Originally Posted by fms

Well, Symbian has been known to change UIs like one changes clothing, so you can count on it to come up with a new UI sooner or later. The current S60e5 UI is pretty decent for what it is supposed to do though (i.e. make calls, let you browser through your stuff, send and receive messages, etc.). It is indeed bland and boring, but you can hardly blame it for lack of utility.

If you are trying to access talk.maemo.org from it, the 5800 UI has nothing to do with the problems accessing that. Instead, you should blame the admin for not making pages light enough for a resource-poor mobile browsers (remember, whatever 5800 is, it is not a desktop PC with 4GB of memory and a super fast CPU). If you just mean the text input modes of 5800, its full-screen keyboard works like a charm for me, way better than prettier iPhone keyboard.

Originally Posted by ysss

Sounds like they're shuffling things around because they're still looking for what will work with the market. Sign of half baked products?

On the other hand, this site opens quickly and without any quirks on the iphone. Are they that different, in spec?

Originally Posted by fms

Naaah. Ironically, I can tell you exactly what they are doing, having gone through a similar situation before. They cannot let go of their existing S60 UI because it is too deeply entrenched in their production process. To drop S60, they need time and resources to implement the new UI from scratch, test it, write documentation, prepare SDKs, etc., all the time supporting their current S60-based handsets. In fact, this is exactly what Nokia is trying to do by transitioning from S60 to QT, but is simply not possible to do in such a short time. They should have started much earlier, and they seem to have started when the saw the iPhone.


Not really, both use WebKit based browsers. The site actually opens without quirks on 5800 as well, but it is slow to load over GPRS and the site layout isn't quite made for a tiny touch based device. These limitations have nothing to do with underlying OS or the UI.

Originally Posted by sunwong

I agree that the 5800 might be a commercial success on Europe, but IMHO and based on what I see as a reference (Spain data), Nokia does not lead the pack, It is Samsung with its Touchwiz in the mid-end (It is seen everywhere among the non-geeks), LG, RIM, and Apple offerings (again non-geeks but with deeper pockets), with HTC being marginal (WinMo really doesn't make it here).

Fact is that Nokia is still making its commercial results stand against competition with models that noone will want in 6 months (non-touch, s603rd).

Seems that nobody tested this functionality with a text longer than some concat SMSs, either, because I can tell you that It was nightmare, It even came to a point where all the text dissapeared and I thought that the last 10 minutes of work in the post were gone...

Have you tried to use Maps and browse web at the same time? The thing randomly asks you to shut down 3G connections...

Doesn't "true multitasking" imply that I can reuse existing open connections, or at least allow for any number of them?

Or maybe the random shutdowns of the builtin browser when loading heavy pages, which Opera Mini also experiences.

Or the annoying bug I currently am suffering with the onscreen buttons while on a call, that won't let you touch any of them unless you "unlock" the device for a second time

Anyhow, If these gadgets are advertised as mini computers, no? So what's the point of spending a small fortune on them if there are so many "not intended usage case"...?

Originally Posted by ysss

Hey fms, just curious, do you work for nokia or something? You seem very acceptibg/understanding of their shortcomings and seems to be making up excuses for them.

I don't think the current crop of smartphones have any problems rendering such webpage, even if "they're not desktop computers". Not iphone, android, winmo or pre, at least.

Originally Posted by ysss

Hey fms, just curious, do you work for nokia or something? You seem very acceptibg/understanding of their shortcomings and seems to be making up excuses for them. I don't think the current crop of smartphones have any problems rendering such webpage, even if "they're not desktop computers". Not iphone, android, winmo or pre, at least.

Really? People are buying S60e3 phones just like they had before. You are forgetting that most people buy phones to use them not to marvel at the latest and greatest technologies. And button-based S60e3 phones satisfy the usability requirements pretty well.

Well, the screen estate is limited. You can either use it to show a decently sized keyboard or you can use it to show more of what you are typing. Luckily, Nokia provides both options in 5800. All you had to do was switch from the full screen keyboard to the small floating keyboard and click it with a stylus. Still not quite as good as using a real keyboard, but you have just disregarded those button-based S60e3 phones in the previous paragraph, haven't you?

Most likely running out of memory. Again, this is not a desktop computer, and a lot of current web pages seem to require that.

Never seen this one.

You can. I think you have simply misconfigured your cellular data connection so that it shuts down after a period of inactivity, to save power and money. All you have to do is go to Settings and set "Disconnect after" time to 0 or "none".

Originally Posted by fms

Well, you are in the US, and I think we have all figured out by now that nothing happens in the US as far as smartphones are concerned. I am in Europe at the moment, and have been answering to someone's comment that Nokia is losing its standing in Europe. That, as my experience shows, is somewhat far from the truth

They seem to explicitly disregard US as the key area now, for better or for worse. Probably concluded they can't win against iPhone and friends.