what the word means, surely? Steve Litchfield addresses the issue, in part one of a two part feature.

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 13:05 BST, Jul 16th || 22 Comments

Good Photos mean 50% Good Camera and 50% Good Photographer

The popular misconception about camera phones is that the higher the spec level, the better the photos you'll take. While I'll accept that there is some correlation there, another big factor is the skill (or, more accurately, imagination and common sense) of the user. In truth, you don't have to be David Bailey or own the current top-rated camera smartphone costing megabucks in order to turn out pleasing photos. Let me demonstrate...

# Posted by Steve in How To, Comment, Hardware at 11:20 BST, Jul 14th || 21 Comments

Not a Dedicated Follower of Fashion - 10 Reasons Why Touchscreens Suck

Playing devil's advocate, but only to a degree, Steve Litchfield turns the entire smartphone world on its head by rejecting its latest darling - large touchscreens. Ask any pundit in the mobile world about smartphones and you'll get the answer that it's all about touch. About large displays that can be caressed and programmed and manipulated with your fingers. Except that traditional, non-touch form factors have these 2010 'flagships' well and truly beat - here are the Top 10 Reasons Why Touchscreens Suck.

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 20:25 BST, Jul 7th || 46 Comments

Nokia E63 meets its Series 40 rival, the new C3

We tend to ignore Nokia's cheap and cheerful Series 40 platform phones here on All About Symbian, but the launch of the new C3 brought, in theory, a handset slap bang into contention with a Symbian-powered smartphone, in this case the E63, itself over a year old now. Which means that a blow by blow comparison should be very interesting - can the £80 C3 (currently a Vodafone exclusive in the UK) threaten the lowly (for the smartphone world) E63?

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 14:52 BST, Jul 6th || 21 Comments

Hero or Zero smartphone? - Staying ahead of the need for RAM

Using a mixture of diagrams and literary quotes, Steve Litchfield re-examines the thorny issue of RAM, explains why it has been an issue for years and identifies the models that have been up to scratch and those that haven't. Where do the devices you've owned sit in the grand RAM pantheon? Finally, he asks whether the upcoming crop of devices have sufficient of this precious resource? Comments welcome!

# Posted by Steve in How To, Comment, Hardware at 13:26 BST, Jun 26th

How long SHOULD a smartphone battery last?

Starting with a throwaway line from a US podcast, Steve Litchfield works up a head of steam over the ever-slipping battery life standard in our smartphones. How long is long enough when it comes to keeping a modern smartphone going on a single charge? Are we destined to need to carry around mobile chargers in our pocket in 2011 or is there a better way to go? Surely making it through the day is a fundamental that should never be compromised?

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 15:19 BST, Jun 18th || 39 Comments

The Right Tool for the Right Job - Seven users, seven smartphones

Spanning all platforms and all usage types, at the start of 2010 I compiled recommendations for seven types of smartphone user (i.e. for seven use cases) for The Phones Show, in video form. Six months later, I revisit the same stereotypes in textual form, with updated choices, recommendations and predictions. Do you agree with my assessments? Whether yes or no, your comments are welcome.

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 9:14 BST, Jun 5th || 19 Comments

Pimping the Nokia N82

Here's the latest in my series about taking older, classic (2008 or before) hardware and finding out how far it can be taken to work to best effect in the modern day. You'll have seen the features on the Nokia E61i and E90 - now here's Pimping the Nokia N82 - a quirkily styled candybar that sat at the top of Nokia's hardware tree for ages - and in some ways still does.

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Software, Hardware at 15:21 BST, May 27th || 23 Comments

Large transflective screens and keypad: the legendary Nokia N95 and its family

With summer upon us in the UK and the sun burning down (well, some of the time, at least), I've been somewhat shocked at how bad all of the touch-screen-equipped Symbian-powered smartphones are when it comes to actually being able to see what's on screen clearly. Whether a map, a photo or an important email, surely you need to be able to read your device's screen in all light conditions? With this in mind, I went back to my store of older devices and could then feel another of my famous infamous comparisons coming on.

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 16:51 BST, May 7th || 13 Comments

Why size matters

No, not a cheap attempt at Google search traffic on male enhancements, but another serious look at the ever changing, ever growing statistic that is phone screen size. Steve Litchfield looks at devices and use cases past and present, from Psion Series 5 to Apple Newton to Dell Axim X51V to Nokia 7710 and through to the Samsung i8910 HD in the current day. Initially cautious over whether phones might get too big, Steve points out that a 4" display is more a 1995 phenomenon than a 2010 one....

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 19:56 BST, Apr 18th || 20 Comments

Camera Nitty Gritty: Supplemental - EDoF

In a late-breaking(!) addition to his extended Camera Nitty Gritty series, Steve Litchfield looks at the EDoF cameras in some of Nokia's S60 smartphones and compares performance to traditional focussing units. EDoF: a step forwards for convenience? Or a step backwards in terms of flexibility?

# Posted by Steve in How To, Hardware at 9:06 BST, Apr 15th || 16 Comments

Nokia strike a blow for reasonably priced smartphones

David Gilson looks at Nokia's new C6 and E5 smartphones in the light of the models they either replace or will be compared to. What's outstanding is, naturally enough, the prices, though David goes into significant technical detail in justifying the comparisons and conclusions.

# Posted by David in Comment, Hardware at 15:40 BST, Apr 13th

Pimping the Nokia E90 and replacing the N97?

You'll have seen my previous 'retro' article, looking at pimping the Nokia E61i, an early 2007 device that can now be picked up for pocket money but which still has a unique form factor. The same applies, but 'in spades', to the Nokia E90, released only a few months after the E61i but sporting the full Communicator form and also S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1, plus SDHC support. Like the E61i, it too had a number of performance bottlenecks, so how did I get on pimping the Nokia E90 to 2010 standards and might it possibly challenge the mighty (ahem) N97? Read on....

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Software, Hardware at 8:56 BST, Mar 29th || 28 Comments

Discovering the Pros and Cons of Touch. Is this the Future?

After resisting the persistent trend of touch screen smartphones, David Gilson reports on his experience of living with some S60 5th Edition touch screen phones.

# Posted by David in Comment, Hardware at 14:17 GMT, Mar 8th || 30 Comments

MWC Video Content

List of video content from MWC related to Symbian as part of the AAS / Mobile Industry Review collaboration.

# Posted by Rafe in Interviews, Comment, Profiles, Software, Develop, Hardware at 18:37 GMT, Feb 28th

Making more of less: Pimping the Nokia E61i and smartphoning on the cheap?

In an epic tale of heroism and 'making do', I lead you through a series of hopefully thought-provoking segments, showing that perhaps there's more to a smartphone than feeling compelled to buy the latest £400 hardware. In the process, I point out the potential benefits of one of Nokia's unsung heroes, the E61i, my main smartphone through the summer of 2007 and a device to which I was recently reintroduced. Reality bites home in the end, though, and I conclude that there's an equal acknowledgement to be made in terms of progress made by Nokia and Symbian over the last few years.

# Posted by Steve in How To, Software, Hardware at 15:36 GMT, Feb 28th || 22 Comments

Full screen QWERTY hybrids: Nokia E90 vs Nokia N97 mini vs HTC Touch Pro 2 vs Motorola Milestone

In another of my periodic hardware head-to-heads, I pitch a variety of full-screen, full-qwerty hybrid smartphones against each other, ranging from the 3 year old Nokia E90, still supported but hard to find for sale now, through to the spanking new Motorola Milestone. Which devices punch the heaviest when the rubber really hits the road?

# Posted by Steve in Comment, Hardware at 21:23 GMT, Jan 10th || 31 Comments

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