Thank you.

... are best ignored.

Without a Maemo device, that's basically why I'm here - help with whatever else I can.

- Have you installed Sleeping Screen or Bubbles or any of the other BetaLabs offerings? How does it cope with these apps if you have?

No Sleeping screen, I like having battery to spare. I imagine it can be turned off and that it's not heavy, but you don't know you'll need more battery until you do. It'll take me a while to get a "feel" of E7's consumption, I'm still set on GMT+N900 and the jet lag is causing me to auto-stop all activities after an hour or two.

I make it home with 60% left. Again the desert parable would be appropriate, but I hate repetition.

I did install "other" beta labs stuff. I like LiveView, an augmented reality app that uses GPS and compass to overlay POIs from own' database and Nokia's over the camera live view. It has tap on the POI to get info, such as contact and newer versions support "sending", so, in theory, one can one-click (ish) set a meeting at a cafe in view. The said POI can be 1 km away, so it really could work to set up a meeting. Pretty cool.

I also installed "situations". It's cool, could be much cooler, but it's beta so It's most likely becoming cooler every day. Situations is kind of like a profile, except larger (can associate power saving to a profile, allowing "economy" profile). Also added to a profile is a list of conditions, like time (range), GPS position, cell tower collection, certain wifis, etc. There are in theory many applications, like setting it to be quieter when at home or office and loud everywhere else. Also, I use silent overnight.

You can switch situations just like profiles, from power button, however, if you manually change to a profile that is not "general" or a situation, it deactivates all automation, so going "silent" manually doesn't go back to loud because GPS had a sneeze.

It's very useful, except a few small details: I doesn't allow to switch wifi off yet, or put desktop widgets to offline, so my "economy" profile is half-useful.

The page suggests I use it as "Watching TV" and "Driving". While "Driving" is realistic if you have a car kit, which auto-connects to E7, TV is not automatic and if I'm going to switch, I'll do it to Silent and be done with it.

It's still useful. At 12 AM, it says "beep" in a soft voice and it moves to silent. In the morning, it goes back. When battery low, it goes powersaving. When at work, to goes loud. When I start BT headphones, it goes to BT.

Plus, it supports launching apps or links when switching, so in theory you could have it report when it detects being at work, home, in the bar, etc.

It's more cool than useful for me, but I didn't join the Beta Labs for useful.

I'll try more, but for now I'm profiling consumption, getting to know the phone, etc. There's gonna be time for fun later.

- Do you find the speaker being muffled when it's lying on a table, or is the volume good enough?

The speaker is a very thin slot, so it's easy to cover with hand (soft) when you want quick-mute, but it's mounted on the slanted side of the phone.

As a result, it's not covered by the table or any hard surfaces, if anything reflecting the sound makes it even louder. It does, however, have a thin aperture on table so, if used on a soft material, like a cloth, it will be muffled.

Personally, I don't have any cloth tables so thus far I haven't had any issues with making it louder. If anything, it sometimes surprises me in quiet situations and I have to get used to the position so I can put my finger over the slot faster. It's a matter of habit, I still tend to grab it by the sides, N900-style.

- Do you think it's too big and heavy for a trouser pocket?

N900: 181g, 111x60x20 mm (thickest)
_E7_: 176g, 123x62x14 (rounded up)

As you can see, it FEELS heavier because it's smaller and the weight surprises you, but it's actually as heavy as N900.

It is 1cm taller, but other than that it is as wide as N900 and slimmer considerably, which makes the perimeter that takes up cloth as:

E7: 13.6+13.6+62=98.2 mm (I am aware cloth is not glued to sides, but each pocket is different and measurement is proportional to depth, so I'll leave it at that).

N900: 20+20+60=100 mm (being thicker, the angle of cloth is different, but generally speaking)

So, as you see, if you pocket holds N900, it will hold E7. Don't get smart about my math, I know I rounded a lot and that N900 is 20mm with camera, but what is important is visible: the both use the same pocket space.

If anything, by being slimmer it is more comfortable than the N900. It is also sturdier (metal construction, glass). N900 is more lump-like.

The centimeter in height could be an issue, but only if your pocket barely-holds N900, in which case I imagine it sometimes falls out.

Overall, save for very short pockets, it's smaller or the same.

Oh, one more. It's slippery. If you used shirt front pocket, don't.

- Symbian Belle promises to bring even more improvements over Anna. Do you think with Belle the E7 could be close to perfect?

Well, this is a subjective question.

There's this line, an axis, that starts from zero, which is "I would throw it in a lake if the GPS would be working so I could find one", through a 5 "fine, I'll keep it, but it makes me wonder why it's not in a lake every damned day", to a 10 "oohhhhh".

N900 was all over the place. Some things were at 2, others were at 8, and, even with a nice average, it needed an update like a skydiver needs a parachute. (Hint: it didn't get it

E7 is much more linear, with few extremely new and revolutionary stuff, but with few flaws, hovering at +/-1.

The new enhancements on Symbian are nice, and will push the device up a notch, but it's not the notch from 4 to 5, so it's not like it would be groundbreaking. I like some of the stuff they want to do, order the UI (I complained in the review), unify some stuff, etc. These are nice things, but without grave flaws it's hard to get giddy about it.

I want the updates, I'm kind of tired of tapping menu, the slide, then exit, the X in the top right corner of N900 has spoiled me.

What I really like about these updates is that they are merging my beloved N900 features into my beloved E7 hardware.

If I could, I'd have E7 and N900 with me, they are quite different devices. I'd use N900 to use VNC, SeriesFinale, browse some sites, chat, fiddle, enjoy the UI and E7 to call, message, video call, use frequent sites, Office and play.

Ever so slowly, they are merging the UI from Maemo/Meego and Symbian, taking the good stuff from both. Let's face it, most "enhancements" in Symbian are Maemo: streamlined UI, back button, enhanced/active status menu, QT.

Over time, apps I miss will be ported, UI will be streamed, themes enhanced, and more and more of what I loved from N900 will find its way into E7.

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.