Nokia 5800 gets touched in the wild -- again

At this point, we've seen the Tube from everyone but Nokia -- heck, even Morgan Freeman got a chance to show it off -- and it looks like that trend isn't going to abate any time soon. Another round of in-the-wild shots of the supposed XpressMusic 5800 have popped up (yes, the latest prototype seems to have dropped the "XpressMedia" badge), showing off a pretty uninspiring keyboard that we can only hope has no bearing on the final product. Guess that's why they haven't announced this sucker yet, eh? We hope?

[Via The Nokia Blog]

[Jams @ Jul 26th 2008 12:21PM]

Ugliest UI ever.

[SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Jul 26th 2008 12:28PM]

yeah. It seems all the expert developers have jumped to apple or something, cuz iPhone is the only phone with an easy to use interface anymore.

[Rich @ Jul 26th 2008 12:40PM]

The phone hasn't even been announced yet and you're already moaning? Nokia could create a phone that printed money and iDiots would still complain.

[derX @ Jul 26th 2008 12:43PM]

No, I love Nokia and that's aesthetic fail, at least what we've seen of it.

But still, it looks highly functional, more so than other virtual keyboards I've seen. And if anyone else is going to pull a touchscreen phone like this off, it's certainly Nokia, the number one cell phone company.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 26th 2008 1:01PM]

You don't need much to form strong opinions uh?

[SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Jul 26th 2008 2:52PM]

*Yawn*

Fail.

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 26th 2008 8:12PM]

Yeah, that looks terrible! What a tiny space for content!

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 26th 2008 8:22PM]

@derX

"it looks highly functional, more so than other virtual keyboards I've seen. And if anyone else is going to pull a touchscreen phone like this off, it's certainly Nokia, the number one cell phone company."

Don't get me wrong, I love many of Nokia's newer models, but have you actually used the iPhone's virtual keyboard? I've used just about every modern incarnation of a smartphone virtual keyboard, and I haven't experienced *anything* that comes close to Apple. In addition to the software being very responsive. the actual capacitive touchscreen is the best I've used.

I really doubt Nokia would release a really-shoddy implementation since it's trying to create an "iPhone killer", but that picture above DOES NOT inspire confidence.

And your comment that Nokia should be the best possible company to pull-off a well-implemented virtual keyboard neglects the fact that Apple is renowned for their unmatched ability to integrate well-designed hardware with very intuitive and polished software. I have a hard time believing Nokia would be able to outmatch Apple in that regard. However, if they can come pretty close and offer better features than the iPhone, then they will have a good competitor.
I would love to see a higher quality camera with autofocus and flash, decent quality video recording/conferencing, MMS, 800x480 screen, well-implemented version of Webkit or Opera, etc.

[Fadi @ Sep 9th 2008 3:58PM]

@loosely_coupled

I kind of agree with you, but when someone reads your comment they would think that you've actually tested the Nokia 5800.. (You don't know if the the 5800 will be very responsive or not) and you can't base your opinion on pictures; not until you actually try the product.. Also you said that there's not enough space? According to the pictures the "keys" are much larger than the iPhone.. I've actually tried the iPhone but I didn't like the touch feature because of that.. (And I am not saying that I don't like the UI).. Also knowing Nokia; I am sure that this phone will have features that the current iPhone will never ever do. Just like how the newer Nokia phones that are out now; there's a lot of things that the iPhone can't do.

Also I would just like to remind the people that Nokia usually aims for functionality and not just the looks... Apple in the other hand cares a lot about the looks but not the functionality..

And just want to point out.. what's the good in a phone if it looks good but doesn't have the features that you want in a phone. (or a "multimedia computer").

[SuperSexyErik (^_^) @ Jul 26th 2008 12:23PM]

on screen keyboard.... Hmm I like the idea.

[neofolklore @ Jul 28th 2008 8:25AM]

this article's title is the most homoerotic title i've seen on engadget today

[eXist @ Jul 28th 2008 9:18AM]

lame ass Phone.

[derX @ Jul 26th 2008 12:39PM]

It's really nothing more than a touchscreen phone with an S60 touch-optimized OS. And if you know anything about phones, you'll know Symbian certainly isn't "lame ass."

-------

I get it. This current trend of making touchscreen phones of this nature was completely prompted by Apple (please don't even mention the damn LG Prada, we ALL know it's not because of them, who cares if they announced theirs first...and it was only by a couple of weeks if that much), but seriously, these phones aren't all iPhone knock offs. I guess this is what happened when flip phones and clamshells were all initially introduced. It's just a new form of phone. This damn iPhone knockoff stuff is just annoying.

[derX @ Jul 26th 2008 12:29PM]

I seriously couldn't care less than a damn about how the keyboard looks, I solely care about how functional it is and that certainly looks functional.

We're techno-geeks, remember Form < Function.

[fs @ Jul 26th 2008 12:36PM]

Pac-Man < dots

[derX @ Jul 26th 2008 12:41PM]

That's too funny. That's exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote that.

[Rudiger @ Jul 26th 2008 1:17PM]

I'm sorry, but for a phone, form ~is~ function.

Of course, these are in-the-wild shots of a development build, so I won't be surprised when the final build is more polished.

[Wormbolt @ Jul 26th 2008 7:29PM]

Woa! You are reading the wrong blog, this is a fashion blog that covers consumer electronics, not a technology blog. Do you think the people writing these items are engineers? If you want techno-geek stuff look elsewhere.

[eXist @ Jul 28th 2008 9:17AM]

lame ass phone

[karma_prisoner @ Jul 26th 2008 12:32PM]

I am sure this phone will be on Symbian s60 platform and might belong to the N-Series rather than the xpressmusic tag or anything else.

[Karma_prisoner @ Jul 26th 2008 12:33PM]

I am sure this phone will be on Symbian s60 platform and might belong
to the N-Series rather than the xpressmusic tag or anything else.

[fs @ Jul 26th 2008 12:37PM]

Say it a third time and we'll believe you.

[Future Man @ Jul 26th 2008 12:37PM]

I fail to see what is so horrible about that keyboard. Engadget has a propensity to overreact I would say.

[sr1329 @ Jul 26th 2008 12:47PM]

It actually looks quite functional, but it doesn't have the glamor of the iPhone keyboard. So I guess people would rather have a good looking keyboard app than a more functional one. I know from looking at it that I am less likely to hit the wrong key on this than the iPhone keyboard. However this keyboard takes up the entire screen, so they should at least have transparency so I can see what I am typing into.

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 12:55PM]

I *looks* terrible in terms of aesthetics. In terms of usability, it's probably just fine, but they really should also skin those functionality buttons the same way as the normal buttons...if that happens (and I'm sure it will before the announcement), it wouldn't be half-bad imho.

Also, congrats to Engadget for picking the absolutely worst picture...

[derX @ Jul 26th 2008 1:03PM]

L, out of curiosity, are there other pictures of the keyboard--not necessarily better ones--from which Engadget could've chosen? If so, mind posting a link. If not, well, I guess that renders your point false.

(Not calling you out, just asking)

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 1:56PM]

No, but I think that, for example, the size comparison shot (the one with the W950 and the N82) tells more than a shot of an obviously unfinished on-screen keyboard...

[sr1329 @ Jul 26th 2008 12:45PM]

That horseshoe menu sucked balls, sure. But, it has been replaced with a 3D transparent menu that is very nice.

[Atanas Boev @ Jul 26th 2008 12:58PM]

I "hate" my yellow teeth and your comment.

[De @ Jul 26th 2008 1:14PM]

Look there is the stylus in the background. Based on the other 13 pics it does not seen to be needed for basic operation.At least they got that right

[TareX @ Jul 26th 2008 1:22PM]

S60 UI is a thing from the past. Not only in terms of looks, but speeds. Talk about a touch phone that needs instant visual feedback when you move it.

S60 Touch had the potential to be something great.

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 1:57PM]

Oh, I see somebody has been toying with a crystal ball again.

Honestly, how exactly do you deduct the working speed of something from pictures? Hmm? I'm eagerly waiting for an answer...

[TareX @ Jul 26th 2008 2:05PM]

From the NOKIA promo videos (which should be showing the fastest version, or even a video running and someone tapping on it)

Add to that the initial impressions from MWC of it being painfully slow.
Add to that the fact we all saw it at the MWC, running on a very big, and capable machine, as the hardware wasn't ready yet. So yes, S60 Touch software isn't fast.

"Youtube" it.

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 2:17PM]

*sigh* Those demo vids ran on an EMULATOR. Not real hardware, EMULATOR. Now if you'd actually tried the current S60 emulator, you'd see that it's MUCH slower than on the actual device. MUCH SLOWER.

You should better continue spamming the whole known blogoverse about how oh-so-great the untested Android and the completely unknown HTC Dream is going to be, because thinking beyond the painfully obvious sure as hell doesn't seem to be one of your strong points.

[De @ Jul 26th 2008 2:19PM]

I agree that earlier s60 touch may have looked slow but you also have to look at the fact that recent s60 handsets have the power to run all of applications present in the phone at the same time with little or no lag what so ever. That shows what symbian is capable of doing on even relatively low (comparing to other smartphones) CPU power.

[TareX @ Jul 26th 2008 2:46PM]

"L", listen, I have an E65 and I love it. I've had it for an entire year. Great. Very practical and has a truckloads of apps. Stable and does what it is supposed to do.

But toying with my friend's iPhone, my E65 running s60 looks like a phone from the stone age. In comparison, mine is very slow, sluggish, and in short, old gen.

I had high hopes for S60 Touch. But till now, every single review/preview/hands-on is stressing on one point: S60 Touch is eactly that; S60 that supports touch. Not the next-genish overhaul we would expect.

Android on the other hand, ran on a prototype device in May at the I/O conference, with lightening iphone-ish speeds and a beautiful UI. So yeah I think Android deserves everything I called it.

[TareX @ Jul 26th 2008 2:48PM]

Oh and something else: S60 Touch is far from finger dependent. You WILL need a stylus.

Sure if S60 Touch turns out to be brilliantly fast and totally finger friendly then I just found my next upgrade. But till now, everything is pointing to the other direction.

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 4:07PM]

The E65 was the last of the 220MHz S60 phones, and the last using plain S60 v3. Way to go to deduct the performance of a future device based on that...

The fact is: you know NOTHING about S60 Touch, you know nothing about the hardware it is going to run on, and yet you draw conclusions. Maybe you should become an analyst? I heard Gartner & Co are always in need for more clueless people who think they're important enough that everybody needs to know what they think...

[TareX @ Jul 26th 2008 4:43PM]

Oh if you're gonna be like that (way to hold up a "I HAVE A PERSONALITY DEFICIT" flag), then please, let me know which S60 device u've held that was as fast as the iPhone. MAYBE even faster than the s60 Touch ads... you seem very arrogantly confident that unlike s60's vast history of devices, unlike the stylus-stressed campaign of s60 touch, you seem to believe it will be the next best thing.

So my humble advice is, wake up. S60 Touch so far is far from an iPhone killer. It's demonstrations were much slower than Android's, and s60 has always been slow.

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 5:18PM]

My god you're dense.

[chickenator @ Jul 26th 2008 1:30PM]

*yawn*

[i am not what i am @ Jul 26th 2008 1:38PM]

is it all about looks now days ? thanks i am better off with functionality than looks, and apart from that oversized KB i don't find anything that kills the usability of that UI

and remember this is an s60 phone from Nokia, so most of what you see can be customized with themes and stuff, if you are into looks

[Adrian Williams @ Jul 26th 2008 1:51PM]

FTFA

GSM / GPRS / EDGE / WCDMA / HSDPA / WLAN wireless networking and Bluetooth technology.

That's a whole lot of WIN

[L @ Jul 26th 2008 2:01PM]

+GPS (with *real* navigation), A2DP, copy&paste, a browser that's also based on WebKit (just like Safari, but with Flash), a 3.2MPx AF cam, built-in TV-Out, a high-res 16:9 screen (640x360)...

And all that in a device that's actually fairly small.

Yeah, imho there's a lot to (potentially) love in that device.

[Fizy @ Jul 26th 2008 2:06PM]

Nokia has great hardware. The software backbone in actually pretty good. Great multi tasking etc. But the UI here is really 1995. It is amazing that things like nice icons, which people look at, and lack of aggressive third party involvement plague this giant. Having said that I am hoping to be proved wrong. http://www.babinokia.com has free themes for Nokia which can at least make them prettier. It is amazing that Nokia can’t do that. Embarrassing I would think.

[Nacho @ Jul 26th 2008 2:33PM]

That keyboard looks just like the one on their old 770 Internet tablet. The keyboard and alternate text input were excellent, although that old thing couldn't do a whole lot besides basic HTML webpages and music.

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 26th 2008 3:30PM]

Johnny comelate better bring somethimg new to the party

[KilgoreTrout @ Jul 26th 2008 3:32PM]

Johnny comelate better bring somethimg new to the party

[WickedEast @ Jul 26th 2008 11:13PM]

Or else, what? Last time I checked, Johnny's worldwide market share went from 38% to 40% in the last quarter.

[El Cartel @ Jul 26th 2008 4:50PM]

There goes Bias Chris once again writing about a Nokia product. Do me the favor man and don't write unless your going to be fair about it. You should write about the big mess that is apple with their mobileme. If it were any other company engadget would be ripping them a new hole.