Spotify for Symbian launched

Spotify has finally release the mobile client for the Symbian S60 platform, the most popular and widely used smartphone platform. Models supported includes the Nokia E52 (I suspect the E55 is supported but will test it later), E66, E71, E75, N86, 5800XM, N97, Sony Ericsson Satio and Samsung i7110, Omnia HD; and more. A list of supported devices is available here. Listeners would also be able to listen to Spotify whilst e-mailing, surfing social networking sites or even whilst hillwalking thanks to the multi-tasking nature of the OS.

Available to premium subscribers, the client will allow subscribers to stream music, download 3,333 tracks for offline mode and sync playlists with the desktop client. In fact as a premium subscriber, you can have offline playlists on up to three mobile or desktop devices. Premium costs £9.99 a month and allows the subscriber to stream music at a higher bitrate, use the mobile client and download music for offline mode.

Nokia N97 Mini camera samples and review

The N97 Mini features the same camera module as the Nokia N97. The lens here are branded as Carl Zeiss, though I suspect that Nokia are simply licensing the brand. Still who am I to know. Anyway...

The camera here is a 5MP auto focus module with macro capability. Like the N97, the camera application isn't intuitive to use and is slow to boot and explore around. You do get some form of manual control in the form of ISO adjustment (labelled as 'Low', 'Medium' and 'High'), white balance control, sharpness, contrast, colour tone and exposure, though you can't manually control the shutter speed. Three resolutions are supported: 5MP, 2MP and VGA. And like any modern Nokia smartphones, co-ordinates can also be embedded onto images and videos in the form of GPS geo-tagging. There is also a dual LED flash module, which is clearly separated from the lens by a raised frame, so none of the flash bleeding malarkey here as suffered by plenty of N97 owners.

Here are some unedited photographs taken with the Nokia N97 Mini. Unfortunately Blogger does not support resolutions as high as 5MP, so these are resized to 1024x768 resolution. Apart from that they are essentially untouched, and will give you an idea of what to expect from the N97 - as far as the camera goes. While certainly no match for my G9 and modern digital compacts, it is good enough to be used as a quick snapper - as long as there is sufficient natural light source. It works well at picking up low light but suffers from loss of detail due to the way N97 Mini process the image. Macro performance is pretty good, just like the N97. Flash performance is reasonable, but do try not to use it as much, even if it is an improvement over the N97 (again, no bleeding here).



Remember the T28? Brilliant no-nonsense phone that was.



Colour saturation could have been better



The N97 and N97 Mini's camera works best outdoors











The iconic "Barcelona Chair" by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Here are some 100% crops:



Macro mode f/2.8 ISO 528, 1/17 sec



f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/333 sec



f/2.8, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec



f/2.8, ISO 174, 1/33 sec

Spotify for Symbian, where art thou?

It has been more than two months since we saw the video of a functional S60 Spotify client. So, one serious question to developers at Spotify HQ: why are you ignoring the largest market out there?

Chrome OS

The amount of attention by self proclaimed experts on Chrome OS is rather unnerving. For those who do not know, Chrome OS is a Linux distribution filled with adware, basically a trojan horse for Google's advertising business - minus the bits that makes Linux great. You may realise that I have adsense on this blog, but you can always adblock it if you want to. With a Google controlled OS and browser, you may not even have a choice.

If you want an open source operating system, stick with OpenSolaris or many of the billion Linux distributions out there. Also harddrives are cheap as chips, so I see absolutely zero reason to trust your data to the "cloud". Anybody who is excited by this and "cloud computing" ought to open up their eyes and realise they are basically putting their data into the hands of a corporation, whose interest lies with their shareholders and no one else.

E55 successor wishlist

You have read my positive review of the Nokia E55 (if not what are you waiting for?). It is easily the best smartphone I have ever had the pleasure to use or own. But nothing is perfect and there are some gripes that I would like Nokia to address in any future successor of the E55/E52.

Camera with macro mode
This is essential for an enterprise-class phone. It just makes so much sense to be able to capture a business card and let the phone's OCR software work its magic, like with the E71.

E51 durability and material
I am sure I am not the only one here willing to sacrifice the lightness and thinness of the E55 if it meant we can get our stainless steel material (and thus bomb proof durability) back. The E55's built quality is fine, but is still a step backward compared to the E51.

HVGA or VGA display
Symbian already supports multiple resolutions so I can't see why the E55 couldn't have a HVGA or VGA display. QVGA no longer cuts it, even on a 2.4" screen. I do not care if you can't see a difference - I can and so can many others.

TV-out
TV-out makes so much sense for a business phone, I can't believe no one else is demanding it. I am sure many users would prefer to simply connect it to a hotel room's LCD display and use a wireless keyboard to work on QuickOffice or their e-mails if only the feature was present. I know I would.

Move the charging slot to the bottom
The microUSB slot on the E55 is placed on the left hand side making the phone an ergonomic nightmare whilst it is charging. Moving the slot to the bottom is just a basic design common sense. It will also make the phone cradle compatible.

Better bundles
With only a 2GB microSD card and not even a faux leather case or phone strap, Nokia is really taking the piss when it comes to the E55 bundle. A 4GB expansion card, at minium, is expected at this price point.

Timely firmware upgrades
I am fine with the current firmware, but I am disappointed with the way Nokia Care UK treats its customers. It has more than a week since the release of the v22 firmware, and yet the new firmware has yet to be made available on UK simfree model.

ThinkPad X100e

Whatever Lenovo's excuse is, the new ThinkPad X100e isn't a real ThinkPad at least design wise.

Whilst retaining some form of identity to the classic and timeless ThinkPad design (the red TrackPoint), the X100e basically looks just like yet another netbook It has a chiclet style keyboard, first made popular on notebooks by Sony, meaning it lacks the popular keyboard that made the ThinkPad brand what it is. The hinge also does not look sturdy enough, but one should not judge merely from press shots. It also does not appear to have the ThinkLight functionality. Also, whoever decided that the new ThinkPad X100e should be available in anything other than black should be shot and disemboweled.

Still it looks okay, and the specs seems competent enough - but I will stick to my guns that it does not deserve the ThinkPad branding. It looks like an Ideapad project that marketing decided to simply slap the ThinkPad branding on. Ugh, I am starting to sound like a Luddite, but whatever.

More here.

Nokia N97 Mini unboxing

Tom from WOM World Nokia surprised us with something that truly caught us off guard this evening. A mariachi band, camera crew and a N97 Mini, as part of Nokia Human Research Department Experiment! I was expecting something when Tom called this afternoon, but certainly not this! Truly entertaining though I suspect our neighbours may not be too amused! Not that we are too bothered as we will be moving soon.

BTW, thanks to Tom, Ricardo and the guys and gals from Wom World for traveling all the way to Watford to hand deliver the phone. And a brilliant virtual ovation to the band for entertaining us. Wonderful stuff.

I also had a chance to play around with the N900. The battery was dead (why am I not surprised?), so no opinion about Maemo 5 today. Based on my previous experience with the N800 and N810, it will be good. Regardless, the N900 was solidly built despite having too much plastic for my taste. It is also pretty darn thick and heavy. It isn't something I would replace my E55 as I see it as more of a smaller alternative to a netbook than a smartphone.

As I mentioned before, the N97 Mini is basically an improved version of the N97. It is basically what the N97 should have been in the first place. It feels much smaller, slightly lighter and have a better built material. Unfortunately it also inherits some of the N97's flaws - mainly the limited RAM, slow processor and bizarre keyboard layout (the keys are better spaced and have a better tactile feedback). Still it is a lovely looking phone with a good 5Mp camera, 8GB flash, an assorted of connectivity including GPS receiver, and a brilliant operating system.

I hope to have a review sometime next week. Anyway here are some pictures.








Update: At least two other bloggers has been visited by Tom and the chums from Wom World:

Ruper Howe has an excellent video of the band playing at a pub in Soho.

And Christopher Stobbs has some lovely unboxing pictures which just puts my post to shame (really ought to get a better camera).

Channel 4 in 3D fail

Today I was reminded on why 3D glasses belongs in the past. It gives you a migraine. The contents are mainly rubbish (good 2D programmes would not resort to such gimmicks in the first place). And finally because of the nature of stereoscopic 3D glasses, they are not in technicolour, so why bother?

Then again we have Channel 4 to thank a lot. They decided to use Darren Brown as a proponent to 3D, introducing rubbish magic by rubbish magicians (is it any wonder why they need the 3D gimmick). The none 3D contents were converted to 3D - which is not how it is meant to work.

All Channel 4 succeeded today was highlighting how 3D (at least the stereoscopy variant) fails and belongs in the past. I rather watch David Copperfield in glorious high definition 2D than this crap. Channel 4, you did well with Dispatches tonight, but enough with this 3D pile of shit.

Nokia E55 receives v22 update (apparently)

According to online reports, both the Nokia E55 and E52 has received firmware updates thus putting the software version at v22 - up from the previous v21. The update, which is said to contain bug fixes rather than new features, is allegedly live via the Nokia Software Updater (NSU) client though not yet available via OTA.



OTA: great in theory, poor in its execution

Not surprisingly Nokia Care UK, and their unnamed outsourced UK-based third party support and service partner, has yet to issue the update for UK destined unbranded sim-free E55. I have tried updating last night and this evening but NSU and Ovi Suite reported that my v21 firmware was the latest and greatest. To be honest I actually have no reason to apply the update as I have yet to encounter a single issue or bug with the phone. Still, it would be nice if all customers were treated equally, particularly those who paid more for an unbranded phone.

Update (19 Nov): Still nothing. Nokia Care UK really do hate us over here...

Nokia E55 review

The Nokia E55 is the sister model of the E52. Both are the successor to the great and indestructible E51, which itself was the successor to the E50 (another brilliant device). In fact, this line of candybar E-series business phones owes its heritage to the hugely popular 6310i, a now classic phone that still commands a following by dedicated users. They share the same classic monoblock design, has understated and yet classy designs that can stand the test of time.

For such a slim phone the E55 has plenty of features that would make bigger more expensive phones blush with envy. Firstly it is a proper world phone with quad-band GSM support and dual band 3G HSPA (10.2Mbps download and 2Mbps upload). It features a 600Mhz ARM11 CPU, which is quick for S60v3, and 128MB RAM (47MB available after boot). In addition, it comes with WiFi 802.11b/g with WPA2, UPnP and DLNA support, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS feature, digital compass, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, FM radio with RDS, noise cancelling microphone, 3.5mm audio headphone jack, a 3.2 megapixel EDoF fixed focus camera with LED flash and a massive 1500mAh battery.

The E55 runs on the now open sourced Symbian 9.3 OS with Series 60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 (S60v3 FP2) user interface. The UI retains a resemblance to the original Series 60 UI, but has some enhancements. Most of the new features and optimisation are under the hood though. For one, it is much faster than the E51 (which ran on S60v3 FP1). It also supports menu transition effects - though something I suggest disabling as it is nothing more than a gimmick. S60v3 FP2 also supports over-the-air firmware updates, though I could not test this as there are no new firmware updates as yet. It also has support for remote locking and wiping. Overall S60v3 FP2 is a mature platform that is fast and stable, a much improvement over the N80 era when Nokia decided to ship a powerful platform with a limited processor and RAM.



A typical active standby screen and the S60 user interface

Incidentally the amount of RAM available to the user on the E55 is about 47MB. Not a lot, but still a fair amount compared to the amount Nokia shipped with the first edition of the N95 (18MB! for goodness sake). I can consistently run up to ten different applications in the background with no issues. The only memory issue I encountered was when running multiple applications alongside Opera Mobile 10 beta. The processor here is based on the outdated ARM11 platform, but is quick enough for a QVGA device. In fact the E55's 600Mhz processor is actually quicker than the one powering the 5800XM and N97. The only other Nokia mobile phone that has a faster processor than the E55 is the N900, which has a 600Mhz ARM Cortex CPU.

This is the first Nokia mobile phone to feature a 20-key keypad. As far as I know, RIM was the first to market a phone with such a keyboard which they dubbed the SureType. Sony Ericcson also had something similar with the P1i and M600, at least in looks (they actually work very differently). Nokia calls this the half-QWERTY. Whatever it is called, this sort of keypad design is relatively rare and takes some getting used to.

The E55's half-QWERTY keypad is multi-tap and supports both predictive text and auto-word completion. The learning curve will highly depend on the user. Those accustomed to a standard T9 numerical keypad like I am (over a decade of experience) may find it difficult to adjust. Even after two weeks of owning the E55 I find myself occasionally hitting the wrong key because of this, especially when trying to type some punctuation marks. Despite that I have found myself to be typing faster than I normally would with a numerical keypad, though I am still quickest with a QWERTY thumboard.

The design of the E55 and E52, dare I say it, is an improvement over the E51. It features a larger 2.4" screen (compared to the 2" screen), though the resolution remained the same at QVGA. The QVGA screen is disappointing as such a resolution has been standard on mobile devices for almost 10 years now. Regardless Series 60 UI works well utilising the screen real estate so it isn't a major issue on most fronts except web browsing. Screen legibility isn't an issue as the screen remain readable outdoors. Below the screen are the metal soft keys, metal d-pad, answer/reject keys (also made of metal), three application keys (down from the four keys in the E51) and one cancel key. The calendar and messaging application keys can be defined between long and short presses.

The E55 and E52 also features a body slightly wider than the E51 - which is no doubt the result of getting a larger screen and battery to fit. Speaking of battery, the E55 features a massive BP-4L 1500mAh battery - the same one that powers the E71, N97 and E90. Despite this. the E55 still retains a slender slim profile (only 9.9mm thickness), and even weighs less (98g) and has 7cc less volume than the E51. Unfortunately in order to get the E55's weight south of 100g, the stainless steel body and battery cover of the E51 has been ditched in favour of plastic and light weight aluminium. The built quality is great, but it isn't as tank proof as the E51. It certainly would not stand up to the abuse that my old E51 had to endure during its 1 1/2 year of servitude.

On the back resides the 3.2 megapixels fixed focus camera with a single LED flash and a single loud speaker, which is pretty darn good sounding. The power key can be found on the top nestling next to a 3.5mm headphone socket (yay!). On the right you will find the volume keys and camera shutter key, which is located inconveniently halfway up. The microphone and lanyard hole can be found on the bottom. Finally a micro-USB 2.0 slot resides on the left hand side. The micro-USB slot also moonlights as the device's sole charging slot.

The E55 retails for £300 at the Nokia Shop, but can be found online for much lower. This is much lower than the initial price of the E51. The move from stainless steel to aluminium isn't the only thing Nokia has done to lower the initial cost - the retail box only features a 2GB microSD card, charger, micro USB adapter for old Nokia chargers and a USB data cable. It also ships with PC Suite on the microSD card. You are best just downloading the latest version of Ovi Suite or PC Suite. Speaking of Ovi Suite, the latest version is brilliant as it combines all the previous Nokia PC applications like Nokia Maps uploader and updater, Software Updater etc. into a single suite. The suite itself is still a rather bloated application, but it does have sync connectivity with Outlook for those who find it important.

The battery life of the E55 is simply amazing. For example last weekend I was able to leave my GPRS connection connected (3G is useless in the UK as the operators constantly cap speed on pre-paid tariffs, so best to use GPRS for e-mail and Twitter live feeds), whilst using WiFi and GPS navigation occasionally, two hours of e-book reading, listening to music about 3-4 hours a day as well as the odd voice calls and text messages. By the end of the weekend the battery bar only dropped by two! This is nothing like the N97 (which shares the same battery and is actually slower) - which can drop dead after barely a day of usage.

The firmware seems to be stable enough. I have read about some issues with the E55, but my unit is stable and I have had no crashes so far apart from a single time when I was running an outdated camera software. Not all applications works with the new keypad. For example all Java apps I have tried crashes everytime I attempt to key in a number using the long press method. The only way for me to key in numbers and punctuations is by using the FN key. It isn't a huge issue and I was expecting more apps to disagree with the new keyboard. Fortunately I have had no problems with the majority of native third party applications. I also have had no problems with the quality of voice calls from both ends. The E55 supposedly contains a active noise cancelling microphone that is able to cancel out background noise. Murmuring on the interweb indicates that the feature does not work, but I have had no problems with it even whilst talking in a busy high street next to a construction yard.

The 3.2 megapixels camera here isn't auto-focus. Instead it features a new fixed focus technology called Extended Depth of Field (EDoF). Regardless of whatever it is called, auto-focus isn't here and some may bemoan it. Personally I do not care. Auto-focus on camera phones tend to be much slower than their digital compact equivalent so to me having a fixed focus camera here is beneficial as snapping stuff up is as simple as pressing down the shutter key and not having to wait 2-3 seconds for the lens to focus. Still the lack of auto-focus also means that macro mode is out of the question as anything closer than a feet or so is blurred. Panorama stitching is also available and it works really really well. Some form of manual controls are present and video capturing is supported up to a resolution of 640x480 pixels at 15fps. Co-ordinates can also be embedded onto images and videos in the form of GPS geo-tagging.

Here are some resized by otherwise unedited samples:













100% crops:



f/2.4, ISO 100, 1/239 sec



f/1.4, ISO 319, 1/20 sec



f/1.4, ISO 400, 1/11 sec

Recent E-series phones have received the same amount of attention as the N-series phones when it comes to their multimedia powers. The E55 is no different. The music player is the same upgraded one featured on the N86 and offers an audio quality output that can rival many dedicated DAPs (a more detailed review of the E55's musical capability can be found here). The E55 also features an FM radio, though it lacks the FM transmitter seen in some N-series devices.

YouTube videos can be viewed in two modes: one via the built-in web browser (yes, it supports flash video playback) and another through a native Symbian YouTube application which can be downloaded freely from YouTube's mobile site. Unfortunately the E55's picture gallery is based on the one from the N-series, which while being faster than the one on the E51 - still insists on lumping every single image on the phone together. Fortunately there are third party image viewers that does a better job than the built-in Gallery application.

The E55 also has a built-in accelerometer. The first Series 60 phone to have an accelerometer was the 5500 Sport released way back in 2006 but its uses was limited to a number of applications, and the E55 expands on the number of features that makes use of the accelerometer. The most obvious is the ability to auto-switch the screen's orientation. You can also reject phone calls and snooze alarms by flipping the phone over. Nokia Step Counter, despite not being certified as working on this, works well though it does have some bugs when it came to measuring distance. Used along side Sports Tracker (which uses the GPS receiver - far more accurate at measuring distances), the E55 (and other compatible devices) is a brilliant tool for serious walkers and joggers.

The E55 can be connected to a PC via a number of ways, including Bluetooth. Using the USB cable however offers the most convenient method as it allows you to connect via different protocols - each offering different functions and performance. PC Suite allows for synchronisation (including PIM data and media via MTP). Selecting Mass Storage mode will connect the external microSD card as an external drive similar to a USB card reader. Image Transfer mode will allow the phone to simulate a digital camera and finally 'Connect PC to Web' mode will just do that - allows you to use the phone as a modem for your PC or notebook. This is probably only useful if you have a large data allowance that allows tethering.

Like the E71 and E66, the E55 also features a built-in GPS receiver with Assisted-GPS feature. Cold fix is quick averaging about two minutes or so to gain a fix. The first time I ever ran it, it took less than 10 seconds to gain a fix (with A-GPS disabled) but I gathered that it was just a freak fluke and was never able to repeat it. It never repeated that outrageous performance ever again but it isn't too bad either. Enabling A-GPS will quicken the fix a little bit (recommended from a cold boot). It takes about 3-5 seconds to regain a hot fix.

The E55 comes with the latest Ovi Maps 3 with lifetime pedestrian license. Voice guided navigation requires a subscription payment though it does come with a trial license that can be activated when you need them. I have always liked Nokia Maps when compared to TomTom and Ovi Maps 3 further cements my admiration for the application. As a user who does not own a vehicle and therefore walks more than usual, the built-in digital compass is very useful when attempting to navigate my way around an alien part of London as it rotates the map in whichever direction I am facing.

The best thing about Ovi Maps is the ability to pre-download mapsets in advance onto the memory card. I know Google is getting a lot of coverage over their Map application, but they still require a data connection in order to stream datasets onto the phone, not an advisable thing if you have a low tariff or is on a pre-paid tariff. And what if you happen to drive through an area with patchy or, worse, no cellular network at all (like much of the Lake District and areas of Scotland)?



Ovi Maps 3.0

Ovi Maps 3.0 supports vector mapping, satellite and terrain layers. It allows you to view the map in 2D and 3D mode (you can change the angle of tilt manually which I find a very impressive feature). GPS positioning and compass can be independently switched on or off. Finally there is a feature that allows the user to capture a screenshot of the map which they can then e-mail or keep as a reference. It supports for 6-7 digit UK postcodes as well as co-ordinates input. A number of POI are included within the dataset and user are free to upload their own (which Nokia dubs as 'The Good Things').

All in all, the GPS receiver on the E55 is more than adequete for most people's need. The 2.4" screen isn't ideal for car navigation so I suggest getting a phone with a larger display or dedicated satnav. One final note, th E55 supports ViewRanger, my favourite S60 application. Any S60 owners who calls themselves a hill walker or mountain biker should consider buying the software as it is simply a brilliant topographical software that in many ways offers more functionality than dedicated rugged GPS receivers. The latest ViewRanger supports a wide variety of topo mapsets (this isn't a paid advert BTW - I just love the app) including Ordnance Survey in Britain, NatGeo topo in the United States and French IGN. Read my review of ViewRanger for a better understanding on why I believe ViewRanger to be such a killer app.



Ordnance Survey maps as viewed on ViewRanger (not included), and the brilliant panorama mode

As a business device the E55 has an improved e-mail client that first debuted with the Nokia E75. The only issue I had is it is slower than the normal Messaging application. It works with most popular e-mail services such as Gmail and Yahoo!, as well as the new Ovi push e-mail service. For most part, the e-mail client will automatically configure the settings for each e-mail account. Simply enter the username and password of your webmail account and Nokia's server will fill in the rest. IMAP sub-folders are also supported. It also supports Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveller. Finally the built-in Message Reader can read your message. Useful when driving.

As a side note, Mail on Ovi is pretty impressive even if it is only limited to 1GB of storage. It can also be accessed via the Ovi Suite client. Ovi mail can also be used with other e-mail client such as Outlook and Thunderbird, or even other mobile platform like Windows Mobile.



The e-mail client and the Talking Theme



QuickOffice and Adobe Reader LE



Gravity (not included) and Psiloc World Traveller



YouTube can be accessed either via a native standalone app or the S60 webkit browser



Music player and the Music Store



Psiloc Font Magnifier and Handy Taskman (not included) displaying the amount of free RAM after boot



Search and Destinations (an access point organiser)



Converter and Dictionary



FM Radio and Calendar application

Nokia has also included some software enhancements to compliment the enterprise side of the phone. A full license QuickOffice is included with free update to the latest version with MS Office 2007 support. File support includes doc, docx, docm, txt, xls, xlsx, xlsm, ppt and pps. Pdf files can be opened via Adobe Reader LE 1.5. A copy of Psiloc Font Magnifier and World Traveller (already a freeware but it is always nice to have) is also included - the former is a great utility for adjusting font sizes and the latter a wonderful weather/currency converter and flight assistant program.

The standard S60 web browser is powered by a Webkit engine. It is brilliant and is one of the better mobile browsers I have ever had the opportunity to use. Not quite as fast as Opera Mini, but then again Opera Mini has the advantage of server side rendering. The Webkit browser here has full flash support and is capable of opening many flash sites and play back flash videos as used by sites like YouTube. Not everything works particularly games and visual heavy sites. BBC iPlayer for example does not work. Due to the limited resolution, a mini-map is required to scroll through large and complex sites. Key shortcuts are available making browsing a much more fluid experience than on touchscreen phones. Pressing '7' for example will toggle fullscreen view. Javascripts, flash, images and pop-ups can be suppressed which will help with data cost and download speed.



ViewRanger and Artrepublic as viewed on the S60 browser



The S60 Webkit browser is able to open and edit Google Docs, Mini-map mode



Desktop version of Gmail and WOMWorld



El Reg and last.fm

I have no regrets obtaining the E55. My E51 has been showing signs of aging and while the E55 is a step backwards when it came to built quality and material, the E55 is a massive improvement on all fronts. Some of the features could have been better executed. The E55 would sometimes insist on connecting to the network despite being in the vicinity of a Wireless Access Point. I am also baffled by the lack of vertical active standby menu. There are some features that should have been included. For example the E55 as a business device should have been fitted with a TV-out port and the QVGA display should have been upgraded to a HVGA or VGA screen. I also see no technical reasons why the E55's camera can't handle recording VGA 30fps videos.

If you are replacing your bomb proof E51 then please be aware that the E55 and E52 will not come close to its built quality. I have never used a case with my old E51, but decided to get one for the E55 due to its 'fragile' look. If you do not mind using it with a case like I do, then go ahead get the E55 or E52. Whichever version you decide to get will definitely be based on your preference on the keypad. The E52 is definitely the safer choice, but if you are willing to unlearn years of numerical keypad use then go for the Nokia E55. Incidentally, the QWERTY-based Nokia E72 will be released in the next couple of weeks. This is another S60v3 smartphone that should be considered, particularly if the built quality and stainless steel material of the E51 and E71 is important.

The E55 is a featurerich, powerful and productive phone, as well as multimedia savvy enough for most people. The audio quality is brilliant and the messaging capability of this phone is serviceable for most people. Sure the half-QWERTY keypad takes some getting used, but once mastered you will wonder how on earth people managed with a standard numerical keypad (mind you I am sure people with QWERTY phones will be thinking the same about this). A delightful nippy phone that I am sure many would have no regrets investing in.

+ Quick and nimble
+ Class leading battery life
+ Slim and light design
+ DAP-like audio quality
+ Mature and stable firmware
- Reduced built quality and material (in comparison to the E51)
- QVGA display is so three years ago
- No TV-out

Samsung Bada and Qt powered Symbian interface demo

Samsung has announced yet another smartphone platform which they dub as Bada. Seriously, do we need yet another smartphone platform? There are currently a couple of open source smartphone platforms on the western market - Symbian, Android and LiMo. Then we have proprietary OSes like Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Apple and WebOS (the last three should not be counted as they are not licensed to other manufacturers, but whatever).

I owned a Samsung Z500 (you know, the one based on the Estella Warren E700 phone) a couple of years ago. Sold it after a week or so as I found the UI horrible to use. Seriously, it was a disaster and was light years behind Nokia's Series 40 and Sony Ericsson's uber fantastic A200 platform. I also had an Omnia i900 for a while and playing with their custom UI on top of Windows Mobile was just an awful experience I want to forget. You would think that Samsung, of all conglomerates and probably the largest of the all the major phone manufacturers, would have the resources to at least match HTC's WinMob effort but no. Touchwiz, in comparison to HTC Sense, is a hack job.

Seriously Samsung, just give it up. You are terrible at designing user interfaces. And stop copying your competitor's design for fuck's sake. Hire some good product designers for once. And getting Giorgio Armani to put his name on one of your phones isn't one of them.

Anyway since we are on the subject of mobile OSes, check out this video of Qt powered Symbian^1 interface running on a touchscreen phone (via AAS)



Future Symbian releases won't look anything like the above but it will give you an idea of how a Qt application framework is expected to perform when it replace S60/Avkon from Symbian^4 onwards.

Cheap HDTVs for that new PS3 of yours

Bought that cheap PS3 Slim from Sainsbury's? Well you will need a new LCD HDTV to go with that won't you? Here are some great stuff that dropped inside my mailbox today. It's like the January sales have started early this year!

Toshiba Regza 32AV615DB 32" 720p with Freeview £289.99
Samsung LE32B450C4 32" 720p with Freeview £309.99
LG 32LH2000 32" 720p with Freeview £328.94
Toshiba Regza 32RV635DB 32" 1080p with Freeview £349.99
Sony Bravia KDL32S5500U 32" 720p with Freeview & 3 years warranty £369.99
LG 32LH3000 32" 1080p with Freeview £379.99
Panasonic TX-L32X10 32" 720p with Freeview £398.99
Toshiba Regza 42AV635DB 40" 1080p with Freeview £479.00

All of the tellies above, apart from the Sony, comes with one year manufacturers warranty. You can always purchase additional warranties but my advice is: don't bother. Sales of Goods Act will cover items up to six years provided you do not abuse your goods. Also make sure the retailer (in this case Amazon) does not fob you off to the manufacturer. As the seller/retailer, it is their responsibility to make good to their customers.

20% off consoles offer at Sainsbury's

Sainsbury's is having a 20% off consoles offer that is brilliant for people who prefer to get their consoles and games the a la carte way.

Amazon UK is selling the Nintendo DSi for £139.99, but Sainsbury's selling it for £119.97 - a saving of £20!

The PSP-3000, which normally costs £129.99, is being sold for £119.99 - a decent saving of about £10 even if it comes with some Hannah something game. Still you are better off getting the Dissidia: Final Fantasy bundle for £10 more if you are planning on getting that anyway (I do suggest so as it is a brilliant game).

The Wii console bundle with Wii Motion Plus, Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort is priced at £135.99, a saving of about £30 compared to Amazon's price of £164.99.

And finally, the new 120GB PlayStation 3 Slim has a RRP of £249.99, but is a snip at only £199.99 at Sainsbury's, making this the best none-bundled PS3 deal you can find in the UK at this time. Also, don't forget that ever important cheap HDMI cable (sorry What Hi-Fi, your expensive HDMI cable is better is a load of bollocks).

Brazil - hypocrisy much?

Has joined a long list of countries I won't be spending my tourist money in anytime soon.

Update: I should not have been too cryptic. A Brazilian University has expelled a student for her wardrobe of choice - a short dress in this case, which is hardly mini'er than say, a cheerleader's outfit. This after allowing a student mob to subject the student to much abuse.

Update 2: It seems that the university in question has overturned their ridiculous decision after much condemning.

Camera Obscura's London Shepherd's Bush Empire gig

Camera Obscura third London gig of the year (and second at SBE) was simply brilliant. The crowd today were better than the last, no doubt because the new album has been out for some time giving people a chance to familiarise with the tracks. We met plenty of fans, including a group who were next to us during the last SBE gig (this is their fourth Camera Obscura gig they have attended this year alone) and another from Texas. The set is a nice mixture of songs from their My Maudlin Career and older albums including my personal favourite - 'Eighties Fan' from Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi. It was nice to see Tracyanne smiling, joking and laughing.

Opening were Nick Garrie, a British singer songwriter who has seen more success in Europe than over here; and Magic Arm, the singer songwriter known as Marc Rigelsford - whose fusion of Beck/Daft Punk/LCD Soundsystem-like electronica and guitar rock was pretty intriguing. Both are well worth checking out.

Tuesday was Camera Obscura's final UK gig. The band will now return to the continent before heading off to the Americas for yet another leg in that continent to wrap up what must be a very busy year for them. It is brilliant that more people are discovering the Glaswegian's brand of twee pop.












Set list:
My Maudlin Career
Swans
Honey in the Sun
Tears for Affairs
Teenager
Keep it Clean
Eighties Fan
The Sweetest Thing
French Navy
Pen & Notebook
James
Let's Get Out of this Country
If Looks Could Kill
Lloyd I'm Ready to be Heartbroken

Encore:
Tougher than the Rest (Bruce Springsteen cover)
Razzle Dazzle Rose

Opera Mobile 10 beta perfect score in Acid3

As mentioned earlier, Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian Series 60 platform renders web pages accurately. This is thanks to the Opera Presto engine, which powers the desktop version of Opera 10. I ran the Acid3 test and it gained a 100/100 score - a very impressive score for a mobile browser even if it didn't pass the pixel for pixel likeness (not surprising considering the limited resolution). In comparison, the latest Firefox 3.5.4 has a score of 93/100.

Just for kicks I also ran the browser through the Acid2 test. The result, whilst not perfect, was still impressive.

Opera Mobile 10 beta for Symbian Series 60

Opera recently unleashed the public beta of their newest Opera Mobile 10 for Symbian Series 60 platform. It features the same user interface as Opera Mini 5 beta including tabbed browsing and a speed dial similar to their desktop edition.

It is quite a bit faster than Opera Mini 5 and the built-in Webkit browser. Unfortunately it is a RAM hog (about 20MB used with a single tab open). With Opera Mini 5, I can run Gravity, the standard S60 browser and a couple of other applications in the background at the same time, even with the limited 45MB of available RAM on my Nokia E55. Not so with Mobile 10, as eventually after opening a couple of tabs I will encounter the low memory message. It also does not have support for flash, though I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

Overall, a good first impression. The rendering is quick and accurate offering a truly desktop like experience - not surprising as it uses the same Opera Presto web layout engine as their desktop browser. You can even tinker with the settings via about:config. For example if you have a device with more RAM, you can always increase the cache size for better performance. I like it, but personally I see no major benefits for users to completely switch over from Opera Mini 5/Series 60 web browser combo just yet, particularly if the lack of available RAM is an issue.













Opera Mobile 10 beta is compatible with any modern devices running on the Symbian Series 60 3rd/5th edition and Symbian^1 platform. These includes the Nokia N97, Samsung Omnia HD and Sony Ericsson Satio. Access the beta by directing your mobile's standard browser to http://m.opera.com/mobile or download here.

Update: Opera Mobile 10 beta is now also available for the Windows Mobile platform.

Nokia E55 music review

Nokia's E-series product lines has undergone much change since my first ever E-series phone (the E51). No longer are they just boring business phones with great built quality - they are now regularly equipped with the same multimedia features as found in the more savvy N-series and XpressMusic phones. Today I will be looking at the musical ability of the E55, Nokia's first half-QWERTY smartphone.

The music application on the Nokia E55 is a bog standard Series 60 Third Edition Feature Pack 2 player. It is a pretty decent program that works fine for what it does. It does lack some of the more advance features found in dedicated DAP. The FM radio is a seperate application, which does not make much sense. Also unlike some N-series devices, the E55 does not feature a FM transmitter with RDS support. Hardware wise, the E55 is rumoured to have a dedicated audio chipset, has a 3.5mm headphone socket with line-out and Bluetooth A2DP playback, which is useful if you hate cables.



The music player is a vast improvement over the one that came with my old Nokia E51. The mapping of d-pad makes so much more sense. With the E51's music player, pressing the left/right buttons on the d-pad will control the volume - which is just plain stupid. Here common sense prevail. Volume control is left alone to the side volume buttons, where as the left/right buttons is assigned to skipping/rewinding/forwarding tracks. There is no dedicated music keys.

Audio format supports includes MP3, AAC, HE-AAC and WMA (including DRM). Transferring files is as simple as dragging and dropping files onto the external card (2GB supplied - make sure you get a larger card) via MTP or UMS mode. In either case refreshing the music database is recommended as the player will then collect the ID3 tags of each track in order to build a usable library. Unfortunately the player will also collect tracks from different folders, which I find annoying. No one wants to listen to their music collection on shuffle only to be presented with a ring tone or a voice recording from an interview they did ages ago.



Album art is supported but must be embedded within each track. Once the library is (re)built, you can search tracks by filtering the tracks via artist, album, genre and composer (no year sadly). It also support gradual typing. Unfortunately you can't navigate via folder, though you can always use the standard Series 60 file manager to do so. It isn't the most feasable method of accessing music, so my suggestion - get your tags in order!

Sound enchacements comes in the form of an eight band equaliser, bass booster (in the N97 this is called 'loudness') and stereo widening. You can practically create any amount of equalisers presets. For example I created different equaliser settings for each of my headphones. I don't recommend using the bass booster and stereo widening feature as they do impact the frequency response. Stereo widening does indeed help with sound staging, but the distortion to the frequency response is just not worth it. Get the Sennheiser IE 8 instead.



The audio quality is brilliant for a music phone. It is a massive improvement over the E51 and even the Nokia E75, no doubt about that. Unfortunately it does not support gapless playback - not a huge issue to me, but it may be to others so do be aware of that. Music are crisp and clear throughout. There is absolutely no hiss to be heard via my IE 8, a pretty sensitive headphone. The only issue I had with it is a very faint click whenever the track changes, or whenever I skip to another track. It is only a minor issue as it only occurs for a fraction of a second every couple of minutes. Still, the lack of gapless and the crackling sound will put off classical music fans.

There are a couple of downsides to the music player itself. For one it is not as speedy as I hoped it would be. The rest of the E55 is quick, thanks to the 600Mhz processor found inside. Unfortunately the music player does not seem to take much advantage of the speed. Also, player does not support Last.fm scrobbling, which is a shame.



Fortunately there is a wonderful application out there that allows for Last.fm scrobbling. Mobbler is an open source Last.fm radio player and scrobbler designed for Symbian phones running on the Series 60v3 and Series 60v5 (Symbian^1) UI. It is designed to allow access to a user's Last.fm profile including Friends, Events and Shouts. It also allows the user to love/dislike a track being listened either from the standard music player or via Last.fm radio player. Tracks are scrobbed in real time if the program is connected, or will be uploaded the next time it goes online.

If you are a Last.fm and Series 60 user, Mobbler is an indisposable program. It is a highly polished application that is stable and works as advertised. Best of all? This is a freeware. If Nokia is serious in marketing their phones are music savvy phones, they should license Mobbler and bundle the program into every Series 60 phones out there.



All in all, the E55 is a very competent music phone. The sound quality is brilliant - almost equalling that of my old Walkman S739 but with the convinience of having a single convergence device and scrobbling support via Mobbler. Make no mistake about it, the S-Master powered X-Series is still the best external amp-less portable music player I have ever heard and there is no way the E55 can replace it audio quality wise. Despite that, the E55 (and E52) is a competent music phone with some shortcomings that is capable of being used as a secondary DAP or even a main DAP (for the majority of users).

Nokia N97 camera samples

Here are some unedited photographs taken with the Nokia N97. Unfortunately Blogger does not support resolutions as high as 5MP, so these are resized to 1024x768 resolution. Apart from that they are essentially untouched, and will give you an idea of what to expect from the N97 - as far as the camera goes. While certainly no match for my G9 and modern digital compacts, it is good enough to be used as a quick snapper - as long as there is sufficient natural light source. It works well at picking up low light but suffers from loss of detail due to the way the N97 handles noise. Macro performance is pretty good.