Android or Symbian ?
in [UK Mobile]
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From: divoch on 21 Jul 2010 16:47 "White Spirit" <wspirit(a)homechoice.co.uk> wrote in message news:i274kr$t16$1(a)news.eternal-september.org... > On 21/07/2010 16:27, divoch wrote: > >> Thanks for suggestions. However, N900 has never been, as far as I know, >> offered on 3 network. This would probably mean that it will not be >> compatible with free "3 Skype" application [as I found with my SE K810i, >> although listed on 3 website as a suitable 3G phone]. While in UK it is >> quite a bonus to me and my contacts abroad to "have Skype with me" on my >> mobile. > > Skype connectivity is built into the N900. Does '3 Skype' have any > benefits over the standard Skype application? Yes, it works via an ordinary voice connection, i.e. does not use any data allowance, and is free. divoch
From: Theo Markettos on 21 Jul 2010 16:57 divoch <divoch(a)removethishotmail.com> wrote: > I am looking for a new smartphone to replace my Skypephone S2 with emphasis > on > /mail with ability to read mail attachments (Office documents) > /Wi-Fi with ability to use Skype and/or other VOIP clients, mainly abroad > /camera capable of reasonable quality standard size pictures > /Web browsing for useful info on the go (timetables, train and plain arrival > times...) > in that order of expected use > > I am not interested in music or social networking on mobile > > Choice on 3 is somewhat limited, so either E71 or E72 springs to the > forefront for Symbian and HTC Desire on Android. > Any suggestions? Symbian S60 v5 (the touchscreen version) is a bit wierd. It's really S60 v3 but with touch instead of a joypad, and that means there's a lot of fiddly menus that don't use the full screen area. I have limited experience with Android, but from a play I get the feeling it has a much nicer UI. Do you need a hardware keyboard? Have a play with soft keyboards in real life sometime - they can be better than you think. OTOH Symbian doesn't get involved too much in browsing (and if you don't like it, use Opera Mini and/or Opera Mobile). I haven't used the Symbian mail client or wifi. The camera software seems OK to me. I've posted about Three Skype elsewhere on this newsgroup (Three Skype is not the same as Skype for mobiles) - the list of phones should be (I haven't tested) a lot bigger than the ones they advertise (though you get no support if it doesn't work). So far they only have released an Android client for the Desire if bought from them. I think the iSkoot G1 client will work, though my Android 1.5 tablet isn't a phone so I can make it do everything except call. Anyone with another Android phone fancy installing the client and seeing if it works? [1] Are you aiming for contract or PAYG? If you only have the choice of an HTC Desire, how about a unlocked Android phone from elsewhere plus PAYG/SIM-only contract. For example, the T-Mobile Pulse Mini is 110 quid (plus whatever it costs to unlock). Likewise CPW/e2save have quite a few Nokias on PAYG (likely to be unlocked, mine was). Though you'd have no recourse if Skype didn't work. Theo [1] Skype client here: http://rapidshare.com/files/183970621/iskoot.apk
From: Theo Markettos on 21 Jul 2010 17:20 Chris <me(a)privacy.net> wrote: > Steve Terry <gfourwwk(a)tesco.net> wrote: > >> > > Assuming anyone writes apps for it? Plenty of top OS have died because > > of lack of support. If i had Nokia shares i'd sell them now, the future > > is Android. > > You already have more apps available for Maemo than for any other mobile > OS. Maemo is Debian. Debian is Linux. You can just use apt-get to install > anything directly from the Debian repos. True, but it's a bit like S60 v5. Lots of apps for S60 v3 (joypad interface), but not a lot using the touchscreen. You can install v3 stuff but then find it wants you to activate something by pressing Shift+9. Bit tricky when there are a total of five buttons on the phone (power, red, green, menu, camera). IMHO Symbian is a dead duck, Android is the future but has a tricky problem with power consumption[1], Maemo/MeeGo/whatever might work but is a few years too late, WinMo is gently rotting and Palm has turned to dust. What will be interesting is what happens in the iPhone v Android appspace... at the moment iPhone apps are a must-have, but it looks like iPhone's security model is annoying developers enough for Android to be on the rise. Can't say I blame them. Theo [1] Mobile OS people are really good at making sure that absolutely no power is consumed that isn't vital (don't forget that Symbian's origins is the Psion 5 that ran on two AAs for two weeks). It remains to be seen whether Linux can be made to come close - and whether the same problem will also affect Nokia's Linux offerings too.
From: divoch on 21 Jul 2010 17:27 "Theo Markettos" <theom+news(a)chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote in message news:xQr*rFDet(a)news.chiark.greenend.org.uk... > divoch <divoch(a)removethishotmail.com> wrote: >> I am looking for a new smartphone to replace my Skypephone S2 with >> emphasis >> on >> /mail with ability to read mail attachments (Office documents) >> /Wi-Fi with ability to use Skype and/or other VOIP clients, mainly >> abroad >> /camera capable of reasonable quality standard size pictures >> /Web browsing for useful info on the go (timetables, train and plain >> arrival >> times...) >> in that order of expected use >> >> I am not interested in music or social networking on mobile >> >> Choice on 3 is somewhat limited, so either E71 or E72 springs to the >> forefront for Symbian and HTC Desire on Android. >> Any suggestions? > > Symbian S60 v5 (the touchscreen version) is a bit wierd. It's really S60 > v3 > but with touch instead of a joypad, and that means there's a lot of fiddly > menus that don't use the full screen area. > > I have limited experience with Android, but from a play I get the > feeling it has a much nicer UI. > > Do you need a hardware keyboard? Have a play with soft keyboards in real > life sometime - they can be better than you think. > > OTOH Symbian doesn't get involved too much in browsing (and if you don't > like it, use Opera Mini and/or Opera Mobile). I haven't used the Symbian > mail client or wifi. The camera software seems OK to me. > > I've posted about Three Skype elsewhere on this newsgroup (Three Skype is > not the same as Skype for mobiles) - the list of phones should be (I > haven't > tested) a lot bigger than the ones they advertise (though you get no > support > if it doesn't work). So far they only have released an Android client for > the Desire if bought from them. I think the iSkoot G1 client will work, > though my Android 1.5 tablet isn't a phone so I can make it do everything > except call. Anyone with another Android phone fancy installing the > client > and seeing if it works? [1] > > Are you aiming for contract or PAYG? If you only have the choice of an > HTC > Desire, how about a unlocked Android phone from elsewhere plus > PAYG/SIM-only > contract. For example, the T-Mobile Pulse Mini is 110 quid (plus whatever > it costs to unlock). Likewise CPW/e2save have quite a few Nokias on PAYG > (likely to be unlocked, mine was). Though you'd have no recourse if Skype > didn't work. > > Theo > > [1] Skype client here: http://rapidshare.com/files/183970621/iskoot.apk I am aiming for PAYG. The problem for me is summed up is in the last sentence of your post. As I mentioned elsewhere I had already one disappointment and I would not want to spend some serious money on a handset only to find out that Three Skype would not work on it. divoch
From: Theo Markettos on 22 Jul 2010 08:07
divoch <divoch(a)removethishotmail.com> wrote: > I am aiming for PAYG. The problem for me is summed up is in the last > sentence of your post. As I mentioned elsewhere I had already one > disappointment and I would not want to spend some serious money on a handset > only to find out that Three Skype would not work on it. One of my backburner projects is to sniff the iSkoot client protocol and see if I can duplicate enough of the signalling to initiate calls. It can't be very complex to say 'Hello, I'm <username> <password>. I want to call Skype user <username>' 'OK, please ring 07..... now'. That would mean it'd be possible to write clients for devices that weren't officially supported. I can do man-in-the-middle on SSL with no problems (iSkoot is an SSL-encrypted web service, I think, looks much like HTTPS). But messing about with the networking to get my (Bluetooth-only) phone or non-dialling Android tablet to talk through it is a bit of a pain. (Hardware issues prevent me running platform emulators at the moment) Theo |