Nokia itself has declared that it’s abandoning Symbian for all of its N-Series phones. Nokia serves a billion phones a year, but it’s the N-series that represents everything Nokia wants to be, its ambition forged into tiny pocketfuls of technology. Their phones that geeks gushed about once upon a time. The N8 is the very last of its kind. The head of Symbian even quit today. It’s a dead OS running.
A year ago, after looking at the very best the number one mobile phone maker in the world had to offer, I said Nokia faced a particular kind of doom. Not because Nokia won’t keep selling a billion finely engineered mobile phones – oh it will – but because it simply doesn’t make the kind of phones that people care about anymore. When the most prominent enthusiast site calls it quits because the platform is stagnant, something’s wrong. No wonder Nokia’s putting all its eggs in the MeeGo basket.
The N8 itself, even in isolation, isn’t very good. It has perhaps the most technologically advanced camera ever packed in a phone. But it’s unusable. Even as Engadget says the N8 “is easily the best Symbian device that Nokia – or any company, for that matter – has ever made”, the fact is “Symbian^3, sadly, regrettably, heartrendingly, isn’t there yet.”
And well, we don’t like pissing on gravestones all that much, even in October.
AU: Nokia Australia have been in contact with us and asked us to post the US Nokia’s response to Matt’s post, to which I agreed -NB:
brad
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 8:39 AMLOL poor old Nokia. They just haven’t caught upwith the times. They are still living in the 90′s. I remember when Nokia phones were top of the line. That’s all I would ever buy. I bought their first camera phone. I can’t remember the model # but it was awesome… In the very early 2000′s. I remember being the work hero. Everyone was running round with their poxy old phone with old teck and I had the coolest thing ever. Was a good time to be a Nokia owner/fan. I think that was my last nokia unfortunately. After that phone came along the SE P800. Then a whole heap of insane devices.
R.I.P. Nokia & Symbian
brad
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 8:44 AMSorry. It was bugging me not remembering the model of one of my all time favorite phones….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_7650
First camera phone i laid my eyes on.
Bander
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 9:08 AMIt’s probably for the best that you won’t be reviewing the N8. Because nothing written here regarding this phone has any credibility anymore after the sham that was the Nokia N8 Vs iPhone 4 Vs BlackBerry Bold Video Throwdown, which was proven to be misleading very quickly. Why hasn’t that page been removed yet?
With a full review, you’d have to actually give reasons as to why you hate the OS so much! Imagine that.
Plus you’d be expected to explain why features like USB On The Go (forget apps, it’s now about peripherals that could never be made before), HDMI out, the great camera hardware, a 32 million polygons per second GPU, support for several video formats without conversion, GPS navigation that doesn’t require a data connection, working Flash, pentaband reception, FM Transmitter, Bluetooth 3, Wireless N, sophisticated haptic feedback, blah blah blah, are already irrelevant. Is it really unlikely that future phones will not do any of these things?
matt
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 10:00 AMlol, sounds better than the iphone…
Will
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:17 AMlol you missed the point. doesnt matter how good/bad it is. The OS is dead.
Bander
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:18 PMWhat does that even mean?
Symbian smartphones still outsell all others. Symbian^3 will appear on other handsets, including the Nokia E7 which is just as high-end as an NSeries, and phones by Japanese manufacturers. Nobody ruled out Symbian^4 appearing on a future NSeries phone; to say otherwise is false reporting, and between now and Symbian^4, the N9 is the only NSeries device that anyone currently expects. Installing Symbian^4 on the N8 hasn’t been ruled out either.
Coming back to here and now, Symbian^3 works and has more capabilities than any other smartphone OS, like USB OTG, while at the same time being more power efficient than any other smart phone OS. Plus I’ve heard nothing but good things said about the new app creation tools in the form of QT, which even allow easy cross-platform development. Apps made in QT for Symbian^3 should work in Symbian^4, possibly Symbian^1 if it’s within the hardware requirements, and also on Meamo/Maego with minimal effort.
Symbian^3 could certainly use some tweaking. There are bits of the interface that really don’t make as much sense as they should. But the first phone to use it has only been in the hands of users for less than a month, and it has launched in a more stable form than is typical of a smartphone. Nokia have said that there will be updates coming, including a complete web browser overhaul before the end of the year, and no doubt tweaks will be made to the UI based on feedback that they will now be gathering.
Steve
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 7:01 PMIt’s impossible to just throw numbers around and pretend it matters. No-one’s arguing against the build quality of the N8, but the OS just isn’t there. iPhone wouldn’t be the #1 selling individual handset if people just bought a phone purely for the clockspeed, megapixels or screen size (there are a million Android devices that trump it in these categories).
The fact is, Symbian is undeniably a rather outdated OS. It suffers from lack of support for web-based email, poorer maps, inferior browsing etc. These things define the modern smartphone and the N8 is something that would have sufficed maybe 3-4 years ago.
Support: A platform these days will live or die based on its support, whether it be hardware manufacturers (not an issue for Symbian), Carrier support as well as developers. IS Symbian’s app store anywhere near Android or iPhone? Is there any money in it? Is there any other incentive for developers to start working with Symbian? The modern consumer is wanting more features, apps, streaming services, interoperability etc and Symbian just isn’t cutting it.
Doesn’t matter whatever individual number the N8 might advertise, or how many might attempt to defend Symbian, the platform is dead. Consumers have voted with their wallets. If Symbian is to survive, it’s going to require a complete overhaul (a la WP7) and only have a name in common.
silvercat13
Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 11:45 AMI think you speak without any knowledge of the N8 / Symbian^3. I guess your opinion is based on what a friend of yours has told you after having read a biased article from gizmodo.
Symbian^3 and Meego will have long life because there are users that will buy them. They will share a common development platform so that applications will work on both.. Symbian^3 is currently benefiting from an big number of Symbian 5th edition applications.
Beside this, I bought an N8 and I am just amazed with all the advanced features of N8 that iPhone and most Android do not have (12 megapixel camera, HDMI output, FM transmitter, free navigation with no data download).
This is the reason an user buy an N8. I have no experience with Symbian 5th edition, but Symbian^3 is quite a solid OS. The browser is not perfect but will improve in next release and can be complemented with Opera for the time being.
What you say it’s just coming from prejudice and US bias. In order to improve your understanding of the what phone-users all over the world like I suggest you:
1) understand that US is just a part of the world, not the whole world
2) understand that if YOU don’t use a specific HW feature, this does not mean that the whole world will not use it
3) understand that if YOU think that the 1000 iPhone limitations are negligible, not the whole world will agree with you.
Des
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 10:09 AMOh Giz, so childish.
IgorV
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 10:29 AMYes I agree with this attitude its not advisable to write a review. I might be buying it soon to see for myself. What do you know may be Symbian really will prove THAT bad? I am only too excited to check it out. I think ppl need to be wary that Google and Android become a bangwagon not everyone wants to jump on. And the HTC phones look kind of… well boring.
Chris M
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:46 AMMate, if you’re so disillusioned to believe that symbian OS, on the N8, the SAME symbian OS that has been used for years now, is going to be better on this 1 phone that it has on all it’s others? Then you have some serious issues my friend. Nokia havn’t listened to their consumer base, or rather have decided to cram everything people have asked for into a phone, except a decent OS to run it all. Sadly sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind and nokia is finding that out.
Bander
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:36 PMWhat makes you sure that Symbian^3 doesn’t do anything better than Symbian^1? And what would it be that it’s doing wrong? What are the consumers asking for that hasn’t been addressed?
Of course, Gizmodo should be in a good position to answer this, except the task of writing a review as per usual now appears to be beneath them.
Dubrave
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:07 AMWhy i am not going to follow Gizmodo any more:
You guys must be joking, right? Or is your angle shit stirring to gain attention?
Your bias is obvious, there is no doubt about that, and it is probably for the best that you steer clear of Nokia devices, because no one could even hope for a balanced and fair review of anything outside the iOS and Android ecosystem. But to have a tech site, and exclude the largest and most successful manufacturer with it’s flagship device because of your own skewed view of the state of the market is clearly wrong. Saying that no one cares about Nokia is a lie, as the only vote that really counts is the one people make with their purchaise, not what some might blabber out in passing to make themselves look knowlageble and “in”.
It is sad that you are afraid of what a Nokia device can do, and thus do not want to compare it to your Android de jure.
Gizmodo – the Fox News of the Tech world. Fair and balanced.
Richard Bloor
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:57 AMWell said Dubrave.
Symbian was walking on the moon with the N95 before Apple managed to roll out its initial biplane. Apple then took 3 years to catch up with the N95, and the likes of Gizmodo where taken in by the marketing.
If there are issues with the Symbian UI, these can and will be fixed. (Frankly I don’t see them on the N8 I have.) Whereas the issues with iOS and Android – such as poor battery life, are with them for the duration.
Gizmodo is like watching kids in a candy store – there is no telling them how bad their choice are.
Steve
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:36 PM+1 Dubrave – Long time Gizmodo readers understand how a story earns Allure Media revenue for each read, and perhaps a decision was made at the management level for this angle because a negative (or non) review would attract more views than a positive (or even balanced) review.
At the end of the day, we read commercially funded journalism. This post will more than likely get more hits due to its contentious view-point. This, however, only reflects poorly to the educated Gizmodo reader.
Sorry Giz/Matt – poor form. poor journalism.
Nick Broughall
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:40 PMThis post is from the US. Allure Media and Giz AU had nothing to do with the decision…
Steve
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:53 PMFair call Nick – I’m generally a fan of Au posts, but lately there seems to be quite a shift in both quality and integrity of some US posts. I guess the only way they can find out is if we post of email, but I’d imagine that the US Giz doesn’t read the comments from every nation’s edition, so how do we know any of these comments will filter through to them like they do to you?
We know you read comments (and reply – which is greatly appreciated), but for those with the sub-standard material? Any suggestions?
G
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 11:52 AMyeah im pretty disapointed with this…
I dont want a N8, but with some of the features in it, i want to know what it is really like. Because those features will obviously be implimented in the new generation of nokia phones…
So when Gizmodo reviews them next year, they will be saying its a first for Nokia, when really it already existed in the Symbian N8..
Used to love the site… now i just like it.
Batiu-Drami
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:00 PMFuck off Gizmodo, stop being so damn petty. I know Nokia doesn’t have the marketshare in the US and you like to wank over the iPhone, but some people were genuinely interested int this.
tomascivinod
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 2:06 PMtru dat!
blueevo
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:09 PMBut reviewing the a piece of technology which we go to this website for will take away precious time on making a news post on the latest iPhone app which seem to be every 3rd article on here these days.
ugh..
Steve
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:38 PMIt’s so freaking true!
mattm
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 12:54 PMPretty much hit the nail on the head. I’m sick to death of having to scroll through all the stories on new iphone apps. Their are loads of other websites dedicated to such causes. I don’t think there is any need for giz to compete in this area
tomascivinod
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 2:05 PMI think that this is why I usually read Engadget, Matt is just bashing nokia for improving their product at what is a too slow rate for him, I (personally) think we have a lazy reviewer, if you send it to me, I will do a review! When nokia gives you lemons, you make lemonade, ie a reivew.
Im sorry and I might sound like a giz basher but the phone is hardly irrelevant!
I just happens to have the best camera phone, but that isn’t relevant,
seeya guys, im going back to reading engadget.
Bobbobboy
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 2:07 PMgizmodo are just trolling. Trying to get their hits up to sell your eyeball time. More and more of this seems to be happening out of the US web site. The whole lost iphone 4 thing made them more money than they ever had to pay the lawyers to get them off the hook.
Simon Reidy
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 2:15 PMThis is a strange decision for Gizmodo. I hate Symbian, but I still wanted to read more about the N8, see some photo examples and video of the phone’s good features in use.
As an alternative source of information, checkout Engadget’s in-depth N8 coverage.
Darth
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 3:03 PMI am really waiting to the N8–it will do exactly what I want it to do and more. Take no notice of the Yanks as they have always been wanks
Pete
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 4:11 PMThis is the dumbest article I ever read. If you gonna trash a phone, you are already reviewing it! HELLO!!!?? Nokia is the ultimate pioneer when it comes to cell phones. I have Nokia E72, paper thin,metal and glass,and I LOVE IT! Makes Blackberrys look like bricks.
OzHuski
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 6:16 PMOkay?? What the? Kind of a stupid thing to post.. And while it may be that the OS could have issues, or even feel outdated – lots of other places have nothing but praised how damn impressive and sleek the hardware itself actually is.
To overlook reviewing a piece of hardware based on one aspect of the device is just beyond me, do you actually care to review devices anymore, or just what you feel is popular and hip?
/Shrugs. Guess ill find out about the device on other sites.
md
Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at 6:32 PMApple fanboy !! Heres 50 things the iphone can’t do, won’t do, wants to :) lol …the N8 will even sync with Mac
Screen/User Interface:
iDon’t have themes support.
iDon’t have a scalable OS, apps on the iPad are simply stretched to fit.
iDon’t have a desktop, entire UI is organized as a single “start” menu.
iDon’t have parallax (finger/screen offset) adjusting – low precision especially on small objects.
iDon’t have a touch friendly screen, gloves, pens, styluses and not even fingernails work!
iDon’t have neither haptic nor any other type feedback whatsoever.
iDon’t have any precision compared to resistive touchscreens.
iDon’t have a standard(16:10, 16:9, 4:3) aspect ratio only Apple custom ones(3:2) will fit my screen.
Power:
iDon’t have USB charging without a dock adapter.
iDon’t have any safety garment for the battery(1) melting is known to occur in Apple products(2)
iDon’t have warranty for damage made by “external” force aka. the above.
GSM connectivity:
iDon’t have full 3G HSDPA speed (7mb/s vs. 2008 smatphones that have 10mb/s).
iDon’t have full GPRS/EDGE speed (CLASS 10 is four times slower than CLASS 33!)
iDon’t have a decent GSM/GPS/WiFi signal(1) the connection is far worse than on 3GS(2)
iDon’t handle videocall via the network, gTalk etc.
WLAN connectivity:
iDon’t have DLNA (streaming HD content wireless on a HDTV).
iDon’t have UPnP technology (automatic WiFi setup) some networks simply don’t work.
Bluetooth connectivity:
iDon’t A2DP right (BT stereo) right: lags on videos(1) and games(2).
iDon’t have rSAP, Remote SIM Access Profile(1) – iDon’t work with your in-car hands free(2).
iDon’t fully support AVRCP (BT remote)(1) industry standard(2) can’t skip tracks.
iDon’t support any Bluetooth services when pairing with a MacBook.
iDon’t have any BT file sharing my BT is almost useless!
Cable connectivity:
iDon’t have standard USB connectivity(1) only custom cables(2)
iDon’t give a damn about the environment: short cables but tons of iAccesories.
Misc connectivity:
iDon’t have PC/MAC/LINUX connectivity without iTunes.
iDon’t have IR, can’t control: basic household items(1) TV, HDTV(2) DSLR camera(3) MAC(4)
Media/camera:
iDon’t have stereo speakers.
iDon’t have radio.
iDon’t have FM transmitter.
iDon’t have decent camera (small sensor and 72 DPI, which is less than most 5mp phones)
iDon’t have fine detail in pictures, high noise reduction smears the finer details.
iDon’t have video stabilization.
iDon’t have exposure control (ISO).
Design:
iDon’t eject my sim without a special key.
iDon’t have a removable battery.
iDon’t have hot swappable memory.
iDon’t sell cheap but my value at FOXCONN in China(1), where I am made, is ~190$(2)
iOS 4.0
Web:
iDon’t have audio/video streaming for 90% of the multimedia sites.
iDon’t offer a real web experience, various sites only offer a phone version.
iDon’t have Flash or Flash Lite – flash sites, apps or games simply do not work.
iDon’t have push idle so battery drains fast even on push.
iDon’t have push e-mail if i’m jailbroken, even if you pay!
iDon’t render HTML5 graphics, nor can iHandle HTML5 controls.
iDon’t process HTML attachments correctly.
File management:
iDon’t have access to my internal folders by any means – no app in the iStore allows this!
iDon’t even have access to set mp3s as ringtones.
iDon’t have MIDP/JAVA support.
iDon’t handle DivX, XviD, FLV native video.
iDon’t handle ZIP, RAR or SFX – no app in the iStore allows this!
One thing that everyone is forgetting to point out is that the iOS for apple is NOT an open system like Symbian^3… meaning that what ever games/apps/anything basically which is successfull finds it’s way working on the Nokia phones.
Apple’s idea is that the phone is personal, no sharing of files, you can access/modify it pretty much by only connecting it to the computer… i’ll give you an example: If an apple user receives an email with an attachment and wants to download it to the phone he can’t… but with the new nokia N8 you can work with your files any way you can imagine from usb to memory stick/hard drive to bluetooth sending!
The Apple is a phone with apps… The N8 is a personal computer phone.
The Iphone 4G is 99% dependent on internet connection. With the nokia’s phones you can use the GPS even w/o internet. Skype is the best example of how controlling is Apple: If you HAVE reception than you cannot make out going calls, because it defeats their purpose of charging you. With the Nokia phone you can do what ever, switch companies via SIM, use WI-FI only… Free to do as you please.
That’s really the best way to explain how you should make you decision if you were wondering where to go.
Remember that the apps can be found for both, the N8 will also work with your Macbook (Obviously).
Whats about the HDMI connection! how amazing is that!!!
And you get all the cables too… no need to spend more money on those accessories…. like Apple.
*if you’re going to compare, think outside the box. LOL
AC
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 6:20 PM@md Wow! If there’s some place you write reviews, let me know. No problems if Gizmodo doesn’t review phones any more, I am very interested in your reviews.
Donn
Monday, January 31, 2011 at 2:08 PMTo MD . don’t put this bullsit her. I was using iPhone all the time. And I checked some dikhead YouTube video how great will be n8. And I got one. So all your of those features that you write I will ad one more this phone is not for people because we are not testing facility for you – nokia. After two days of trying to use so called phone N8 send it to service, but not this is the biggest problem, that operating system oh my God after using iPhone n8 it’s like some torture time spending !!! went to buy iPhone 4. Everything back to normal life. Nokia! keep my 400€ it’s a present from my family because your n8 …. Even I don’t remember where I put it hahaha “very good phone lots of features!!!” . Hate that Finn bastard from YouTube !!!
Chuck
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 1:58 AMThank you MD!
Jesus, like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Collecting N8 today.
I’ve been deeply disatisfied with my iPhone since I got it.
md
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 6:53 PMMatt says :- @JohnDonk: uh, there’s a lot of critical comments still up. I just moved the unconstructive ones, per our commenting policy ??
So how is the below post not constructive ? surely it shows what the n8 can do and the competiton can’t do or was it simply too deconstructive of the iphone? …. i guess so :)
the iphone can’t do :-
Screen/User Interface:
iDon’t have themes support.
iDon’t have a scalable OS, apps on the iPad are simply stretched to fit.
iDon’t have a desktop, entire UI is organized as a single “start” menu.
iDon’t have parallax (finger/screen offset) adjusting – low precision especially on small objects.
iDon’t have a touch friendly screen, gloves, pens, styluses and not even fingernails work!
iDon’t have neither haptic nor any other type feedback whatsoever.
iDon’t have any precision compared to resistive touchscreens.
iDon’t have a standard(16:10, 16:9, 4:3) aspect ratio only Apple custom ones(3:2) will fit my screen.
Power:
iDon’t have USB charging without a dock adapter.
iDon’t have any safety garment for the battery(1) melting is known to occur in Apple products(2)
iDon’t have warranty for damage made by “external” force aka. the above.
GSM connectivity:
iDon’t have full 3G HSDPA speed (7mb/s vs. 2008 smatphones that have 10mb/s).
iDon’t have full GPRS/EDGE speed (CLASS 10 is four times slower than CLASS 33!)
iDon’t have a decent GSM/GPS/WiFi signal(1) the connection is far worse than on 3GS(2)
iDon’t handle videocall via the network, gTalk etc.
WLAN connectivity:
iDon’t have DLNA (streaming HD content wireless on a HDTV).
iDon’t have UPnP technology (automatic WiFi setup) some networks simply don’t work.
Bluetooth connectivity:
iDon’t A2DP right (BT stereo) right: lags on videos(1) and games(2).
iDon’t have rSAP, Remote SIM Access Profile(1) – iDon’t work with your in-car hands free(2).
iDon’t fully support AVRCP (BT remote)(1) industry standard(2) can’t skip tracks.
iDon’t support any Bluetooth services when pairing with a MacBook.
iDon’t have any BT file sharing my BT is almost useless!
Cable connectivity:
iDon’t have standard USB connectivity(1) only custom cables(2)
iDon’t give a damn about the environment: short cables but tons of iAccesories.
Misc connectivity:
iDon’t have PC/MAC/LINUX connectivity without iTunes.
iDon’t have IR, can’t control: basic household items(1) TV, HDTV(2) DSLR camera(3) MAC(4)
Media/camera:
iDon’t have stereo speakers.
iDon’t have radio.
iDon’t have FM transmitter.
iDon’t have decent camera (small sensor and 72 DPI, which is less than most 5mp phones)
iDon’t have fine detail in pictures, high noise reduction smears the finer details.
iDon’t have video stabilization.
iDon’t have exposure control (ISO).
Design:
iDon’t eject my sim without a special key.
iDon’t have a removable battery.
iDon’t have hot swappable memory.
iDon’t sell cheap but my value at FOXCONN in China(1), where I am made, is ~190$(2)
iOS 4.0
Web:
iDon’t have audio/video streaming for 90% of the multimedia sites.
iDon’t offer a real web experience, various sites only offer a phone version.
iDon’t have Flash or Flash Lite – flash sites, apps or games simply do not work.
iDon’t have push idle so battery drains fast even on push.
iDon’t have push e-mail if i’m jailbroken, even if you pay!
iDon’t render HTML5 graphics, nor can iHandle HTML5 controls.
iDon’t process HTML attachments correctly.
File management:
iDon’t have access to my internal folders by any means – no app in the iStore allows this!
iDon’t even have access to set mp3s as ringtones.
iDon’t have MIDP/JAVA support.
iDon’t handle DivX, XviD, FLV native video.
iDon’t handle ZIP, RAR or SFX – no app in the iStore allows this!
One thing that everyone is forgetting to point out is that the iOS for apple is NOT an open system like Symbian^3… meaning that what ever games/apps/anything basically which is successfull finds it’s way working on the Nokia phones.
Apple’s idea is that the phone is personal, no sharing of files, you can access/modify it pretty much by only connecting it to the computer… i’ll give you an example: If an apple user receives an email with an attachment and wants to download it to the phone he can’t… but with the new nokia N8 you can work with your files any way you can imagine from usb to memory stick/hard drive to bluetooth sending!
The Apple is a phone with apps… The N8 is a personal computer phone.
The Iphone 4G is 99% dependent on internet connection. With the nokia’s phones you can use the GPS even w/o internet. Skype is the best example of how controlling is Apple: If you HAVE reception than you cannot make out going calls, because it defeats their purpose of charging you. With the Nokia phone you can do what ever, switch companies via SIM, use WI-FI only… Free to do as you please.
That’s really the best way to explain how you should make you decision if you were wondering where to go.
Remember that the apps can be found for both, the N8 will also work with your Macbook (Obviously).
Whats about the HDMI connection! how amazing is that!!!
And you get all the cables too… no need to spend more money on those accessories…. like Apple.
*if you’re going to compare, think outside the box.
Trippwire
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 11:15 PMSymbian is dead… Do you want a phone or a toy? I find it amusing that the geeks complain about display res, processor speeds and apps… Bloody apps, IM SICK OF THIS STUPID APP OBSESSION. It’s a phone, for making calls on, to other humans. If you want a toy buy one of these iphones. Maybe the target demographic has changed.. From normal people to opinionated loners who have minimal contact with the other humans, outside of the internet, therefore all this fluff appears important. soon people will complain thats it’s not 3d, OMG lyk so old skool. Cant wait till you all get tumours, guess what… there’s an app for that..
Ozgur
Friday, October 22, 2010 at 9:11 AMTo understand how shit the symbian 3 is you need to try it yourself after using Android and ios, I returned the N8 for a refund just after one day and bought myself a white desire. It looks better and has a proper OS.
N8 looks good in pictures and videos, but in reality its shot. I waited 4 months for it and returned it just after one day!!!
silvercat13
Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 11:56 AMWell done. This mean that you didn’t need the N8 hardware. You just needed a toy: instead of HTC Desire you could have well bought a bicycle, a dishwasher or an Xbox instead.
IMHO, N8 is a very good phone and it does exactly what it promises, I am simply amazed. I bought it and I exactly knew what to expect. You didn’t, you should have not wasted 4 months waiting for it.
Bander
Friday, October 22, 2010 at 12:23 PMhttp://conversations.nokia.com/2010/10/21/nokia-focuses-on-qt-to-extend-reach-for-developers-make-mobile-experience-richer-for-users/
Looks like Nokia have completely changed their previously announced plans. There will be no Symbian^4, and plans to rewrite the core, breaking backwards compatibility in the future, have been scraped. Instead, Symbian^3 handsets will continuously receive updates, including the usability upgrades that were planned for Symbian^4.
So there you go. Nokia are working on rewriting all that is not up to scratch in this first version of Symbian^3, and N8, E7, C7 C6-01 and later Symbian^3 handsets buyers will benefit.
In the meantime, Symbian^3 does work with third party GUIs if you want them, like SPB Mobile Shell. And if you don’t like stuff being hard to find because they are in folders, just take everything out! Symbian is very customisable, certainly doesn’t lack in features like iOS and Windows Phone 7, and fully lets users choose which aspects of the phone they want quick access to.
silvercat13
Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 12:02 PMGizmodo is unprofessional and incompetent.
Also, this kind of behavior is just offensive and make me understand that US people do not have respect of EU people.. Instead of competing they prefer to insult.
I appreciated very much the answer of Anna Martin, polite and respectful.
Steve2
Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 3:39 PMActually, as questioned by one commenter, the demographic has or is changing. Regardless of how customizable or functional Symbian is over the other OSs, Nokia cannot rely on the people that have been around long enough to have been using Symbian in all its iterations ! And not every blog or review on the N8 which highlights how sorry the OS looks by comparison is from the US. I have been scouring every tech site from various countries and the vast majority are saying the same thing… excellent hardware, let down by OS. I have been holding out for half the year with a little SE basic phone awaiting the N8. The photo and calls department would be first rate no doubt.
The US market is exactly what Nokia is trying to crack now. Nokia does extremely well in the developing world and especially places where the average income is low. I am based in a N African islamic country presently and the majority of people from an oil company CEO to the young person in the street is using a basic feature phone that we would have though impressive 8 years ago, and the majority are Nokias ! More and more buyers in the future are going towards smartphones, and the users are going to be younger buyers who never used a Symbian phone. So the point is that if Nokia does want to stay relevant, it has to look at where the market is going and change to suit otherwise when all the die hard Symbian users have disappeared, then what ? Most users nowadays want a smartphone to be simple to use and be able to integrate seamlessly with social networks and such. Like it or not, Apple is even growing share with the Mac now, mostly due to the spin off effect of the iPhone/Ipad interface ! If they had done this years ago, Mac use would be more widespread worldwide.
I am still hoping Nokia can pull off something, but I am sure they are having to make big changes if this product continues to receive the reviews it is getting. Will wait and see.
Raja
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 5:46 PMWow.
Dude,that’s just…
as a legitimate, well known tech review website – such a massive display of fanboyism is just really… bad.
(yeah, i’m getting a n8, so you know)
everyone knows symbian aint there – but it doesn’t mean that legit websites should just post “it’s shit” as an excuse.
nokia’s back in the game with this phone, and the fact that just because it runs on symbian, which isn’t fancy or perfect – doesn’t mean you should deny that.
Dean
Tuesday, October 26, 2010 at 9:34 PMFor someone that isn’t going to review the N8 you seems to know enough about it to bag it, everyone has a prefrence when it comes to phones you don’t like Nokia’s why bother posting anything at all ?? I’ll certainly be buying one never a had a problem with Nokia so not about to change now.
Neil
Monday, November 8, 2010 at 1:59 AMWindows XP is dead too ! Funny how it seems to be very much used still around the world.
Reality is that sometimes an older operating system does things quicker and is more compatible.
Face it – you are simply jealous of the N8 – it is MUCH more of a computer phone than the iphone can and will be. All you are doing is confirming that fanboys are closed minded about superior products.
The HDMi port and USB to go along with the ability to file transfer correctly through bluetooth is by far the biggest reason you dont want to review the N8 – Apple simply CANT compete.
You are really too scared to compare a sophisticated open source operating system against a closed system. I find this hilarious as I bet you lot were total LINUX fanboys against Windows.
You know as the N8 gets a few more software updates (like apple has done) the N8 will wipe the floor of the iphone – the hardware is simply superior
Face it, the pricing of the N8 is so absolutely superior to anything remotely similar – you cant afford to have a non american competitor beyond apple and google – Yes Im seeing this as racist !
Shame on you Gizmodo – I know the USA is financially bankrupt – I just hoped you weren’t morally bankrupt too (for the sake of profits)
But I guess thats what you see around the USA and is the reason the rest of the world suffers for your mistakes.
Grow up and perform as a review site should. You owe it to your readers or you will lose in the long term.
Craig
Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 1:45 PMI have a N8 and can honestly say this phone is BRILLIANT. Too bad the writer of the article is a fool for not reviewing it.
I am still finding new cool things. It is amazing.
Symbian is fine. I dont know why commentators like to bag it out. It is responsive, intuitive and works.
The Applications that can be installed with the phone are extensive.
The phone comes with excellent Sat Nav. You can jump from your contacts to their location on the Sat Nav instantly.
The Mail sync with Exchange, Hotmail, Yahoo etc is great.
The Video calling is very cool.
The Podcather works well and is simple to use.
The Internet Radio app again work well and is simple to use.
The Camera and Video is stunningly brilliant. WOW.
The Social Networks app integrates with Facebook seemlessly. I can see whats going on in Facebook from the homescreen. Photo uploads are simple.
Yes and the 3 home screens are very cool. Have one for shortcuts, one for Mail / Organiser and one spare.
Oh, and there is an FM transmitter if you are in your mums car and want to play an MP3 through the car stereo. Simply set the frequency on the phone and tune the FM radio in. No Cables required.
YouTube streaming video is of high quality.
I cant speak highly enough of this phone. AMAZING.
Too bad for Matt the writer. What an embarassment for him!