A very disturbing thing happened lately with my device and Rogers, my Canadian carrier.
Its not enough that Rogers best 3G offer  these days is 30$CAN for 1GB’ of data. I have the unlocked, sim free E71 (came back to it after trying the XM5800, its just too good).
Rogers are selling this device with their own web browser, lately, when I’m trying to to go to youtube.com, I get a very weird and disturbing message, saying I NEED their own
browser to watch youtube (Image 1), I followed the links (images 2-4) and of course, got nowhere, meaning they are screening the website, blocking it and not allowing me to watch it through the Rogers 3G connection !!!.
Rogers, do have attentions to take over the internet ?, why block it, who said i need to use your web browser ?, I did not purchased this device through you.

I went to a Rogers retailer, they, of course could not help out and asked me to call the Tech support so I did and they answer was something like:
“..Hhmmm.. of course, because your device can not show youtube, we giving you the option to watch it with our own software
because youtube app can’t display it cannot display it…”
I explained about 3 times that I’m not using and external app, just the regular browser, the guy told me that it is not supported
by E71 and that he is well trained with this device.
WHAT?, REALLY?, its weird that for people that sell cellphones, they know NOTHING about them!!.
After several min’ of arguing with him, I gave up, there is no one to talk to in Rogers.
I wanted to record it, but they said they will not talk to me if it did, hooo.. I wish you could hear it!.

Rogers, get a grip and remove internet redirecting.. its NOT you’rs !, shame on you for trying to force your own software, you are a GSM carrier, people will always
have unlocked phones and expecting their carrier to give the best service.
Rogers, you are the biggest carrier in Canada, grow up, you do not need to compete with anyone nor change Nokia’s great web browser!

Daniel

Speaking of the XM5800, why is Ovi still not support that device?, I just do not get it, both the service and device are new, why not connect them?  You are saying that you are selling a lot of them, and “share on Ovi” comes within the package, so why not use it !  Set the sync already. Speaking of Ovi, why doesn’t the Nokia web browser support Ovi flash movies ?  If it can watch youTube.com, it sure as hell should be able to playback the Nokia equivalent, no?

Another thing I just do not get with S60, and I talked about it before in my “E71 thoughts” post, is where is the timer and stopwatch?  If S40 have and any other phone since 1996, how come its not part of the S60 platform? In the S60 bookmarks, why can’t we group the “Download..whatever” fixed bookmarks, there are several of them and most of time they give no results.  In my XM5800, the web pages are empty, so why is it there?  Give us the options to delete, group them together.

Why do I still need an external software to see a full screen image of the person who calls me, can’t it be stretched ?   I think Web feed, they got nothing to do with the browser, I mean, if I’m looking into the web feeds and want to go to an article, than, yes, open the browser – but other than that, feeds are a separate thing.  Why do I need to go to the web to do so ?  Am I wrong ?

Thats it .  thats part of my latest complaints, however, do not get me wrog, I’ll take a Nokia over anything else everyday STILL LOVE YOU Nokia !

Daniel.

The firmware on the XpressMusic 5800 during the tests:
10.0.10

The firmware on the E71 during the tests:
200.21.118

Field Tests:

Here’s Daniel from Vancouver with his thoughts on the Nokia E71. Filmed on the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music

As the megapixel race has jumped from the point and shoot market to the mobile market, I am worried that some of the main features that make a great camera great will be lost as manufacturers scramble to get that old MP number higher and higher.  These are a few directions I would like to see Nokia’s cellular photography market explore.

For starters, I would love to see an nseries phone come with a tripod mount thread on board.  I can’t stand having to fiddle with my generic clamping tripod mount that did not have my phones in mind at the time of being manufactured, leaving my vital buttons clamped down or otherwise out of reach.  I know it’s probably not overly high on the aesthetic list on a phone, but I’d be willing to concede function over form in this case.  Why bother with a timer if you can’t easily be in the shots anyway?

Will the day come that we will see manual controls on a mobile phone camera settings screen?  I have been very impressed with some of the night time exposures i’ve seen taken on an n82.  Nokia has great point and shoot versatility, add to that, manual shutter options and you would have such a fantastic leap forward for the convergence of phone and camera.  The nseries phones certainly seem capable of a lot of things, I know personally that i would greatly prefer a more in depth camera settings (though they are quite good) as opposed to a bar code reader built into the handset.  I really don’t think I’ll ever, ever use that application.

I love the active shutter control on the n82. It is fast and responsive, and should be on every nseries phone.  I love the fact that i can have the keys locked, open the shutter and snap a photo, close the lens cover, and have the keys go back to a locked setting.  I was very impressed that Nokia designed this phone such that you can take a photo without having to touch a single key on the keypad.  Why the n95 doesn’t have this is beyond me.  The phone is already much thicker than any other handset i own, would i gripe over a minuscule amount of thickness added to the back of the phone in exchange for both the functionality and protection it would offer?  Not at all.

I would like to see the optical zoom offered on the n93 make a come back.  Cell phones have such wide angles to begin with, this was always a great feature of the phone that could combat that.  As far as optics go, Nokia has a great partner in Carl Zeiss.  It would be nice to see the sensors and lenses in the same upward battles as the megapixel race is right now, hopefully soon.

As I mentioned, the n82 is the closest we’ve come to convergence of phone and camera thus far.  That said, if Nokia could push it a little further and give us users who are looking for a camera specific handset the same features that are available on even the cheapest of point & shoots these days, i think they would have a winner.

We buy these expensive handsets based on their content creation abilities, I think it’s time that a photo taken with an nseries device should move from “Wow, that’s great quality for a cellphone!” to “Wow, that must have been shot with a Nokia!”

nokianorth

Web Surfing – I find surfing the web on my n82 pretty annoying.  The keys, while spaced nicely, do not lend themselves to one handed use of the phone while on the web and trying to input text.  You have to stretch your thumb to hit the lower 30% of the handset to get to the keys and after awhile I just don’t find it worth it.  Conversely, i find web surfing on the n95 second only to the iphone.  The bigger screen makes a difference, but for me it’s the ergonomics that is the real winner here.  The soft keys are easier to hit and keys themselves being larger seem to lend themselves to an overall more pleasant experience.  The n95 takes the cake here.

Camera – It’s been well documented on blogs and reviews that the main shortcoming of the n95 8gb is the lack of camera lens cover with an active manual shutter control and no xenon flash.  I haven’t been too bothered by the lack of a lens cover yet, but the lack of flash for the evening shots is a real bummer.  I love having the n82 with me, you truly feel as if you have all the abilities of a point & shoot without carrying two devices.  While recently taking some indoor night shots with my n95, i was quite disappointed because they looked like they came from a crappy cell phone camera, where as with my n82 and it’s xenon flash, my night time shots look like they came from a dedicated camera. The n82 kills it in this category.

Video Recording – I’m not sure if I’m the only one who has this problem, but when i am panning with my n82 in video mode, the image is strangely compressed and tends to look squished and distorted until the camera comes to a stop.  This really takes away from the great video quality that this phone can shoot.  I haven’t seen this problem crop up with my n95 8gb yet.  Other than that, they both shoot fantastic looking video but for me the n95 wins out here.

Battery life – I have been pretty happy with both phones in this area.  I was worried as the battery issues with the n95 seemed to be a big turn of for many.  I find that if i throw the phone in gsm mode when not accessing the 3G network for data, my battery usage (even with using the camera quite often and listening to music) is quite comparable to other handsets i own from different manufacturers. Tie.

3G – The fact that i have a European 3G n82 and i live in Canada means that i can’t access the high speed cell networks in this country.  It is too bad because i love the speed of my 3G n95 8gb.  Now this isn’t a fault of the n82 by any means, i would have full access in other parts of the world, but for me in North America, the n95 is a much better choice when i want access to data.  n95 wins here, but that’s my fault, not the n82.

Form Factor- I hate sliders. there i said it.  Up until i used the n95 that is.  I went for the n82 originally because i was getting basically all the benefits of the n95 but in the candy bar form factor that i preferred.  But using the n95 doesn’t feel like other sliders to me.  The handset feels balanced in your hand when you use it, not like others I’ve used in the past.  I like that the phone’s weight remains on the base and the light screen portion is the part that slides.  When inputting text or numbers, you don’t feel like the phone is top heavy, a problem which kept me away in the past.  I suppose this is a sign of the good build quality and design that Nokia is famous for.  For those of you out there like me who stay away from the phone because of the slider factor, rest assured this will not be an issue. Tie again

Data Port – n95 has mini usb, n82 doesn’t.  n95 wins here for me.

Headphone port – n82′s headphone jack is on the top while n95′s is on the side.  While not that big of deal, i prefer the n82 here, plus i love the earphones that came with the n82.  I’m not really a big fan of the ones that came with the n95 8gb.  As much as i’ve heard people complain about how stupid it is to put the headphone jack on the side of the phone, i hear fewer people comment on the benefit of this.  Because of the side input, you can stand the n95 up on it’s side while the n82 is a lot tougher to make sit on it’s side.  Again, a tie here as i like the benefits on both handsets.

Buttons – i like the  way that the n82′s keys look, but i prefer using the n95′s for input much more.  Also, being a dual slider, the n95 8gb’s screen slides down to reveal dedicated media buttons.  I find these great for easy and no look access to your phones music.  I use my phones in my car as a music source and being able to switch tracks without having to take much time looking at the phone is a real bonus to the n95.

Storage – 8gb’s is great on the n95.  I do prefer the n82′s removable memory card because the data transfer speeds on both handsets is somewhat slow.  Having the ability to pull the card out and transfer images and music on my own card reader is great, but the built in 8gb on the n95 is a great feature and enough storage for most users out there.  Again, this one comes down to personal preference.

Screen – The large screen on the n95 8gb is great for using the internet, maps, and video.  The screen on the n82 is a little smaller, but still very crisp and a joy to use, however i’ll give the nod to the n95 here based on the larger screen the sliding form factor allows.

So as much as these two phones are very similar, there are some make or break differences in my opinion.  Mainly in form factor and camera build, but each phone excels in it’s own right.  I couldn’t decide which one i liked more, so i bought both of them, but for those you out there that have no need for two handsets, keep in mind some of the benefits and negatives of each handset and make the best decision for your needs.  I’d love to hear what your thoughts are on the two handsets and how they stack up to each other.

nokianorth

Looks like 2009 is going to be a great year for 3g smartphones including 4 new Nokia models:

• Blackberry 82XX Pearl Flip (3G version of 8220 Pearl Flip but with GPS, WiFi, and video calling)
• Blackberry 9520 Storm (North American 3G GSM bands and 802.11 b/g WiFi)
• HTC Touch 3G
• HTC Touch Pro
• HTC Touch Viva
• Motorola MOTOZINE ZN5
• Motorola Q11
• Motorola VE66
• Nokia N79
• Nokia N85
• Nokia N96
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
• Samsung M8800 Pixon
• Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a
• Sony Ericsson C905

Thanks to matt at www.nseriesus.com for the heads up, make sure to hit the link at the bottom of the page to get your daily nokia news fix at see you there!

nokianorth

Here’s Daniel from Vancouver with another video post.

His audio got cut off at the end again, “go enjoy u’r music” is what is missing

nokianorth