So, Nokia have come out and said that they realise people don't like using Symbian. I am very much part of that crowd. I joined the facebook group, followed them on Twitter and stand on various corners in London preaching the end is near.

Sometimes I reach out to commuters on the train. Yeah it's one of those things!

Me: This weather huh?
Random: Yeah, it's cold and miserable
Me: What about Nokia's crap UI?
Random: Yeah, it's cold and makes me miserable
Me: OMG me too
Both: Hahahahahahah.... Hahahahhahahahah.... HAAAHAAAHAAAAHHAAA
Random: Let's hug... ?
Me: Ok!

So anyway, I saw this post on Engadget where Nokia admit the interface is not great and will look to improve it in 2010. What they're showing looks neat and friendly but surely by the time this is released Apple and Google would've taken strides forward so Nokia will be behind again.

Don't get me wrong this looks good but so does tight leather until you try it on.

Just a quick post to you in the direction of our photo gallery on Nokia's recent releases from Nokia World.

I like the X6. I'll try and do a video gallery of all the products before the weekend.

iPhone vs N97

Smartphones have taken us by storm and none more so than the iPhone. You can't walk through the street without someone bumping into you because their eyes are glued to their 3 and a half inches of technological wonder.

The main pluses are that the Apple iPhone is cool, good user interface, great apps and iTunes while the Nokia N97 has a full qwerty keyboard, 32GB hard disk (expandable to 48GB), great battery life (you can remove the battery) and a 5 megapixel camera.

I think my video (below) demonstrates what I think of the two phones and what the general feel is in the market and among iPhone and N97 users.


So, is the iPhone the best phone out there? Well, it's biggest threat seems to be coming from Nokia with their flagship N97 which may pack a mean punch but it's the apps store that makes the iPhone so addictive.

Below is a Nokia N97 vs. Apple iPhone 3g comparison chart that, on paper, makes the N97 a sure fire winner with up to 48gb hard disk, a full qwerty keyboard and better battery life. But it's the ease of use where the iPhone excels and this is further backed up by it's huge apps library.

Don't get me wrong I think the N97 is a great phone, I have one, the hardware is superior and it's cheaper.

The chart doesn't inlcude all the features that the two operating systems offer, but most of the bases are covered.  You can change the phones by clicking clicking the cross next to the phone and picking your phone from the drop down box.

Check it out:

A number of weeks ago I recieved a Zeemote controller. I dismissed it initially saying that I didn't see the point of a controller for mobile games as you can use the d-pad, accelerometer and keypad. But how wrong was I? Very.

I basically didn't get it.


The Zeemote is not for every game. I wouldn't bother with it for things like Deal or no Deal but it's for serious games like Street Fighter and Sonic. Once you get used to it, you find it hard to play these games without it.

Yes it has restrictions BUT it makes playing games a fair amount more enjoyable and removes a lot of the frustrations that come with mobile gaming.

I'm not sure if the Zeemote is the future of gaming but the ease of use definately indicates that if it isn't, the technology behind the controller will be used for something else (possibly a media remote which it can already do).

The Zeemote is the first of it's kind and I expect to see many more similar products to follow. Depending on price, I am looking to buy one of these for my one and a half hour journey to work. I know this might sound a bit like an advert but this has seriously grown on me especially now I have an N97 that doesn't have a d-pad or keypad. I hate the buttons on teh screen method because it takes up part of the screen and isn't as responsive as actual buttons.

It's currently only bundled with phones, you can get it on T-Mobile with the Sony Ericsson W705 I'm guessing to test the market, so it's difficult to say if it's really going to fly. But Zeemote have said that it'll be available towards the end of the year with a free game for around £45.

So in conclusion, I think the Zeemote will find it's place in the world as long as it knows that not everyone is that serious about mobile gaming (I mean most of us just do it so we don't have to look at the guy in front of us on the train). But as long as it compliments games, especially as games get more advanced, it'll be useful for mobile gamers.

Nokia has been working on an operating system called 'Maemo' for a few years now for their tablet notebooks but it is now said that they will also role out the operating system to mobile phones eventually phasing out their current S60 all together.

It has a number of interesting features but the most surprising is the inclusion of advertisements on the home screen. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I know that it may become the future of mobile interfaces but at the moment it sounds a bit like an invasion of privacy.

The screenshot below shows doesn't have any ads but it could be because this is a shot of the calendar (the only screenshot currently available).

The home screen is basically a big vertically scrollable page, filled with widgets. The active widget has a blue bar down the side and it's believed that one of these widgets will serve ads.

The idea is that you will get a discount of some sort either on your contract or on the handset in exchange for the ads.

Source [mobilecrunch]