I could have been clearer. I meant that the OS isn't a dealbreaker anymore, so I'm considering the phone for its hardware.

Not that S60 was ever *that* bad, but after using Maemo I couldn't have gone back. S^3 is looking damn nice so far, as a secondary device.

I remember playing around with the dev tools for Epoc32 - the OS that my old Psion 5mx ran, and it all looked so clunky and unusual that I gave up. Knowing that Symbian is derived from the old Epoc code kinda put me off using it.

Similarly, I've never really been attracted to QT, but thats probably because I've never bothered putting a GUI on any code I've written until recently. Now that I've tried that, I'm more inclined to go down the QT route as it will at least allow me to target GUI apps on Linux and Mac OS X. Not really too fussed about Symbian still.

wow, just wow.

The way I see it is that Symbian is Windows 3.1, and Maemo is Win7 ... yes one can run on less resources but it ain't designed to chew down resources like the more current OS. It looks dated, the design philosophy is dated, and you know what We are tired of the easy route yes it is superficial but how long can you use an Old OS and not yearn for a new feel beyond just a theme. The audience is fickle, but that is the exactly the audience you find in the mobile world. Mobile has changed multiple times faster than the PC/ Laptop world. Form factors, OS's, usability paradigms (couple of years ago long battery life was the deciding factor, now it's just like the third or 4th factor to consider).

Symbian is great for E and C series, again with the analogies, but it should be the XP running on netbooks and Maemo should be the Win7 on laptops and pc's not on an N series. What they should have done is not go for this quick cash grab, cause more customers will be peeved when 3 months after the N8 comes like a uber phone from Nokia. It kills the momentum of that product, and leaves a bad taste on those customers who think this is Nokia's flagship.

Seriously some people have forgotten how a person thinks while buying. Yes in the end everyone is disappointed, but to what degree are you the company leaving a lasting impression of disappointment.

All I'm saying is this is another N97, all resources go to Symbian and Maemo just keeps getting renamed and restarted. Yes people here defensive as to protect the pet project called Maemo/ MeeGo but listen not being vocal is the first death knell to Maemo/ MeeGo. We have to voice it consistently, Symbian for introductory smartphones and S40 for the dumbphones, and Maemo/ MeeGo for the N-Series ... damn that exclusivity alone makes the N series a better proposition. We have to consistantly remind them to not let Intel run the show and torpedo the project.

I said the CEO's should be sacked, and a couple of days later shareholders agitated enough are asking for the same. It says a lot when the consumers and shareholder can meet eye to eye, management is really messing up there has to be a fall guy sorry but OPK gotta go.

I agree, there is several reasons why everyone isn't using the iPhone, or Blackberries, or Android devices, etc..

As far as I'm concerned the more variation we have in hardware the better (as long as applications are decently compatible.. of course an app designed for the N900's specs may not run well on a device that doesn't have a similar CPU speed). Want a really nice camera and you don't care as much about applications outside (Twitter, Facebook, and some GPs app?). Get the N8. While someone else may want lots and lots of storage. Or someone else might want a hardware keyboard. And so on.

As long as you can run the same app across the various devices (constraints due to spec capabilities and hardware [e.g. if your don't have multi-touch obviously multi-touch won't work) then who cares.

That's what I think Android is the platform that will outnumber everyone in the future, simply because of variation in hardware but some compatibility across applications. Though I did hear an interesting argument that the iPhone will likely remain the platform for mobile games (excluding Nintendo and Sony due to game differences) due to somewhat standardized hardware (Windows 7 Phone Series too due to Microsoft's standards and XBOX Live compatibility). And if Nokia can pull off what Android is doing (wide variation in hardware, but with application compatibility) then I think Android will have itself a competitor.

If Nokia and Intel can't do it, then I think the future will be Android with the main marketshare, Apple, (maybe RIM), Microsoft, (maybe Nokia), with smaller marketshare.

I like the N8.

And I like Symbian.

And the N8 is seriously tempting me to sell off my N900 and get it when it's out. Granted Symbian has lesser eyecandy, but eyecandy isn't everything.

This is progress as Nokia raises the bar for hardware. This means coming soon: HD video to your favrourit Maemo - iPhone - Android (and in the latter 2 OS thousands of exciting APPS making creative use of the added HD Vid functionality right?)


As things are now: The first N8 like Symbian device that offers the N900 browsing power (derivatives of Firefox 3.6 / 3.5 + add ons) + screen resolution of 800 x 480 something + native skype integration I am most likely to purchase

The outdated interface will be compensated by best of its class battery life vs functionality index.