Back Online - Back to Business

It was a hectic month of January, following the holidays and the long vacation; there was a huge load of work to finalize, and I had my finals at college as well (yes I’m a university student, attending my MBA classes), so you can pretty much guess what a crazy couple of weeks I'd been through. All that and I had so many devices for review… I just couldn’t cope with it. I apologize for being away for this while; I'm back in business!

So I'm posting this to tell all the readers and followers that I’m finally back online, ready to assist you again, and I shall be carrying on with the reviews according to my old schedule which I’m sharing with you here-below:

- N900 review (remaining parts)

- N97 mini review (remaining parts)

- A surprise post

- Pitting a certain S40 device against S60

- Another surprise post

- Review of a couple of Nokia accessories


Of course I might add whatever news or new devices that will come my way.

Hoping you have enjoyed reading me so far, I’ll do my best to keep delivering.

Meanwhile, comment here or drop me any question you have on twitter if you need assistance.

Nokia N900 Full Review: User Interface

So here we are, the fun part begins. I was trying to make this review a bit similar to the E72’s but it seems I’ll need much more than that to rate the almighty N900. For that, I’ll divide my review into as many parts as required in order to highlight the major characteristics of Maemo 5 running on the N900.

Nokia N900 Full Review: Physical Aspects

The N900 is like watching a sci-fi movie. If someone tells you the movie is full of BS or you happen to be in such a state of mind before watching it, you’ll end up hating/criticizing/making fun of it, not noticing the brighter side of things and the cool features that it sports. On the other hand, if you walk into that theater convinced that you’re going to watch a sci-fi film which is far from reality, you’ll end up loving it, thus telling all your friends about it. Not making any sense? Maybe… but my idea is, if you’re in a state of mind, before starting to read this review or before purchasing the N900, that the N900 is just another phone, then allow me to brainwash you and tell you that you have to be convinced it is not. The below criticism that I’m about to post only applies to phones and not mobile computers, so don’t take it the wrong way; when I say I hate how bulky the N900 is, I mean as a phone. But since it’s not only a phone, then the bulkiness is entirely tolerable, the weight is normal, and the awkwardness is justified. Once again excuse me if I’m stressing too much on this, but you need to understand that the N900’s thickness, while it could be a deal-breaker for you or a total turnoff, should not let you ignore the power of the device and the things it can do. Now, on to the review…

Nokia N900: First Impressions – Love at first sight

Yes folks, finally, the N900 has landed on my desk, made its way to my pocket, and took my mind off the dozen phones I had been playing with earlier…

This is not the first time I mess around with one these babies; we had a first encounter some while ago which ended in tears (from my end) when we had to part. Back then, the device was still an early proto with an unstable FW and missing features so it wouldn’t have been wise to rate the device at that time. It was, nonetheless, love at first sight.

Results of the first poll: camphones take over

It’s been one month since I’ve posted the below question on the website:

“I'm taking all pictures for the website with my N82/N97 - to keep it all about Nokia. Do you think I should start using a digital camera instead?”

And several readers and followers were kind enough to let me know what they prefer.

Your answers to my question were as follows:

13% of the people who have answered said “Yes, use a camera”

54% said “No, keep using Nokia devices”

32% said “I don't care as long as the pictures are fine”

I guess since the pictures are turning out fine with the Nokia N82 and N97 I’ll keep using those, nonetheless keeping my trusty camera next to me for tricky shots. Moreover, if there’s any need for hi-res shots to be taken and posted, I will not refrain from doing so using a professional camera.

I would like to thank all the readers who have shared their opinion with the website, I’m sure there will be other polls and questions for you to answer so stay sharp! Hoping this has been a decent year for you all, I thank you for your support and wish you a better upcoming year – make it a decade. Thanks to your support, I hope I’ll be able to take All About Nokia to new heights in 2010.

Cheers!

Nokia N97 mini Full Review Part 1: Physical Aspects

So clearly we can all tell by the name that the N97 mini is actually smaller than the original N97. But seriously, how small is it? If you can’t get your hands on a dummy device at a retail shop (assuming you’re too lazy to go there and check it out) I’ll help you out and try to show you the differences in the next few lines.

Nokia N97 mini - First Impressions

Stuttgart, September 2009, Nokia World announces the introduction of the N97’s “mini-me” – a shrunken replica of Nokia’s latest Symbian flagship. What we knew about it back then was that it had a weird color which would appeal to fashionistas, a smaller screen and memory, and a slightly tweaked keyboard. Holding it now in my hand and looking at it, those are still the first things that come to mind. But just because it’s a smaller version of the N97 doesn’t mean it shall be treated as a lesser handset. Never. The N97 mini will get its share of fame on this site as I open up the first part of my review with the usual “first impressions” piece.

Two new super-cool themes by Tehkseven

Two new themes from the Master Themer Tehk 7 have surfaced this past week, both of which look amazing on the N97. The two themes are inspired from other devices, the first being the HTC Hero and the second none other than Nokia’s own upcoming N900.

E72 Navi Key live in action!

Many have asked for this and here it is: the E72's Optical Navi Key in action, on video, showing some real smooth and fast scrolling.

Reminder: I'm still using the prototype which I've got over a month ago, so I'm not sure if the final version of the device will be similar. The Navi Key might become more/less sensitive and more accurate on the final version.

I've criticized it at times because I never found it to be useful (or accurate) within the main menu. However, within the browser, it can come in pretty handy. As you might notice in the video, you can scroll anywhere you want using it (up, down, diagonal...) or you can use the normal d-pad (using the 4-way arrows) but you end up touching it often when you do that. So I suppose it should either be turned on or off, depending on your usage. Let's hope Nokia adds a keyboard shortcut for it. If not, some 3rd party app will!

Enjoy!

N-Gage X'ed-out...for the second time

Remember when we used to call each other holding a mobile phone sideways? Remember when everyone used to laugh at us when we used that phone? Yes, those were the innovation and convergence days indeed. It was like talking through a Gameboy or a PSP. You're right, we're talking about the N-Gage and N-Gage QD devices that Nokia released between 2003 and 2004, before taking them down for good. Why? I'll leave that up to you to decide.