The Nokia N8: Day 2

Last night I popped the SIM card out of my trusty Nokia N900 and stuck it into the N8. Different than most Nokia phones, the SIM card slot is at the side of the N8. Before you stick your SIM card in, be sure to read the manual first (you do read manuals, right?). When you do insert the SIM card into the slot, make sure the gold contacts are facting downwards towards the back of the phone with the diagonal edge going in first. I didn't hear a click like the manual says so my SIM card is stuck inside. I'm going to need tweezers to pull it out. I really hate this SIM card design. Although you can access the SIM card without removing the battery, you cannot hotswap a SIM card - so when you pop out a SIM card, you can't go online until you restart the phone.

Now, I need to get my contacts onto the phone. If your old device is a Nokia, you can use the N8 to automatically pull contacts, notes, and calendar entries from it. First turn on Bluetooth on your old phone then, on your N8, go to Settings > Connectivity > Data Transfer > Phone switch. Really straightforward and now I'm ready to go out with my N8.

I'm not one to walk around the pond but I figure it was a good opportunity to test the N8 in outdoor photography (all untouched photos):



I also took some indoor photos:



Not bad. As you know, the N8 doesn't include a mechanical cover like the N82 or N900 so there's nothing you can slide to get quick access to the camera. If you like mechanical covers, I'm with you on that. But, sliding the unlock key, holding the camera key to pull up the camera app, auto locking, and taking a photo actually takes less time than the N82 to do the same with a mechanical cover. And it's because the autofocus and photo capture is light years ahead of the N82 and significantly improved over the N900 as well. Plus, if you're expecting to take a lot of photos soon and just need to save battery between shots, I'd recommend just keeping the camera application open and just lock the phone - locking the phone will close the camera shutter.

A major improvement that sets the N8 camera apart from other camera phones is the camera locking to the exposure at focus lock. This allows better control of the exposure just like a real point and shoot camera.

The camera application is similar to previous S60 5th edition camera applications like the one found on the N97. It gives you control over white balance, exposure, ISO, contrast, and sharpness. But for users from Blackberry or iPhone, there's a simple camera icon in the center that automatically focusses on what's in the center and takes a photo.

By default the camera is set to take wide photos at 9MP so go to Options > Settings > Image quality to get the maximum quality photos at 12MP.

I also took a HD video:


It's even better than the videos I take with my Canon SD850i. An added bonus is the stereo microphone.

Overall a good day with the camera... I mean N8 smartphone.

The Nokia N8: Day 1

I just got the Nokia N8 in the mail today. Now this blue box is sitting on my desk just waiting to be opened.


The Nokia N8 box is thinner than previous Nokia phone boxes. It's about 2/3rds the thickness of the N900 box

Similar to you, I've read a fair share of articles and blog posts about the Nokia N8, Nokia's upcoming flagship smartphone. With a long list of features such as the Xenon flash (which hasn't been seen on a Nokia since the Nokia N82 and Nokia 6220 Classic), HDMI output, and Dolby Digital output, who could not be excited in such a super phone? Not me for sure. So now it's in front of me, what do I do?

Obviously, open it!

This is such a tease. Show me the phone already!

Here lies the Nokia N8


It's longer than the N900 so at first glance it looked big. Stacking my E71 on top of the N8 shows that the dimensions are almost the same.

Picking up the N8, it felt light. It's lighter than my N900 but a long shot and it's a tad lighter than my E71. But it felt really solid - really hard aluminum and no creaks to mention.

In my hands, the N8 feels really thin compared to what I'm used to


For a few seconds, I looked in the package for the battery to insert but quickly remembered that the N8 battery is built-in, can't be removed, and doesn't need me to put it in. So I power it on and feel that little vibration to let me know that I've turned it on.

Once the screen was lit, my first impression was: This screen is so small. Maybe I was used to the N900. Maybe it was too many hours of Solitaire on my iPad. But my E71 screen was smaller. With my finger on the screen too, it didn't feel like there was much room for anything else on the screen. It was an odd feeling that I never got when I first turned on the N97 or N900. Maybe it was the surrounding black bezel that makes it feel smaller than it really is.

Just like any Nokia recent Nokia device, I'm welcomed to my phone with setting up the date followed by the phone wizard to guide me through setting up the device - as most power users would, I chose to skip it.

Up comes the familiar Symbian^3 / S60 5th edition homescreen of clock/date/profile and 5 customizable widget areas. The main selling point of the N8 is the much hyped 12MP so I click and hold the camera button to pull up the camera application. The camera application looks just like the N97's camera application, which isn't a bad thing. It just needs a little too many clicks to get into Scene mode. Since I was just testing around I snap a few photos with just auto (click for full image):

I wasn't amazed by the results like I did when I first got my SE W810i. I was taking the photos a dimly lit interior so I figure I had shaky hands.

I had to run to dinner with friends so I left the N8 and stuck to my N900:

FCamera N900 Review

FCamera is an advanced camera application for the N900. It is based on the highly touted FCam (short for Frankencamera) photography platform develped in collaboration between Nokia, Stanford, and other partners. Is it good enough to be worth replacing the built-in camera application?


Updated 8/19/2010 with comments from FCamera 0.1.6
Originally posted on 7/23/2010

Nokia N8: This is the Phone to Wait for

The unthinkable has happened. The phone that I have long praised as having the best camera/flash combination and internal GPS has broke on me. I will have to find a replacement for my Nokia N82. But what exactly is for me? Perhaps you still hold a Nokia N82 and you're thinking the same as me. Well come along the ride as I step through what kind of mobile phone is designed for us.

Nokia N900 Review - Hardware

After experimenting with touch-based tablets since 2006, Nokia finally merges cellphone capabilities with their tablets to create the N900. Not to be outdone by other manufacturers, Nokia also includes common Nseries features like 5MP camera, wifi, and integrated GPS with the N900.


I've had the N900 for over 3 months now and I want to share with you my experiences with it. I wanted to make this one big review but there was just too much to talk about the N900 that I'm breaking it out over 2 posts: Hardware and Software.

More after the jump!

Niko the Robot

I've been away from the blogging scene for a few weeks to work on the Niko the robot. It's almost time to put him live on Twitter so if you're on Twitter, you can change your status to @N900Niko followed by one of the following commands:

move forward
move backward
turn right
turn left
turn around
photo

Here's an example Twitter command to Niko:

@N900Niko move forward

This little robot will perform your command and send you back a reply with a photo from his camera:


Niko has been featured on numerous blogs!
Engadget
Gizmodo
MAKE
SlashGear
Jim Baker's Ephemera

PUSH N900 - MOD in the USA Finalists

Nokia's PUSH N900 MOD in the USA competition has just announced their 3 teams of finalists who will get the opportunity to bring their creation to life.

Niko the Robot – Niko the Robot pairs the Nokia N900 with Lego NXT building kit to create a robot that utilizes the Nokia N900 as its ‘brain.’ It will understand commands sent via Twitter to a specific handle, send feedback about the area around it as well as post pictures from the Nokia N900’s camera.

Pit Crew – This mod sets up the Nokia N900 to be the brains behind a slot car in order to compete against human competitors. Using Python code and algorithms, the Pit Crew thinks they can have a Nokia N900-controlled car beat a man-controlled car. Do you?

BrettSarahTops– This set up utilizes several different features of the Nokia N900. From the GPS to the camera, the BrettSarahTops team think they can turn the Nokia N900 into a car-like dashboard. Showing a speedometer, odometer, geocaching your route and even providing a car horn – this app might have it all!

Niko was my idea! So look for updated on the progress of Niko at http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/usa/.

Each team will need to start building quality because the CTIA in Las Vegas is just a month away. Good luck to the teams and congratulations!

Source: http://blogs.nokia.com/pushn900/usa/2010/02/and-the-mod-in-the-usa-finalists-are/