Nokia’s got a new teaser trailer out for their shiny N9. And, like most Nokia hardware, it’s great looking! Except for what’s on the screen, which, as commenters are pointing out, appears to be Symbian. Ugh. Nokia: give us Windows.
Symbian is a train wreck. MeeGo, nobody ever really cared about. Nokia: your future (and only hope) lies in delivering gorgeous hardware paired up with Microsoft’s gorgeous software. So whatever the hell this phone is running, don’t show it (or any others) off until it’s packing Windows Phone 7. All it does is remind us of how frustratingly off-course you are right now. [via PocketNow]
Matthew P
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:30 AMIf it costs more than $250 its not worth it.
mark
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:33 AMfact is Symbian UI might be a bit of a pain but the OS and hardware can still do what no other phone can do. just dont get why you guys bag it so much. maybe its not the perfect option for simple users but i would have thought the gizmodo staff were beyond simple and able to appreciate the power of Symbian compared to other OS’s, despite some minor annoyance when it straight out of the box. once you customise the home screens to suit the way your needs its next to perfect
Auto
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:59 AMIf that “still can do what no other phone can do” statement refers to a longer battery life, it is a rather weak argument in favour of an obsolete OS.
mark
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 12:58 PMgoose
George
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:53 AMI’ve been working with and around Symbian for a good while and the UX is far from its only problem. For a start it is an absolute pig to code for (try googling “symbian string handling” or something similar) and it badly needs a more modern, RELIABLE file system than FAT, the source of so much corrupted data and other glitches on the platform, in my experience.
Yes, it was designed to be incredibly efficient and run with very few resources: smartphones of ten years ago had processors running well below 100MHz and sytem memory usually measured in the single megabytes. The point is, such tight optimisation makes the code difficult to maintain and with todays hardware, it is more effective to beef up the processing power than chuck an army of programmers at writing super optimal code.
Hence, one by one manufacturers jumped ship, first to Windows, more recently Android until only bloody-minded Nokia remained.
Incidentally, I agree this one looks like it will probably be running MeeGo (or Maemo 6 effectively). Whether that platform can gain much traction in the marketplace I wouldn’t like to say, but I’ll look forward to having a play with it anyway.
Mark
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:51 AMits a terrible OS.
Plain
and
un-Simple
Justind
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:57 AM@mark,
Symbian is pretty awful, it’s terribly (TERRIBLY) organised and while it might be able to do a lot, the effort required is just too much. E.g. the menu option to change the shortcuts on the home screen of my e71 is nine levels deep, NINE mark! I’m a professional software developer so I don’t think I come under the ‘simple’ heading but I’m totally in agreement with the article. Windows 7 mobile looks great, get on with it Nokia!
mark
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 1:01 PMe&1 is an old phone. To change a homescreen shortcut on Symbian 3 you just long hold the screen then tap the shortcut you want to change
maddogeco
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 9:59 AMim a massive symbian fan. And thd is not symbian what your looking at is meego with the Anna symbian skin. Look at the multi tasking amd the side swipe to the photos that is clearly Meego i want this phone its pure sex. It will announced at the meego conferencee next week.
Daniel
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:03 AMMark you’ve obviously had little experience with Symbian. I own a Nokia N97, the software is horrible. It hangs, it crashes, it fails to lock or unlock the phone via either the touch screen or the toggle switch. The Nokia OVI store is a gamble where two out of three apps purchased will not work on your phone.
Stop fooling yourself, Symbian is a train wreck, and I am not a novice with technology. Customising a wallpaper is not a sign of a good OS.
maddogeco
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:25 AMN97 runs symbian^1 which is so far behind modern N8′s and e7′s running Symbian^3 or Symbian as its now known. S^3 is great, but MeeGo is even better. i have a meego netbook on my desk for testing. Best of for a netbook ive seen. i cant wait to test it on a phone (n900 perhaps) Yes there is plenty of room in the smart phone market for more OS’s i think we still have 3 or 4 years till the market settles down to it main players
Daniel
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 11:09 AMDoes it matter that I am running an older version of Symbian? A first generation iPhone, which is older than my N97, has none of these issues. The second generation iPhone is obviously even better.
Symbian has been a disappointment from the start and no amount of fanboy responses will change that. Nokia themselves have essentially admitted Symbian’s failure with their announced move to WP7.
mark
Thursday, May 19, 2011 at 1:04 PMI’ve owned Nokia’s for years and knew the N97 was a dud which is why i skipped that phone. Anyone foolish enough to have bought a N97 would probably never buy a Nokia again
Franz
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:13 AMThere is only room in the market for so many OSs.
Symbian is dead.
Android and iOS are leading, Windows is reemerging and I believe Nintendo will make a move in the next year to provide an OS for Sharp, who haven’t stepped into the western market yet.
maddogeco
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:19 AMWhy is giz so down on Nokia? MeeGo is the alternative to android it backed some massive players in the carrier market hardware market and every car market. This is the First MeeGo phone a true linux os in your pocket open and free. and besides WP7 is lacking in so many ways – multitasking anyone?
Terence D
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 2:26 PMGiz is down on Nokia because they persist on paring fantastic hardware with a mediocre operating system. As a ex-E72 user, my most frustrating experience was having a gorgeous phone with plenty of processing power… and not being able to do a fraction of what my android-packed friends could do.
One of the worst things regarding Symbian is its certifcate signing process. That just locks out 95% of all apps out there. It’s possible with enough effort to sign unsigned apps but it shouldn’t require that much effort in the first once. And the ones on Ovi’s (or now Nokia Apps) marketplace are nowhere near as comprehensive or functional as Google’s or Apple.
If Nokia made phones with Android I’d be all over them in a heartbeat. But as it is, people will continue to pass Nokia in the smartphone market until it lifts its game. Also Giz isn’t totally down on Nokia, they just want them to start releasing WP7.
TSH
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:22 AMI like Symbian^3, and I wish Nokia didn’t feel the need to abandon it. Fact seems to be that Nokia is stretched way too thin between MeeGo, Sym^3, WP7, S60 and S40 – and all the handsets in their current range and support cycles. As much as I like Sym^3, Nokia has seriously failed those customers waiting for the updates it so obviously needs. Maybe they should just really focus their efforts: WP7, S40 and fewer handsets overall.
I’ll shed a tear for Symbian, a great OS hindered by sluggish bureaucracy. I have greater faith in MS’ ability to deliver on its software promises, while Nokia continues with their (IMHO) stellar handset build quality.
blueevo
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:36 AMIm still stunned by the amount of people that love Meego. As far as im aware there arnt any Nokia phones with it out yet and no ones really had that much opportunity to play with it. How it gets so much praise is beyond me.
I might just say that Windows 8 will be the best operating system ever.
maddogeco
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 10:53 AMyou can get the n900 its been out for ages. it was design as a development phone. its not too hard to get vanilla meego on it before Nokia put the Anna skin on it. from what i have seen its pretty sweet. much more usable than android
blueevo
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 5:13 PMThe N900 has Maemo as far as im aware not Meego.
But im pretty sure Meego is the merger between Maemo and some other thing. Even still I dont see praise it deserves the N900 wasnt that fantastic.
aske
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 4:35 PMwell this is the first nokia running meego no symbian here. i will have a look at it for sure, but will not be upgrading my phone until a nokia with WP7 on it.
Ult1m4tum
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 5:08 PMWell… haters gonna hate.
Bag Nokia all you will, i still cannot find a better replacement for my N900, and if the N9 is half as good as it, its going to be awesome, even if every end user is able to unlock its potential.