So I got me a Linux based phone. Farewell, dear N95
Some history...
I *love* gadgets. I am insanely fussy about which phones I have. Before my contracts are ready for upgrade, I research and plan and drool about my next phone. My history of phones goes back to 1995 when I got my Ericsson 388. Lovely tiny phone. Followed over the hears with an Sony Ericsson T610, P910 and eventually got my first Nokia, the N95.
Often when phones are released, they ship with one or two features missing. Either a lower spec camera or no FM Radio or something to make you want more. For the first time, with the N95, I got the perfect phone.
When my two years were up (September 2009) 6 months ago, I couldn't find a single phone that could do all the things it could. Finally 6 months later, I realised that it was a once off event. I would not be so lucky again. I'd have to compromise when I bought my replacement. The fact that it took 6 months before I did shows you how much I love that phone.
This blog post is supposed to be about my new HTC Hero, but I think I'm going to dedicate a post or two to the Nokia. My adventures with the Hero will follow in a later post.
In this post, let me just mention how the Nokia N95 still is better than the Hero in some respects. This is not to slight the HTC phone, but merely to illustrate what an absolutely epic phone the N95 *is*.
1) FM Radio - Well implemented, fairly good reception and well integrated. Shuts up and resumes as you receive calls, able to multitask and run in the background, manual or automatic tuning. In some regions (not South Africa) they have additional features which are network related. They call it Visual Radio, but never seen it working. I used the radio primarily to listen to live sports for which I could not get streaming online. Also working in corporate environments mean that listening to streaming radio is normally blocked anyway.
2) Camera. 5MP, just like the Hero, but optics seem superior. Not sure if its quality of lenses but its markedly better. It has a basic flash as well. The video camera is awesome 640x480 @ 30 frames as opposed to the basic low-res one on the Hero. Video quality is leaps and bounds ahead and suitable for casual use. The Hero cam seems to be more for novelty uses. N95 also had a sliding lens cover to protect the innards of the lens. Opening the cover automatically launched the camera app. Nice.
3) Media Controls - Dedicated slide out buttons for Play/Rewind/Stop/Forward, etc. Also a dedicated button for taking photos. Easier to take photos than on Hero which requires the use of the trackball to take photos. This is much more unconfortable.
4) TV Out - I LOVED THIS FEATURE! Especially used when I travelled and stayed in hotels. Played videos and games on the hotel tv. Later on I was able to hook up the WiiMote to it and play games wirelessly from my hotel bed. When the phone was hacked and emulators ran on it, that was particularly fancy.
Of course, now, the biggest problem wih it is the lack of speed and the clunkiness of the aging symbian interfaces. The lower resolution screen makes web surfing and rss reading a pain and in general the interface feels archaic in the modern age. I was very envious of the app store on my wife's iphone, but am finding the Android store interesting enough as an alternative.
In short the faster speed, large screen & modern interface of the Hero as won me over. The android store, sense ui and linux platform sealed the deal. Unless something changes majorly in the coming months, my next phone will be Android based too.
Anyway, I haven't given my N95 away, it sits on my desk tempting me back, but I think its going to get packed away soon.
I was seriously disappointed to find that the N96 and N97 phones have not lived up to the N95's reputation. Pity that. Nokia gave the N95 frequent software updates including adding additional functionality like auto rotate based on accelerometer, etc, which other phones had. Good job Nokia.
Lastly, a huge thank you to the many phone hackers and modders who opened up the N95 to hacking and added even more functionality.
I *love* gadgets. I am insanely fussy about which phones I have. Before my contracts are ready for upgrade, I research and plan and drool about my next phone. My history of phones goes back to 1995 when I got my Ericsson 388. Lovely tiny phone. Followed over the hears with an Sony Ericsson T610, P910 and eventually got my first Nokia, the N95.
Often when phones are released, they ship with one or two features missing. Either a lower spec camera or no FM Radio or something to make you want more. For the first time, with the N95, I got the perfect phone.
When my two years were up (September 2009) 6 months ago, I couldn't find a single phone that could do all the things it could. Finally 6 months later, I realised that it was a once off event. I would not be so lucky again. I'd have to compromise when I bought my replacement. The fact that it took 6 months before I did shows you how much I love that phone.
This blog post is supposed to be about my new HTC Hero, but I think I'm going to dedicate a post or two to the Nokia. My adventures with the Hero will follow in a later post.
In this post, let me just mention how the Nokia N95 still is better than the Hero in some respects. This is not to slight the HTC phone, but merely to illustrate what an absolutely epic phone the N95 *is*.
1) FM Radio - Well implemented, fairly good reception and well integrated. Shuts up and resumes as you receive calls, able to multitask and run in the background, manual or automatic tuning. In some regions (not South Africa) they have additional features which are network related. They call it Visual Radio, but never seen it working. I used the radio primarily to listen to live sports for which I could not get streaming online. Also working in corporate environments mean that listening to streaming radio is normally blocked anyway.
2) Camera. 5MP, just like the Hero, but optics seem superior. Not sure if its quality of lenses but its markedly better. It has a basic flash as well. The video camera is awesome 640x480 @ 30 frames as opposed to the basic low-res one on the Hero. Video quality is leaps and bounds ahead and suitable for casual use. The Hero cam seems to be more for novelty uses. N95 also had a sliding lens cover to protect the innards of the lens. Opening the cover automatically launched the camera app. Nice.
3) Media Controls - Dedicated slide out buttons for Play/Rewind/Stop/Forward, etc. Also a dedicated button for taking photos. Easier to take photos than on Hero which requires the use of the trackball to take photos. This is much more unconfortable.
4) TV Out - I LOVED THIS FEATURE! Especially used when I travelled and stayed in hotels. Played videos and games on the hotel tv. Later on I was able to hook up the WiiMote to it and play games wirelessly from my hotel bed. When the phone was hacked and emulators ran on it, that was particularly fancy.
Of course, now, the biggest problem wih it is the lack of speed and the clunkiness of the aging symbian interfaces. The lower resolution screen makes web surfing and rss reading a pain and in general the interface feels archaic in the modern age. I was very envious of the app store on my wife's iphone, but am finding the Android store interesting enough as an alternative.
In short the faster speed, large screen & modern interface of the Hero as won me over. The android store, sense ui and linux platform sealed the deal. Unless something changes majorly in the coming months, my next phone will be Android based too.
Anyway, I haven't given my N95 away, it sits on my desk tempting me back, but I think its going to get packed away soon.
I was seriously disappointed to find that the N96 and N97 phones have not lived up to the N95's reputation. Pity that. Nokia gave the N95 frequent software updates including adding additional functionality like auto rotate based on accelerometer, etc, which other phones had. Good job Nokia.
Lastly, a huge thank you to the many phone hackers and modders who opened up the N95 to hacking and added even more functionality.
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