These days you can’t make a smartphone and expect it to sell (and perform well) without including a decent browser. The mobile web has come a long way since my first taste of it, the extremely limited WAP over GPRS as I had on my Nokia 6510, followed up by basic page rendering over 3G on handsets like the N95 and E61. Modern smartphones have a lot more to deal with in terms of complexity and content, and todays users expect a “proper” browsing experience, with all the features of a desktop browser available to them.
So after this trip down memory lane, discussing handsets of old, how does the N8 perform? The spec sheet seems to indicate that everything is in order claiming “Full web browsing of real web pages” and detailing support for HTML, XHTML MP, WML, CSS, Javascript and Flash Lite 4 and in my initial tests I was pleasantly surprised by the accurate approach to rendering pages from the N8. However, due to the comparatively low resolution of the screen, it can actually be quite difficult to “use” the browser with most pages initially rendering with only the top left corner of the content available without scrolling or zooming. This wouldn’t be a big problem if the experience of scrolling / zooming was more pleasant, but sadly the usually excellent capacitive display is slow to react to swipes when browsing complex pages and this leads to a less than pleasant overall experience.
Web standards compatibility
There is better news in terms of support for modern standards, with all of the standard pages I tested rendering correctly, and even some of the more advanced and complex pages rendering in a usable fashion. The currently in development jQuery Mobile is also compatible with the browser and has support at B-Grade level which the project describes as providing an “enhanced experience except without Ajax navigation features”. In reality this means that the N8 will be forward compatible (to an extent) with many of a new breed of websites and web apps that will support the fledgling standard as it grows in popularity, making it a safe bet for “normal users” (not me) who are likely to keep their handsets for the entire duration of an 18 or 24 month contract.
Speed
When considering the speed of browsing it is a bit of a mixed bag. Over 3G the handset performs OK, no better or worse than any other handset I have tested in terms of its radio performance and download speeds, but when you take the browser into consideration it becomes painfully slow rendering complex websites. Over WiFi the story is much the same, with the N8 getting to pages and starting to download quickly, but the rendering seemingly going on forever.
Nokia N8 v Apple iPhone 4 – Browser Speed Test
In a head to head with the Apple iPhone 4 (running iOS4) the N8 was decimated, blazing speeds from the iPhone4 meant that in some of the tests I ran the N8 still had a blank screen when the iPhone 4 had fully rendered the page. In the above video the N8 was defeated 3-0 by the iPhone and in terms of raw pace was left well behind.
Wrap-up
Overall the N8 web performance is a bit of a mixed bag to say the least. From a technical perspective the browser performs well, rendering the vast majority of pages successfully, however, whether or not you still care what the site you are looking for has to say when it eventually finishes rendering is another matter all together. For users that only use the web occasionally and mainly live in messaging and email the N8 would make a solid companion, but more demanding (power) users should look elsewhere to a more modern phone OS with a more robust browser and a handset with more horsepower. Flash support is a pleasant and welcome surprise, but this isn’t enough to let me feel confident recommending the N8 for anyone who intends to use the internet regularly on the move. A good effort, but one that feels a little left behind when compared with the current crop of modern smartphone browsers.
Oh dear Adobe, oh dear. Once more you have managed to get your big stirring spoon out and get all the tech media in a rage about Apple, and guess what – this time they didn’t even do anything wrong! Following the recent launch of Mac OSX 10.7 Lion, Adobe claimed that Apple had removed support for hardware acceleration from their operating system – making Flash appear to perform less effectively than it had done under 10.6 Snow Leopard. The media jumped on the accusation, always keen to get an attack going on Apple.
Shortly after, the following post appeared on the Adobe Flash Player Team Blog.
“We saw that there were some questions today related to Flash Player 10.3 support for Mac OS X Lion (10.7) related to hardware video acceleration. To avoid any more confusion, we wanted to clarify:
The final release of Mac OS X Lion (10.7) provides the same support for Flash hardware video acceleration as Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6). The previous “Known Issue” described in a tech note suggesting that video hardware acceleration was disabled in Lion was incorrect and based on tests with a pre-release version of Mac OS X Lion that related to only one particular Mac GPU configuration. We continue to work closely with Apple to provide Flash Player users with a high quality experience on Mac computers.”
Sounds like a lot of fuss about nothing to me, as usual.
Quick tip for the day: “How do I force eject a DVD or CD from a slot loading drive on a MacBook or MacBook Pro?”
This one is really simple once you know it, but not at all obvious if you don’t. If you can’t eject the disc from your drive, don’t panic! Just restart the machine and hold down the trackpad, after a few seconds you should hear the noise that will slow your heart rate and reduce your panic. The disc should eject all by itself without the need for any tools, sweating or swearing.
The official guidelines from Apple are as follows:
- If the drive ejects discs slowly or appears to be struggling, insert and eject a single disc several times.
- If the drive does not eject discs using the F12 or eject key on the keyboard.
- If the disc will not eject try dragging the disc icon to the trash.
- If the disc will still not eject, holding down the trackpad or mouse button after restarting the computer should also eject a disc.
- If the disc continues not to eject, reset the Power Manager (PMU) or System Management Controller (SMC) and try steps 1-4 again.
Enjoy 
Ever since July 2008 and the launch of the Apple App store, the world of mobile internet has been in a constant state of change. Up until this point, Steve Jobs and the rest of the Apple marketing machine had been all about providing the best possible mobile browser, and the best mobile websites. They even had a page on the main Apple website promoting pages that worked the best in the fledgling iPhone OS (now iOS) browser. Following the launch of the App Store, the focus of mobile internet has changed, moving steadily away from in-browser experiences and edging ever closer to a world where apps are king.
With the ever-growing popularity of Android, and the diverse range of other platforms available – including HP (Palm) WebOS, Blackberry OS, Samsung Bada, HTC Brew and Windows Phone 7, Nokia MeeGo and Symbian – many businesses are left with a choice:
- Do we produce an app for every platform? At a huge cost and long timeline, this option isn’t available to all businesses.
- Do we pick one platform and hope our target market finds us? Risky again, if you get it wrong then you need to start again.
Luckily there is another option. Whilst many developers have been moving towards the ‘app model’, there has also been a great deal of innovation in the ‘mobile browser’ space, and with the emergence of jQuery mobile, developers now have a real alternative to developing custom apps for each platform. Read More
Not so long ago I found a buyer for my original iPad 32GB WiFi and waved an emotional goodbye to a device that had been used almost constantly since it arrived back from Florida in April 2010. When I first got it, the iPad wasn’t released here in the UK – and it had a certain magic about it. There weren’t many of them around, people would stop and stare at it in coffee shops, or on the train and life was good. My only regret was that I didn’t wait and get a UK version with 3G.
Following the launch of the iPad 2 – I knew it was the time for me to make the change and get a 3G model, allowing me to stop using my iPhone 4 to tether to get online while out and about, and generally improving the experience. Read More
