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/

Nokia Announces FULL Nokia Maps for free!

*Updated: Free Navigation is NOT available for all S60 3rd edition phones. See below



That's nice for people who love using Nokia Maps. What's included free is:

• Turn by Turn Navigation
• City guides (like from Michelin)
• Safety camera and Speed warnings
• Traffic information (if available)
• Premium services such as Weather information and event guides

Here's the caveat, the free navigation version of Ovi Maps isn't available for older phones, only current and future phones (S60 3rd FP2/FP5). Here's a list of currently supported phones:

• X6
• N97 mini
• E52
• E55
• E72
• 6730 classic
• 6710
• 5800
• 5230

Source: Nokia

Now, I'm finally upgrading my Nokia Maps. Balls on your court now, Google.

Nokia N86 8MP Review

Announced early 2009 and released in mid-2009, the Nokia N86 8MP is Nokia's first 8 Megapixel camera phone and ideal for consumers who want to leave their cameras at home. The photos captured look amazingly vibrant on the 2.6 inch OLED screen. As with all Nokia highend Nseries smartphones, the N86 packs an integrated GPS, 802.11g/b WiFi, TV out, and FM transmitter all in a dual slider format.

Thanks to WOM World for supplying me the N86-1 8MP for this review.

Smartphone of the Year - 2009 Edition

Over 6 major smartphone operating systems in the market, an app store from all the major players, and at least 2 networks crippled by data usage, this was the year of the smartphone.  With over 41 million smartphone devices shipped in the 3rd quarter of 2009, an increase of almost 2 million compared to the year before, smartphones are becoming the defacto high-end phone for most consumers.  They pack numerous features that were once standalone devices like 5MP cameras and satellite-based GPS, smartphones have become the ultimate all-in-one device.

Best Smartphones by Operating System
All the major operating systems (OS) received a healthy number of devices for 2009. Choosing a winner for each operating system was generally easy since each operating system had only one or two primary manufacturers.  Each manufacturer broke down each phone to a target market.  I looked at the highend because those are the phones with everything feature people want and least niche targeted.

Apple OSX - Apple iPhone 3GS
Google Android - Motorola Droid
Palm WebOS - Palm Pre
RIM Blackberry - BlackBerry 9700
S60 3rd edition - Nokia N86 8GB
S60 5th edition - Nokia N97 mini
Windows Mobile - HTC HD2

Best Smartphones by Form Factor
With very few smartphones being delivered in the bar, rotate, or flip format, it was easy to pick a winner for those categories.  A majority of manufacturers focussed on the QWERTY bar, slider (QWERTY), and touchscreen form factors so it was very difficult to pick a clear winner in each.

Bar - Nokia N82
Flip - Motorola MING A1800
QWERTY bar - RIM Blackberry 9700
Rotate - Nokia Twist 7705
Slider (number pad) - Nokia N86 8GB
Slider (QWERTY) - Nokia N900
Touchscreen - Apple iPhone 3GS

The Nokia N82 still stands ontop of the bar phones with its venerable TI OMAP 2420 platform packing hardware graphics acceleration, a rarity during its release. I don't recall anyone releasing a flip smartphone this year but the Motorola MING A1800 with its, UNIX based mixed with Java, JUIX OS remains an interesting phone that is sadly not available outside Asia. There was only 1 rotate smartphone released this year. The Blackbery 9700 won the QWERTY bar factor with its ease to use UI, trend setting optical navigation, and comfortable keyboard.  The Motorola Droid doesn't even come close with its often criticized keyboard.  The iPhone wins the touchscreen category, as most should expect, because of its intuitive responsive touchscreen and user interface (UI).

Best Smartphone by Function
As most reviewers say, there's no clear smartphone that will fit everyone's needs.  Otherwise we'd all be uing the same phone.  And some consumers make their smartphone buying decision based on their primary need so here are my top choices for the different smartphone categories:

Camera - Nokia N86 8MP
E-mail - BlackBerry Bold 9700
Tweaking/Modding - Nokia N900
Games - Apple iPhone 3GS
Making Calls - Nokia E52
Movies - Nokia N900
Navigation - Nokia N95 8GB with Garmin XT
Productivity - Nokia E72
Social Networking - Apple iPhone 3GS
Web Browsing - Nokia N900

Nokia's high end camera phones have traditionally captured some of the best photos and the N86 8MP is no exception.  It doesn't hurt to also win the Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) award for mobile imagery in 2009.
If you want no hassle e-mail, you go with Blackberry and their top of the line device is the 9700. The ergonomic keyboards have become a trademark of a Blackberry device.  Unfortunately a string of e-mail outages may strip them of this award.
The Nokia N900 runs a Linux based OS called Maemo allowing its users root access to the device.  Nokia even hosted a hacking contest called PUSH.
Even Nintendo feels threatened by the iPhone.  With the addition of hardware graphics acceleration and a very popular AppStore, the iPhone 3GS is positioned to take handheld gaming far beyond anything before.
As silly as it may sound, the E52 wins here.  Let's be honest, the number pad beats the touchscreen, it's not fun dialling on the chicklet-sized QWERTY keys, and reception isn't a strong point of HTC or Apple.
With a 3.5 inch touchscreen at 800x480 pixel, giving it a higher pixel density than both the 3GS and HD2, the N900 supports various codecs & players and TV out for an enjoyable movie experience.
The integrated GPS on the N95 is far more sensitive than most current phones.  With Garmin XT, th N95 becomes a very competent navigational tool.
Every social networking tool has an iPhone app and there are many apps that combine social networking features.  If you find it on another phone operating system, you'll find it on the iPhone.
Flash support, a large touch screen, and a Mozillla powered browser, the N900 delivers the best Interne experience on a phone.

Find out the best overall smartphone after the jump.

Overall Best Smartphone for 2009
The best smartphone is one that sets the standards for the rest to follow or beat and potentially changes how the smartphone game is played.  2009 had far more smartphones released and more operating systems in the marke than any previous year making it one of the most difficult to pick the best smartphone.  But after a few hours talking it over with some fellow phone enthusiasts, I came up with my pick for 2009.

Runner up

Nokia N900

Running the Maemo 5 operating system, based on Linux (Debian distribution), Nokia has created the ultimate device for the technophile.  And it doesn't hurt that Nokia included so many hardware features for its users to tinker with.  Think of it as Nokia's version of Lego Mindstorm.  They've even hosted a hacking contest with the N900 called PUSH.  But even if you aren't the kind to tinker with your phone, Maemo provides a cohesive mature UI, a good number of applications like Open Office and a Mozilla-powered browser, quality camera, wealth of connectivity choices, and powerful multitasking capabilities.  The N900 is literally desktop Linux in your hands.

Winner

Apple iPhone 3GS

The iPhone set the standard for what is expected from a touchscreen UI and continues to set the bar which every touchscreen phone will be compared to.  It prompted Windows Mobile to increase the size of their buttons and forced Nokia S60 5th edition to add kinetic scrolling.  It was the first phone released to the general public with the new ARM Cortex A8 CPU giving users immense computing power on the go.  Games released for the 3GS were hardware accelerated 3D - it's what Nokia Ngage should've been.  The iPhone 3GS sets new standards for performance and ease of use while everyone is still trying to catch up with its predecessor.

If you don't agree with any of my choices, feel free to leave a comment on what smartphone you would choose and your reasoning.  Perhaps I'll change my decision.