Video: Nokia Vs Sony Ericsson Transformers Battle

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen any Nokia Vs Sony Ericsson battles. Here’s a transformers themed one that just looks incredible. Especially being fan made (by repey815)

My new video experiment, based on Michael Bay’s Transformers, for you and myself))
This short film was shot in 2 hours. Edited in month=) For shooting I used my new camera Canon 550D (+ kit lens 18-55mm + 50mm 1.8) and a little bit my friend’s camera Nikon D5000 (+ kit lens 18-55mm). Thanks for Watching.

Yes, the thumbnail did make me double take too. Don’t worry, it is about transformers.

Is that an N73? I think in reality that would wipe the floor with whatever SE that happens to be :p.

Here’s the N900 as a transformer:

The original Nokia Transformer – N93(i) and N93. They actually did transform. Closed clamshell>Flip Phone>Video Camera>Lap Top

repey815 Via Cinema5D VIAkaroliinasalmin

Video: Sony Ericsson Satio Vs Nokia N900 [Symbian Vs Maemo?]

YouTube user SpecialVideosHD has got the SE’s Satio and puts it against Nokia’s N900. Essentially, this is Symbian Vs Maemo for the OS part.

• N900 is wider, thicker. Satio is taller, slimmer.
• Whilst both having 3.5″ screens, the N900 in terms of area is bigger due to the ratio
• N900’s screen has much higher resolution (800×480 VS 640×360) – makes a huge difference when framing photos, watching videos and of course, browsing the web.
• In Browser test, the very best Symbian phone is NO competition to the N900. Over a wide array of LARGER pages, N900 will load faster, multiple pages, but best of all most accurately – near, raw desktop compatibility. I cannot stress how much of a leap forward the Mozilla based browser is on the N900 compared to what’s on Symbian handsets right now (to an extent, most other browsers on other platforms in terms of accurate rendering of pages).
• In Camera test, we’ve got to give it to the Satio. But ignore the video when it says it’s because it has more MP. Having said that, the 12MP is actually pretty decent, plus you’ve got that Xenon flash for improved photo illumination (Please let Harmattan/Maemo 6 phone have xenon!!!!!).
• Very subjective, but I much prefer Satio’s odd looking lens cover and the fact it has a dedicated button for pictures/video switching.
• In Video, the N900 is somewhat superior (though some have experienced stuttering/frame drop – could be fixed in future firmware). Overall, N900 higher resolution and MUCH better audio, Satio possibly producing smoother video.
• N900 multitasks better. What other smartphone multitasks better than the N900?
• N900 much faster
• N900 has a physical QWERTY keyboard

Pls, pls, pls let Maemo 6 have xenon flash? Or if the N82’s real successor will still have Symbian, please let us have a browser that’s as brilliantly functional as the Maemo 5 Mozilla Based MicroB.

There’s so many times when instead of taking my laptop from my room and lugging it down to the living room [to research some pages on the net for some notes], the N900 takes its place perfectly.

Video: Stephen Fry says Nokia (and Sony Ericsson) are way behind the curve

In this video interview, UK celebrity, high profile tech personality and self confessed mac evangelist, Stephen Fry talks briefly about smartphones.

Fry:

“It’s a shame for dear old Symbian which has not kept up with the times at all, and Sony Ericsson and Nokia are revealling themselves giants as they were to be so behind the curve in this department they may suffer as a result”

Interviewer: It’s a shame, I love my Nokia

Fry:

MMMM!

Interviewer: A car run over mine

Fry:

“We all owed so much to Nokia. I mean, they sort of set the standard to so much that we came to expect from…I remember when the move to GSM came, and Nokia suddenly were really innovating all the time and just proves the endless truth that you can’t sit still in this business”

I’m not sure when this video was taken, but it was at least on or before 22nd October (check out other clips in the series). Although uploaded on the 4th November, being a dated video, there’s no mention of the newer upcoming releases from Motorola (Droid/Milestone), Nokia’s Maemo 5 Mobile Computer N900, or Sony Ericsson’s new delicious android X10 which at least for Nokia and S.E. do counter Fry’s statements that they’re behind the curve.

Fry’s last take on a Nokia smartphone was on the Nokia N97, which he called a “crushing disappointment”.

As a N97 user, I know the N97 is a decent smartphone, but in reality, at the high end where it was perched and so relative to the competition, it was and now even more an embarrassment (mainly caused by stupid hardware compromises which hampered the user experience, and also the non-touch-intuitive UI that is S60 5th) .

I’d be interested in Fry’s take on the Maemo 5 powerhouse,  N900, though I don’t think he’ll be too pleased again at seeing a stylus (N900 has a very responsive resistive display, though I still cannot deny that the benefits and the slickness of a capacitive screen far out weighs any perceived “accuracy” of resistive displays)

Freeware: Mr Lock – Autolock application for the N97/N97 mini/5800/5530 and other S60 5th edition

Here’s a great, practical application for you free at the Ovi Store. Mr Lock. An autolock software with huge set of options for your S60 5th Edition phone.

Features:

• Extensive settings to customise how your phone will autolock
• Auto-starts so you don’t have to think about turning it on when you restart your phone
• Choose which profiles you want autolock active
• Choose the autolock period – from as much as 59:59 to as little as 00:03 (3 seconds)
• Best of all, choose which applications you don’t want autolock to lock your phone. You may be watching a video or waiting for a webpage to load (or whatever application will give you idle screen time). Mr lock lists every single application on your phone. Choosing an application means that autolock will be prevented when you’re in the middle of using that application.

Download it for free at the Ovi Store!

Here’s a video demo of it (probably best to mute the audio as this was done way too early in the morning)

Nokia X6 Technical Specifications (and live photos). Comes with…Capacitive!

This morning at NW09 Nokia announced several devices, two of which were new unknown handsets of a new Xseries line up. The X3 and the X6. (Not to be confused with X1/X2/X3 Xperia range from Sony Ericsson)

The more interesting of the two, the Nokia X6, is now the Music Flasgship (if there is one) and Nokia’s first phone to have a capacitive display.

It is a Comes With Music ONLY handset to make sure you take advantage of Nokia’s unlimited free download music service. What else?

• 32GB in built memory (no expansion)
• 3.2″ 16:9 640×360 capacitive display (under glass, not plastic)
• 433.9MHz Arm 11 processor
• 128MB RAM (Undisclosed how much is free to the user)
• S60 5th Edition
• 5MP camera with Dual LED Flash
• VGA video at 30FPS
• TV-OUT
• A-GPS
• the 5800 media bar “button”
• Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP
• 3.5mm jack

…and it’s 3.5G.  It also comes with 3 free N-gage games that are actually pretty good – Spore , D Mix Tour and Asphalt 4. There’s no USB charging by the looks of the AC-8 standard pin charger.

All that for 459EUR/402GBP/654USD unsubsidised although Nokia were quick to point out that the price will be FREE on selected plans – Perhaps around £35 range considering it is Comes with Music – coming Q4 2009.

Will all this be enough to follow in the 5800’s success?

The X6 is available in a white-blue or a black-red theme.  Read on below for the technical specifications and live Photos from Eldar/Stuff TV.

…from this angle the X6 sort of resembles this…

[IMAGE from a post that talked about new slim touch screens and an N810 successor.]

Back to the X6…

Here’s a demo video of the X6. Take note how lightly it’s being tapped. NW09 attendants confirm capacitive at last! Though no mention of this in the official tech-specs or any hype from Nokia even though this is a really big deal. Most likely that making a fuss of capacitive is gonna be a downer on why they’ve been using capacitive (and why the N900 has it too).

I know it should really be more on the responsiveness of the display rather than a resistive vs capacitive debate but for me, capacitive has always felt better (Hero/magic/g1/i8910/iPhone). Yes you can be more accurate with resistive, but to achieve that accuracy you need a stylus. Handwriting recognition? Except for asian markets, what’s the performance advantage over QWERTY? And the whole glove/fingernail thing. Erm. Take off your gloves or cut your nails. It’s a touch screen – just a feather light touch. Not a press-screen. One less thing for Engadget guys to knock, eh?

X6 looks somewhat thicker than it actually is – and in some angles, there’s something oddly very N95 classic about it.

Specifications

Nokia X6 Dimensions

* Form: Classic with finger-operated touch screen user interface
* Dimensions: 111.0 x 51.0 x 13.8 mm (For comparison, iPhone is 115.5×62.1×12.3mm. Smaller than the iPhone and just 1.5mm thicker)
* Weight: 122 g (iPhone 3GS at 135g)

Display

• * Size: 3.2″
• * Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels (nHD) * Up to 16.7 million colours
• * 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio

Memory

• * 32 GB internal memory (not expandable, no micro SD slot)

Power

• * BL-5J 1320 mAh Li-Ion standard battery
• Talk time (maximum):
  – GSM 8 h 30 min
  – WCDMA 6 h
• Standby time (maximum):
  – GSM 401 h
  – WCDMA 420 h
• Video playback time (maximum): H51nHD 25 fps up to 3 h 36 min
• Video recording time (maximum): 3 h 30 min
• Video call time (maximum): 3 h
• Music playback time (maximum): 35 h

Colours and covers

• * Available in-box colours:
  – White/Blue
  – Black/Red

Connectors

• * Micro USB connector for USB 2.0 High Speed to PC
• * 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector for audio and TV-out
• * Small DC jack

Local connectivity and synchronisation

• * Bluetooth version 2.0 with Enhanced Data Rate
• * MTP (Mobile Transfer Protocol) support
• * TV out (PAL)
• * Support for PC synchronisation with Nokia Ovi Suite

GPS and navigation

• * Integrated A-GPS
• * Ovi Maps 3.0

Camera

• * 5.0 megapixel AF camera (2592 x 1944 pixels)
• * Image formats: JPEG/EXIF * Carl Zeiss optics
• * 4x digital zoom
• * Autofocus
• * Dual LED flash
• * Dedicated camera key

Video

Main camera

• Video recording at up to 640 x 480 pixels and up to 30 fps (TV quality), up to 640 x 352 pixels and up to 30 fps (widescreen quality), up to 320 x 240 pixels and up to 30 fps/15 fps (email high/normal quality), up to 176 x 144 and up to 15 fps (sharing quality)

• – Up to 4x digital video zoom

Front camera

• -Video recording at up to 176 x 144 pixels, smooth up to 15 fps
• Video recording file formats: MP4, 3GP
• Audio recording formats: WAV (normal), AMR (MMS), AAC/MP4 (high quality)

Music

• * Music playback file formats: mp3, SPMidi, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA
• * Dedicated volume keys and immediate access to the Music Player from the Media Bar
• * Stereo FM radio
• * 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector

Box Contents

• Nokia X6
• Nokia Battery (BL-5J)
• Nokia High Efficiency Charger (AC-8)
• Nokia Connectivity Cable (CA-101)
• Nokia Stereo Headset (WH-500)
• User Guide
• Mini DVD
• Comes With Music leaflet

Gaming

• Included games:
• – Spore
• – D Mix Tour
• – Asphalt4

via Nokia.com

X6 Gallery with live photos by Eldar and Stuff.tv (Note, no designation here. Just 0000).

There’s also a much cheaper non-touch sleek slider S40 version, the X3 -fantastic for 115EUR/100GBP/163USD. Details here

Freeware: Digia @Web Review- the BEST web browser for Nokia N97/5800/5530/Samsung i8910, with Tabbed Browsing and optimized touch UI!

Teo of Symbian Freak has found Digia@Web – A new web browser for S60 5th edition.

We’ve got the native S60 browser, Opera Mini, and possibly Sky Fire (though that doesn’t function optimally yet), what would we need in another browser?

Well, having just installed it and played with it for a couple of hours, I have to say it’s exceedingly good. Apart from stability issues which are understandable being a new build (it is a beta version after all), @Web implements a lot of features I had wanted to see happen to the Native S60 browser.

Here’s a list of 7 reasons why I love the Digia @Web browser.

1. Loads web pages accurately and fairly quickly.

@Web works great with the keyboard (on N97, the QWERTY keyboard is the most efficient form of text input). However, it works just as good with the keyboard closed. Text entry reverts to on screen keypad (not sure if on screen QWERTY comes up for 5800 users).

Works well on either landscape or portrait, and loads at decent speeds over GSM data but noticeably much faster over WiFi.

2. Intuitive toolbars and full screen web experience.

One of my major gripes with the Native S60 browser is that when selecting the toolbar, it overstays its welcome only disappearing after an annoying predetermined amount of time.

I wanted the browser to show be the toolbar when I wanted, and disappear when I don’t want it and want to view a web page in full screen mode. Opera Mini was sort of a little bit better at that, though the latest release introduced a permanent toolbar that, although small, still eats up screen realty.

@ Web - clean full screen view. Note blue arrow at bottom centre of page

With @Web, you get a little unobtrusive blue arrow at the bottom. Touch it, and you get a whole host of options

• Back/forward
• Add Bookmark/open a bookmark
• Zoom bar
• Address bar (containing new tab bar the refresh icon which also changes to become a progress meter when loading pages

Easily accessible controls

The best thing is that it disappears the moment you touch the page. Absolutely brilliant. It’s a little thing, but just that ease between full-screen and navigating web options is a real advantage over the native S60 browser.

3. Simple easy to use settings

@Web settings

The settings is also accessed really intuitively – just press somewhere on the screen for about 2 seconds and a drop down menu appears. Like the toolbars, this also disappears the instant you touch somewhere on the screen, (disappearing automatically after a few seconds on no action)

From the drop down menu, you can:

• go to your home page
• enable private browsing
• exit browser
• access Help information
• access browser settings.

The layout of the settings is also improved, giving you access to settings you actually want to change directly under 2 main headings, and not hidden

• In browser settings you can manage your home page, java/image/flash/cookie settings.
• Under privacy you can clear your history/bookmarks/cache.

4. Kinetic Scrolling and tap zooming.

Double tap to zoom in, double tap to zoom back out

Just like the S60 browser, two features I really miss when using Opera Mini.

5. Supports Multiple Window/Tabbed Browsing!

Holy Crap, Finally! Browsing firefox on the desktop, I’ve got too many tabs open to count.

When I’m reading an article/story and find something interesting to read up further on that page, e.g. theory x, I want to be able to search theory x whilst perhaps occasionally flipping back to the original article. That’s just one reason for tabbed browsing which neither S60 browser nor Opera can natively manage.

I’ve only been able to manage multiple web browsing by launching the web browser from another app via a link, or using Opera along with S60 browser. It’s not easiest of solutions.

Digia @Web brings a new experience in giving users up to 4 tabs to browse in. Each one is independent of one another, if you’ve zoomed in on one tab or are in the middle of writing a new web address, all other tabs are unaffected. Great.

Even better is how easy it is how to use and switch between tabs. Left of the address bar is a new tab icon. When you press that, you open a blank new window. Another layer appears underneath the address bar containing a miniature compressed window of what’s currently in that tab. No names or web urls, but the image of what EXACTLY that tab looks like, making it really easy to know precisely which tab is which.

6. Has flash!

flash video on mobile version of youtube

Loads flash content. m.youtube.com flash videos work very nicely, (though main desktop site much slower). Flash content on other sites also load – though this is not that big of a plus for me.

tapping makes the player go into full screen

7. Moves forward and back really fast.

In S60 browser, whenever I want to go back a page, I get the ‘carousel’ view of pages I’ve previously viewed, requiring another tap to select that page. S60 browser then proceeds to reload that page completely. This is one of the annoyances that pushes me to Opera Mini.

Opera Mini is much better. Press delete button (or back in the toolbar) and the page swipes back without reloading the page. Moving forward required rooting through the menu though.

Digia @Web has dedicated icons for moving forward and back (no keyboard shortcut). But it’s pretty quick to move back and forth between pages too.

Dislikes:

There isn’t much really. The only main issue is stability. If only that were fixed and no more features were added to this browser (not even better flash support) I would be extremely content with having this as my main mobile browser.

1. A tad unstable – tends to freeze or shut down if doing something too resource intensive. Doesn’t work too well in multitasking with other apps. Though this isn’t something S60 browser nor Opera escapes from either.
2. Crashes all the time when loading mail.google.com – though I’ve never had to use that as Nokia Messaging provides me with my gmail emails.
3. Can’t seem to load the real player from the browser – not too much of an issue.
4. Zoom bar doesn’t actually work.

Conclusion

I would really recommend trying the Digia @Web Browser out (stability issues an all – hopefully we’ll see fixes soon). I used to switch between Opera Mini and S60 web browser: Opera for speedy browsing, and S60’s native browser to make sure certain web pages load as closely to the desktop equivalent as possible. Now I really don’t need to. It’s got the standard webkit base as the backbone, so loads pages like the native browser [I was way too hasty with the praise,mostly overwhelmed with the feature list – @Web fails to load certain sites which native S60 browser has no problem rendering,] but a lot of extra meaty functions that make it so much more useful than both Opera and native browser combined [on paper anyway].

• pretty quick
• Intuitive controls – quick hide of toolbars
• tabbed/multiple window browsing
• kinetic scrolling/tap zooming
• quick back/forward navigation
• loads flash

Everything the native S60 web browser should have been, but now realised through the Digia team.

[edit – as llaadd puts it -, “looks like a browser with great potential“]

TIP:

Turning Javascript off improves the stability of the browser, increasing the likelihood that the browser will not freeze on a webpage. e.g. news.google.com/digg.com would freeze with Javascript on.

>>DOWNLOAD IT<<

Digia Via Symbian-Freak

Video: 10 minute hands on with the Sony Ericsson Satio

Generation The Phone House, has a 10 minute video looking at the Sony Ericsson Satio – one of the three major S60 5th Edition handsets of 2009, competing with Samsungs i8910 and Nokia’s N97.

It’s interesting to note the differences both Samsung and Sony Ericsson have done to, perhaps, improving the S60 interface – e.g. look at the Satio’s media player.

I’ve ranted about the Satio/Nokia thing before >>here<< so I won’t go over it again, except for stating my love for the imaging prowess of the Satio.

1. Xenon.
   
2. Camera/Video switch.
3. Media button (unbelievably convenient, why Nokia took it out from the N97, I don’t know.)
4. 16:9 photos. Takes advantage of the screen ratio, looks good on the phone, also fits most modern computer screens better (not sure if it does 16:9 video as an option, you see 4:3 though in the video)

The MP count, I actually would not have minded if it was 5 or 8, so having 12MP is rather a bonus. We’ve seen in samples it performs quite well, getting a lot more detail than the growing standard of 8MP. When you’d need that extra detail for a point and shoot maybe a rare occasion, but it’s nice to have the option.

From Generation The Phone House via blog.se-nse.net/

Video: Hands on with the Sony Ericsson Satio

If we were to somehow rewind one year, and I was asked to think about

“what features I would have liked to have seen in a phone that would be sufficient enough to replace the imaging capabilities of the N82 entirely?”

• Symbian S60 Touch
• large high resolution screen
• great camera
• xenon (true) flash
• dedicated camera/video switch
• media button

–  I would not have expected that the world would see that all coming first from Sony Ericsson.

via JUSTAMP

It’s annoying because it’s not like Nokia weren’t aware people want these kinds of features. They’ve been harped on constantly, by several other consumers who voice their opinion online in their blogs or forums.

I won’t start on another xenon rant. But I will begin one about a dedicated video/camera (stills) switch/button.

It is not hard, Nokia.

You did it way back in the N93/N93i.

You made so many great steps in terms of ease with imaging (it’s just a shame that the N93 stills was absolutely pants) – dedicated flash/video light button, dedicated video/camera button and 3x optical zoom!

But we never saw this again- not even in the damn camera orientated N86! (Having said that, the N86 does have a lot of improvements to imaging which seem to be silent as they all result in improving image quality – e.g.  wide angle, improved latency, large aperture, better sensor in general so it’s really not all about more megapixels but being more efficient with the pixels you already have)

Perhaps I just need to tame my geekly cravings of the ultimate all in one and realise, the world just isn’t ready yet for such powerful convergence devices, in this case, here with imaging capabilities so great it could rival the humble point and shoot cameras.

But then, we see the likes of Sony Ericsson with the Satio which reawakens my high expectations from mobile phones. Soon imaging we’ll see another forceful phone, the Samsung m8920 – a very capable feature phone that trumps the Satio slightly with 3x optical zoom but in a possibly slimmer, better looking body than it’s previous incarnation (the “fat” G800).

So where is Nokia’s answer to these phones? Maybe there won’t be one.

Does Nokia have too much on their plate at the moment trying to sort out Symbian and fight iPhone in the software war to have any time on being at the forefront of hardware?

At the moment, it’s like Nokia’s in a confused state. Stuck in middle ground where they just aren’t particularly excelling in anything – not in software, not in hardware. Just a good, decent middle ground of slight mediocrity.

6 Page Preview of the Sony Ericsson Satio (Idou)

When the N97 was launched, the 3.5″ 16:9 touchscreen, with S60 5th Edition were two features that I thought would remain unique to Nokia for a little while. I was certain it would be my next phone.

But so soon, we saw the Omnia HD (now i8910) from Samsung packing a bigger 3.7″ 16:9 AMOLED touchscreen, S60 5th edition with 720p HD video recording.

To make decision making worse, Sony Ericsson then informed us of the Idou (now Satio) with 3.5″ 16:9 TFT touchscreen, with Symbian Foundation (basically S60 5th edition) and 12MP with XENON flash.

Here’s GSM Arena’s preview of the Sony Ericsson Satio – (some key points below)

• Made entirely of plastic, but very high quality
• Screen has stunning picture quality and contrast (for a TFT)
• NO 3.5mm jack
• 1000mAh battery
• S60 5th Edtition UI with Sony Ericsson Tweaks

• Under the “stylish” lens cover are 12MP goodness with Xenon flash for stills and LED for video – Camera is nothing short of impressive

• You can capture photos in 16:9 (at 9MP)
• “Better” than the Samsung INNOV8 (though marginally) – there’s only two pairs of comparison shots though to judge it myself.
• VGA video is “Splendid” even though their test version could not handle the 30FPS frame rate. Not sure if it reords in 16:9 though.
• Improved browser in comparison to the 5800

Availability is around October 09.

Via GSM Arena

___________

For me, my only two options would really be down to the Satio or N97.

• Satio purely for the Xenon – it meets my low light photography needs – the only phone out of the three that could force my N82 into retirement – also the additional 7megapixels don’t hurt – definitely more useful when copying out chapters of a text book for Uni  (quicker than scanning – cheaper than photocopying)
• N97 for the form factor – I love the “flick” sliding screen that reveals that QWERTY keyboard, which for me, is preferable when entering text. There’s also that 32GB in built memory so it can immediately hold a  significant proportion of my music library with space for several movies to spare – and it’s further expandable with memory card. Finally the “homescreen” experience – I didn’t think much of this the first time I saw it, but now I see it has a lot of potential and usability.

Hello Satio! Idou released as Sony Ericsson Satio

3.5″ Screen, Symbian Foundation, 12MP with Xenon flash – a combination you’d expect from Nseries devices, yet this is being brought to us by Sony Ericsson. Known by many as the Idou, Sony Ericsson now officially launches ther flagship device as the Satio.

Expected in Q4, this multimedia marvel is a worthy rival to both Samsung’s i8910 Omnia HD and of course, Nokia’s N97.

Which phone is best, depends on what’s best for you, i.e. what fits your needs. I’m pretty smitten with the form factor/keyboard of the N97 and plan to do a lot of mobile blogging when I get that device.

Why not get a device that’s more QWERTY based then? e.g. HTC Touch Pro2. Well I also want the balance of multimedia features which those lack – whereas, although dated, you get a decent 5MP camera and widescreen VGA video recording, 32GB on board memory and widgets.

I’ve mentioned this a million times, but had the N97 been endowed with Xenon, that would have given it more flexibility as an imaging device. After all, megapixels isn’t everything; it’s how effectively you use those pixels.

via mobile gazette