Posts
I've been meaning to write a comprehensive article about Nokia's Ovi.com for a while now, being pushed as much as it is, but never really got to it so far. Now I dived into the different things Ovi offers (or not), and managed to salvage these things from the bottom of the sea.
Syncing
Face it, it's a pain in the ass. The Ovi Suite is still laggy as hell (talkin about a Q9550 with 4GB RAM here), seems like it has serious difficulties handling the phone, no matter what I wanna do with it. Syncing from the phone, well...chew me up and spit me out. All the digging into the menus to find that place where I can actually sync from, and even then still have to change the active profile AND then the settings (unless you want all your data messed up on phone and on the server too)...ugh. And if the settings are lost, due to a device format or whatever, it's yet more pain to get them back on the phone what with the sending and pin and whatnot. Really, why does it have to be so complicated? And have you noticed that it can actually only sync Contacts, Calendar and Notes? Not e-mail, not (multi)media, not bookmarks, not messages, not contacts group...why? Why can't Nokia create an all-the-way backup possibility with such an otherwise virtually full-featured online service? Read on for some of the answers.
Contacts
Not as much smooth to use as it could be, but it's passable I guess. Only thing I don't understand is why the Groups part not defined at all, seeing how both Ovi and the phones can handle that...no syncing though. And it takes too damn long to load any entry's details. (Even my N97 is faster there at least.
Share / Photos & Videos
Uhm...right. Guess this part went through some improvement lately. Still, it's a bit messy - you can't have folders, only albums, and handling them...well, let's say, if you wanted to move one album's content into another one (you know, as in, subfolders), you'd have way too much to do. Plus, it annoys me to no end that you can't sort your images/videos in the albums. Everything will stay in the order you upload them (by default, it'll most likely be a Z->A order). Don't understand why though, it'd be quite important to let users decide things like that, be it by filename or date/time (you know, photos, EXIFs...?), location, whatnots. Or at least a basic photo-or-video distinction maybe? Not like, forcibly separated, but optionally if one so decides?
Calendar
Kinda the same as Contacts. Sometimes I find events duplicated or even tripled, for reason beyond me, like put in different categories...that's downright annoying again. Same goes for speed as well.
Store
First of all, I can't believe I've just logged in to Ovi and then I go over to Store and I have to log in again. Wtf? Second, I'm wondering why the drop-down menus won't work in Opera? Anyway, I ain't gonna go to IE just for that. At least now if I type the name of an app in, it seems to find it - took long enough to get there. Third, if I select "Show free only" (phone app, but prolly same goes for website too), I do NOT want to see demos and trials and "limited" editions of apps, thank you very much! Go create a "Shareware" category for those stuffs. Fourth, why the HELL do I absolutely need to send links to phones via text messages? If I browse things on my computer, let me download the damned .sis or .wgz files right there, would you kindly? It's a good idea, the store, but way too much of a mess-fest still.
Mail
Well, it's nice, I guess, but with Messaging and all that, it's getting quite hectic. If it could display the inboxes of those emails I've signed up for Messaging too (in clearly distinguished folders, of course), that'd really make handling emails just nice and smooth.
Maps
Um...okay, bit like Google Maps, with favorites from my device added (remember tho, there wasn't any Maps settings defined in the general Ovi.com Sync profile)...and apparently I can't do anything with routing cuz my Opera is not supported. (...everything else is, ffs, annoying us Opera users on purpose?) Um...right. Guess it's a nice thing, or it would be, if we could create routes and save them and get them on our devices too. As such, I can't even get to routing at all.
Music Store
THE totally useless pos. Sorry, Nokia, but your service is only available in 21 countries, and yet you're pushing it way too much all around the globe like it had any point. I appreciate the effort, but frankly, even the little navigation "toolbar" disappears from the top of the site when I get there, so I can't even move anywhere else unless I hit the browser's back button first. Un-cool. And btw, if you're going to merge games to Ovi Store, why can't you do the same with Music? Provided that the service is available in the given person's region - which would be the easiest to check automatically when one's signed in, since we have to enter that info in the Account part anyway...if it isn't, it just shouldn't be displayed at all (and this stands for the devices' Music Player as well).
Games / N-Gage
Now there's a story to that. I've been an N-Gage fanboy since the day the very first N-Gage device was even announced. I think that was in 2003. A lot has happened in the years, but the gaming community that gathered around the platform is quite one-of-a-kind and special. Now the link from the Ovi "toolbar" takes me to the N-Gage site - which wouldn't be bad, but again, the toolbar disappears (see Music Store), leaving me no navigation options, I have to select my region (even tho I've been logged in to Ovi, so it should've been able to determine) and login to the N-Gage site as well. That's messy. And then, you want to shut down the N-Gage platform altogether. That's sad. As in, really, really sad. I mean, how on earth do you even think to incorporate gaming into Ovi Store when that's still an ugly mess to start with? Not to mention the community - you said you'd do that when N-Gage shuts down. I don't even dare to think of what's gonna happen to the games we've already purchased (you know, PAID MONEY for). You go all community-focused on one hand (Messaging, anyone?), and then you take a step back on the other hand. Where's the logic? I don't get it. The whole platform as it is, is way better than Ovi Store: much more straightforward and much smoother to use, even if it could do with an update for devices like the N97.
What should be done?
First of all, bring all content and services together to Ovi.com with the "toolbar" on top being constant everywhere. And, with the different services being able to process data from our profiles on their own and by default. Make it a bit smoother to use and define all the syncing profiles (okay, I get it if you don't want everyone uploading all their music and images/videos on your servers, but at least give the option to share what we want, from one place, to the appropriate part of Ovi, by default). Indeed, a more proper way to backup purchase history (and data, like activation codes) would be cool too - I don't want to go through migraines in case I format my device or get a new one. And for sanity's sake, create ONE unified application for the devices that can handle ALL services, from one place, with one login? I mean, Syncing's a nightmare, and then there are all the separate apps: Share Online, Contacts On Ovi, Maps, Messaging (which btw won't properly set up my email accts now with v20 fw on N97, only defines them to the default Messaging app), Store...and prolly even Software Update could be brought here as well. Maybe an option to create online backup of ALL the phone's settings (not talkin about 3rd party apps of course), so that when I, say, restore data from Ovi (Contacts, Calendar, whatnots) after a format or something, I could also get settings back the way I used to have them?
I've been supporting Ovi since the first day it started, I guess, with photo/video sharing back then, and in ways, I still don't see any improvement. Scattered, not intuitive at all, and while a lot of services have been added, it's just not really a nice experience to use. And experience counts the most, really, you know, it's that thing called iPhone. That's about the only thing it really has as advantage.
I just can't, or don't want to believe, ppl working at Nokia are still being so incompetent. You don't need a diploma to just see how others are doing it and which one users like, yet somehow it gives the impression that Nokia just ain't listening to anyone else at all, just following what they cook up blindly.
Oh, and one tiny thing again? I've mentioned this earlier, but...GIVE US A BLOGGING APPLICATION for cryin' out loud! All the devices with QWERTYs, all the focus on email/IM/communities, and no blog app? Wth...
...even with v20 firmware, there's a small pile of things that just drive me mad on a daily, common-usage basis. Not much, really, but nonetheless annoying.
First, which is very much obvious, is the graphics/UI, so I'm only gonna say this much: c'mon ppl, thing SCREAMS for an overhaul with so many fancy and unique customisations of virtually every system. (In other words: ain't Nokia ashamed that SE could do better with the theirs-for-so-long Symbian's S60 v5 in the Satio?) -_-"
Second, the camera button. FFS, REMOVE the "start 2ndary camera from home screen" functionality! It's the button I usually go to press by gut instinct to check statuses (clock, messages, whatnots), and 2 out of every 3 occasions it goes and starts the front camera! Annoying! Unnecessary! Unwanted! Shooooooo!!!!!!!! >.<
Third, the Music Player. Honestly, I haven't the faintest about what on earth you did to it - the album arts in the list look nice, but a) it seems to select image from tracks randomly where there's more than one to one album; b) it seems to select displayed album artist randomly (just one example for this two, I put Beyoncé's Ego Remix from her remix album to the I Am Sasha Fierce album, it's a featuring Kanye West track, and lo and behold, for the ENTIRE I Am Sasha Fierce album, in general, the displayed art is that of the remix album's, and displayed artist is Beyoncé ft Kanye West...).
And here's a separate section for the Music Player's Now Playing screen, cuz that's a tragicomedy (you know, as in, so bad that the only thing you can do is burst out laughing). For one, wth's up with the album arts? Displayed for ALL the albums in the list (even if not correctly, see above), and then at random tracks, I just see the emptiness / default album art "icon" in the Now Playing screen. Someone explain, and even more so, FIX it, plz? The right function "button", serving as "Back"? NO, IT WASN'T A GOOD IDEA TO MAKE IT SWITCH BACK TO THE HOME SCREEN!!! I'm tearing my hair out every time I want to select a few track and press Back to step back to the lists (cuz that's how it's worked since forever), and find myself on the homsecreen! It's a freakin' pain in the ass to have to flip through my entire album list every time instead of going back to where I've selected the currently played album. >.< Oh, and between the lists and the now Playing Screen, where on earth does the CLOCK get losts? I mean, it's displayed everywhere BUT there, geez. -_-"
Sorry if I sounded repetitive, but that's just it. Had to let it out in a "BUGFIXES-NEEDED-ASAP" type of rant too.
After a while, I finally got to writing about this too. Not a bad thing, the time-lapse, I mean, in the meantime I've gathered real-life experience using the new firmware. I'll try not to go back to general issues that plague the phone (you can read about them here, here, here, here, here, and here), they're mostly unresolved by the new fw, either because it's impossible to solve them on a sw level or because Nokia's being an idiot. That's the gist of it. Let's see the things that became screamingly obvious for me in thes past few days.
Switching the phone on, it still has those apps running in the background: Log, Contacts, Messaging, Clock...and I still don't understand why. Even more interesting is the available updates list that the Software update displayed right after updating the firmware...no what happened there. Maps, N-Gage, Messaging, Ovi Contacts - why on earth can't Nokia implement its VERY OWN applications into the firmware itself? (The answer is: space is needed for sponsored (TIME LIMITED) DEMOS, see Adobe, QuickOffice, Boingo, etcetcetc.) Don't about others, but for me it's furstration perfected...
As far as general kinetic scrolling goes...I for one am still using the scrollbars on the side. Sorry, got too used to it. Maybe Nokia should just get rid of it in the next major update? By that time surely everyone can get used to it. Til then it's sorta purposeless and misleading in a way. And yeah, it surely can give a different experience, but frankly, I don't really have that much lists to scroll in. Even in the Music Player (that's the longest for me), I end up using the scrollbar, cuz there it's okay - like, a quickscroll to the letter I'm looking for. But really, that's it.
Actually, the Music Player is worth a few words.
One more thing, the battery life. Idk if it's the indicator having been just...not working correctly earlier, but now I notice that from a fully charged battery, it gets two or three level down in like 2-4 hrs of only being on WLAN using MSN and browser-or-Gravity. (Phone's in Offline profile otherwise.) That's just horribly, horribly bad, and needs a fix asap. Same goes for the RAM-handling: if the RAM gets full (Opera Mobile 10 beta is too much of a memory hog), the phone simply closes ALL the running applications, driving me mad in a matter of seconds, really. At least display a warning and ask the damn user which application they want to be closed - or don't allow running new tasks if the free RAM is under a certain amount. Sheesh.
Let's see, what games I can remember it as being overhyped and/or disappointing.
Mirror's Edge: that's got to be the first on my list. (Not a particular order, mind you, just like in the sense of "first-one-to-come-to-my-mind".) Gamer community's media just couldn't seem to get enough of it, I couldn't go on the net without stumbling into it somewhere, even if I didn't even go anywhere near game-specific sites. It was being called revolutionary, it was being called new, it was being called awesome. And what did we get? A world that looked breathtaking at first but was quickly discovered being effin' sterile. A Tomb Raider ported into a modern futuristic world and the camera installed into the protagonist's head (but really, most of Faith's moves felt like they were simply taken over from Lara, I swear a sound effect or two was actually borrowed -_-). A gaming experience that looked like was aimed at the stereotypical "stupid american consolers", with the RED hints everywhere - in truth, it was just stupid: the hints were either way too easily identified (or the solution offered by them too obvious anyway), or totally not discoverable, leaving us wandering around trying to figure out what the heck to do and where to go. All the while a health indicator was totally not present (with all the police shooting at us, virtually no matter where we went); a usable map/gps was not present (in the future, you know, with Faith herself being a sort of messenger); and the world was a fake-open one, supposedly giving us alternative options for routes, but I doubt many took the effort to discover those as it was a pain in the ass. And the storyline/ending...no comment. Well, at least Faith had a cool hairdo. That's something too, isn't it?
F.E.A.R. & F.E.A.R. 2: they told me it'd be SCAAAARY. Actually, the only scary thing about it was its hardware requirements, not really justified imo. Scary?... Not really. I mean, I grew up on X-Files, being about 8-10yo when it was being aired here...so, sowwy, but there just wasn't enough in it. Alma is just a sick little girl who should've had her own bedroom. Oh well.
World of Warcraft: ...what's the big fuss? There are tons of games like that out there...and actually, correct me if I'm wrong, but somehow it doesn't really seem like it's more than an XP-collecting contest. You even have to pay for it. All the while Blizzard is going awry with Diablo 3, which doesn't look like will have much in common with the previous titles, unlinking it from the Diablo-atmosphere ... as of now, anyways. Sheesh...
Gears of War / Unreal Tournament 3: honestly? Apart from looking totally alike, they're just...idk. Not that good. Well, GoW actually can get good in co-op, but somehow not really engaging that much. And that utter bullshit Epic's been up to about how not they're gonna bring sequels to PC...pfft. The fuck do you release a game on a given platform for if you're not gonna support it in the future? Fuck you, Epic, you wouldn't be anywhere without PCs...someone remind me again, why are they still in PCGA? And UT3...I was freaked out when I first got to it. Got so much taken out of it compared to UT'04 that it managed to weigh down too heavily on the experience itself. Beautiful levels, but while you could play UT'04 to no end, UT3 just becomes obviously too repetitive, way too fast. Some good ideas in there, but it just ain't enough to make up for the castrated features.
Modern Warfare: ...I've said this earlier, but: too. freaking. many. soldier. shooter. crap. And what on earth is so special about them, really? I'm starting to panic cuz I feel like there's something wrong in my genes, with me not being able to get hooked on these at all. Bleh.
Need For Speed Carbon, Undercover, ProStreet: Carbon and Undercover are just Most Wanted, twice more. And while MW was quite enjoyable, the whole thing became a snoozefest in the reincarnations. It's like, there's a pressure to release a NFS game in every year, even it's nothing new at all. Wtf? Prolly they felt that too, cuz they made ProStreet. Which they shouldn't have. Wanted more realistic physics, but couldn't get away from the arcade: result was that they fall to the ground between two seats, ending up with cars undriveable. And the whole atmosphere was like Underground remixed, which is just...er...yuck.
Star Wars - The Force Unleashed: O.M.G. ... First came the bullshit about how it's not gonna land on PCs, cuz PC don't have enough juice and they didn't want to reduce the gaming experience (! not a word by word quote, but it's what they actually said, for real). That while the game was made for PS2, PSP, Wii, Nintendo DS, even for iPhone and Nokia's N-Gage platform...er, yeah right, cuz THOSE didn't need anything reduced in the game...what do you take us for, fuckin' simpleton idiots?! Downright outrageous. Then of course they dropped the bomb, the game will be coming to PC, and in a special PC exclusive edition too. ... No comment. But honestly, idk what for...from the start, from the news and bits I've gathered, I've been feeling like we ain't missing out on much at all by not getting this game. Story is a laugh at best, the whole thing is way too arcade ("costumes" meaning actual different characters, even droids to play? wtf, where's the logic?), and no justice to the 15GB raw material - 25GB installed size at all, by graphics or anything. I mean, there's no graphics settings AT ALL. Console port much? Control is not intuitive at all, either. Oh, and, how on earth did they manage to bring TWIMTBP AND that old crappy Havok together?!?!?! But please. LucasArts has been spiraling downwards, sad as it is...Force Unleashed doesn't stop them either. Idk about others, but I sure wouldn't mind playing those old games again, getting back in the "classic" SW universe as well, in the "classic" storyline and places - with today's graphics and physics and AI possibilities, whatnots. They could do it so easily, I really don't understand why they don't do it. Sad, really.
The Witcher: I tried to get into this one like 3 times. I really did. And I couldn't. Even though I love RPGs. I've no idea what went wrong, but Witcher couldn't at all tickle my fancy bone. Oh well.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games: About the same as Witcher...something's amiss in it for me, and I just can't get a feeling out of it. For me, Fallout 3 managed to deliver a more realistic and more believable post-nuclear world. But that's just me.
Left 4 Dead: outdated graphics engine, freakin' buggy everything, and the idea of dozens of zombies just sprinting to you from every direction endlessly...simply ridiculous. The type of game I don't even know why they spend money on.
...I think, that's about it for now, from the top of my head. Too many great expectations turned out to be rather turn-offs. I guess, that's not surprising...most ppl nowadays want to make money, and nothing else. They might put a lot of money and time into developing, but if it gets so technical, the experience is bound to be lost as a focus, which will lead to the not-good games.
Came upon this little article via WindowsGamer. Well, let's see...
Halo 3 ... um, it's definitely overhyped. I mean, too frackin' much media, really. Disappointing? Wouldn't really know...no consoles whatsoever, so never played it. Thinking of it this way, it IS disappointing that MS won't bring Halo games to PCs anymore. Loved the first one, and would've loved the second one too, had it not been so terribly optimized. Oh well.
Saints Row ... bleh. I've never liked those GTA-type games, can't understand what's the big fuss about it. But, the whole "gangsta style" seems to be way too mainstream nowadays (which does leave me a bit frustrated tho), so I guess I understand it...somewhere. But there's too many of them, really. And when quantity becomes prioritized, it's usually quality that suffers...
Killzone ... argh, am I the only one who's full to the point of being sick with these soldier-type FPS games??? Honestly, worse than a locust swarm, and just so much alike. And the same goes for AION and basically all the rest of those "MMORPG"s...they're okay for an alternative way for social networking, but frankly, slaughtering monsters and collecting XP only to level up and repeat the whole process...where the hell is ROLEPLAYING in that??? Yikes. I'd say the category "RPG" has become way much bastardized over the past few years...and THAT BASTARDIZED version in general is totally overhyped and disappointing.
Far Cry 2 - omg, couldn't agree more. Graphics looks nice at the first glimpse, until you stumble upon the horribly too many and horribly too static objects...hullo, Crysis anyone? It's NOT okay in 2009. (Not to mention that the player doesn't even have any body unless some limited thingy when sitting in a vehicle...and not any cast shadow at all. Wtfh...) And then the environment gets extremely boring because it's way too ... not even repetitive, but ALL THE SAME. And then the missions: you end up doing the same things over and over again, and if you've got patience left you can actually hunt down the diamonds to be able to get new weapons and upgrades...yuck. No, thank you.
Resident Evil 5 ... you know, it's just not Resident Evil anymore. The environment once again is extremely boring, add to that the fact that the gamespace is basically narrowed down to corridors, really...mostly one way to go, and that's it. And correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't RE games supposed have a feature "scary" as well, at least at a few places, a few times?...
Tomb Raider ... well, I agree it's a bit oldschool, but hey, Lara is actually a classic. Like, she's been around for some 14 years if I'm correct, unlike basically all other titles that are dated (well) after 2000. And if anything, the graphics is beautiful, and her movements are still among those of the widest range, really. (Anyone recalls Mirror's Edge? It wasn't anything more than a badly served Tomb Raider in modern times, placed into first person view.) And she still has that somewhere dry but nonetheless awesome British sense of humor which I personally just adore...I'm not sure how much Legend and Underworld have been advertised, so I'm not sure about overyhped, but as far as disappointing goes, I think, the only disappointing thing about them was their lengths - or more precisely the lack thereof. They're both way short which is no good for that type of game. I think.
...My nominees for the "overhyped and disappointing" category coming up in the next post.
I came upon this article on Twitter, and after reading it, I couldn't help wanting to add my $.02, so here ya go.
Postal 3 - um, not too much, I mean, I didn't even meet the first two renditions, so yeah.
APB - haven't heard of it, but the description says it's some sort of an online GTA...which means a "no, thanks" from me.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - please, not another soldier-shooter...sheesh. -_-"
Heavy Rain - looks interesting, looks pretty...but I've no PS3.
Halo Reach - oi, fuckit micro$uxx, bring those damn halos to PC too. T_T
Red Steel 2 - Wii...seriously...stop kiddin' around.
Crysis 2 - oooooooo, yesssss, THE GOD, humbly awaiting your 2nd coming, my Lord. *worships on knees*
BioShock 2 - DEFINITELY, I've finished this about 5 times, each time ending with a "next. part. NOW.", so yup.
Alan Wake - does anyone still remember when this one started off? Has been becoming the next Duke Nukem Forever, since...which is quite a pity.
STALKER: Call Of Pripyat - idk why but STALKER couldn't ever touch me at all...besides. a) It already has a 2nd part ("stand-alone expansion"); b) it's been on torrent sites for weeks if not months, so what's with the Feb '10 thing? =3
Crackdown 2 - er...idk?
Deus Ex 3 - if it's gonna be like the first one, then BRING IT ON ALREADY; if it's gonna be like the 2nd one, then rather no, thanks.
Max Payne 3 - oh, so there already was a 2nd one to this too? Idk, personally, I think the first one wasn't anything more than a 12-makes-a-dozen shooter either.
God Of War 3 - yeah, God of War games would be worth getting a PS for...so I heard anyways.
Gran Turismo 5 - cars don't really turn me on, but the GT series does have a very unique feeling to them, I gotta admit that...curious about this one maybe.
Supreme Commander 2 - lol, the first part was complex enough...throw in a new script and some facelift for the graphics, not much else needs changing there.
Mass Effect 2 - yesyesyes!!! No further comment required for this one. (Although, personally, I'd be glad if Bioware got their asses to making a new Baldur's Gate too.)
Army Of Two: The 40th Day - aaand yet another soldier shooter, this time trying to make up for a botched up first rendition...is it worth it? Do we need even more of this particular kind of game? I think no. -_-"
MAG - the title says it all: Massive Action Game...blah, is it just me or these new "ideas" really do seem sort of...cheap...and burnt-out?
Rage - now that's an interesting bastard: I know Mr Carmack IS a living a legend, I know he HAS talent, but since he dissed DX10, he sank a few floors down in my eyes...but, I've been quite curious as to how this DX9 project of his will end up...on a market that'll be loud from DX11 by the time it's released (it already is rumbling with the 5-series Radeons, and note that Rage is planned for Q4 next year).
And the mentions category...
Fable 3 - the first one was nice and good, tho it didn't really get enough marketing mainly on PC; the 2nd, I still haven't heard of it being dropped on PCs; so I'm a bit nonplussed about this one...
Far Cry 3 - if it's gonna be like the 2nd one, with no link whatsoever to the previous link AND with a totally homogeneous (ie very-easy-to-get-bored-with) world PLUS about 75-80% of the objects being totally static too...I do not want. x_x
Ghost Recon 4 - maaaaybe, I mean, Tom Clancy games have always been good with that drop of difference that sorta lifted them outta the masses, but frankly, they've become quite mainstream lately...we'll see.
Guild Wars 2 - lol, wasn't this one promised for this year? Anyway, never got to the 1st one either, sooo...meh?
Command & Conquer 4 - wtf is this doing in the mentions-only part?!?!?!?! Of course we fuckin' want Kane, geez!
Thief 4 - another double-edged sword: if they remain true to the world we've been placed in in the previous games, I'm really lookin' forward to this (aka wtf is this doing in the mentions-only part?!?!?!? #2); if they dare put it in a modern world as there were rumors about such too, then rather scrap the whole game plz.
And what's missing...
Final Fantasy XIII - WTF DO YOU MEAN THAT IT'S NOT EVEN MENTIONED?!?!?!?!?! It's the game that's gonna prompt me to get a PS3...at least it's looks very probable right now, anyways. T_T
Diablo III - I think this one was promised for this year too, errr, a bit hesitant about this, I mean, classes seem rather just ~remixed~ than new, and the world seemed sorta Baldur's Gate too instead of a dark-goth Diablo, but...we'll see, alright?
Well, not that much early anymore, and these things have been on my mind for a while now, but still...I got to them just now.
Why do I love my N97?
That's right, when I put the stupidity of the creation of and the issues that taint this device aside, I can't help but love it. "Connecting people" has been the motto of Nokia for quite a while now, but frankly, I couldn't really feel that so far. The N-Gage back in the good ol' days, connected gamers, that much was true. The N90 was a solid device but for me, there wasn't anything special about it apart from the form factor. The N95 was revolutionary, compact yet feature-packed like nothing before, but that was about it. The N97 however...it has the connecting power, the form factor, and the feature-packedness (...well, sort of), so it's a nice cocktail of my previous handsets. Wherever I go and whatever mood I'm in, I can always listen to music I want to, thanks to the huge built-in storage - that's really important for me, I practically need music to breathe. Also, no matter where I am, I can access my emails, I can talk to friends on WLM, I can tweet about whatever crazy or strange or tragi-/comic thing I see. Via the emails, I also see comments or messages or replies I get on a number of different social networking sites - most of those manage to make me smile at any time during the day. Via WLM, I can get people to entertain me while my teacher is being late (or the class is being boring). =) As for Twitter, in the short time that passed since I discovered it, I really grew to depend on that too, and that's mainly because of news, be it technology related or music related or movie related or JAPAN related (yeah, I'm an otaku...sue me). And whatever it is, I can just tap on those links and read the full article if I deem it worthy for immediate investigation - and can also spread it further immediately. On the downside, people following me probably frown at some of the tweets I send...um, well, forgive me...just being my silly self, I guess. And all that is a treat with the full QWERTY: I'm really a text-type person, so the quality/experience of input is not the least indifferent. So, I really do feel like carrying the world in my pocket - so much so that I'm almost surprised when I just receive a call or a good old fashioned text message, I mean like, "Hey, it's a phone too, btw!". Of course, there still are games and e-books when I feel like it, or I can just grab a movie (well, more like a few episodes of the animes I'm watching, usually) and watch that, because the display itself is simply spectacular. On a sidenote, I also mention the calendar and the notes - I know, nothing new there, but take it out of any handset and I'd be pretty much lost, what with deadlines and release dates and all. To sum it up, it's like I'm really connected - and not only to close / real-life friends, but to the whole wide world, in basically any sense imaginable, with the experience being nice too. I don't think that's a bad feature at all.
Why do I feel uneasy?
'cos I feel that way as well. Naturally, the numerous errors that Nokia made while creating the N97 - don't wanna list them all, go and read it in earlier posts (or elsewhere on the net, they're all over the place) -, do make people, mainly owners of the device, frustrated. On one hand, it's been a flagship model, on the other, it's way too inferior to be called that, hardware-wise as much as software-wise. Then there's that mutation thingy dubbed the N97 Mini - if someone can explain the point of that to me, please do so. I mean, granted, it's a bit smaller in more ways than one, but apart from that, it's the same as its big brother: the issues won't be solved, the missing features are still missing. And still, Nokia goes and calls it their "new flagship device" (as in one of their videos on youtube, go search for it if you want to). Huh? ... Oh, and what's with this other monster, the N900? A monster, hardware-wise, but featuring a totally different OS which actually does require that strong hardware (or so I've been told), so it's actually just a must, not something to pat Nokia's shoulders for. It looks great, it looks smooth - it looks different. Where do I stand now, with my N97 in my hands? Take a look around on the market: innovations and new features everywhere, new looks, new feels...even Nokia goes down that road with the N900, while the N97 barely had anything new to start with, and now even that v20 firmware is being delayed which is to bring features that should have been included at the start already. Online communities have been in an uproar about the N900 - they seem to be right, and I myself am curious too, despite my dislike of anything Linux. Online communities have been overly enthusiastic about v20 of N97 - can't say it's justified, I mean, hullo, the whole overhaul is more like a giant bugfix than anything really new.
In the meantime, the E71/E72 is still being considered as the best workhorse of the mainstream Nokia handsets. In the meantime, Nokia split up its portfolio to Xseries and whatnots (there's gonna be more too, what I can remember right now is a Cseries) - what's gonna happen to Nseries? No one knows. In the meantime, SE is pushing out models like the Satio - was I for Nokia, I'd be ashamed seeing another company can create a much better nest to a software platform I own and populate that nest with much nicer looking birdies too. And remember how SE models have been shunned for their totally inferior video recording capabilities (even the top-end Cybershot models)? Those are catching up, now it's Nokia that's been lacking major camera features - and I don't necessarily mean a higher megapixel count. In the meantime, everyone's designing newer and better UIs - I just realized a few days ago that even that tiny feature of animated icons (was introduced in one of the N95 FW updates if I'm right) is missing from the N97, and v20 won't bring along any visual changes either. And the list could go on and on, sadly~...
I would get mad, if I wasn't like a giant question mark, with the two versions of the N97 and the N900 looking down at me from up above. Not to mention other manufacturers' devices. It would be nice to see/know what Nokia has planned for my handset's future, because right now it's an epitome of ambivalence. And having to be torn between two states of mind every day, well, that's just no good. Someone please tell me where I'm standing at?
Article is here. I'm sorry, but I can't be bothered to register on techradar just for one comment, so here are my $.02 on the highlights.
"In doing that Apple has been able to carve out a small, but growing niche for itself as a premium computer and consumer electronics maker. And it's very happy to keep on doing so." - "If you don't like it, don't buy a Mac. There are plenty of other PC makers out there."
Which is exactly the attitude of Apple that disgusts non-fanboys/-girls. What if someone simply loves it but can't afford it? See that word "premium" in the first sentence...?
"Since then Apple has made several concessions to developer and consumer demand - first by opening up the iPhone to third-party web apps, and then by enabling developers that could be developed for the iPhone under a strict approvals process that tries to ensure standards, while delivering a good user experience." - "Apple didn't have to do this. The overwhelming success of the iPhone – and the enthusiasm of developers and customers for it has inevitably caused some problems, but Apple is learning fast."
Apple didn't do anything: it simply collapsed under that thriving hacking community's pressure. And the fact of its reluctance (ie. the original plans to keep the iPhone a closed platform) still shows in its uncanny censorship policy, paired with the greediness of wanting 30% of everything the devs make.
"remember the dodgy laptop batteries of a couple of years back? It affected a wide range of PC makers, not just Apple"
Ooooh, I just LOVE this one. Just a few lines above, Apple is the hardware maker. Obviously, only when it's something to boast about like they have invented it (they didn't), but they're not hardware makers as soon as it comes to problems. No comment.
"Snow Leopard also sets the stage for future OS innovations."
...which is shipping OSs with outdated components AND security holes / virtually non-existent protection? Good to know.
"Apple didn't invent the portable MP3 player; its innovation was doing it better than everyone else."
The past tense is justified: I've heard too many ppl describing the iPods as the crappiest music players lately.
"It didn't invent the smartphone, but the iPhone solves a lot of the problems rival smartphones created."
And creates a ton of others that had already been non-existent for years before it appeared on stage.
And yeah, the iPhone is far from innovation, it's simply a product of a bunch of people going for comfort. While it's great that Apple had several innovations in its lifetime, it's just doing that: living off those without having come up anything in the past few years.
So, I've been thinking about the many aspects of my N97, compared to other top-end devices on the market, for like a week now, at least. The echo that the news of the new firmware generated, is freakin' huge, in my opinion, bigger the smoke than the flame itself. Sure it brings SOME new features, but frankly: what's all the fuss about? The device should've rolled out the factories with those on board. So, while the changes are gonna be welcomed, I doubt it's much of a cause for cheering like immature schoolgirls.
I've cooked up my own little changelog of what a REAL v2.0 firmware should look like - and could potentially save the graces of a flagship who happened trip over its own legs. Note that most of these ideas are probably not mine at all, sorta just collected from many blogs entries and reviews, and tied them together with a rope. Probably.
Nokia N97 v2.0 firmware changelog - as it SHOULD be done. (Meaning: not real, fictional, etc - just so no one gets confused.)
General features
Widgets× visual tweaks: new themes, transition effects, landscape view sidebar size decreased, added more menu view options
× on-demand paging [gee, this was a huge boon on the N95, where is it from the N97??]
× gesture control: draw symbols to launch applications [we have a damn touchscreen, use it!]
× Smart Dialing
× QWERTY shortcut keys
× QWERTY long-press for secondary character [yes, this one's being done]
× global kinetic scrolling [yes, this one's being done too]
× virtual QWERTY keyboard [not seeing much chance for this, sadly, they're PRing the physical one too heavily]
× Camera button function to start secondary camera removed [am I the only one being annoyed by this?]
× all 3rd party applications can now be installed on mass memory too
× option to have individual languages installed/removed [there's a Dictionary app, but it's worth shit if my phone doesn't support even displaying, say, Japanese characters...]Calendar× 2 different widget screen: organize offline and online activities much better
× new widgets [whatever you can think of - messaging, N-Gage, etc]
× run several instances of the same widget [am I alone using multiple email addresses? only one email widget can be displayed tho, meaning only one address...]
× fix for Calendar widget: word wrapping [why on earth isn't this default???]Contacts× color codes for different types of events
× display list of upcoming events, filter by typeMusic Player× editable labels
Browser× added Internet radio [not like I'm using this THAT much, but the N95 knew it, so why's it gone?]
× visual improvements: artist and track title information in Now Playing [or an entirely new design, have you seen LG's BL40 Music Player? kickin' ass...]
× speed tweaks: better file handling [have 3960 tracks now, and it's a pain in the ass - dread the new fw if it's gonna display even more album info in the lists....]
× Music Store removed from regions where it's generally not available [one of the most unnecessary stuffs in the phone as of now, it only takes me to a freakin' webpage that says the service is not available here...]
× support for more ID tags: album artist, disc number, year
× D-pad control [like it is in basically all S60 3rd Ed. devices, like the N95...happen to want to do that a lot, only to find that I can't.]Messaging× speed tweaks [very slow when rendering pages]
× option to clear cache upon exiting [idk why this hasn't been implemented ages ago...]Photos× fix for message store place [you know, set it to mass memory, connect phone to PC in Mass Storage mode - voilá, it reverted to C:]
× visual enhancement: displaying sender's photo instead of message icon, if available from Contacts
× threaded messages [anyone remembers Nokia Conversation from the Beta Labs?]Videos & TV× merged with Videos - select type of media upon application start [either that, or get the video thumbnails the hell outta here!]
× "All Photos" display option
× new appearance [something classier than a flat panel, suiting a multimedia flagship much more, pweeze?]
× stability fixes (zooming, crashing) [zooming, and the picture returns to general overview; scrolling or zooming, application quits...anyone else having these?]
× autoscroll when bottom/top row is reached while marking itemsGPS/Maps× removed, merged with Photos
N-Gage× satellite lock tweaks/fixes [looks like it's still having troubles with that, for me anyways]
× free Drive and Walk navigations [my guess is that it SHOULD be at least 1 year, but 2-3 yrs sound more like it, actually...and lifetime? or that's just the dream-on category?]Applications× entirely new design [c'mon, that S60 v3 display is obnoxious]
× support for portrait mode [at least the frame app? i know games need the d-pad, but that should be a different story]
× games rewritten for new resolution [okay, daydreaming again, but it shouldn't be that difficult...?]
× functions and stability fixes [for some reason, I can't make it display point pickups in-game, for example]Camera× Notes - merged with Active Notes [you know, like SMS/MMS/email is merged into one Messaging thingy?]
× QuickOffice - full version added, installed on mass memory
× Adobe PDF - full version added, installed on mass memory
× Calculator - new, extended version [whatever happened to that nice new Java-based one from Beta Labs?]
× RealPlayer - support for more codecs: DivX/XviD, H.264, ...
× Log - now stores data on mass memory [one of the reasons for this being set to one day by many is that it's taking up phone memory space...]
× Download! - merged into OVI Store
× Drawing - option to send picture via MMS/email directly from application
× FM Transmitter - signal strength tweak [not sure if it can be done, but if so, please increase it please...?]
× brand new LifeBlog application [c'mon, "online as it happens", huge display, full qwerty - and I can't blog? wtf???]
× Application Manager: filter installed application by type (Symbian, Java, Widget)
× all 3rd party applications now removable [yes, the infamous JoikuSpot/Boingo/Qik triad, mainly]Other× added smile detection function
× added multiple face detection function
× added touch focus function
× 120 fps video recording
× panoramic image creation
× HD video recording [with saving to newly supported formats, of course]
× GPS fixes for geotagging [again, dunno about others, but mine takes too long a time to get the position, and loses it too quickly]× Nokia Messaging merged with firmware
× N-Gage merged with firmware
× Ovi Contacts merged with firmware
× Files On Ovi merged with firmware
× stand-alone Compass application added to firmware
× Nokia Java Runtime 2.0.2 added to firmware
× Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 added to firmware
Well, that's about it. For the applications at the bottom, I find it ridiculous that Nokia's not implementing at least Messaging and N-Gage into a device of this category. For the camera, I'm not sure all the functions can be done via software, but whichever can be, needs to be, and asap. For the rest...I guess they're self-explanatory. Or their comments certainly are, anyway.
What do you think? Should this be what a v2.0 firmware changelog looks like? Could these changes make the N97 a much better device than it is today?
I've already mentioned how appalling it is that the Photos/Videos apps on the N97 have a simple flat panel appearance, and that the Photos app actually displays videos too. One can live with that, I guess, but here's another thing I just stumbled upon that the device does not do right. See, when you have 32GB, you can have a laaaarge collection of images (word usage is intentional, it doesn't have to be photos you've snapped) and/or videos. And so, you can easily find yourself wanting to suddenly just get rid of a handful of them at once. What do you do?
First of all, of course you tap that little tick mark in the middle of the bottom bar - anyone else missing the "pencil" button? And then you start tapping your photos: actually, this could be improved too, or is a dragged selection rectangle technically impossible on this device/OS? Whoever knows, plz inform me. So, you're tapping and tapping like I did here. ->
<- Until you arrive at the bottom row of thumbnails, where you tap one more time, and then twice more. And NOTHING HAPPENS!
You have to manually drag down the scrollbar to access more images! Wouldn't it be more, say, rational, to have the images autoscroll at least one row when you get at the bottom? (Or the top too, it should be irrelevant, really, and work in both directions.) I can barely mention in a whisper, but Nokia could also make it definable, in a "scroll-this-many-rows-when-bottom-or-top-of-screen-is-reached" way. Maybe even a whole screen? I'm sure THIS could be done.
It's really a minor thing, but don't you think it'd improve this part of the user experience immensely?
