Ultimate guide to web reaction to the Nokia N9

Posted on June 30, 2011 by

Nokia N9On Tuesday Morning/Monday Night, Nokia made several announcements at Nokia Connection. There has been a whole lot of coverage resulting from that, especially regarding the new Nokia N9 and I thought how I should cover all these announcements so here is my ultimate guide to what was said about the Nokia N9. I will have a few other posts regarding the other information to come out of Nokia Connection.

Watch the Nokia Connection Announcements

Official Sources:

Obviously, the official site is a great place to start to find out about the device, and the specs are worth a look too. Nokia Conversations has gone a bit nuts though and has polled 5 articles on the device today, including: an interview with a designer of the device; a closer look at the camera; and, as they have one to play with, they ask readers what they would like to see them demo. There is also a micro-site for UI developers that shows a lot about how the UI works.

Immediate Reactions

I thought I would find a lot of Wow articles here, but no – frankly, everyone was scrambling to get the facts out fast it seems. However, Engadget called it a “luscious slab of MeeGo” which was nice of them, while TmoNews (unofficial blog of T-Mobile USA) said ” Honestly this is just a beautiful looking phone”.

Hands On Video and Photo Galleries

There have been lots of these and some have a huge number of pictures. There are also several videos going around and the most informative I have seen so far is the one from Tech65, bought to my attention by @the_thuth34 of NokiaInnovation.com – 11 minutes long but worth it – and check out how it scores on html5test.com. I haven’t seen all the videos I’m linking here so there may be better ones. My Nokia Blog has been particularly good about gathering hands on videos together, but I’ll link a few separately as well. Of the ones they have together, the “Batch 3″ collection of videos they posted, all from Michael Hell, are well worth seeing.

As for pictures rather than video, check out Michael Hell’s fantastic collection of photo’s on Fone Arena. GSM Arena has a 4 page hands on review which is well worth a look too, and Pocket Lint also have a bunch of nice pictures and call it “stunning”.

Considered Editorial

So after the gut reaction and the rush to get pictures and videos out, comes the moment when people start to think a bit and praises and concerns come together. The main thrust is that the device is fantastic, but will it get support, or What are you doing with Windows Phone, Nokia, when you have this. Vlad Savov at Engadget who is often highly critical of Nokia (sometimes justifiably) sums things up well here.

I think MeeGo, as compared to stand-alone mobile operating systems is both a breath of fresh air and a great product, but like our dear friend Stephen Elop says, “We are moving from a battle of devices to a war of ecosystems.” Will MeeGo have a competitive ecosystem? I truly hope it does.

It’s a terrific phone that’s got me legitimately excited to use it, but its future is clouded by a parent that’s investing its time and money into building up a whole other OS. MeeGo, and in particular its Harmattan variety, looks set to become the unfortunate victim of the cutthroat economics that dominate competition in the smartphone realm today. Which would be a damn shame considering the wonderful concepts it espouses.

There’s a big difference between what’s in effect an OS experiment and the sort of broad play for the smartphone market that Microsoft is making with Mango, however. What the N9 does achieve is leaving us more confident about the Nokia and Microsoft partnership as a whole. The software has ripened quickly and Nokia has demonstrated it still has hardware – and software – skills to be reckoned with. Q4 and the first Nokia Windows Phone devices can’t come soon enough.

You can’t “experiment” with platforms, you have to support them with every fiber of your corporate being. … ultimately users are going to be best served by an OS that’s available on the market, ferociously updated, and widely supported by hardware and software manufacturers. That OS, according to Nokia, is Windows Phone 7…..

Seeing the audience’s excitement and positive reaction to a new product by a manufacturer that is clearly struggling is indeed inspiring. Could it be that not WP7, but MeeGo is Nokia’s future? And is it too late for the company to make a U-turn and get back to developing a MeeGo-powered portfolio?

With the exception of a dual-core processor, the N9 comes with everything that most cell phone junkies could ever want in a current-gen phone. Everything about the N9 sounds great – ….. until we take into consideration the future of MeeGo …

Nokia has said that beginning later this year, their main focus will be Windows Phone 7. Those who buy the N9 with hopes of long-term support will face the reality of MeeGo not being a substantial long-term player. Releasing the N9 with MeeGo is simply Nokia’s way of letting the fruits of their labor see the light of day, for however long it will last. The N9, in essence, is a probe device for Nokia’s side-project, nothing more.

All the blows and all the work in the course of 9 months. I never knew how much sweat and tears there needs to be to get this baby out.

What I want to say to the people who beared all that: Respect. You have my utmost respect and admiration.

So, depending on the price and Nokia’s will, there is a vague chance that the N9 might take off. If that happens, it would utterly undermine the Microsoft tie-in. If nothing else, Nokia will have to get its first Windows Phone out as close as possible to the release of the N9.

….a Nokia spokesperson has just told me….the company will be “fully supporting” the handset.

However, look back at the four essential pieces above
(Linux Kernel, Qt, Webkit, swipe UX) and keep in mind that Nokia is investing in all of them. Even if working on them is really fun, you may guess that Nokia is not paying the teams for the fun of it. It is sensible to expect more to come in a form or another…..

in reality the concern about “the future of MeeGo at Nokia” is tied to the future of Qt: …… There is a direct correlation between the success of the Qt project and the satisfaction of the future N9 users, even if most of them won’t know ever.

The N9, I should say first off, is really slick in the flesh—simple and streamlined—and seems to work just as smoothly on the inside, with a very responsive touchscreen and very fluid graphics. As an iPhone user, I found the N9’s interface intuitive and very easy to get to grips with

What I will say though is that the phone is a fantastic device, and if you like it and like the services and apps it comes with then why not buy it. ….

It is a device worthy of a full ecosystem and full support from a company that wants to see it do well and release more like it.

Worth a listen

Other Bits and Bobs

So there has been more info pop up about the device that is worth sharing, some factual, some editorial.

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About bluechrism

I am a software developer with most professional experience in the Windows .Net realm and I'm currently a WPF developer with Starkey Labs. However, I have wanted for some time to start the mobile developer journey properly and being an N900 owner, this was to be in the realm of QT. Job hunting, moving to Minnesota and changing jobs put my plans on hold 6-12 months but things are starting to settle now, just as I'm getting sorted to start some things, Microsoft and Nokia merge. This blog is about my novice mobile development experiences and hopefully will end up complete with links to download some apps on various platforms, but obviously by the name, Sybian, Maemo/Meego and Windows Mobile. In other stuff, I am English, I support Everton FC, I have visited Glastonbury music festival 5 times and recommend it to anyone. I am married and my wife and i have a dog called Friday.
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6 Responses to Ultimate guide to web reaction to the Nokia N9

  1. Michael Hell says:
    June 23, 2011 at 12:35 am

    thank you very much for picking up my 99 pictures on Fone Arena! :)

    Reply
  2. Jonas Lihnell says:
    July 1, 2011 at 1:48 am

    In the last few days of watching god know how much vidoes and photos of this beauty I came across a screenshot of a program displaying power consumption per application, measured in percentage of the total current consumption. While there are many ways to improve on this I still find it a great addition to the device.

    That said, I am no longer able to find said screenshot and I was hoping that you may have come across it too and know where to find it.

    If you do, or suddenly feel an urge to look around on and happen to find it, could you please link it from here? The ability to measure quality of applications in term of power consumption is something very innovative and I really would like to know more about it.

    Reply

  3. Pingback: Ultimate guide to web reaction to the Nokia Lumia 800 and 710 | The MicroNokia Developer

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