Published by Ewan Spence at 13:56 BST, October 26th 2010
Summary:
Somewhere the gods are looking down and laughing. You might recall a piece I wrote previously on how networks need to take care what they add to a handset – what could easily be considered a "value-add differentiator package" by head office could be seen as crapware by the end user. Steve and Rafe have handled the native hardware and software of the generic 'world' N8 package – now it's time to look at what the UK retail variant of the N8 has had added to it.
The good news is that no functionality has been removed (this isn't the USA, you know?) - the changes are all in the additional software department, and all are on display on the first homescreen.
And the votes from the judges are...
Let's start with the much maligned "X-Factor" application. Or, actually, a web shortcut to the Ovi Store so you can download the X-Factor application. You know something, when you buy a new phone and press an icon for app A, and actually get app B coming up, there's a moment of confusion. It's made even more awkward because when you hit download, you have to create an Ovi Store account before you can go any further (or log in with an existing one).
At least once the X-Factor app is downloaded, those icons will launch the X-Factor app... err, no. They always take you to the Ovi Store. Luckily it says "you've already installed this, would you like to launch it?" but this is "fail in the first five minutes" territory.
What you need to do is head to the Applications folder for the new X-Factor icon, that's the application. Meanwhile the shortcuts on the home screen and the big red X-Factor icon are still sitting on the handset and you'll need to learn how to remove these somehow.
Bye bye any hope of a brilliant out of the box user experience.
I can understand the business rationale in having people download the very latest version, grabbing their details and getting them into the Ovi sign-on system as soon as possible (either having them sign back in, or create an account), but this exercise in hoop jumping is easily viewed as "you've thrown crapware" onto the N8 and could easily upset someone new to this way of doing things.
Technical reasons might be fine if you're shipping a build of your own Linux environment that needs three weeks to hack together while you grow a beard, but a commercial smartphone needs to have an experience out the box that is second to none. It should be smooth, easy, and show the best of the device – not make you jump through hoops, throw up confusing icons, and fail to clean up the installer icon after its job is done. Think how many keypresses are needed to "run" the X-Factor application from start to finish. It's way too many.
What have you missed in the last seven days?
But let's carry on. After The X-Factor, what's the next biggest brand on the phone? The BBC iPlayer (and while this is a review of the software in the UK N8 bundle, let me re-iterate that the iPlayer is IP/geo-locked to handsets physically in the UK). This is actually a better experience. It also has to take onboard the chance of an updated version of the iPlayer software being present, but rather than go down the installed code route, the BBC has gone with nothing more than a shortcut pointing towards the iPlayer website.
Opening in the Nokia Web browser, you're presented with the mobile web version of the iPlayer, where you can search for programmes, navigate favourites, and continue to watch programs previously viewed. I think the majority of people will watch a streaming version of the program – all you need to do is hit "play" and "fullscreen" and away you go.
The resolution of streaming video is noticeably blocky on the N8, and this will be down to the BBC serving up a smaller stream for 'phones' that's suitable for streaming over 3G or Wi-fi. It's still watchable and relatively clear to make out what's going on, unless you're looking to make sense of on-screen graphics and information presented to you.
Needing something with more clarity means you'll need to download the video file to your phone. You can do this directly from the browser, and the file will pop up in the regular video viewing application on the N8. It does have DRM, so you have thirty days to view the file, and once you start to watch it, seven days to finish watching it (standard numbers for an officially downloaded BBC programme), and no, you can't take a screenshot of it!
To be honest, passing the file to the built in video player for any downloaded file is not only the common sense way of doing things, its the option I prefer. It's better for your battery (much less connectivity required), the picture is better, and it's far easier to navigate around the video file.
This bit isn't Nokia's fault, but I do wish the BBC would let you download radio programs via the iPlayer, even if they have to wrap it in a 'fake' video file to implement the DRM. I tend to listen to radio shows with more regularity than watch TV, and while some of them are podcasted by the BBC, there are a lot more that aren't, which I would like to carry with me for listening when it is convenient.
And, of course, the Nokia Podcasting client isn't (yet) available on the N8 firmware, so you have to go find the Symbian freeware alternative.
Going Underground
There's nothing that screams London more than the Underground, and nothing that screams UK more than London (or at least it seems that way in advertising), so the inclusion of Tube Map is an obvious call by Nokia to include on a UK -specific N8. I looked at this application at the tail end of last year (read it here).
The version number has been bumped up to 1.8.56, and there have been some changes – the biggest one is in the route planning where you can now choose fastest route or fewest changes to complete your route.
Using Fastest route to calculate the length of Amersham to London City Airport brings up an 80 minute journey with two changes, compared to previous version which threw up an 83 minute route and five line changes. There's still no interaction with the on-screen map to choose stations, and neither does it zoom in or out – I was hoping that the pinch gesture would be implemented here.
Tube map does what you'd expect, and while it looks great, the user interface is still a little bit lacking, Given the push to a consistent user interface over applications on any mobile platform, this is an inclusion that puts function over form. And it does function well (but still has a lot of room for improvement).
Watching without Mother (and a bit of music as well)
Media fans can enjoy two UK success stories in LoveFilm and Spotify, which are also bundled on the device. Both of these are subscription services, so you need to be using either service, and ponying up the monthly membership fees, to make the best use of these applications.
Spotify is one of the new breed of music applications that allows unlimited access to a large music library. Given we've not got a Ovi Music Unlimited option on the Nokia N8 (yet?), the ability to download your choice of music and keep it on your handset for later listening when out of coverage is both smart and well implemented (David looked at Spotify earlier this year).
LoveFilm will post out a DVD (or video game) to you, and when you send it back, send out another one. Essentially an unlimited rental model on physical media (for the monthly fee), the LoveFilm N8 application allows you to browse their library and decide what you want to watch next, either by direct search or the LoveFilm recommendation engine. Once you choose something, you add it to your queue, which can also be managed by this application. When your watched DVD is received back at base, the LoveFilm depot will work down your queue till it finds something it can send out.
Both of these apps are smart additions, although part of me wonders if an affiliate or finder's fee is on offer from these companies to Nokia. That's the sort of thing that many PC manufacturers use to increase the profit from PC's with extra software, and while it may not be the case with the N8 UK bundle, you can be sure that as margins on hardware get squeezed, manufacturers, networks and retailers may start to think of it as an attractive option.
Shopping on your smartphone
Staying in the physical world, the Tesco application (handily labelled Groceries) will allow you to browse a virtual supermarket on your handset (via lists and text, it's not a 3D Second Life-like virtual world, thankfully). Pick your weekly shop, or just some extras for a Halloween party you're planning, and the Tesco van will drive up to your door in the very near future with some crates and bags of stuff.
If you don't have an account with Tesco's Online Shopping division, you can create one from the handset via a browser page (you'd be surprised how many sign up pages don't work on a mobile browser) and then just head back to the application to sign in and start shopping.
I'd love to see what the take-up numbers of this application are after a few months of time on the N8 (and in the Ovi Store), but it's a PR masterstroke to put it on the UK N8's. "Can you do your shopping on it? Yes!" For all of those people convinced applications are what sells phones, having Tesco on the handset (and it's exclusive to Nokia) is a big consumer signpost that the phone is relevant and does new and modern things.
Yell out for local search
Also popping up to help with local search and keeping the N8 relevant to the UK users is Yell.com. This opens up a nice wrapper around the Yell.com web interface, which pulls in your current location and offers you the top level Yell.com categories. Tap on one of these and a browser windows opens up with the results in the local area.
It's quick and it works, although you'll be heading out to the phone numbers of the listed companies as this is a pure listings directory play – if you do a search for cinema you'll get the local screens and the booking line, but a link to their website or a way to buy tickets (or any other interaction) isn't on show.
Summary
The point of adding software to a vanilla platform to regionalise it is a good one, and Nokia have balanced most of the concerns that could be brought up in this respect – all the applications can be deleted; there is no presentation of the apps at start-up; you're free to install competing apps in a similar space (or at least you will be as soon as there's a Strictly Come Dancing app – for now the BBC Minisite will have to suffice); and you can safely ignore all the apps and use the N8's regular functions with no fuss.
Would it make me deliberately go out and look for a UK variant on eBay or the like, as opposed to an international version? Personally no, because I know that all these applications are available via the Ovi Store. But I'm not the target for this – it's the countless tens of thousands of people picking up a Nokia/Symbian device for the first time. This shows the media capabilities off, it shows that third party applications can be installed; and arguably introduces the Ovi Store to users through the (seemingly interminable) hoops of the X-Factor application.
The UK package shows what the N8 can do for new users, so in that sense it's a qualified success.
Even though Google has built its Android mobile operating system from the ground up for a connected mobile lifestyle, managing tasks has taken a bit of a backseat to some of the other default applications.
Astrid is a freeware application for Android OS-based smartphones which seeks to rectify this.
FEATURES AND CONTROLS
After downloading and installing from the Android Market, Astrid will place itself in the main application directory. Upon opening it you will see a simple input bar to create a new task. You can just type a task and hit the plus (+) sign to record it, or start by hitting the plus sign and inputting greater details.
It is in these greater details that Astrid Tasks shines well above its price (free). There are three panels presented: Basic, Dates, and Alerts. Each of these corresponds to aspects of your task.
The first panel is Basic and has the Summary (task name) importance, associated tasks, task length, and any notes involved with the task. Note that in this screen that there is no due date - which was at first off-putting until I realized that many tasks I would input had an associated time to completion which was more important than the due date.
The second panel is called Dates and takes care of the deadline date/time as well as other items. You can enter a goal deadline, check a box to add it to your device or Google Account calendar (configurable in the settings), repeat frequency, and if you've already invested time on the task you have a place here to set the time you've already put onto the task.
The third and final panel is called Alerts and this is where you'd set reminders (periodic and fixed), and when you'd be notified (before/at/after the deadline or associated with the Alarm Clock).
CONCLUSION
Given all of these settings, it would seem that Astrid is a complicated application, but I've come away very impressed with it. Besides the ability to just quickly input a task, the ability to customize alarms and put in the hours to a task bodes well for contract/project management.
I also found the ability to sync with Remember the Milk helpful since there is a bit more tuning to some task notes that I like to do there.
If there's anything that I would like to see in a future or paid version is the ability to add images, voice notes, or other audio content to tasks. There are some aspects of tasks where snapping a picture, or storing a voice note of important points would be helpful for the completion of a task where a text note is too slow of an input method.
Overall, I'd recommend Astrid Tasks to anyone looking for a solid task application. It fills in a nice slot into Android functionality, and its many options keep it both simple and versatile.
One of the greatest things about the burgeoning smartphone app market is all the apps, tools and games for movie lovers. Beyond just finding movie times and getting actor or director information, these apps can actually enhance the moviegoing experience itself by making it easier to manage your personal collections, rent movies online and even find out when it's safe to skip out for a restroom break.
With several hundred thousand apps in the App Store and Android Market, it's pretty tough to cover every app out there for movie fans. That's why we've taken the time to try out and recommend 10 apps for movie addicts who want to get the most out of the movie watching experience.
We tried to stay as platform neutral as possible, picking apps (or alternatives) for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry users. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments below.
1. Movies/Movies HD - iPhone and iPad, Movie Collection for Android
How big is your personal DVD/Blu-ray/downloaded movie collection? If you're anything like me, it's pretty massive. My problem is, I often forget which movies or TV shows I actually own. This leads to me rebuying stuff I already have. I know, I know, First World Problem. Fortunately, with smartphones, there is a First World Solution, too. A number of apps help you manage and keep track of your personal library and access those libraries on the go.
Movies for iPhone [iTunes link] is $3.99 and it is as a great way to view your movie collection, plus it can use the iPhone camera to scan the UPC code from your DVD or Blu-ray discs. This will remind many Mac users of the fantastic Delicious Library app. You can even import your existing databases from movie collecting apps like Delicious Library, Collectorz or DVD Profiler.
At $4.99, Movies HD [iTunes link] is the iPad version of the app, which brings the feature set to a bigger device (sans UPC scanning, of course, due to the iPad's lack of a camera) and makes it easy to add details or search your collection.
For Android owners, the $1.99 Movie Collection doesn't have all the bells and whistles or database support types, but it's a good start for movie collectors on the go.
2. Movies by Flixster - Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry
The Flixster movie community has apps for iPhone, Android, Palm Pre, BlackBerry and mobile web enabled phones.
If you're not familiar with Flixster, it's a great community for rating movies, getting showtimes, watching trailers, seeing what your friends think of movies, seeing the Rotten Tomatoes score and, on the iPhone and Android apps, managing your Netflix queue.
3. IMDb - Android, iPhone, iPad
The best movie database on the planet recently turned 20 years old, and it's still just as young and spritely as ever before.
Last December, IMDb finally managed to release an official mobile app for iPhone, making the mobile browsing experience of finding "who was the guy in this episode of CSI: Miami" a little less painful.
When the iPad was released, IMDb made its iOS app universal [iTunes link], taking advantage of the new screen real estate on the iPad. This summer, IMDb for Android was released, completing the trifecta, so to speak.
The mobile apps offer a superior browsing experience while on a mobile device and also make it easy to get information about showtimes for movies or TV shows.
4. Turner Classic Movies - Android, iPhone, BlackBerry App World
When Turner Classic Movies released its iPhone app at the beginning of the year, we were really impressed by the $2.99 app.
In the ensuing months, TCM has managed to release the app for Android Market and BlackBerry App World as well. The app is $2.99 on each platform but offers the same solid experience of schedules, photos, trivia, movie history, photos and more. If you love classic movies, definitely add this one to your collection.
5. Get Glue - iPhone, iPad, Android
We're big fans of GetGlue, the social sharing and recommendation service. Its mobile apps for iPhone, Android and iPad add to the overall experience by letting you check in to various types of media, including movies.
For movie fans, the great thing about the GetGlue apps is that you can get recommendations from the service based on your likes, see what your friends like and also earn points and stickers toward upcoming movies.
It's a great way to augment the movie-watching experience.
6. LOVEFiLM UK for iPhone, droids LOVEFiLM for Android
In the United States, we have Netflix. In the UK, LOVEFiLM is the movie rental service of movie rental services.
If you're looking for a way to manage your LOVEFiLM queue on an iPhone or Android phone, you're in luck.
The iPhone has an official LOVEFiLM app [iTunes link] that lets you manage your queue, rate titles and watch trailers. The unofficial droids LOVEFiLM isn't as pretty and it doesn't let you manage your rentals unless you buy the paid version, but it still does the job.
7. iPhlix for iPhone, iPhlix HD for iPad, NetQ or PhoneFlicks for Android
Netflix's Watch Instantly service is on practically every consumer electronics device on the market today -- including Blu-ray players, TV sets, Apple TV, Roku, Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3. However, the queue management experience is not universally awesome. If you have a Roku, Apple TV or PS3, it's pretty solid. The other systems make managing your queue and searching and adding movies less easy to do via the TV interface.
Fortunately, there are tons of Netflix queue management mobile apps on the market. I've tried most of them for iPhone and my favorite continues to be iPhlix [iTunes link]. At $2.99, this is just the most consistent app, in my experience, and it makes it easy to manage your discs or Instant Queue, while also letting you rate movies, see new releases and more.
The iPad version is $4.99 and really takes advantage of the larger screen size by making it easier to rate movies, view rating and add various films to your queue.
On the Android side, again, there are lots of options. PhoneFlicks (free) is pretty similar to its iOS counterpart and isn't a bad app for basic management. NetQ is $0.99 for the ad-free version and it also lets you search YouTube for a movie trailer, which is a nice touch.
8. Redbox for iPhone, RedBoxer for Android
Closing out the DVD management apps is Redbox. Redbox is the uber-cheap kiosk rental service that has turned Hollywood on its head.
The official iPhone app [iTunes link] is free and actually quite awesome. You can see which movies are available in your area and where, and you can reserve a movie and access maps to nearby Redbox locations near you.
RedBoxer for Android is $1.99 but it lets you bookmark movies, locate kiosks on Google Maps and reserve movies from the app.
9. Scene it? Series for iPhone and iPad
The Scene it? series [iTunes link] of apps for iPhone and iPad are really fantastic. The apps feature tons of high-quality movie clips, are available in a variety of different categories and -- at $1.99 for iPhone and $4.99 for iPad -- are pretty inexpensive.
If you are familiar with the Scene it? board game, you'll know how this game works. Get a question based on a movie clip and race to give the right answer. On the iPad especially, this is a great party game.
10. RunPee for iPhone and Android
RunPee is an interesting idea for an app. It alerts you when it is "safe" to run the bathroom during a movie. This is convenient for those times you down too much movie theater soda during the 40 minutes of commercials and previews and find yourself needing to use the facilities or play the waiting game.
I'm usually not a fan of leaving the movie theater during a movie, but sometimes the alternative can be equally unpleasant. You could wind up having to use the men's room after seeing Sex and the City: The Movie (the first one, not the sequel) because the line for the ladies was around the corner. True story.
RunPee is frequently updated and is a free app for both iPhone [iTunes link] and Android. You can get alerts when it's safe to run and when you need to be back, but be aware, the break descriptions can sometimes spoil elements of the movie, so try not to read too much in advance. Additionally, be a good movie goer and keep the iPhone or Droid time to a minimum so that your seatmates don't get distracted.
Your Picks
What are some of your favorite apps to enhance the movie watching experience? Let us know in the comments! Series Supported by DVDVideoSoft
The DVDVideoSoft, which offers a collection of safe and reliable video, audio and image freeware programs. DVDVideoSoft Free Studio is a collection of more than thirty different utilities designed to go beyond the limitations of the standard Windows operating system and provide you with new ways to enjoy music and videos the way you choose. Learn more here.
The iPhone 4 and iPad are no doubt the darlings of Apple's revered product line, dominating media coverage in the past year. As such, both offered unique features that helped them stand out in crowded markets, and in certain cases, redefine their category. Now, as Apple's Back to the Mac event approaches, we've made a list of some of these features that we hope Apple will apply to its latest Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops.
1. Retina Display. The iPhone 4's "Retina Display" is touted as having 4 times as many pixels as its predecessor, and the higher contrast ratio makes anything multimedia pop. Basically, the iPhone 4 ships with a higher resolution on the same screen. Since Apple was able to do it with the iPhone, why not offer a "Retina Display," or a higher screen resolution, with the Apple Macbook and Macbook Pro.
2. Embedded 3G. There are two versions of the Apple iPad: one with Wi-Fi only, the other with a built-in 3G modem. Doing this for a device that's practically a PC should set the precedent for Apple's upcoming laptops, no? Apple should offer embedded 3G in all of its laptops
3. HD Camera Sensor. The iPhone 4 and the latest iPod Touch both come with camera sensors that can shoot video in 720p HD. It's almost laughable that users are watching their glorious high-definition clips on a 3.5-inch screen. If Apple can put these HD sensors in over a billion handhelds, it seems like a MacBook Webcam should be given the same capability to shoot video. HD content, furthermore, can be appreciated on a bigger a screen, or streamed over to an HDTV, via the DisplayPort.
4. Touch Screen. The touch screen is an integral part of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Though unlikely, Apple could offer a multitouch feature for its laptop displays. It has become increasingly common in Windows-based laptops: The Dell Studio 17 (Multitouch), HP Mini 5103, and numerous convertible tablets offer multitouch displays.
5. FaceTime. The iPhone 4 and iPod Touch offer a software feature called FaceTime, which allows users to video chat using a W-iFi connection. Thing is, both parties must have compatible iPhones or iPod touch devices in order to take advantage of this feature. The rumor is already out that FaceTime is coming to Mac OS 10 or the next version of iLife. This is a no-brainer: It's a simple software installation that will allow users who don't own an iPhone 4, but own a Mac laptop, to communicate with others in the Mac community, through video. This move would also make an application like Skype less relevant on the Mac platform.
6. Mac OS App Store. The App store, finally, is the key that unlocks the success of the iPhone 4 and iPad. It's the reason why Apple's competitors have had little success in the slate tablet market. It seems improbable, almost pointless, to have an App store for the Mac when software for this environment is readily available on a disc and online. But there are several reasons why it would make sense to have a Mac OS App store: People are just familiar with the concept of downloading apps, because there's more variety; it's easier than driving to an Apple store to buy software; and it's less expensive in many cases.
It's the same reason why Intel is developing its own app store for devices that run on a full-blown version of Windows 7. The question isn't why; it's why not? Sure, developers will have to develop apps for yet another platform, tweaked so that they can run and look great on screens as large as 30 inches. It's a chance for Apple to gain market share in areas such as gaming, since gaming software is already scarce on the Mac side. The iPhone 4 and the iPad, contrarily, are touted as the ultimate mobile gaming platforms, so why not give developers an environment where they have an incentive to create.
The next versions of Ubuntu Linux for desktops and Netbooks will launch Sunday with new cloud features, an updated interface, and better links with other operating systems, Canonical has announced.
The software, known as Maverick Meerkat, will both be versions 10.10 of the Linux distribution, the company said yesterday. They will be available for free download from October 10, sidestepping the usual Thursday release window to tie the launch in with the 10/10/10 date stamp.
Ubuntu 10.10 Desktop Edition and Ubuntu 10.10 Netbook Edition focus on integrating mobile access to other devices via Ubuntu's personal cloud service. They also introduce "significant performance enhancements," such as multitouch support, and minor updates, such as upgrading the desktop environment to Gnome 2.31 from 2.30, according to Canonical. The company had hoped to upgrade to Gnome 3.x in time for 10.10, but now aims to include it in the next release, Ubuntu 11.04, or Natty Narwhal.
Esnatech launches free Mobile Unified Communication software for the Google Android Device that Syncs your Google Calendar and Mobile Phone status with Google Talk
Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada (PRWEB) October 6, 2010
Esna Technologies Inc. (Esnatech), a market leader in enterprise Unified Communications, has launched a new free version of its market-leading mobile UC software for the Google Android device called GTalkSync in the Android marketplace. It is a freeware or light version of its enterprise grade Mobile UC software, UC Client that delivers fixed-to-mobile convergence for a wide range of wireless devices with enterprise PBX systems such as Cisco, Avaya, Mitel, Nortel, Iwatsu, AASTRA, Toshiba, eON, Shoretel, Asterisk, etc. The new free version does not require an Esnatech UC server and will automatically sync a Google Apps Calendar account with Google Talk and monitor mobile phone to federate live mobile phone status within Google Talk. Co-workers can see your live location, mobile phone status and availability directly from Google Talk. It will provide Google Apps users the ability to automate their rich status and presence within Google Talk to better collaborate with coworkers regardless of their location. Esnatech has released the free version specifically for Google Android users and can be found in the market place directly: http://www.androidpit.com/en/android/market/apps/app/com.esnatech.UCGTalkSync/UC-GTalkSync
“With 3 million businesses and 30 million users on Google Apps, the release of our free Mobile GtalkSync software will provide these users with the ability to experience full, rich, and live enterprise mobility natively on their Android device and within Google Apps,†said Davide Petramala, Vice President, Business Development at Esnatech. “Any Google Apps user can begin to experience and see the value of unified communications within the Google Apps environment leveraging the Mobile GtalkSync app. We feel users that take advantage of this free app will want to obviously expand on the functionality and upgrade to the full UC mobile experience through our Unified Communications for Google Apps platform that would extend the mobile functionality to include and unify any organizations on premise PBX (phone system) as well. This will further drive greater productivity, communications, and collaborations throughout the organization."
The free mobile application loads on any Google Android device and connects via the data network to a Google Apps account. Google Apps users leveraging Google Talk will have access to real-time status so users can choose the best way to communicate with co-workers. This will dramatically improve the connectivity of wireless users to their office environment and improve productivity by delivering anywhere, anytime access to critical resources.
About Esnatech
Founded in 1989, Esnatech̢۪s mission is to provide communication solutions that are simply the best way to communicate! Esnatech solutions empower organizations by giving them the flexibility to conduct business at any time, from anywhere, so they can manage the information they need, when they need it. Esnatech markets and distributes its products through OEM and VAR partners in 28 countries with over 1 million users deployed worldwide. For more information, visit: www.esnatech.com
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DAVIDE PETRAMALA Esna Technologies, Inc. 905-707-9700 ext. 4614 Email Information
10.05.2010– London and Bonn. Softwareload.co.uk, Deutsche Telekom's software download portal, has announced the shortlist for its inaugural UK awards - "Software of the Year 2010". Internet users will be given the opportunity to vote on their favourite PC software and mobile apps at www.softwareload.co.uk/softwareoftheyear. All who cast their vote can enter a prize draw to win great products worth over £5,000; prizes include a Panasonic HD TV, an HTC Wildfire smartphone and an Xbox 360.
Voting will run from 5 October until 5 November, spanning 17 categories in total. The 12 PC categories include best Security, Operating System, Freeware and Business & Office products. Five mobile categories include best News, Organisation and Travel & Holiday. For the full list, please visit the Software of the Year homepage.
The shortlists of five nominations per category were drawn up by an expert UK technology panel, including Andy Shaw, Technology & Reviews Editor at Web User magazine, respected freelance technology journalists Adrian Bridgwater and Gordon Kelly, and Daniel Eder, responsible for Softwareload's international business development.
"We have continued to see incredible innovation in the field of PC software and mobile app development over the last year, so we are excited about seeing what the public feel have been the best software and mobile apps in 2010," said Dirk Lebzien, Head of Softwareload. "This is the first time we've run these awards in the United Kingdom so we're hoping to emulate the popularity they've traditionally enjoyed in Germany. We've got some great prizes up for grabs too, so it promises to be a lot of fun."
- ends-
About Softwareload
www.softwareload.co.uk, Deutsche Telekom's software download portal, enables Internet users to download software directly onto their PCs and mobile phones. The portal features over 15,000 programmes – all classified into several main categories. A download guarantee allows users to download purchased products several times over a one-year period. The service is available in all EU-27 countries.
Published by Rafe Blandford, Steve Litchfield at 16:20 BST, October 1st 2010
Summary:
The retail version of the Nokia N8 (and first retail firmware) is finally here and I have been exploring it intensively over the last few days. Read on for what I liked (and didn't like) about the N8 hardware and overall interface. With Symbian^3 under the hood, as well as a truck load of Nokia-written additions, there's a lot to explore though, and this is is just part 1 of a multi-part review. Watch this space for much, much more on the Nokia N8, as the vanguard of a new range of smartphones from Nokia as well as being a camera phone extraordinaire....
Every once in a while, we get to review a sea-change device here on All About Symbian. There was the first S60 3rd Edition phone - the Nokia N80, there was the famous N95, the first to run S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 and with every bell and whistle then known to man onboard, there was the 5800, the first S60 5th Edition touch-driven phone running on Symbian OS. In each case, tackling a review was somewhat daunting, since there's so much that's new. Quite literally, where do you start?
At the end, funnily enough. We now have the final retail package and device, with launch firmware, so let's summarise the Nokia N8 in a single sentence.
The Nokia N8, along with Symbian^3 under the hood, fixes most of what was annoying about all of Nokia's previous S60 5th Edition phones, brings multimedia in line with the Android and iOS smartphones, and has the added bonus of super hardware and the hands-down best camera and camcorder ever put into a phone.
That summary sentence said, the N8's by no means perfect - the non-replaceable 1200mAh battery (unless you're handy with a Torx screwdriver) means saying goodbye to the traditional Nokia flexibility of being able to carry a spare for emergencies. As a result, really heavy users will need to carry a mains or mobile charger instead and top-up when needed. I'll report back on the actual battery life achieved per charge after I've used it day in and day out for a week or two - Symbian^3 and the new chipset do promise better overall battery life and, in my testing so far, this is borne out.
Slightly worrying, especially in view of the camera pretensions, is that the 12 megapixel camera glass is both relatively exposed and unprotected by a mechanical protector. The exterior glass is 'toughened' (one of Nokia PR's proto N8s had seen regular use every day for 3 months and the glass was still pristine), but fingerprints/grease/dust will still cause problems, especially when shooting with the Xenon flash or into the sun outdoors. Having to wipe the glass of fingerprint grease before every important photo or video is a bit of a pain.
Finally, it's true that some aspects of Symbian^3 and its implementation are less intuitive and useful than the best of the competition. I'm thinking of the legacy 'left/right' function panels in many applications, the mishmash of font sizes used in some built-in applications (e.g. Nokia Social) and, particularly, of the lack of multi-touch support or decent word correction in the on-screen qwerty keyboard - almost four years after the iPhone was announced, Symbian really should have caught up in this area by now.
But let's not dwell on the negatives, there's simply so much that's positive about the N8 that really is worth shouting about.
We'll be talking about where the N8 fits into the increasingly competitive smartphone landscape of 2010 later, but for now let's look at it from the specific perspective of a generation of All About Symbian readers used to the likes of the Nokia 5800, N97, N97 mini and even X6:
RAM has been doubled, free RAM almost tripled. 128MB of RAM seemed enough when the likes of the 5800 and N97 were conceived, but (predictably) the OS and applications 'ran away' in terms of resource requirements and most S60 5th Edition users will have hit RAM 'memory' limits regularly. With 256MB onboard (and following the Samsung i8910 and Sony Ericsson Satio/Vivaz), there's plenty of free RAM for the running OS and applications. It has been argued that even the current 135MB of free RAM in the N8 may not be enough over the whole of the device's lifetime, but its fair to say that it's got a far better chance than the 5800 and N97 had, plus there's the added benefit of 'writeable demand paging', effectively virtual memory for the OS.
Larger system disk. As with the N97 mini, C6-00 and X6, Nokia has learnt its lesson here and is shipping the N8 with a 512MB 'system' (C:) disk, of which around 185MB is free when the device is first started. With many Nokia applications insisting on installing to disk C:, this sort of space is essential. The N8 also has a 16GB mass memory disk (of which around 14.5GB is available after purchase, partly because of sample content and partly due to the 'virtual memory'/'writeable demand paging' system used in Symbian^3), but this is, as usual, seen as disk E: (the microSD card - should you insert one - is disk F:)
Responsive touchscreen, using capacitive technology. Apart from the 3.2"-screened X6, the N8 is Nokia's first capacitive touch-driven smartphone. As I discussed in detail here, user interface expectations are now such that capacitive touch is a must. The N8's toughened glass screen offers both better mechanical protection and 'instant' response to a user's touch, with no reliance on a specific finger pressure. The downsides of capacitive technology apply (such as having to use a finger and not a stylus), but aren't really an issue for most people. As a bonus, multi-touch (first seen on the iPhone) is also implemented in a few select applications - of which more in a future review part.
Streamlined UI. As mentioned before on AAS, Symbian^3 has done away with the old 'scroll and select' UI inherited from d-pad-driven phones. On the N8, tapping an on-screen button, icon or option does something - there's no 'tap and wonder whether another tap is needed'. Where there are multiple things that you might want to do to an item (e.g. in a list), a long tap is now handled and is analagous to right clicking something in a desktop OS.
Pentaband. There's none of this 'European version, APAC version, USA version' nonsense. The N8 supports HSDPA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 out of the box, which should mean that this one phone will work at 3G (and 3.5G) speeds across most of the world.
Graphics acceleration. You only have to try and play high bitrate/resolution videos on the previous generation of Nokia's Symbian hardware to see that the phone's main processor was often worked so hard that it started to falter. And you could forget action games, there simply wasn't enough oomph under the bonnet - you'll remember my empassioned plea for Nokia to re-introduce hardware graphics acceleration? The N8, along with its sister devices in Nokia's Symbian^3 range, has full '2D/3D Graphics acceleration' (ref), meaning that videos decode easily and play smoothly, transitions animate without hiccups and action games become possible. Rally Master Pro (in the Ovi Store) seems optimised for the new platform and frame rates are silky smooth.
Three homescreens. You may think this a trivial addition - or, indeed, think it's not enough (if you're coming from, say, Android) - but, now that the idea of having widgetised homescreens is established, it makes sense to have space for more than six widgets. The idea here is to side swipe to switch screens, perhaps reserving one for media widgets, one for business things and one for shortcuts - or however you want to try organising things. Side swiping is smoothy implemented, again thanks to that capacitive touchscreen. One nice touch is that each homescreen can have its own wallpaper, for added atmosphere and distinction.
Better use of screen real estate. As mentioned above, on the S60 5th Edition phones, there are large left and right 'function'/soft keys at the bottom of each screen - or worse, in landscape mode, on the right and using up far too much room in many applications. Symbian^3 on the N8 reduces the space taken in landscape mode but the old left/right function key metaphor is still used, both in portrait and landscape mode in most cases. This is something of a waste of screen space still and has apparently been preserved to help upgraders feel familiar with the user interface. With the change in UI for Symbian^4, future devices are expected to ditch these vestigial panels completely, though we're stuck with them for the N8. In use, they're rarely an issue however.
In addition to the improvements just noted, there's a distinct step-up in build quality. The N8 is essentially a unibody aluminium design (in a number of possible colours - "Dark Grey, Silver White, Green, Blue, Orange", with doubtless more to follow - a byproduct of the anodising process for the metal), measuring 113 x 59 x 13mm and weighing 135g. Nokia has demonstrated the 'scratch resistance' of the aluminium several times - together with the toughened glass on the display, it's fair to say that the N8 should come through day to day scrapes without incident.
Screen size is an interesting issue on the N8. The 3.5" AMOLED screen* is noticeably smaller than the 3.7" screen of many of the N8's rivals from the Android world (e.g. Google Nexus One, Motorola XT720, HTC Desire), and also noticeably smaller than the '3.5"' display of the Apple iPhone. Partly because the nHD screen resolution that's standard in Symbian at the moment has a natural 16:9 ratio which is slightly 'slimmer and taller', but also because the display's not really 3.5" - it's 3.46". If this seems a little picky, it's worth pointing out that the Samsung i8910 HD, also running Symbian, is narrower than the N8 and yet packs a full 3.7" display. The discrepancies are explained by the presence of an unfortunately wide bezel all around the N8 screen, in addition to the curved device sides.
The N8's display effectively matches that of the N97 for size, but utterly blows the latter away for colour and vibrancy, being AMOLED*. And 'second generation' AMOLED at that, with an anti-reflection layer beneath the glass, with the result that it's far clearer outside in sunlight than the first-gen AMOLED display on the Samsung i8910 HD. Note that this isn't the polarising technology that Nokia perfected for their imminent ClearBlack Displays (CBD), though you can see why they thought the anti-reflection concept was worth investigating further. I'd pitch the N8's display for outdoor visibility right alongside the screen in the Samsung Galaxy S (using 'Super AMOLED').
* AMOLED's other potential downside is that the display technology gradually dims over time, though in practice you'd be looking at ten years or so to get down to half brightness and you're unlikely to notice a significant difference with the naked eye over the year or two you'd own the N8.
(next to the TFT-screened N97 mini)
It's also worth noting that Nokia has at last started using the ambient light sensor on its phone faces - the N8 has an auto-brightness algorithm built-in - it's a little spooky at first but after a day or so of use you simply trust it to do the right thing and are thankful for the power saving.
The issue of screen resolution has been a thorny one, with the resolutions of the flagship Android phones being typically 800 by 480 and the iPhone 4 (famously - 'retina display') 960 by 640. These numbers make Symbian's 'standard' resolution (now used on the upcoming E7, C6-01 and C7, as well as all the older touchscreen phones) seem a trifle low at 640 by 360, but I can't emphasise enough that this simply isn't an issue for most people, including me. The dots-per-inch figure is still relatively high - anyone with 20:20 eyesight may be able to spot the pixels at work, but I found 'nHD' on the N8 perfectly smooth and clear (though, as hinted above, some of the fonts used in the current firmware can sometimes be hard to read, due to their light weight and small size).
At the top and bottom of the N8 there are small plastic end caps, in theory colour matched to the main metal body but in practice you can easily see the join(!), providing aerial placement and optimisation for the multitude of RF aerials: the pentaband 3G radio (in the bottom), quad-band GSM radio (in the top), GPS receiver, FM receiver, FM transmitter, WiFi and Bluetooth - it's not clear yet where these latter aerials are, but we've had no problems so far.
The top of the N8 has the power button, HDMI-out port for connection to your digital TV (via the supplied adaptor, and including sending the audio output through with Dolby Digital Plus encoding, should you have any media with this information built-in) and a 3.5mm audio out jack:
On the right of the N8, there are volume/zoom keys, the (essential) key-lock slider and a really satisfying two-stage camera capture key:
On the left side, hidden behind a plastic, flush-fitting tab, is a slot for a microSD card (particularly good to see in the light of some other Symbian^3 releases not being similarly expandable, e.g. the Nokia E7) and, behind another tab, another for the SIM card. This last has to be external because you'll remember that there's no removable battery cover - or indeed major access hatch of any kind. Further down on the left is an uncovered microUSB port for charging and data, including the new USB-on-the-Go capability, of which more in a later review part.
Finally, on the N8's bottom, is a traditional 2mm charging port as well - one of a number of Nokia handsets that now have dual charging options.
Unlike earlier Nokia Symbian^1 phones, there are no call or hangup buttons - all telephony control is now via the touchscreen. Not having buttons to control calls isn't a huge deal, though will doubtless be missed by some, and there are several third party applications - notably Google Maps/Search - that explicitly used to use the green 'call' key for major functions (e.g. voice search), so new versions will be needed in due course.
The remaining hardware button on the design's front is the Home button, feeling a little odd at first until you get used to the fact that it's on a sloping panel. Long-pressing this home button brings up the task switcher, as you might expect from the last eight years of S60 and Symbian smartphones, but it's enhanced here by showing 'live' snapshots of what each application is up to (or at least what it was up to at the instant you long pressed the button), so that you can instantly recognise which one is which. Picking an application does involve a fair amount of left/right swiping if you've got a lot open, but the novelty of seeing what all the apps are doing doesn't wear off and this is a fair compromise.
On the N8's back is, of course, the much-touted 12 megapixel camera (and rightly so - you'll remember Damian Dinning's stunning gallery a couple of weeks ago). You'll remember from my own Camera Nitty Gritty series that megapixels aren't everything, but it's easy to make an exception in this case because Nokia has designed the rest of the camera specs to match the pixel count. Here's my detailed run through the N8 camera innovations, but, in brief:
Xenon flash - the only camera flash technology worthy of the word 'flash' - the last couple of years of poor LED-lit party shots can be safely forgotten - see my feature on this.
Very large sensor (rated at '1/1.83"' optical format - even the previous imaging champion, the N86 only had a '1/2.3"' sensor, as have many standalone compact cameras).
Carl Zeiss 2.8/28 optics - a mechanical protective sliding shutter for the camera glass was rejected because of bulk (another 3mm would be needed, i.e. a bigger bulge) and, interestingly, also because more and more software is requiring camera access (e.g. augmented reality) and the apps need the picture immediately.
Extra software enhancements. With the larger sensor and better optics, there was apparently less need for Nokia's traditional noise reduction algorithms, so more processing power could be applied to real time image handling. This is evidenced by lightning fast auto-focus (of order of a tenth of a second or so in good light), with red eye reduction, and with very fast real-time face detection. We'll have more on camera performance in a future N8 review part.
Mechanical shutter. Much has been made of this online, but perhaps slightly over-hyped, since this isn't actually anything new for Nokia. The N82, N95, N95 8GB and N86 (to name but four models) all also have great mechanical shutters in their camera units. Still, the presence of a real shutter mechanism, allied to the use (again) of an automatic ND (Neutral Density) filter that slots in when light levels are too high, does give extra confidence when trying to snap shots that are out of the ordinary, light-wise.
Stereo audio recording in video mode, as on the original (stunning for its time) N93. There's one mike on the camera side, plus the normal one used for voice calls on the N8's face. The N93 used the stereo to construct a left/right soundscape - the N8 concentrates on applying noise cancellation algorithms, in theory reducing wind noise and also controlling the recording levels in continuous harsh noise environments.
The microphones used are digital, i.e. the same as those used in the N86 8MP, and together with that model, produce the best sound quality of any current phone 'camcorder'.
Focussing in video mode is 'fixed', as on the N86, with the f2.8 aperture giving, in good light, a genuine depth of field of 60cm to infinity. I've gone over the pros and cons of the various approaches to video focus in mobile phone cameras before - no focussing and you get blurry subjects; initial focus and you get blurry subjects when the composition changes; continuous auto-focus and you have to wait while focussing gets fixed whenever you change the subject. Simply having great depth of field and letting the user shoot whatever they want without needing any camera knowledge is a very valid solution. See the sample below!
The same intelligent digital zoom in video mode as the N86 - this technology seems to be unique to Nokia - the whole 12mp sensor is used for video capture, with downscaling to the desired resolution happening in custom electronics hardware. This means that up to 3x zoom should be handled without undue pixellation (there's a 'hard' limit on the N8 at 3x, to stop people trying to zoom further and starting to see degraded results) - see below for the sample video which demonstrates this. If you don't want to use the zoom buttons, double-tapping the screen auto-zooms to 3x immediately - also demonstrated here.
Based on All About Symbian's first few days with the N8, then, here are some camera still and video samples - click through to enlarge or download any that take your fancy, to see them in their full 12 (or 9) megapixel glory (depending on aspect ratio captured - we've supplied a mix).
(the above four taken in hazy sunshine)
(these taken in heavy overcast conditions/indifferent light)
(There'll be more samples and camera comparisons in part 2 of our N8 review. Of the above images, the last was taken with the N8's Xenon flash)
Here's a test of the N8's video capture, demonstrating three of its main 'pros': smooth capture and frame rate, 'intelligent' digital zoom and high depth of field. Note that wind noise was a slight problem after all - the 'noise cancellation' routines for this didn't quite work the wonders I was expecting:
Also on the back, embedded in the camera island, is a powerful mono speaker - I'd rate it as up with one of the units in the 5800 or X6, though only being mono means there's not as much 'presence' in the room, when playing. Although the speaker aperture is flush with the camera island, sound isn't shut off when you put the N8 on a table because of the way the island props the phone at a slight angle - thankfully.
the front face microphone
When we were first handed the N97 to review, around 15 months ago, it was clear that the software wasn't 100% ready and that there were some issues. The N8 seems far more stable, in terms of multitasking and general operation, thankfully. But, regardless, there are a number of small indications that this is still early firmware and that updates will follow quickly.
Aside from minor glitches in the multi-touch in Web and an issue where 3G data was 'held' even when moving back into Wi-Fi coverage, one critical bit of basic functionality is missing - Share online is nowhere to be seen. So you can't shoot a photo or video and then send it somewhere online, at least not out of the box - a baffling omission in 2010. The same applies to Nokia Podcasting, which we'd all believed would be in the final firmware. Now, third party freeware, in this case Pixelpipe Send and Share (in the Ovi Store) and Symbian Podcatcher (install the Symbian^1 version for now, there's an issue with the S^3-optimised one) takes up the slack in these areas, but it's a shame not to have the original apps in the device from the get go and I'd hope that one or both of these will be rectified by Nokia in due course.
If you're after my very early verdict on the Nokia N8, then it's positive, with only a few caveats. If you're a bit of a camera nut like me, then don't hesitate to buy - it's stunning. If you're looking for a more rounded 2010 smartphone then you've got more to take into account - not least the rest of my/our review over the next week or two. And it's worth bearing in mind that a modern smartphone, especially on a new platform, is a complex entity and it'll take us a few weeks of intensive use to deliver a more thorough verdict.
In future review parts, Rafe and I will be looking more at daily use, application compatibility, multimedia performance, N8 new technology, plus we'll be trying out some of the N8's (and Symbian^3's) additions to the standard S60/Symbian^1 interface and function set, including the Social integration already highlighted here on AAS and the new version of the Ovi Store. And - in the fullness of time, both the upcoming new web browser and a hopefully steady stream of updates and other improvements.
Steve Litchfield, with contributions from Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian, 01 Oct 2010
