Part One: Primary, Secondary, Belle?

I have always wondered what Nokia meant when they said that they were adopting Windows Phone as their “primary smartphone platform”. Why “primary” if there is no secondary? Right?

Also, why have they gone through the trouble of renaming “Symbian” to “Nokia Belle” if this is the end of the road?

Are you following my drift? I have consistently suspected that Windows Phone will not be the only platform that Nokia would push in the market. The legacy of Symbian is too big, too strong, and too useful to be thrown away completely.

Okay, so Nokia has killed Symbian. Symbian is dead; long live Nokia Belle OS.

Part Two: Belle, Carla, Donna?

Before Symbian was killed, Belle, Carla and Donna were just names for subsequent versions of Symbian. However, note the radical shift since Symbian was killed. Now, Belle is the OS, and there are no more official references to Carla and Donna. Instead we hear of “Nokia Belle Feature Pack 1″, which is what Carla used to be (see Nokia Belle FP1 is Carla).

Are you following me? Nokia dropped the “Carla” moniker and replaced that with FP1. I bet that instead of Donna, we will hear of FP2.

Symbian OS is dead. Long live Nokia Belle!

PS: Nokia 808 PureView runs Belle FP1 (Carla)

Part Three: My OS Looks Better Than Yours?

My article on the brilliance of what Nokia has done with the 808 PureView, the new Nokia Belle flagship, has expectedly generated a lot of buzz. As usual, a comparison of different platforms showed up, with the respective chief whips of Android and Symbian (that dead platform) showing up to pitch for their camps.

I am going to build this argument around a statement made by the chief whip for Android:

The simple fact is that Belle only looks so good when compared with previous Symbian versions not against Android or iOS.

Do you know what is wrong with this statement? It is the pre-supposition that one OS looking better than another invalidates that other. In other words, the idea that Android looks better than Belle makes Belle redundant.

Of course, it doesn’t take much to see that such an idea is preposterous. It is plain silly and flies in the face of reason.

Different car brands look better or worse from one another, yet they all sell. Same for TV sets, clothes lines, and wrist watches. Heck, even ladies have different levels of beauty, yet have their fair share of male suitors. See the point? They sell to varying degrees. But they sell.

Plus, if we follow that line, Android is a rather poor copy of iOS, UI-wise. Odd, but Android sells anyway. See why Nokia Belle continues to sell, even after its precursor, Symbian has been killed by the American tech press and by Nokia’s CEO?

Fact: Nokia Belle is good enough for many people. As a matter of fact, it meets the needs of some people better than either iOS or Android could ever hope to do.

A friend who wants a new phone spoke with me yesterday. I made a number of recommendations, which she turned down. She wanted the Nokia 500, a Belle smartphone. She had her mind made up. Nokia smartphones did it for her and she was getting that particular model. She had also had the chance to use one for a few hours and was in love with it.

Smell The Coffee!

Now, y’all that keep speaking of the Symbian ecosystem, please note the difference: there is Symbian, the platform that is being killed. And then there is Belle, the resurrection and the life (I know that sounds blasphemous; sue me).

Get it? Nokia won’t admit it. But here is the best kept secret of the mobile industry, and its coming from me: Nokia has re-invented the most popular and most successful smartphone OS ever. Nokia Belle may never rule the smartphone landscape like its precursor, Symbian, did. But, who cares?

The important thing is this: Symbian OS is dead. Long live Belle!

I disliked Blackberry smartphones for both objective and subjective reasons. So it may be viewed as hypocritical that I still went ahead to get one for myself, albeit the entry level 8520.

While I find the Blackberry largely uninteresting in design and features, its capabilities as an email device of choice is largely indisputable and unrivaled. Its encrypted push email also keep it at the top of the game for corporate users. Well, I guess this is expected for a company that has been in the messaging business for almost 25 years.

Email accounts that use the push method for message retrieval enable you to have email messages delivered directly to you as soon as the message is received by your email provider instead of checking periodically or manually for new messages.

The BlackBerry listens for new information and notifies the user when it arrives. The BlackBerry does not poll the server to look for updates. It simply waits for the update to arrive and notifies the user when it does. With e-mail, a copy of each message also goes to the user’s inbox on the computer, but the e-mail client can mark the message as read once the user reads it on the BlackBerry.

The ease of use and the relative affordability of maintaining (not acquiring) make the option of carrying a Blackberry alongside my Android mobile of choice a necessity. Many others share the same opinion too. And this is probably the reason why RIM’s recent free-fall as the mobile device of choice has not hit the dirt yet.

Thanks to the data efficiency of the Blackberry OS, the device has also become very popular among the mobile networks too. With as little as N1400 per month for the single email BIS variant, you have almost unrestricted use of your email and allied services for a month.

Alternatives To BlackBerry Email?

On the other hand, if you have a fanatical dislike for the Blackberry, like I did before economic reasons made me have a change of heart, and would rather stick to your device of choice, alternatives abound.

Microsoft Exchange email is probably the best known and most widely used email platform in the world and has push email capabilities. In fact, the Blackberry platform rides on it. On iOS and Android devices, push email is supported for the following email account types; Microsoft Exchange, Gmail and Yahoo! Other email accounts such as POP, IMAP or AOL accounts do not support push message retrieval but can instead be setup to fetch mail at specified intervals or manually when the Mail application is opened.

Google email, Gmail, is compatible with Microsoft Exchange using Google sync. Once you have an existing data plan on your Smartphone, you can easily configure this on your mobile. And for those with personal domain names, you can easily change the MX records of your domain name and jump on board Google Apps email and enjoy, probably, better featured email services than you will get on your blackberry.

However, one major limitation is that a lot of mobiles only allow one Microsoft exchange account to be configured. Lately, however, devices based on Android and iOS allow almost limitless exchange accounts, a plus over Blackberry’s 10 email account limit. They even go further by allowing you to add Yahoo accounts freely without a need for the $20 Yahoo premium upgrade.

Another downside is that the amount you would be paying for data allocation to power this email service on a non-Blackberry device is substantially more.

Some people swear that the push email offering from Blackberry is significantly better than that on any other platform. I tend to agree. On closer look, this difference may be attributed to the different methods in which push email operate on different platforms;

Push Email On Blackberry

When you have a new email, RIM sends a notification to your device over the phone network, in much the same way as an SMS text. This tells your phone that a new email is available and that it should connect to the server and download it.

On iOS

Either your phone is set to connect to the server at a predetermined interval (every 15mins, 30 mins, 1hr etc), or it’s set to maintain a constant connection to the server in order to receive emails in real time.

Both methods are fundamentally different and the advantage of the Blackberry method is that it saves a considerable amount of power. In contrast, the iOS method is somewhat of a battery drain. If Apple truly wants to compete with RIM in the email stakes, it should perhaps consider offering true push notifications like RIM, in conjunction with the phone networks.

How long Blackberry would continue to stay relevant with this advantage is any body’s guess but I doubt if it will be for long. In the meantime, all hail the current king of mobile email!

Box, an online storage service, is offering 50GB worth of online storage to Android users. They offer a service similar to all the popular cloud storage servers like Dropbox, and iCloud.

To be able to get your 50GB, all you need do is go to Android market and install Box. After you login or register, you are automatically given 50GB which I think is very cool.

This offer ends in the next 30 days, so if you own an Android phone or tablet, head on over to the Android market and download BOX

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 costs around N90,000. The Galaxy 10.1 costs a little bit more at just below N100,000.

The smaller Galaxy Note, however, costs around N125,000 at last count.

I am wondering why the heftier price tag on the Note. Does it cost that much because it is newer in the market, or is there some other reason? Anyone?

I have followed with keen interest the ongoing debate about the data guzzling capabilities, or otherwise, of the android OS platform. Expectedly, most of the arguments made in favour of the IOS or Android platforms have been mainly subjective. An objective analysis of this subject, admittedly, is quite difficult.

CNET summarizes this adequately; “It is a question that’s on the minds of plenty of tech-obsessed folks. But it’s one that’s very hard to answer–especially if you’re trying to be objective rather than grasping for evidence that conveniently supports the mobile operating system you happen to be rooting for.” However, a quick research on the Internet brought up some very interesting facts.

Before we proceed, I would make one fact very clear; No matter what platform you choose, smartphone users are consuming more and more data, and there is no sign of that trend stopping. Smartphones will continue to use a lot of data, it’s a fact of life.

However, the general consensus so far is that the Blackberry is probably (one of) the most data friendly platform out there. Beginning with the first devices RIM produced, data compression was part of the design. Called DataSmart Technology, it works a lot like zipping large files on your computer. When you use data on a BlackBerry smartphone, it’s almost as if the data is zipped up before it’s sent or received so it is smaller.

On the flip side, whether the quality of their devices compare favourably with devices in the same class that are based on Android and iOS platforms or their relatively high price tag is a subject of discourse for another day.

That said, so how do Android and iOS compare in terms of data consumption?

Analyzing the underlying differences between Apple’s iOS and Android would give us a better understanding of how their apps’ data consumption model work. The Onavo website captured this adequately:

Each OS was designed and implemented in light of a unique product philosophy, affecting both the user and the developer experience.

iOS: Apple iOS adopted the user-driven data consumption model, which means that at any given time, mobile data is only used (with very few exceptions) by the app you, the user, are actually looking at.

Android: With Android, a more app-driven data consumption model has evolved, meaning that mobile data is (primarily) used whenever apps choose to use it.

There are several reasons why those models are different, here are three:

OS design
The Android OS design makes it far easier for an app to run in the background, giving the opportunity for such an app to use available system resources at any given time, specifically – mobile data. With Apple’s iOS, apps have a much more limited lifecycle and running scope, enabling them to consume data primarily when the user is actually using them. For example: on Android, an app you installed but never use can be eating up your data plan.

“Adult supervision”
In Android, there are no guarantees that an app available on the Market behaves itself, data-wise or at all. This is because there is no review process for Android apps pre-market upload. iOS apps go through a (somewhat) thorough review prior to being uploaded to the App Store, a process which weeds out some irresponsible behavior on their part, including data usage related issues.

Centralized Notification Service
iOS features APNS – Apple Push Notification Service. This allows developers to implement notifications for their apps using a centralized, relatively data-light infrastructure that aggregates multiple apps’ messages, thereby consuming less data. Android does not have an equivalent service (at least not yet), pushing developers to implement such a service for themselves. This often results in repeated network operations which can get data-heavy.

So what does this all mean? Well, if you’re an Android user, it means that there might be a lot more going on on your smartphone than you think: substantial amounts of mobile data are consumed in the background – by apps you didn’t even know were running.

Other secondary factors that may contribute to the data consumption rate of Android, which gives the iOS its advantage:

• Apple requires apps that are bigger than 20 MB to be downloaded over Wi-Fi rather than on a 3G connection.
• It also does its software updates over a wired connection via iTunes, while Android users get their updates wirelessly. Those updates are more limited in their impact since they’re not frequent, but it does show that Android can natively route more traffic via cellular networks than iOS.
• Android also has a higher percentage of free apps compared to iOS, and it’s likely the free apps monetize more through ads, which have to communicate frequently with ad servers.
• Another consideration is Android’s better multitasking and differing user interface that allows so much to stay active even though in the background.

Conclusion
It would be nice if Apple allowed its users to see an overview of data consumption on a per-app or activity basis and set data thresholds. While iOS lets you check cellular usage in Settings > General > Usage > Cellular Usage, this is a far cry from understanding your data usage and having the controls to better manage it like it is being done on Android.

Also, there have been a lot of mixed feelings about iOS 5 with the high data usage of some of its apps, in particular that of Siri, iCloud, iMessage and Location Services.

Lastly, to a large extent, data consumption rate on any platform is still a lot dependent on individual users and the choice of apps they play with, and not just a blanket summation of the superiority of data management on any OS platform.

The debate about what smartphone OS is the best has been an ongoing and heated one. Is there a general best smartphone OS?

I don’t know if I am alone on this, but picking a single mobile device that suits my needs and meet my budget can be a very challenging task. I have moved from one mobile phone to the other in search of the smartphone that will meet my need just because I do not want to carry more than a single device.

How Did I Get Here?

Before I get into the meat of this article, permit me share a vital point with you.

I have however noticed how some people push for a particular device (or operating system) recommending it to others without first finding out what the unique needs of those people are. I think this is shortsightedness.

To make it clear, you may want to read this piece by Rita. She wrote about her unique needs as someone who resides in Lebanon.

She had once stayed in Paris where she enjoyed high-speed internet, both on wi-fi and on mobile internet (unlimited data). On moving back to Lebanon, she had to stay within a 150mb to 200mb internet data window per month.

200mb per month!? I don’t know how I can use 200mb in a month on my former Samsung Galaxy S2. Yes, former. You see, I have traded my Samsung Galaxy S2 for a Nokia N8. All these adventures of mine have given me a broad perspective about my needs and how different mobile phones can meet them.

Before you blindly go ahead and pick an Android, iPhone or a Windows Phone, please hear me out. You need to weigh your needs and pick your device based on accurate information available.

Why did I switch to the Nokia N8?

These are MY OWN reasons. Note: I am not trying to say that the Nokia N8 is the best phone for everyone. I am sharing from the perspective of MY needs. Those who share my views and have similar needs with me can then hop on a similar device.

1. The N8′s power lasts longer than my Samsung Galaxy S2, even if I use them for the same period. I have used the Nokia N8 for more than two months previously. This is my second time of buying it.

2. The internet data management on the N8 is minor. It is not as data hungry like the Android powered Galaxy S2.

I found out that I use between 2GB to 4GB on my mobile monthly. I download and try different applications, Youtube videos, pictures and sometimes tether my internet with other people’s devices and my PC.

I found out that the Samsung Galaxy’s power and data management was digging too deep into my pocket, as I do not have access to Wifi. All my internet needs are supplied by mobile internet data subscriptions. I would have kept the Samsung Galaxy S 2, got an extra battery (since the battery is replaceable) assuming I have access to free wireless internet.

3. The N8 is not as pricey as iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S, which were also on my list of options. I tried the iPhone 4 running iOS 4 for 24 hours and was impressed with the battery performance. I will eventually get an iPhone, but for now I do not have a budget for an iPhone. You know we do not get iPhones on contract packages here in Nigeria. We have to buy them cash down.

4. The Camera is superb. Not just because it has a 12 megapixel camera. The N8 simply shoots amazing pictures.

5. I can use one of my most preferred applications that is available only on Symbian – Gravity.

Things I am going to miss while using the Nokia N8

1. I will miss the swift and very fast UI of my Samsung Galaxy S2 (But I will save money and use less internet data now)

2. The productivity apps that I have grown fond of — Springpad, Evernote, Anydo, Bufferapp, Facebook for Android, Dolphin browser, plus the ability to download and read PDFs easily without stress.

Moving On

I hope to keep this Nokia N8 for a very long time. Even when I pick my next phone, which would most likely be an iPhone, the Nokia N8 will still remain with me.

There will always be a battle between fans of different OSes till the Lord’s kingdom comes. However, when we engage in those debates, let us keep things in perspective. We must consider specific factors in specific scenarios.

Android fanboys are quick to jump to their favourite OS’ defence when we mention its data guzzling weakness.

I have published articles here to show that Android OS guzzles much more data than any other mobile OS – even when it is idle. I have owned and reviewed several Android devices and seen data consumption that is simply outrageous even when I am not doing anything with the devices.

I remember a particular discussion on this blog during which someone said that he had been using Android and had never had data issues. However, several comments down the line, he mentioned that he managed data consumption on his Android devices with certain 3rd party apps. That was hilarious! I was quite decent and let it pass without a comment from me – till now.

Well, here is news that finally a network operator is calling Google out on Android’s data consumption levels. Japan’s largest network, NTT DoCoMo is reported to be asking Google to reduce the amount of data its mobile OS consumes after a recent disruption to their network caused by an android app.

If anyone should know about data consumption, it is DoCoMo. You see, they are one of the world’s most advanced networks. They are also a network that have had tons of Symbian-powered devices used on their networks (Japan’s advanced mobile networks have been mostly dominated for years by Symbian-powered phones).

DoCoMo knows the difference.

Now, this is not a Symbian versus Android article. It is an article to make a case that is so obvious that NO-ONE should be arguing it – Android is a data guzzling beast.

An excerpt from the news item:

NTT DoCoMo Inc will ask Google Inc to modify its Android operating system so that smartphones running on it will generate less data traffic, the Nikkei reported.

The leading Japanese mobile phone service provider identified an Android application, which enables free-of-charge voice communication, as a major cause behind a service disruption that occurred on Wednesday, the business daily said.

This is probably the first time that any mobile operator is approaching a smartphone operating system provider to amend how its software operates. Telling.

But does this make Android a failure? No.

Does this mean that Android is a terrible OS? No.

Should anyone stop using Android phones because of that? Their choice.

But facts are facts.

It is better that potential users and buyers know upfront what they are getting, so that they can make informed decisions. Nothing more. Android guzzles data (and power too). Yes; it can be managed. If that’s okay with you, buy. If not, get something else.

Now, where is my Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro? I was in the middle of a WhatsApp chat….

Source via TNW

I enjoy good movies. A lot. Even better, I enjoy movies on the big screen more. The big screen, the group reactions, and the company of one or more friends simply make the movie experience better.

If you are a cinema buff like me, then you will appreciate a handy app on your mobile to check movie locations, listings and special deals; right? Right.

Enter SeeNeeMa

SeeNeeMa is a home-grown application that makes checking movie listings on the go a whole lot easier.

The user interface is neat and easy – anyone can use this app.

Launch it and the home screen presents you with options to check:

• What’s Hot – currently showing movies
• Coming Soon – upcoming movies
• Cinema Info – listing of cinemas across the countyry
• Movie Reviews – weekly movie reviews
• Special Discounts – where you check which cinemas are offering special deals

That’s it. Simple. Net. Straightforward. Useful. Very.

Multi-Platform Too

Guess what? SeeNeeMa is available for several platforms, including:

• Blackberry smartphones & PlayBook
• Android 2.1 & above
• iOS (still in development)
• Java/J2ME
• Mobile Web

The version that I tested is the Android version, and it works as I have described in this review. It is possible that the different versions for other platforms work slightly different.

Verdict

This one gets a 4-star rating from me. Why did I leave out one star? If the developers, Quadtech Mobile, can add a way to book movie tickets right on the app…. HALLELUJAH! 5 Stars promptly.

Download SeeNeeMa

Apple’s tablet offering in form of the iPad (1 and 2) has not seen any competitor from the Android camp beat it and for good reason too. You see, even if the competition can beat Apple on the hardware front, they still have to play a game of catch-up on the software front.

Asus announced and promptly released the Transformer Prime, an Android tablet that has many geeks and Android fan boys (me included) drooling over the wonderful hardware that it packs in such a slim package.

At just 8.3mm, it is slimmer than both the iPad2 (8.8mm) and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (8.6mm). Around the back it features an all aluminum panel with the front packing a 10.1 Super IPS+ display. It also features a sharp 8mp camera that does 1080p/HD video recording.

With all these specs, you may be asking about the interface and processing power. Ask no more. This baby packs a Tegra 3 Quad-Core processor with console type gaming ability for those that want to really hammer out games on the tab.

The name ‘Transformer’ is gotten from the fact that the Asus has a keyboard dock that it can be plugged into. The battery life of the tablet clocks in at around 12 hours with the tablet only and 18 hours while docked with the keyboard.

What I like most about this tablet is that unlike Sammy, it doesn’t imitate the iPad curve for curve but instead brings a design of its own in a slimmer, more powerful and longer lasting way.

In conclusion, this tablet (to me) is the messiah of the Android Tablet and the only major gripes that end users might have with it is that it only has a WiFi only version and it does not have enough apps or games to really beat what obtains in the iOS ecosystem. Otherwise trumps the iPad in every other aspect.

So if you wanted to get a tablet that is not an iPad, this is the tablet to get, chikenah!

Sony Xperia S

I have used the Nokia N8 consistently for about a year, and it has been difficult letting go of it. For one, that superb 12 megapixel camera has had no equal till date. I am a shutterbug. I love to have an exceptional camera on my mobile.

Dropping the N8 meant a downgrade to an 8 megapixel camera phone – the Nokia N9, iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S II, Nokia E7, Nokia 701 or any of the other pretenders to the crown.

With the announcement of the Sony Xperia S, I am almost certain that this is the device that I want to be using full-time as my personal mobile.

Sony has been good at cameras and audio reproduction on mobile, and I am particular about those. A 12 megapixel camera on a Sony mobile sounds like heaven. Unfortunately, it still won’t have the N8′s Xenon flash, which is a shame. Nothing beats a Xenon flash. I will also miss the FM transmitter, but then…

But I also get a 4.3-inch display and 1080p video recording. The S has MicroSIM card support only, but my main SIM is already cut to MicroSIM anyway, thanks to the N9.

Someone might ask, how about the HTC Titan II and its 16 megapixel camera? I’m sorry guys, but I’ll take a 12 megapixel camera from Nokia, Samsung, Sony or Apple over a 16 megapixel camera from HTC any day – and get better results too.

Plus HTC has never excelled at audio reproduction. Whoever is in charge of that department at HTC needs to be fired.

The Xperia S comes pre-installed with Android Gingerbread, but with a planned upgrade to ICS shortly after the releas. There’s a Dual core 1.5 GHz processor with a GPU and 1 GB RAM in that sleek body too.

If no other manufacturer releases something more impressive than this before its release, I should be found carrying around an Xperia S shortly. Yaaay!

StatCounter is a global web monitoring service which tracks the browsers and OS used to access those websites on which its codes/scripts are embedded.

The statistics from StatCounter show that Symbian is still top dog in mobile web browsing, with a comfortable lead over others.

Yes; this is only StatCounter statistics. Still, note that StatCounter are not small players in this field. As at 1 June 2010, StatCounter tracking code was installed on more than 3 million sites globally.

It is interesting to see that inspite of the claims by many that the Symbian browser is “crappy” and that Symbian is either “dead” or “dying”, this old dog still holds its own.

Of course, partly responsible for this is Symbian’s huge installed base.

In response to this news, someone said, “Symbian is a beast. It just will not die!” Perhaps. Perhaps not. But the message is clear: this dude is no pushover.

Pronounced burning by its own CEO. Maligned on all sides by bloggers. Ignored by carriers/network operators. Outsourced to foster parents.

Still, Symbian has refused to die. The plucky devil’s still got some spunk!

At the moment, we have a Nokia Belle smartphone in the house here for review at Mobility Towers. So far, I have been impressed. I actually prefer a number of things about it to my N9.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Belle may still have a future if Nokia so chooses to reverse its position on this “burning platform”.

Source

We put the matter to test in the public, and you have responded with over 70 comments and 39 votes on that article. The fight was a neck-to-neck battle between the venerable Symbian flagship, Nokia N8 (released in October 2010), and Samsung’s more recent Android flagship, the Galaxy S 2 (released February 2011). Eventually, the Galaxy S 2 edged the N8 back by just four (4) votes to clinch the title.

A summary of the votes cast:

1. Samsung Galaxy S 2: 13 votes
2. Nokia N8: 9 votes
3. Nokia N9: 3 votes
4. Nokia E7: 2 votes
5. iPhone 4S: 2 votes
6. Samsung Galaxy S: 1 vote
7. Nokia 5800: 1 vote
8. Samsung Galaxy Nexus: 1 vote
9. Motorola Droid Razr: 1 vote
10. HTC EVO 3D: 1 vote
11. LG Optimus 3D: 1 vote
12. Nokia X2-01: 1 vote
13. Samsung Galaxy Gio: 1 vote
14. Nokia 701: 1 vote

Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Mobility blog’s phone of the year 2011, the Samsung Galaxy S II: