Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Lumia hardware summary:
- Not as physically beautiful as Apple or Blackberry devices
- Not as technically advanced as Samsung/LG devices

Lumia software summary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3AgcltUM9s


Jailbroken iOS is surprisingly good. There's no need to look for sources, drivers, or code, its based on the stock rom/os. Tweeks can be added to the system and freedom to do anything with it. In a sense, it is somewhat comparable to working with N900 but much easier, refined and powerful but has its own set of strengths and weaknesses.

Android is not bad. Its lacking in so many ways. Yet its filled to the brim with features.

Windows Phone is the worst of the bunch. No featureset/power of Android, no seamless experience and ubiquity of iOS. I always envisioned MeeGo to grab this segment between Android and iOS, being pretty ubiquitous and feature-rich in the same time.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

iPhones tend to look nice when new but scratch like crazy or you get weird things like the lightning connector stopping working or the button sticking. We've had a few in the family and the annodising is shockingly bad. It's so thin. Of any of them I'm quite partial to the white 5c, but again, it scratches like crazy. Nokia managed to get plastic that didn't scratch easily yet Apple seems not.

Samsung/LG seem to be advanced internally but then they shove an awful exterior on them with fake stitching and gimmicky things like fingerprint readers that don't work. Such a turn off.

Nokia generally had much better taste with their design. The N9 era design was just great. They went astray a few times with some of the Lumia models though I notice they've gone back to what looks like an N9 with the new 730. I'd love to see SailfishOS running on that.

Surely someone at Nokia could just leak out how to stick Android on it and then we're probably off and running. :D

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Therein lies a problem. You're still comparing against the other phones whereas Nokia/Microsoft hasn't really gone in those directions in ages.

In fact, their philosophy has been to avoid customization for ease of use and a more direct path to get things done. In fact, I'd say that Jolla is closer to that mentality (so was Harmattan) than Android's constant customization and Apple's singular method to what they call functionality and workflow.

I'm not a fan of Apple's workflow on mobile devices. I'm really not a fan of Android's either. BB10 was closer to my natural tendencies. Harmattan was a flawed take on that.

So with that said, my favorite workflow doesn't need heavy hardware. MeeGo didn't. BB10 doesn't (RAM excepted). Windows Phone doesn't. Face it, Android is just so damn bloated - probably why Tizen on the same device can trim out more hours on the same kind of hardware.

And incredibly fractured. A lot of great ideas that are in iOS7 came from the jailbreak crowd. But a lot of it is pure crap.

Android feels like it was made by engineers. iOS feels like it was made by artists. I need an OS to balance that, drop the egos from either direction, give me wtf I need. And Android needs to be stripped down to get where I want, iOS needs to be propped up to get where I'd like it. And yes... I own both in this household.

We're just going to disagree here. Windows Phone, while extremely flawed; is made with ease of use. Metro (or Modern UI) is a seriously in-depth UI/UX study that broke a lot of molds that are really bad user patterns. But it also introduced some newer problems.

But it's not the worst of the bunch. I'd say that Tizen wins that at the moment - it's too much like Android without some of the pluses. It's inconsistent and above all, overly and unnecessarily complex for simple, simple things like option changes.

It'll be a while before it congeals into something that's not EFL or TouchWiz derivative. And the market might not have the patience for that.

Windows Phone isn't for me, but I can see how deeply they went into the UI details and it's on par, if not deeper than iOS and definitely more thoughtful than pre-Matias Duarte Android.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

How strange. I have never held a Lumia and I'd rather refrain from passing aesthetic judgement based on online pictures, but I have always disliked iPhones. I can't help it, they are dowright ugly. So, are you telling me that Lumias are even uglier?

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

This is also a very good and beautiful designed phone. It's very simpel with some very handy accessories included. You can throw the addressbook papers away and use it as a wallet. . No screen means no scratch tracks. The pencil may become convenient at the point you need sign an autograph to a fan.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

I think if you want to go with a walled garden, then you might as well just buy an iPhone instead of a Lumia.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Wow man....that IS pink!
I don't just mean a little pink ...I mean ALOT pink.
I've had a pink smartphone...not a biggie...I'm secure and comfortable in my masculinity to get away with pink now and again...but sorry...I don't think I could pull that one off...that is past neon pink...past luminous pink...past bubblegum pink even....
.that is just over-the -top ...too intensely pink for me

ps. pink isn't one of my fav colours anyway...pumpkin...rust colours ...teal..aquamarine even...and the like ...I favour more...
gee that sure is pink though

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Why I think the iPhone is beautiful:
- Minimalistic
-Large logo on the back
-Patented rounded corners are best for palms, and to keeping the bezels short (but Apple doesn't take advantage of that second fact)
-Stright sides cause better grip than chamfered ones.
-I think if it had front stereospeakers and shaved off A LOT of bezel, it would be apex

Why I think the Lumia is ugly:
-Capacitive buttons (I much prefer on-screen, or at worst physical)
-Rounded sides aren't my taste
-Sharp corners digs into my palm, instead of around it
-Designed much thicker, though it doesn't need to be
-Plastic build is plastic, they get praised for this... I'm here to tell you they shouldn't be praised or deducted
-Its classy, but if it wasn't so excessive it would be much better

If you try to live with Windows Phone what you realize is this:
-MS went to a lot of detail in the UI
-MS failed epically with the UI
WHY ???

Most of the times, the screen is full of blank spots, where additional information/gestures/buttons could've been added. It makes it extremely wasteful.
The Menu button is a real pain in the ***, a swipe up to reveal common buttons is idiotic and even moreso when there is ample space for it
The Back button is horrid, you'll see why
The Search button is for Bing, and missing key functionality like contextual search... rendering it utterly useless like 90% of the time despite taking up a significant portion of the phone's real estate
The Windows Phone Store is a joke, the quality of the Apps are worse than Android in my experience and its full of spam spam spam
First-party Apps are missing too, needing to pay real money for third party Apps (which break compatibility)
The devices hardware-wise just can't compete with the iPhone let alone Android, unless you compare it to the low/mid-range (and that's not good with the iPhone 5/5S getting cheaper and Moto G/OnePlus One)
Lumia is king of photography, but LG, Samsung, SONY getting dangerously close to PureView's performance.
Windows Phone is slower and uses more battery than Android, as tests show between the M8
Support is a joke from the OEMs, for the OS, from third-party software, and accessories
There's so much room for improvement, yet MS consistently doesn't do anything about it.

There's no incentive to have a Lumia, no selling features besides "me too". Its not powerful. Its not customizable. Its not widely-supported. Its not even open-source or developer friendly.

I rather live in Apple's walled garden than Microsoft's walled desert....
...or you know, get a cheap and decent Android device and (easily/quickly) modify it to suit my use.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

still using my N900 and still listening to ma'f*#$kin brutal metal music!
keepin it retro ;)

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Okay, this is my take on UE's;

The situation can be likened to that of games, in a way.

Apple devices are like well done 3rd person shooters, very colourful, packed with action and fluid in motion. The theme is a kind of pipe run but so well crafted it takes a while to notice it; all goes well if you need to do the usual tasks 90% of people require.
On the other hand, if you want to do something SteveJ and his merry men did not anticipate you'll run into the pipe wall and it is pretty much impossible to escape from that.
The experience might be pleasing in the beginning, but it limits your creativity a lot and makes users adapt to the machine instead of other way around.

WP devices on the other hand aim to be 3rd person shooter pipe runs, but often fail spectacularily.
You might be able to manage for a while, and then you find that when you should scale a wall suddenly your hands drop off. Or you are just about to face the boss-enemy, and at that instant your machinegun mysteriously turns into a tuba! And the boxes of ammo you find turn out to be chokolate candies...

Open devices on the other hand fall into totally different game category; they are more akin to games like MInecraft. Depending on the vendor they might include ready-made parts that fit together nicely like lego bricks, or all you might get is a huge pile of differently shaped parts that have nothing in common.
However in both cases you fortunately have glue! Several kinds of glue in fact, that comes with different colours; some of it sticky and some of it hard.
And boy you can glue anything together and make all your heart desires!
The end result might not be pretty, and it might not be like anything somebody else made into their devices but it works like a charm!
There's no limitation of your creativity, you can do anything you like.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Nicely put into words , agree 100%.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

No surprise there, they have taken their time to improve.

Its been over two years since the most potent Pureview Cameraphone has launched in 2012.

Since then all Lumia "Pureview" devices have offered only a subset of the same technology.

MSFT had clearly decided to go for the "just good enough" version and doesn't seem capable or interested to grab the chance to be the next prosumer camera manufacturer that emerges from the smarpthone branch.
That this does not happen is amazing in times where brands like Nikon clearly play panic football as shown in the introduction of Android models and Leica comes with touch driven models that only lack phone capability to finally close the gap.


Most likely Apple will have to do it. Partinen is already there. http://www.idownloadblog.com/2014/05...n-joins-apple/
Before long Apple will replace its mediocre camera by something far greater and call it simply the Camera.


And then history of true camera phones will start in 2015 or onward.

Just like smartphone history starts in 2007. :rolleyes:

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...hones-timeline

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

http://talk.maemo.org/attachment.php...1&d=1410295155

I like it. And the idea to step away from the eco system principle means the user doesn't have to worry about finding those essential 5 apps in the hidden of amongst 300,000 scam, crap and spywares and 100 potentially ok but just not good enough softwares.

Additionally, whenever you are out in the backwoods, and nature calls you may sacrifice part of your agenda to settle hygiene matters.

Microsoft had better taken over this company and integrate the device in its KIN Series :p

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Can a smartphone history timeline that only starts in 2007 be taken seriously at all? :)

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Was just about to comment on the same... how sad, uninformed, americanish world-view this so called "timeline" presents :(

Where is Maemo on that picture?
oh, yes, it's not a smartphone, is it?

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

There is no smart phone without dumb user.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

No, that one was an Internet Tablet that became a smartphone after 2007 (year zero). :o

History of the tablet PC articles are usually very Darwinistic attempts to end at the iPad as ultimate statge of evolution.
Behold this one, it has Maemo listed! Such an honour.
http://knolzone.com/2014/03/history-...c-before-ipad/

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Did you see Charles Arthur's reviews of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch?

Let me quote the most interesting bit:
"Charles Arthur's travel and accommodation was paid for by Apple."

Honestly, don't waste your time reading the garbage that fool writes.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Its a joke, interesting to see how history -as usual- is written by the victor, and the way they do it reflects uncertainty about the 2007 product to be so much better than the ones forgotten / having a place in alternative history.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Mr.Fantastic was able to manage his ultra-prototypes with that "low-memory" gadget. http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=6836

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Are the N900, N9 and Jolla phones smart phones?

For some reason, reading this quote conjured up the image of an iphone user, when wondering if their iphone was a smart phone, asking siri whether their iphone was a smart phone...

Actually I love this quote from Picasso

"Computers are useless. They can only give answers"

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Interesting... And if the average Joe would have been able to manage Mr. Fantastics ultra-prototypes with it it would have been a "smart (device / phone)"? :confused:

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Yeah...

My first smartphone (2002)
My second smartphone (2003)

(Both American, BTW :))

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Yeah, arstechnica and anandtech are the best sites.
I frequent The Verge and Engadget too, mostly to read their non-tech articles or see all the fanboy flame wars.

Am i the only one who is thinking to buy the blackberry passport?!

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

If I could tap into the maemo universal-mind I'd hazard all the maemo-jedi's would be silently ...psionically screaming "YES!" to that question.
I know you live way far away from the blast epicenter ....but BB is deader than Nokia...the BB dinosaur just doesn't know it yet.
Sorry man ...we Canadians watched the implosion...they aren't coming back the way they were...I wouldn't spend the money.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Palm OS and CoCoBoot bootloader :D

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

After N9 and Jolla, I am on my developer version of Blackberry Z10 and I really like its overall feel. I am not done with Jolla, but I thought I will take a break - want something different.

Cons:
* Z10 battery doesn't last even a half day. Needing to charg 2 to 3 times a day is not fun.

* Not mounting the drive on my Linux desktop. I don't like Blackberry's attitude regarding this.

* No real SSH access either.

* Little harder to install Android, but not too bad. I have the Snap App Store installed to make it easier to install from Google Play

Pros:
* I really enjoy the LTE. (I can't get LTE here on Jolla)
* Great performance

I won't be buying a phone with keyboard again, but I maybe interested in a 4.5+ inch future Blackberry model.

I have WIFI everywhere I go, so LTE is not a big deal. I will be back on Jolla after few days. I am sure. It is THE perfect phone.

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

Nop, I am also thinking to buy a Blackberry Passport (if I can afford it... let's wait for the pricelist).

Re: Time for a new phone?
 

To be honest, I'd buy it if it has Nemo or Android on it.
Hell, I'd love it if there was an LG Porsche Design phone.

I love Porsches. And I love the craftsmanship in Porsche Design product.
And LG is the only Android OEM with high-end specs and a decent design paradigm.