I get excited about technology pretty easily, Nokia World 2011 has me more excited than usual. Recently, things have been quiet at Nokia. There have been the usual releases of handsets aimed at the developing markets, but other than that there has been a pretty resolute silence coming from the Finnish manufacturer.
After spending two weeks in the company of the N8 I was left feeling like I was ready for more. More of the famous Nokia build quality and excellent industrial design. More innovation, thought and user focus like I experienced in the old days using everything from a 5110 to an N95-8GB.
I’m excited because we simply MUST be about to witness the unveiling of the next generation of Nokia Smartphones. With Windows Phone 7 (7.5?) platform the time has surely come for Nokia to re-enter the smartphone market with a bang. Nokia handsets empower people all over the world, give them their connections to the rest of the world, and help them get their message out. I simply hope that Nokia can make a barnstorming return to the premium handset market with something big.
Good luck Nokia.
After spending 2 weeks in September with the Nokia N8 I finally got around to editing some of the video that I took with this surprisingly powerful little handset. Navigating to and using the video recording mode is very simple, and the available controls provide enough flexibility to produce some pleasing results.
In the example included below, I was recording in bright sunlight, outdoors. The N8 produced very impressive video in these conditions, and the only time I really found it to struggle when indoors in low light conditions. However, this can be said of many smaller sensors found in mobile devices, and is a common problem with the technology, not so much with this particular device.
For those users looking for instant gratification, the N8 includes HDMI out, so freshly captured video can be played directly from the device onto a TV or monitor (via an optional HDMI cable). There are also options for wireless streaming over your home network to get your content moving about and displayed where you need it.
Overall I was VERY impressed with the video performance from the N8. It’s directly comparable to the quality that one would expect from a dedicated pocket video recorded such as one of the now discontinued Flip Cameras, with the added benefit that as it is also a phone, there is no need to carry an additional device. When compared with some lower end point and shoot cameras the N8 once again punches above its weight in terms of end result, and ease of use.
Nokia N8 v Apple iPhone 4
Video Performance Comparison
Nokia N8 v iPhone 4 Video Comparison from Jon Hume on Vimeo.
Above: Quick comparison movie to show the difference in quality between the Nokia N8 and the iPhone 4. The N8 produces fantastic realistic colours and overall provided a great video recording experience. The iPhone 4 could not be simpler to use and create basic clips on, but the unrealistic colours in the final product mean that the footage really only looks good when viewed back on the iPhone screen itself. The iPhone struggled to deal with the bright sunlight and the contrast between light and shade. A solid win for the N8 in this case.
N8 Video Specifications
- 12 megapixel with Carl Zeiss optics
- HD quality 720p resolution
- Shoot 16:9 videos in HD
- 3x digital zoom
- Video capture in 720p 25 fps with codecs H.264, MPEG-4
Recently there has been a lot of rumbling in the tech press about the latest operating system from Microsoft, Windows 8. It was announced and immediately released as a developer preview that anyone can download for free from the Microsoft website.
On the surface Windows 8 looks to be Windows 7 with their new Metro UI pasted on top. The press seem to be reacting to the news in a variety of ways – either total dismay, or a mediocre Luke-warm response to their new ideas.
I decided to download the preview and give it a try, but what is the safest way to test out this very early software on the Mac? By using a Virtual machine of course!
Getting up and running with the Windows 8 Developer Preview couldn’t be easier for Mac users. Here is a quick guide to get you up and running using my software of choice VMWare Fusion 4, the latest release of the excellent Fusion client. Leave a comment at the bottom of the post if you have any questions. Read More
This week I was lucky enough to receive a review handset from Nokia to try out for a few weeks and put through a barrage of tests. After using the phone for only a limited time, my initial impressions are:
- The N8 is well put together, and the design of the phone is rugged and high quality.
- It is a good size, fits well in the hand and all the controls can be easily reached during one handed operation
- The screen is only running at 640 x 360 pixels, however, the OLED display has excellent colour reproduction and the blacks are perfect
- Setting up email and calendar syncing was simple enough, however, not as easy as on the iPhone and with several extra steps required
- Having a physical camera button is a real bonus when it comes to taking better quality photos with the excellent 12MP camera, but only if you are using two hands to frame the shot
- Call quality and battery life are both excellent, turns out I had got used to having a phone that barely lasted a day and was no good for actually talking to people
- I’m not the first person to have this review unit, the back of the camera bump where it touches when you put it on any surface has got a bit battered over time and some of the bare metal has been exposed
- Symbian ^3 is not a modern smart phone OS and is severely lacking in many departments, also – some of the apps crash instantly on opening (the social app for example) and I can’t find any clues online as to why this might be
A more detailed review and some browser functionality and speed tests will be coming over the next 2 weeks.
Some comparison shots with the Apple iPhone4
The Nokia N8 review handset was kindly supplied by WOMWorld. The WOMWorld/Nokia is a Nokia sponsored resource providing latest news, comment and feedback on all things Nokia from the world of social media and beyond. Visit the site here.
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MySpace was a social networking pioneer but is now becoming less and less relevant by the day. When looking through search results to check I had updated all of my various profiles to include my new employer (and not the old one) I noticed that my MySpace profile was about 5 years out of date. I haven’t used the site for a long time and so I decided to delete my account. It is a long and painful process so if you too want to quit MySpace here is how.
