Setting aside the
naming confusion, this Nokia prototype procured by Negri Electronics just keeps attracting our attention. Though we saw plenty of it in an
earlier video, this latest rendezvous between Finnish hardware and camera lens includes a few familiar suspects to offer us the best size comparison we've had so far. Squaring up against a 3.5-inch iPhone 4, the QWERTY slider from Nokia seems barely any larger from the front though quite a bit thicker from the side -- an expansion justified by its inclusion of a physical keyboard. It does a lot better when compared to the EVO 4G and the departing iPhone 3GS, looking only marginally chunkier than those keyboard-less devices. Don't take our word for it though -- skip past the break and see for yourself.
P.S. -- The UI on this device looks to us a lot more like
Symbian^3 than the S60 the narrator believes it's running, leading us to think that this is most likely a keyboard-equipped variant of the N8.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
posted July 1st 2010 6:42AM
iphone bezel!!!
Why isn't Nokia popular here in the states? like seriously, I love their phones. But then again, I lived overseas for a longtime. I love this device!
@DefPoet
I'd say a perfect fit.
@Mike Vick
Why would they be?
@Mike Vick Coz the US mobile phone market is completely different to the rest of the world, and arguably less developed (until recently). Pre-iPhone, Nokia probably just looked at the market and thought 'not worth it' - there's more money to be made in countries where the networks have properly invested in infrastructure and agreed upon international standards across networks. Hopefully the US will follow suit in the 4th Gen, and you can keep up with us (Example: Symbian has had TRUE multitasking since 2000) ;)
@Mike Vick Nokia makes sexy, feature-packed phones but they refused to allow US carriers to cripple their phones' functions so they were left out in the cold and resorted to selling them unlocked. Unfortunately the locked-in contract model seems to be the only game to play in the US.
@Mike Vick nokia is very by very i mean VERY popular in india where apple has failed miserably yes very badly because there are no contracts in India so carriers cannot subsidise the phones. it means customers have to buy them outright. If you look at the cost of first iphone which was released in india it was 36000 Rs which is like 3 months salary of an average "household". on other hand, Nokia makes some cheap and reliable phones like 1100. we dont have carpet floors here so when the phone drops accedentally, it should sustain the impact which most phones wont either it be blackbery or apple or HTC. There is no 3G until recently in india. just GSM calls and that too cheapest!! its like 1 pence a min. call charges are very competitive in india so if some one charges £40 for free phone a month, its bound to be a failure. cheap nokia phones cost like 2000 Rs here.
I guess the Symbian/Maemo fanboys are out in force this morning. Surprising to see my comment downranked so quick.
I'll say it again - why would anyone choose a Nokia smartphone over an iOS or Android based device? Your hardware is only as good as the software that runs on it, and when your hardware has resistive touchscreens, well, you're off my short list.
@grumbles Dood, you were downranked because your comment was uninformed and uninformative - all you did is waste an inch or so of comment space.
People like different phones for different reasons - practical reasons like 'do I have to learn a new interface', 'I don't like touchscreens' or 'can I run x program or connect it with y'. Personally I bought Symbian because 10 years ago IT WAS THE ONLY OPTION if you wanted a decent smartphone. Now I use Maemo, but each to their own..
@grumbles
This phone has capacitive screen. You're just bullshitting without any deep knowledge of the matter.
@Mike Vick nokia phones are to expensive for carriers i.e. no deep discounts and also Nokia hates to tailor their products so no go for the US carriers.
@mags1979
Yes, this phone does.. The N900 has a resistive screen, though. Hence my previous comment, "Why would they?"
@grumbles This article isn't about the N900. But as you asked, I like the superior accuracy of the resistive screen - I loathe poking at a fischer-price cap interface with my finger when I could be accurately selecting things with my nail or a stylus. Again, everyone has their different reasons..
*stops feeding the troll.. now*
@grumbles
Because they appreciate a resistive screen. Especially on the N900. But to answer your question. Stability, freedom, speed, battery life, reception, call clarity. All that stuff. Symbian is the best OS out there for phone centric devices, and Maemo MeeGo is the highedt level OS out there. Maemo is slicker and better than Android. Symbian gives you much better battery life, more functionality, with a slightly less polished UI. That is why.
@rakeshin the iphone 4 will be sold by airtel for appx 45,000 rupees!!!
@lifenexus
I can give 45 000 Zelda rupees for that. Just don't expect me not to cheat.
@Discourse - Spot On!
Hey Nokia, add a fast browser with Flash 10 support and we will have another winner. Oh, also try to peel of like a T-mo for some type of subsidy. So you let em have a T-mo boot screen, big deal. At a subsidized $199 knot or under you will move devices. Sayin...
@rakeshin
Exactly, most of their sales are being fueled by lessor developed nations, not so much as their previous higher end sales. Yes, I do own, owned and like Nokia, but quite honestly, symbian^3 is like putting lipstick on a pig. Time to give it up and go Meego. Rumors on and off say it will be a Meego phone, if it is, I'll be back.
@Mike Vick
I agree. have had N95 and e71's and a few others, but it does seem like they lost their edge. In europe now, Android, iPhone are taking their high end sales. Yes, their cheaper phones sell well.
Been some Nokias that I would have bought over the years ... but my "Beasto" will suffice for now/ever.
@darkshine Nokia sold OK but not great on AT&T. But let me tell you this, Nokia is a corporation, not a religion. If they could sell 3 million phones in a week with AT&T or whomever, they would do it in a heart beat, with restrictions, with branding and with any network that would work with the device. Don't doubt it for a second.
BTW, They have branded their phones on most carriers in europe and the world, with locks and bloat to a greater or lessor degree depending. So don't look at it like its a religious icon because its not. But I will say this hardwarewise, best phones I have ever had.
@darkshine
Sorry I have the n900 and even if I like some of the features, the n900 is only a better phone in terms of potential. It's terribly lacking features, build quality and hardware are tops. But to be clear before some fanboy jumps in, it isn't a tablet I've used Linux since 1996, and I program. Nokia delivered far less then they promised, I expected a finished product to build on, not one I'd have to build.
@DefPoet
"It does a lot better when compared to the EVO 4G...."
....and the iPhone4 with the revolutionary bumper-based "antenna enhancement" technology. ;-)
@DefPoet Nokia still makes smartphones? They should just stop, they suck, IPhone bezel? Adds height for more internal room and makes it not a little pipsqueak of a phone and allows you to hold the bezel while watching video
@DefPoet This is hands down the sweetest slider phone EVER! Go Nokia!
But I'm still waiting for some MeeGo action
@DefPoet OK, I like a lot of things about the device, but to say that the 3GS looked down right fat in comparison is just absurd... And to say that you really start to appreciate how thin it is while still having a slide out Qwerty is just wrong, the droid is much thinner while accomplishing the same feat...
What an annoying way of speaking he has...
Also, this is a Symbian^3, previous Symbian phones dont have HDMI output. He does not know what he is talking about.
@Mr w00t
Why does he talk like that? Is is some regional accent?
@Mr w00t
I knew I wasn't alone. "WhAtsup everYONE" *cringe*
Very thin for QWERTY slider, most impressive =D
@stewie325
VERY nice indeed
@stewie325
This will be my next phone. I've always wanted to try Nokia and this is the final push. I hope it comes to the US carrier subsidized.
@stewie325
That is amazing looking phone. Good looking keyboard in such a thin package is quite the achievement.
The screen resolution (if correct) pretty much rules out N9. Besides no sense in making HW drivers for symbian just for fun. I think this could become a really well selling business phone. E7 maybe?
@Rev
Does that LOOK like 640*360 to you?
Sure doesn't to me or indeed anyone with eyes.
A 4 inch screen at that resolution wouldn't nearly be that sharp.
@stewie325
Dedicated Å, Ä, Ö buttons FTW!
@stewie325
Yeah and the screen size makes me realise how weak the iPhone's is given its form factor.
@stewie325
Yeah, it is pretty nice. They should put Android on it and start shipping. But that's not gonna happen.
competition!
Symbian^3 internally in Nokia is called S60 5th edition Feature Pack 2. So it is S60.
@ICEmanc81 I dont know where you got this information but you are wrong. Care to enlighten us who told you this?
@ICEmanc81 Not true. Sufficiently mature versions of S60 5th (such as the N97's PR2) are considered to be Symbian^1. However there are no Feature Pack releases of S60 5th, and later versions of S^N aren't considered to be related to S60 5th Edition at all.
@Mr w00t in developer documents platform for N8 is (S60) 5.2. All feature packs for S60 3rd were named like that - S60 3.1.x/3.2.x. Symbian^n is just a re-branding, but effectively it's just a polished version of same OS (that's why there are no "revolutions" in it)
@ICEmanc81 Actually S60 5th Edition is Symbian version 9.5.
@sockatume Actually, version of Symbian has nothing to do with S60. Also, S60 5.0 was based on Symbian 9.4. Don't mix OS and developer platform (UI)
Qwerty slider :D
I really curious about the price. In Romania the Iphone 4 32 gb unlocked it's somewhere around 3015 USD.
http://altex.ro/catalog/index.jsp?catalogId=62&categoryId=1274&itemId=28886
@ReneIlia Just think that price wont be higher than the N8.. N8 is aprox €370, depending on how much tax you guys pay there.
@Mr w00t
Nice "subtle" comparison, imported grey market unlocked iPhone vs. Rumoured tax-free locked Nokia
@tallfella
It's a reasonable comparison. The amounts go into extremes on both sides but the tendency is correct. I can look at any big manufacturer selling in Germany. Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC. All their top devices (Prada phones and other golden toys not considered) cost less than €500. But Apple? €1000! And that's the standard retail price. No grey market there.
@tallfella
Locked Nokia? That would be a first.