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#171
Originally Posted by sachin007 View Post
unfortuantely.... for any calls made through this java app your outgoing minutes are counted in addition to skype minutes. And the worst part is that even if you want to call skype to skype it uses your mobile minutes.
My E61 does have Wifi... I can't try this because E61 isn't support yet, but I thought I can call through Wifi...
 
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#172
I have had 2 N800s and got aniPod Touch 16GB this morning. It already pissed me off.

Good things first:
-Package management. I have been linux user for years and have always taken the ability to navigate categorized lists of software for granted. The ability to do it with the iPod is really good benefit.
-Unix under the hood. Terminal, essential GNU utilities. What more could I want (:
- Massive Sound. The volume is uncomparable to a N800. Right now I have only basic headphones, but it doesn't seem to me to be extraordinary better.
- Formfactor. The thing is damned small!

The bad:
-ITUNES. MAY ALL APPLE SUFFER FROM SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH!
Why should I use this crap for all thing iPod/iPhone? I am a linux only user. Yes, amarok, yes, but my wifi router died and the only way now is with USB. I can't restore/update the device. Under VirtualBox/VMWare it's broken. I digged out from the basement an old Celeron@500Mhz machine with Win 2003, but as it turns out iTunes doesn't work with older CPUs (QuickTime error 2096).
-Single tasking. What more can I say. I almost feel nostalgic about the DOS days.
-No BT AD2P. It's 2008. There are plenty of stereo BT headsets. No need to get entangled in wires, full control of the player without even looking at it. After all this is a multimedia device...
-Relativly simple applications. Not that I need Photoshop up and running, but I haven't found anything really spectacular aside all that jailbreaking stuff, a few addictive games and one great last.fm client. The community around this platform is relatively new to the Free/Open Source idea, the Official API is a little bit restrictive and came relatively late for the big software vendors to start releasing stuff and existing FOSS needs to be extensively ported to the open API, which is far more complicated than just recompling stuff for the ITT or even hildonizing it.

Just my 2 cents.
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#173
Originally Posted by MoridinBG View Post
I have had 2 N800s and got aniPod Touch 16GB this morning. It already pissed me off.


The bad:
-ITUNES. MAY ALL APPLE SUFFER FROM SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH!
Why should I use this crap for all thing iPod/iPhone? I am a linux only user. Yes, amarok, yes, but my wifi router died and the only way now is with USB. I can't restore/update the device. Under VirtualBox/VMWare it's broken. I digged out from the basement an old Celeron@500Mhz machine with Win 2003, but as it turns out iTunes doesn't work with older CPUs (QuickTime error 2096).
I don't get it. You hate iTunes and yet you bought yourself an iPod. Are you a masochist?
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#174
Amarok synchronises really well. The problem is that there is no alternative for restore-ing/upgrading, especially for Linux and that, as I have stated at the moment I don't have WiFi at home (which is the only way Amarok syncs).
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Posts: 16 | Thanked: 2 times | Joined on Mar 2008
#175
Great post about the iTouch and the 810. At the same time, the more I hear about the 810, the happier I am about getting the N800. It may be a bit bigger but once I got it to work properly, it has been outstanding. I think Nokia blew it on discontinuing the N800 as it has much greater expansion capability than the 810 as it has more memory, better speakers and a rotatable camera (which should be higher res) I also agree that the two devices are different beasts as I need a stylus to do fine grained things like sketching and using the new mapping tool that just came out. I am betting Apple will come out with a stylus equipped tablet (Newton II?) as there are many things you can do with a stylus and not with your fingers. Good posts here to be sure.
 
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#176
Originally Posted by remoran View Post
I am betting Apple will come out with a stylus equipped tablet (Newton II?) as there are many things you can do with a stylus and not with your fingers.
I suppose betting on that is as good a way to lose money as any. . . .
 

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#177
Originally Posted by remoran View Post
I am betting Apple will come out with a stylus equipped tablet (Newton II?)
Was that a pig? Up there, in the sky?
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#178
Originally Posted by tabletrat View Post
UI is almost never the most important aspect of any application, although it is very important. The only time it is the most important thing is where it is all there is. Normally the function of a device is the most important aspect. My washing machine has a bit of a rubbish UI, but it is still a very good machine.
I would actually argue UI is the a top priority for any application (Top 3) when it's being released. UI means how your user will interact with your device it can be anything from the CLI to GUI to Virtual Reality Interfaces (VRI). Whatever you have programmed, you need to make sure that it is the easiest for your user to understand and use. Of course, I would prefer a smart app with a dumb UI rather than a dumb app with a smart UI.

I, however, don't think developers, especially for mobile applications, should continually overlook their UI design and keep dishing out dumb UI. I'm sure your washing machine doesn't have 50 knobs to turn so you can wash white, cotton, delicate, shirts. But the fact you brought it up shows there's a room for improvement, in the same way, many apps/OS for n810 need to be improved.

I believe we should come up with guidelines that should discuss how apps should behave and look. Of course, since we live in a Linux (read: Chaotic) World, we don't need to be so anal about enforcing the look and feel of the app. But at least developers that want to focus on the "content" can have a reference point of solid UI design and settle on comfortable aesthetic design. I feel that would help progress the development of more usable programs.

Originally Posted by tabletrat View Post
To call something eye candy indicates it has no purpose (unless it is used as a derogatory term about a piece of user interface you don't like). If what you call eye candy helps non-technical people feel a connection with the device, it has a valid UI purpose so it cannot be described as eye candy.
By eye candy I meant what most of us would consider unnecessary graphical fluff on top of the app. Obviously, it serves a purpose because no developers want to waste their time on stupid design requirements that serve little to no purpose. The Apple culture requires all apps to conform to very specific standards which has pros/cons but definitely helps the new user learn his/her way around much easier rather than adding a learning curve to each new app. Which is one of my primary reasons to start talking about guidelines.

Originally Posted by tabletrat View Post
The UI came out a long time before computers existed in any form. Many machines were made before computers, and the study of user interfaces came with them. You wouldn't want a steam turbine with a bad user interface.
Also, my Apple II comment was supposed to illustrate a concept that thoughtful UI design has been around for a long time. It was the first really old computer that had some idea of UI design I thought of and since we were talking about Apple I chose it. Thank you for pointing me to the right sources to correct my historical inaccuracy.
 
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#179
Originally Posted by MoridinBG View Post
The bad:
-Single tasking. What more can I say. I almost feel nostalgic about the DOS days.
I actually learned, recently, using my friend's iTouch that it's not really single tasking, it just allows one screen to remain focused (which, for all practical purposes, is single tasking), but in the background the app continues to operate. For example, I was in chat then I switched out to the home screen and started using a calculator then went back to chat and all the IMs his friends sent, in the mean time, were there. I'm not sure if the app has to explicitly tell the iPhone/Touch to keep it alive, but it did for that app (and maybe the others (?)). This might be common knowledge but until I used the Touch I figured it just exited out of whatever app you were last using.


Originally Posted by MoridinBG View Post
-Relativly simple applications. Not that I need Photoshop up and running, but I haven't found anything really spectacular aside all that jailbreaking stuff, a few addictive games and one great last.fm client. The community around this platform is relatively new to the Free/Open Source idea, the Official API is a little bit restrictive and came relatively late for the big software vendors to start releasing stuff and existing FOSS needs to be extensively ported to the open API, which is far more complicated than just recompling stuff for the ITT or even hildonizing it.
But your last comment about portability is the biggest reason I'm with the n810, I just wish the software was more polished (i.e. not direct ports from desktop software).

Last edited by dasickis; 2008-05-06 at 16:00.
 
Posts: 566 | Thanked: 150 times | Joined on Dec 2007
#180
Because we can't have too many ipod touch/iphone threads I wil add my contribution:

Today I did a little side by side comparison at the Apple Store. Ipod touch versus n800. I only compared web browsing because that is my main interest. The difference in screen resolution is really obvious. The Touch was much too pixely to me for reading large amounts of text. To me that would be a dealbraker. Also the need for zooming in and out annoyed me. With the userContent.css tweak and minimum-fontsize tweaks hardly any zooming or sideways scrolling is needed on the n800. Maybe Safari could be tweaked like that as well. On the other hand the screen of the Ipod Touch is a lot brighter. Even in the shadow where the Touch doesn't have the advantage of the screens transflectiveness. The n810 has a transflective screen as well and is a little brighter. I wonder if it is just as bright as the Ipod Touch.

Last edited by iamthewalrus; 2008-05-06 at 17:56.
 
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