What does that look like to you? Sure looks like a probable Nokia flagship candidate for the upcoming launch of
Symbian^3 to ride. Remember, we've already heard about a
N8-00 said to be sporting a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen, 12 megapixel camera, and HDMI-out. This unnamed device features a 12 megapixel camera with Xenon flash and Carl Zeiss optics, an HDMI jack next to a top-mounted 3.5-mm headphone jack, and a bottom-loading battery allowing the phone to keep a unibody design (a la the
HTC Legend). The screen is big, at least 3.5 inches and possibly hovering around 4 inches. Oh, and
a QWERTY is nowhere to be found. So Nokia, got anything you'd like to announce?
Update:
Eldar Murtazin, a man who knows a thing or two about pre-production Nokia devices, says the
N8-00 is real and due in September.
posted March 23rd 2010 7:20AM
@Lundmark
Lets not mention the fail that is Palm right now.
Apple maybe but not palm plz.
And I would agree with you, they have made some rather second-rate touchscreen phones lately but they said many years ago that they would significantly halt their mobile phone R&D and focus on building an ecosystem. This began right after the release of the N95 and continues to this day. Sure they have stumbled a bit but there are very few mobile phone operators that have or could have done the same thing. Don't try to reference google or apple in this case because we all know they are different companies with different focuses and are NOT predominantly mobile phone companies. Most of their money comes from their PC(personal computing) ventures which they can then inject into their mobile division.
Samsung failed miserably in this regard, LG is non-existent, HTC doesnt have anything reminiscent of their own ecosystem and so on.
They had a plan and they executed it. This that we see here is just another, VERY important step in the plan.
Hoping for release in 2H!!
Finally! A phone with HDMI output!
Why doesn't anyone else do that?
nokia is ready to lay the smackdown
I for one don't mind the raised camera module. It makes for a longer focal length and a bigger sensor, especially in slim phones. You can't have amazing picture quality AND a slim phone, so this is the closest acceptable compromise
Fugly.
I'm going to wait to hear more specs on this one. Glad I didn't preorder HTC Desire yet ;)
If this one turns out to be a piece of crap then I will go to HTC, being a lifelong loyal Nokia customer. I sure hope that this device will be the one that brings Nokia back to the game!
I wonder what the processor is, Snapdragon or OMAP4 or something else?
It seems that there isn't a keyboard, so i would bet this is more a "N87" than a "N98".
But please Nokia, just put hardware acceleration in the user interface and it will be a great device.
Can't wait to see the other flagship on symbian^3 :)
@raph986 HW accelerated UI is one of the big improvements in Symbian^3. Be ready for 60 fps scrolling ;).
Xenon flash AT LAST! The reign of the K800i has finally come to pass. I hate LED flashes.
@Rod indeed makes everyone to look like a blue monster.
Symbian is such an aged OS, but Nokia makes great hardware. I wish Nokia would get in on the Android bandwagon.
@(Unverified)
GTFO
seriously....just go away....if i see one more baffoon speaking about nokia switching to android I may strangle someone.
Android has NOTHING on symbian for features and maturity. Ease of use at the current time, yes. BUT NOTHING ELSE!
Name one other OS that allows programs to be written not just in C++ but QT,Java AND python. Before people even knew what root was there was hacking on symbian phones.
Just to give you an indication of the little things that android is missing but symbian has had since 2005.
Go to your contacts page and attempt to assign a specific ringtone to a contact. Go ahead, I'll wait.
Next, attempt to send a file from your phone to your computer or another bluetooth device WITHOUT having to download a separate application. Again, I'll wait.
Next, attempt to open a file manager on your android device without downloading a separate app. Btw I'll give you an hour to do this one.
This simple little nigh insignificant features are things that nokia has been doing and doing well for nearly 5 years.
Go sod off with your drivel about android.
@spartandre217
As an addendum
I won't mention the inability to install apps to the memory card without root because that is too well documented for you to not know.
@spartandre217
Well, that's mostly true, except you're looking at Android NOW.
In case you're not aware of it, Google seems to be developing it a head-turning blistering pace. This time last year there was Android version 1.6. Already, Google is moving past 2.1 and will likely be on the third version by this time next year, adding more capabilities.
In comparison, the Symbian Foundation is only JUST now developing the third version of Symbian.
At this trend rate, Android development will very quickly surpass Symbian. It's inevitable, as Google is pumping Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Android development.
@Johnny Tremaine
Ok I'm gonna make a few KEY points....revision nomenclature by NO means indicated the degree of change in an OS.
When android was released it was version 1.0 then it moved to 1.5 then 1.6 then 2.0 then 2.1 its been two years so approximately what a revision every six or so months?
What are the key changes between OS versions. Are they earth shattering changes or under the hood changes to get the OS up to speed with things that are already on the market?
Secondly, do you know that symbian has 3 different OS's in the pipeline at any single time?
From what I have seen from the android updates, barring minute functionality increases and aforementioned under the hood upgrades which I'd argue are not that significant, I could liken many of these OS upgrades to some of the major firmware upgrades for say iphone os, or symbian OS. Its really not that special at least in my eyes.
Secondly your understanding of symbian is pretty limited from the little you have said.
The symbian foundation was formed in June 2008 just a few months before the release of android in the form of the HTC G1. Since then, is has made a number of marked improvements and gone through 4 "major versions"
Symbian has gone through 3.
I'm not seeing how your statements make sense.
@(Unverified) Symbian is NOT an aged OS! Get your facts straight! Oh, wait a second, you didn't mention any facts...just dribble!
The problem is not, and has never been, with Symbian, but with Nokia's UI implementation, e.g. S60. That's another great aspect of Symbian is the fact that the UI layer can be customized. Also, Nokia isn't the only company currently using, or has used, Symbian (Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, Motorola, Sendo, Samsung, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Sharp), but Nokia seems to be the only one getting any grief about it. Drives me crazy!
Oh, and Nokia will NEVER go Android, nor should they...EVER!!!
Yes, it looks ugly, like it fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, but it's likely still just a prototype, i.e. not final hardware.
Hey, I'll give Nokia a chance to impress me again after their E71. I'm not sure if this is it though. And yes, I too think they should make an Android based phone as well.
@Johnny Tremaine
See my above comments.
@spartandre217
I read your comments, but it's all over the place.
You assert that Nokia has a plan that they're executing on.
Sorry, but to most observers, there doesn't seem to be any coherent plan. It looks like they're following every phone trend initiated by other companies. The iPhone and touchscreens aside, it took RIM's success with qwerty Blackberries to finally get Nokia into releasing their own qwerty device, otherwise they'd still be pumping out candy-bar shaped T9 phones.
So, yeah, what plan? Looks pretty scatter brained to me.
@Johnny Tremaine
So you are of the opinion that nokia is scatter-brained because they don't stick to a single type of phone?
@Johnny Tremaine
Why try to be BMW or Mercedes when you can be Toyota or Wolksvagen? It is about strategy and profits. Not about what every geekblogger thinks.
@Johnny Tremaine
Well yes, if you are a casual observer, no wonder you do not understand. Nokia has never been a services company, and they needed to change that. They took time off on the hardware R&D front to develop an ecosystem, opensource their OS's, etc.
They are executing on that strategy beautifully and I expect 2010 to be a year where most of these components will start fitting together.
Also, on Symbian, its going to be a value for money smartphone OS. With it, and its inherent power efficiency, it will drive down hard in the price war. Maemo/MeeGo on the other hand, as a platform, already runs circles around the competition.
My only problem with Nokia is that it is taking them too long to get MeeGo in place.
@JFH
Made the exact point I was making earlier, just in prettier words lol.
Hopefully it gets released in coming 3 months. Will be buying this one if so.
I've never used Symbian before, but I'm definitely liking the form factor! I'm anxious to see Symbian in action.
Word now is that it should be released in June/July and the Eldars release date is about Russia that usually get these couple of months later.
I can't wait till it comes out. Bring it on Nokia!
@Pdexter
Where did you hear this?!
nokia is really stepping it up with symbian ^3. can't wait to see official photos. but i feel no matter what nokia does america will still not love them and symbian. but the rest of the world will surely enjoy playing this device.
@coopere
Its all about what the user sees on the screen and the UX - the avg. american (or any other) user doesn't know or care 2 sh*its about what OS is under the hood. In fact to a lot of Engadget commenters (who are technically more savvier than the avg. consumer on the street), S60 and Symbian is the same thing! In US, to succeed it is about carrier deals, branding and UX good enough to meet needs of 95% people (phone, email, text, browsing, navigation). As an OS, Symbian is head and shoulders above any of the competition in terms of maturity, performance, language support and versatility. To give a perspective...if Android continues on its present path without Google yanking the chain once in a while, it will become what Symbian was (though with a lesser marketshare). If Google keeps it under control and does not allow a free4all like it is right now, then we will see Android continuing as a competitive smartphone OS over the next decade.
@naashak
good post, but S60 is not Symbian. S60 is one of many Symbian UI layers, like S80, S70, MOAP, UIQ, and others. Its akin to Sense UI for Android. Just a UI layer.
aren this N8 and this http://www.unwiredview.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Nokia-E7-00-Eseries-Symbian3-maybe.jpg the same one???
@dcastrog
that image is the qwerty variant of this device.
@christexaport what do you know? i would take the qwerty without thinking
@dcastrog
That phone has no visible HDMI
The phone in this engadget article does.
@dcastrog
since the QWERTY device in the previous drawing and this prototype have such a similar design language, and its images were forcibly removed at Nokia's request, we can assume it was an authentic Nokia design. That we are seeing actual hardware right now of a totally different device with the same design language, we can assume that this will be part of Nokia's new design style, and they must be working on a QWERTY and slate variant of the same device, maybe with different cameras or other differences.
If you notice, this device is thinner, totally higher grade materials, and a departure from previous manufacturing and design languages seen from Nokia. Looks like they're planning to redominate again from the hardware AND software arenas.
Looks like the SE Aino haha. It's about time Nokia releases an N95 of today. All it's missing is the slide out keyboard, and a slightly better look. I really hope that display is at least 3.7" and I hope to God Nokia put some great hardware in this thing for once. Questions though... Where's the stereo speakers? Where is the sliding lens cover we've come to expect?
They couldn't keep the hardware call keys could they? Jerks.
@all
Is it just me, or is this just an utterly boring device?