We all know that Symbian is still holding the fort as the globe's
most widely used mobile OS, but anyone interested in criticizing it nowadays will have to
get into a queue. Nick Jones from Gartner is latest to launch a broadside against the apparently complacent market leader, opining that its user experience has been surpassed by
iOS and Android, and arguing that
future iterations do not promise enough innovation to make the platform stand out. He underpins these observations with his firm's latest estimates, which indicate Symbian's decline in share is
accelerating, before positing the idea that the Foundation sets aside some talent for skunkworks projects in order to give itself fallback options should Symbian^4 not be blindingly marvelous. Nick might be going a little overboard with the bleakness of his outlook, but there's no questioning his "Android iceberg" analogy -- if Symbian doesn't find the right course soon, Google might well end up collecting a big chunk of its
exasperated users.
posted July 13th 2010 4:07AM
@tauttvisz
Small correction, it is already dead
Nobody in the US uses a Nokia smartphone these days. Compared head-to-head to the iPhone there is absolutely no reason to go Nokia. Those are the facts.
@Shalabi
There is, starting from choice of form factors.
Why different versions and labeling for Symbian are so confusing in contrast with Android and iOS?
@wsansewjs
Because it runs on smartphones since 2001.
Don't forget that Android is not taking any of Nokia's market share. Android is popular with Verizon, Sprint and TMobile in US where Nokia and iOS don't even compete. The only real OS on these carriers were Blackberry, prior to Android. The combined user base for these carriers is almost half the US population. But that doesn't mean anything to Nokia and Apple.
Secondly, look at the manufacturers who use Android. Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG all of them are walking on the edge of survival. They sell a lot of hansets but cut throat competition is forcing them to go with too little profit margins. Can they survive another price cut? How long can they operate a business like that? Contrary to popular belief, these high end smartphones sell in very low volumes. For example, there are more Nokia E71s in the US than Nexus One. However Nexus One got all the press. The reality is somewhre else.
@HillBill
Are on doping ?
I don't understand why anyone would accept a phone that has such clunky software. People are so caught up on "features", my phone can do this, that, blah blah. Why do any of those features matter if the features are a nightmare to use?
@MrX8503
Agree , I threw my brick 5800 as nobody is ready to buy even my my part time maid refused to use such a hideous phone.
@MrX8503
Because it's not that "clunky" and not that "nightmarish" to use as you try to make people believe?
Speaking from experience with a Nokia 5800:
Software-wise: The OS is buggy and inconsistent. I even got crashes after a phone call, which could only be fixed by pulling the battery.
Hardware-wise: The phone had bad build quality, it would creak and squeek in random spots. There was a huge gap in one of the corners .In the end, the phone itself died on me, unable to turn on or charge.
This is my first experience with Nokia and I have to say its not a good one =(
Nokia needs to work long and hard to get these fixed!
@FC1032
On the other hand I'm quite happy with the stability of my 5800, both hardware and software-wise. It survived a few drops with no consequences, squeaks are as good as it can get in a phone with a user-accessible battery. I agree that it does hang sometimes, though, and that in that case removing the battery is the only solution. Stability of the OS may also depend on your firmware version, with v50 I feel mine is pretty stable and I hardly ever switch it off.
(In)consistency of the UI is another (sad) story...
@FC1032
Throw that brick in gutter.
Using Nokia phones is big pain.
@FC1032
You must have had a special phone then. My 5800 is solid with great build quality. I'm running SPB mobile shell on it and the interface is now customized to my liking.
But I could pay 600 bucks for an iPhone instead of $200 for a Nokia that does what I need just as well. If that would make Talent's maid happy...
Symbian is most hated OS in the world, why engadget is putting news on front page of sick company.
I am expressing the anger as I suffered due to Nokia 5800, the pig slow unpredictable plus most hedious and thickest mobile phone on the planet.
Thanks google for rescuing all from clunky symbian.
And result of symbian is now NOK stock is trading in single digit, the days are nor far when it will trade in cents.
@TalentSupporter
You are such a whiny little bitch. Just buy another phone.
1) Give me a break, my N95-8G was horrible unstable with fring and god help you if you multi task and dont get me started on battery life while multi tasking on a N95-8G.
2) Works fine for me on Android to, although I cant see why anyone cares about video calls on mobiles I usually prefer to message people via skype.
3) Blackberries have a lot of back end network support missing on other platforms, blackberries just do email so much better than anything out there so far.
4) Any android phone with the right app/hardware can play xvid/avi, in fact Im playing mkv thanks to a beta copy of rockplayer something that has never been done on Symbian to my knowledge.
6) Symbian has the same license as android and only 95% of Symbian is actually open source for the same basic reasons that android devs on XDA are having issues with the handset makers, basically the chipmakers don't want to open source the driver (although Nokia also hasnt open sourced many of its apps either).
7) You keep yapping on about multi tasking on Symbian but forget to mention how piss poor the default hardware is on most symbian handsets. I have run lots of apps on N series handsets with symbian and it hits the hardware limits way before android does. After 2 years of having to stuff around with trying to stop symbian crashing because nokia has bugger all ram/rom in their handsets it was a joy to run an os that can do 4 things without crashing because it has run out of resources.
@MrLinux
thanks for exposing the dirty symbian, we should eradicate the menace of symbian from this planet and yes the process is already started all Android , iOAS, WEb OS, RIM are former users of dirty Symbian.
@TalentSupporter
Idiot.
@MrLinux
The N95 is an ancient set, released in 2007 for crying out loud. Comparing the N95 to Android phones, wow, that sure is fair. The open source equivalent to Symbian, Symbian^3 hasn't even been released, so wow, that sure is an "unbiased" statement, eh? And yes, if you flash the firmware on any compatible handset, anything can play AVC - MKV is not a file format by the way, it's merely a container, but hey I'm not expecting a lot given the rest of your post.
Their shareholders need to tear them apart right now, you cant run the same "play" forever. They did not change a thing between iphone release and android, each generation of these got better, they did nothing but add a touch screen , and didnt even make it touch friendly, just half assed it
I've owned five Nokias in the past seven years, 3 of which were N-Series. I'm not going back. Android, here I come.
@Aaron MartinColby
Wow, comparing seven year old phones to something like Android, which, uh, isn't very old, is it? Symbian ^3 and ^4, Symbian's competitor to Android, hasn't even been commercially released, so it's funny how some minds work. Also, if you're really looking to compare, MeeGo will blow "Android" and everything else out of the water completely, period.
@metamorphic: I'm not comparing seven-year-old phones to Android. My most recent N-Series is an N85, which is only a year-and-a-half old. I also had the honor(?) of using an N97 for two weeks. I'm comparing apples to temporal apples.
And Symbian^3 hasn't been released, true, but the videos are indisputably bad. It's not even out, and it sucks. I know nothing about Symbian^4, certainly, but I've run out of hope. I won't wait any longer for Nokia to get its shit together.
Maemo/Meego does rock. A friend has an N900 and I came very, very close to buying one. But Nokia seems only half-interested in it. I'm not going to gamble on something that may receive no support whatsoever in the future.
And that's the key to my statement, the future. I've been waiting for the future from Nokia ever since the first iPhone, and Nokia just keeps promising and never delivering. I'm tired of it. The last time Nokia delivered was the N95, which I had. I loved it. I'm sorry, Nokia, but what have you done for me lately?
@Aaron MartinColby
The N900 is leaps and bounds beyond the rest. You should have gotten one. And to say S^3 is terrible is really far fetched.
@JFH: I'm a big fan of the N900. I keep my mind open about it and MeeGo. If Nokia is able to show that it, without doubt, is going to put time and money behind the OS and good hardware, it will certainly enter my radar. But absolutely not until then.
Moreover, if my calling S^3 bad is far-fetched, it is equally far-fetched to say that MeeGo is "leaps and bounds" ahead of anything. I liked it, certainly, bit it's definitely not leaps and bounds ahead of Android, iOS, or WebOS. Especially WebOS, which I really, really like.
Hehe, me2, I kinda like it.
Though it has to be said, only the 'non sanctioned' versions of the OS. Running a i8910 (one of those rare S60 phones from Samsung) with a custom firmware. With all the excess bagage removed, portrait keyboard software in place, and Opera Mobile installed, and no certificate nuicances to bother you Symbian is actually quite a powerfull platform. Too bad Nokia doesn't realize that only a few good tweaks allready make it a much better platform.
I picked up a Sony Ericsson P1 (UIQ 3.0) just before the iPhone craze hit here. It's a decent phone and the operating system seems okay, but man is the app support terrible. These days I barely even use it as a smartphone.
The US is not the only mobile phone market in the world; in fact, it's not even amongst the most technically advanced ones (I chuckle whenever I hear these self-titled pundits talk about multitasking and video chat, which Symbian has had for years). The fact of the matter remains, Symbian is the most popular mobile OS in the world, and has a perfect system for so-called featurephones and smartphones, the former of which will always make the majority of the world market. Symbian's future open source nature also makes it seamlessly compatible with various international mobile providers, as they have shown in Japan with NTT DoCoMo, the biggest communications service provider in Japan and amongst the largest in the world, whose entire portfolio of 2010/2011 devices are based on Symbian^2 (yes, not ^3 or ^4, but ^2 - just goes to show how flexible and thus successful Symbian is). Whether these naysayers, many of whom have done no research on Symbian's international market (the US has never been part of it and doesn't need to be; Symbian has always ruled the market regardless) as the aforementioned example of DoCoMo has showed, Symbian is the King and will continue to be.
Symbian is dying and will be a tiny fraction of its marketshare within 2 or 3 years. Just accept it people.
Also, does anyone know why articles like this still show up when my RSS feed when I explicitly have exclude Symbian?
@Johnny Rockets
Maybe because you have other filters that include news with other keywords.
About marketshare: Symbian will run on many more low- and mid-end smartphones in 2 or 3 years, but maybe only "in a place where you don't live" (nothing personal, quoted from a debated recent headline).
If a company with Nokia's resources fails to come up with a competitive OS, thats pretty bad management. But if they are too stupid to spend more than the $1.2 billion for web OS that HP paid, than they deserve every inch of the shit storm thats slowly making its way towards them. Honestly - 1.2 billion is peanuts compared to whats at stake and Nokia has spent more than that on recent mobile OS efforts and they don't have that much to show for it. Time will tell if HP can do that OS justice, but its pretty clear that Nokia with its massive phone market share could have done big things with it.
@SHoe
Why would they waste money on WebOS, when they have MeeGo, its going to be the most powerfull OS ever in a mobile, right after Maemo.
Symbian is evolving, but is set for lower ends of the market. Due to hardware requirements, Symbian is the only OS to run on lower end devices. So what would be the use of WebOS, its absolutely not good for lower end devices. And MeeGo is so much more powerfull since its an real computer OS.
Hey guys,
I've been a long time follower here and this is my first post. Now, let me preface by saying that this post would be better in the "Ask Engadget" section, but I cannot figure out how to post there. I also posted this in a comment pertaining to an item about FM Radio on the Nexus One, but this seems to be the more popular thread. The post is more relevant here anyway.
The story is simply this; I'm in the market for a new phone. There are obviously certain features I want my new phone to have. The thing is, even though I live in Hong Kong (and to a certain extent, the US too), I travel a lot. My current situation dictates that I am in the US (specifically, the northeast) for the majority of the year.
Currently, I use an unlocked E71 which I bought from Hong Kong. I use T-Mobile in the US. I don't really need a data plan as I use wifi. Really, I use my phone for calling, SMS, Music and light web browsing. The E71 has served me extremely well in those respects. People might say the S60 is dated, however, I have found it to be extremely functional, and it serves my needs extremely well.
However, I am now inclined to go touchscreen. This touchscreen phone needs to be GSM. I travel a lot, and CDMA is...well, its CDMA. I switch out my SIM Cards very often, so, CDMA is a huge "no" for me. The phone also needs to have very strong multimedia functionality AND support either T-mobile or AT&T in the US on 3G. Currently, I use T-mobile, but, I'm willing to switch.
The phone must also be unlocked. Call me old fashioned, but I like to have a SINGLE device for everything. Currently, my E71 is just that. I don't want to have a different phone for the US and a different one for Hong Kong and a different one for Australia.
Now, I have been loyal to Nokia for many, many years. The E71 has given me no reason not to stay loyal. However, I do use Google's services (Gmail, Google Calander) and currently, they sync extremely well to my E71. However, obviously Android would be better for Google and its services. Hence, my dilemma.
The phones that I am going to pick between to replace my trusty E71 (which has been with me ever since it hit the stores) are the HTC Desire, the Nexus One and of course, the Nokia N8.
The Desire takes a huge step back because it only comes with a 900/2100 3G radio. This is the ONLY reason (atleast for me) to opt for the Nexus One in this regard. The Nexus one is tri-band 3G with either T-mobile support (1700/2100 AWS + 2100) or AT&T support (850/1900+2100). Most countries I am in (places in Europe, Hong Kong, etc) use 2100 for their 3G data, though, not all (Australia....).
The Nexus one, alas, loses to the Nokia N8 in some rather important respects. First, the Nokia N8 comes Pentaband 3G. This is ideal. Second, it has stronger multimedia (HDMI, great camera, inbuilt 16GB+ expandable 32GB of Micro SD expandable, more formats supported, etc). The Nokia N8 also wins on things such as battery life, call quality (I say this based on testimonials from friends with the Nexus One and I assume the N8's call quality will be good as thats the one thing Nokia always gets right).
The two tie in things such as web browsing (Nokia N8 has flash support like the Nexus One + Froyo). The Nexus One might slightly edge the Nokia N8 in this regard, but if the N8 loads a page 3 seconds slower, it is of no consequence to me.
The Nexus One wins out in the App support for Android. I might be a die hard Nokia user, but I can see that Android has more apps. However, whether I have any use for them, I do not know; I've never used Android before. I absolutely refuse to go Apple for a whole laundry list of reasons.
So, the Nokia N8 is looking to be the better choice for me and my situation. However, I do want to give Android a chance, and I came here to ask a few questions:
1) Is there an Android, other than the Nexus One, that has atleast TRI-band 3G?
2) Seeing that I use my phone for E-mail, calling, SMS and multimedia almost exclusively, is the Nexus One really that much better than the N8 (the Nexus One is certainly pricier). The N8 will come with the excellent Nokia Messaging E-mail client which pushes all manner of E-mail accounts.
3) Seeing that Nokia wins out on some extremely important "phone things" (Battery life and call quality, both of which, I hear, perhaps wrongly, are an issue on the Nexus One), is the Nexus One still worth it for Android?
4) All the apps I need are currently on my E71: Skype, Mobbler, Grooveshark, Wikipedia, Opera Mini, Skyfire, Gmail, Google Maps, OVI Maps, Youtube, FB, Ebuddy for IMing on all sorts of networks. They will certainly be on the N8 too. The question remains, is there something more than Android can offer me?
Sorry for the long post guys. I would like some opinions. Currently, I am leaning towards the N8. but perhaps, the discussion here can change that.
Okey, my last phones were (in that order) Nokia E50 -> Asus K750 (WinMobile 6.5) -> Iphone 1g (gave away to my GF) -> Nokie E66. I tried some androids, and guess what - they just don`t have what i needed. My choice - Nokia 5800 (yeah, that 2 years old phone). The latest firmware is like haven - all bugs are out, lots of stuff in. So far - a choice for next year or two. And a price tag of 260$. With free navigation and car holder. I say - thats a great bargain.
P.S. I also spent some time with nokia N97 - it sucked.