mobile phones – Page 3

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That’s it. I am going to sell my 6 month old Nokia E72 QWERTZ phone.

Yes, it’s just a phone and “why should I read the following rant on Nokia”, you may be wondering. Here is why:

1. Flexibility

I mentioned it earlier that I had bought a 2G iPhone some month ago, with a broken screen and drained battery from eBay for 65,- EUR, which I managed to repair and have since been using. The iPhone may be a crippled piece of hardware and Nokia may have the best hardware on their phones (also in terms of durability), but there is just so much more I can do with this old iPhone from 2007 that I can’t do with any of my four Nokias (6230, 6230i, N95 & E72).

The iPhone (or an HTC Desire with Android OS) is my logical extension to the computer. Evernote, to name just one application, runs on the iPhone but doesn’t (natively) run on the E72. I am using Evernote to keep track of my notes, so I’ll need to have this run on a phone.

Flexibility is a matter of software support, not only hardware.

Consequently, the iPhone won. I am using it on a daily basis while the E72 slept in my drawers since February 2010. Time to sell it and sum up everything with this blog post.

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iPhone 2G vs. Nokia E72

2. Good at basic stuff

If you’re just looking for a simple mobile phone with sms, Nokia phones are good. There’s a reason why the 1xxx range of Nokias has been so popular around the world – not only in emerging markets. It is also why Nokia keeps on reinventing this series with the recent announcement of their C1 & C2 (dual sim, eventually!) phones. Even the simple QWERTY phone with Bluetooth we’ve been asking for via Eriks post – Nokia’s C3 – is a good phone.

For simple stuff like voice calls or sms, Nokia phones are good. Even as a mobile Twitter device (Gravity) it rocks! …but for anything else than that, you’re probably better off buying a phone from one of their competitors.

3. SOFTWARE!

This is 2010 and thanks to the iPhone and the undeniable revolution it brought to the market, any smartphone without “cool” software and a usable app store just sucks.

It’s not just the missing Evernote on the E72, or other missing applications. You know many ppl have been asking Nokia and their devs to port successful applications from competitors to the different operating systems in use on Nokia phones. No, with software I mean everything:

confusing, often changing user interfaces & menu structures
different operating systems (plus too many different phones at the same time, but that’s another – hardware – issue)
support of their developers (slowly evolving though)
unstable firmwares on their phones, always takes at least 12 month on a new phone to become stable
Nokia website – not optimised for use with mobile phones
Ovi.com (see 5.)
essential stuff like Sports Tracker. It took a spin-off from Nokia to get this cool software a bit closer to where it should be.
Ovi Maps – not yet available for all phones (who are capable of displaying these maps)
the successful Twitter client Gravity being one of the very few REALLY GOOD apps on a Nokia smartphone
Global login on all Nokia sites and products. It still doesn’t work the way it should be (one ID & pwd).
Ovi app wizard. Over at Apple, “apps” that provide nothing else but an RSS feed are meanwhile classified as “spam apps” – and removed from their app store. Are the “apps” built using this app wizard a way for Nokia to bloat their Ovi store stats?

Please, Nokia, software is SUCH an important issue. You’re so good at hardware – why can’t you apply the same diligence to your software products and all related processes?

Also, I’ve realized that I’ve spent considerably more time trying to fix various software issues on my Nokia phones than on the iPhone. I actually do not have the time for such things, and also don’t want to fix my phone all the time and pull information from all over the internet on why application x does not work with firmware y or mobile z. This is really annoying.

There may of course be historical and political reasons for all of this (I know Symbian from when it was still EPOC16 on a Palm Series 3), but then: does this really matter today? Make it work! And don’t make we waste time on it.

4. The mobile office.

Any smartphone that seriously tries to be good at providing some form of mobile office should have

a kick-ass e-mail client
a superb browser
Office suite and/or viewer for various attachments

My E72 came with such an office suite which did the job for me, but the e-mail client and – the E72 is a business phone – the browser just suck.

Nokia, seeing your customers and loyal fans complaining on Nokia Forums and on blogs about the performance of the e-mail client and browser is a NO NO. EI EI!

Cooperate with Yahoo!, install Gmail as default e-mail clients, ship your phones with the Opera Mini browser – do whatever it takes to fix this because a business phone with such an average e-mail client and browser just won’t be enough for us – your customers.

Or else team up with Android.

The e-mail client on my 1G iPod Touch (30,-€ @ eBay) actually made me buy the 2G iPhone in February this year. And this although I had just invested ~270,- € on the Nokia E72 in december 2009.

5. Ovi.com

Ovi – Finnish for “the door” – should be a door to combined Nokia services. But – yes, you guessed it right – it still isn’t.

The Ovi client on phones sucks, sometimes can’t be deinstalled and has a very particularly BAD user interface. It may work with Nokia’s touchscreen phones, but for all other phones it just sucks.

I can’t explain all faults on Ovi, there is just so much wrong with it. I also can’t see what changed from MOSH (which by itself already was a bad joke). This piece of software – as an app on the phone – just makes me want to hit someone with a Nokia 2110. It’s very frustrating. Very.

The most annoying Ovi bug, imo: You’re on Ovi.com on your computer. Ok, found a nice app, have a link to it sent to you via sms. Check your mobile, the link on that sms opens the web browser – so far, so good. But THEN the Ovi client decides to chip in and re-open it inside the client. This is very annoying, especially for those who are paying a lot of money for data traffic. Can’t this hook be implemened in the OS? => “All http://store.ovi.mobi links to open in Ovi client by default”. (my N95 runs on FW v35.x which was only recently released).

See the App Store on the iPhone? It may not be perfect, but hey – I’VE SPENT MONEY ON THE APPLE APP STORE. Something I would probably never be doing on Ovi App Store. And I guess I am not the only one.

On the other hand, it has to be mentioned that I somehow like the web version of Ovi.com. There may still be a lot of details that do not make sense to me on their website, but truth be told that their app store may be opened by anyone AND that it doesn’t open any client software like iTunes or only shows a crippled version of the market like Android.

Also, the Nokia Ovi Suite has greatly improved since it was launched, succeeding their PC Suite. Nokia is slowly getting there + iTunes is worse, I think.

This whole experience around buying software and interacting with Nokia via Ovi.com and its offered services – that’s the FIRST thing I would try to improve on as Nokia.

6. Strategy

As a serious customer, I am not looking for a fun phone with lots of games, but instead a durable workhorse that will guarantee persistence.

Nokia is in a process of change, they’ve realized that revenue is made on emerging markets and that most of their top-level phones actually can’t really compete with competitors on all levels. A great camera, long battery standby time and smart design (“use with one thumb”) are very good – buy they won’t drive the masses to Nokia stores. The E72 was supposed to be a good successor to the very successful E71. Well, is it really?

Heck, they don’t even seem to have a strategy for emerging markets and still consider Africa and the Middle East as one market! Crazy.

Or their Bicycle Charger Kit which will be released to the market later on this year. You can read my thoughts on this in the comments at Julianas AfriGadget post.

On the iPhone, I can port my apps from the 2G to the 3G, 3GS and probably also to the iPhone 4 (even though some apps, like the new iMovie seem to be limited to the iPhone 4 for hardware reasons). Will this also be possible with apps I’ve bought for the Symbian 9.3 S60 FP2 platform (e.g. the E72)? Will I also be able to use them on future Nokia phones?

The Nokia E72 may be great phone with good hardware, but it currently comes with only average software (except for Gravity) and looks like a dead end street to me. It also doesn’t help that Nokia is very innovative in their Beta Labs, ships new phones with free navigation (thx, Nokia) and a full range of accessories you’ll have to pay extra on competitors.

Nokia has missed to communicate a clear strategy to its customers. Maybe they should pitch us, tell us why their phones are better than the rest. And prove it with cool software that teams up with the already awesome hardware. Right now, I can’t see a reason for the purchase of their phones. There is no persistence in the software side of their products, and my patience with and passion for Nokia products is gone.

What will you do about it, Nokia?

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The Nokia E72, QWERTZ keyboard (DE), 6 month old, mint condition, fully equipped, with Gravity licence, OtterBox Commuter Case. 250,- EUR and it’s yours.

UPDATE: SOLD!

En attendant Android

I’ve been meaning to post this on my blog, even prepared a post in German, but then realized that 50% of the post is a rant on Nokia and decided to rewrite/repost it in English.

So, the following is a list of iPhone Apps which are running on my iPhone 2G (reassembled from scrap), and which should also be available on Android 2.x (and which may already be available). Thought about documenting this private list offline, but then: why shouldn’t I share it with you?

Twitter (ex Tweetie, very nice Twitter client)
Read It Later
ShopShop (shopping list)
Alarm :-)
AroundMe (shops within the area, location based)
Barcooo (Barcodereader)
DB Navigator (Deutsche Bahn timetable)
DHL (calculator for postal charges & parcel tracking via DHL)
Dropbox (sync files between devices)
eBay (follow auctions from the phone)
Evernote (sync notes between devices)
HootSuite (another Twitter client)
Instapaper (similar to ReadItLater)
iPostbank (online banking, search for nearest atm)
Last.FM (streaming music client)
MeinProspekt / KaufDA (advertising brochures as PDF, really cool)
VNC (virtual network computing)
Morse-it (awesome morse code trainer and my initial reason why I switched to the iPhone in the first place)
OpenMaps (OpenStreetMap client)
OperaMini (alternative browser)
Payback (…)
PlugPlayer (or any other NAS player)
Qype Radar
Sipgate (Sipgate (VoIP) client)
Skype
SPB TV (live TV streams)
Stanza (eBook Reader)
TeamViewer (remote login tool)

There are about 140 apps currently installed on my iPhone 2G – some really good ones, other just very average – but the ones from the list above are the ones I use on a regular basis.

JKE’s home screen on the iPhone in May 2010

I also don’t do games (except for Labyrinth2, BiA or NSFU) because most of the time when I am bored and pull out the phone, I rather use Twitter, Facebook or ReadItLater to check out news.

So why Android?

I think my next phone will be an HTC device, running an instance of the Android OS. I also like the iPhone and will keep it for the moment until the functionality of all apps mentioned above is also available on Android. I’ve even accepted iTunes running on my Windows machine, which used to be a no-go for a very long time.

I am thinking about an HTC device because I miss the good camera from my Nokia N95 (& E72) on the iPhone. A flash would also be nice – and since Apple obviously won’t deliver, it’ll be an HTC device next up.

Nokia? Maybe when they’ve returned from the current chaos.

Being a hardware guy, I think it’s interesting to see how I’ve switched my preferences to some extent from good hardware (Nokia) to the availability of various software products (Apple).

This (software > hardware) is so eminent in 2010, isn’t it?

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Considering that I’ve only recently gotten into the iPhone hype and eventually accepted* it being the better device for my online needs, I am surprised to realize how much this setup actually helps me being much more productive in my daily tasks.

I spend a great deal of the day in front of a computer – and when I am not in front of my computer, I usually have a mobile phone in my hands. The combination and seemless syncing between both devices is what I appreciate the most, for it enables me to continue working on any connected device.

This automatic syncing is, to my understanding, the basis for the success of any smart phone or other mobile device today.

I never really appreciated this basic functionality such as Gmail syncing of contacts, calendar entries and e-mails until I was told to do so by my friend Mzeecedric who also dedicated a blog post to this subject (in German). Coming from a Nokia device, I was used to syncing e-mails only and synced my contacts via MS Outlook and various online services (as mentioned earlier). Calendars…. well, I never really cared about that part as much for it got synced via Outlook. Such a Gmail sync is also possible on S60 Nokia phones btw, so this basic functionality isn’t an iPhone-only feature.

I never really cared about that calendar syncing because I am old-school. I maintain an offline, paper calendar (this one) which obviously doesn’t sync with anything. On top of that, I am also the “let me write that down on a piece of paper with my fountain pen”-guy, so you can imagine my desk being covered with post-it notes and other little “to-do” lists.

In fact, I am currently searching for a (good) TO-DO iPhone app that provides an over-the-air syncing via the web.

I got this German app called “ShopShop/Einkaufsliste” which does exactly what it’s supposed to do (providing a simple shopping list, see screenshot); I jailbroke my phone to display calendar events on the lock screen using “Lock Calendar” (which works better for me than “IntelliScreen”), and I also bought the pro version of “Read It Later” which btw also beautifully integrates into Tweetie and other apps. I also have accounts for Instapaper and Evernote.

Is Evernote the solution to what I am looking for? Would it also display a to-do list on the lockscreen of my iPhone (or any other phone)? Or should I rather look for a browser plugin that enables me to quickly edit gmail calendar entries / notes (which would then also appear on the lockscreen)? You know I stepped away from my offline calendar and started using the Gmail solution instead because it seemed to be the smartest way for a quick sync between a web service and the phone – and then also display on the lockscreen.

I am sure I am not the first person asking for such a service, but there are about a million pages about “kewl iPhone apps” out there, so I got lost, somehow. Any guidance on this is very much appreciated. Thank you!

——————

* The story goes that I got so pissed off about Nokia’s Ovi store that I bought an old & broken iPhone 2G which obviously isn’t top-notch, but still does more for me than both my Nokia phones N95/E72 could ever do for me in terms of productivity. And yes, this may just be due to the awesome touchscreen on the iPhone; and yes, the Google Nexus One may be the best phone for me once it eventually arrives on the domestic market. It still surprises me though that a 3yr old phone boosts my productivity – more than a new phone by the “competitor” Nokia. And this although my E72 is supposed to be a business phone and most of my tasks on the phone are very much “business”-alike.

I really have to stop blogging about phones…

I know the following is a rather unorthodox comparison between a business and an entertainment device, BUT! – as much I condemn Apple’s business policies, walled gardens and hardware restrictions – I am more productive with a 1G iPod Touch from 2007 than with my new Nokia E72 from late 2009.

Having said that, this blog post could stop here. I still feel an urge to explain my switch to this archenemy though, so pls allow the following introduction:

I recently bought a broken 1G iPod Touch from eBay, fixed it, put in a new battery, installed the latest firmware (no jailbreak so far, btw) and started using it. And….oh, what a joy it is!

Browsing, e-mailing, searching for gadgets via the eBay app, using dropbox to share files between my computers, checking my bank account, using an UnP player to access files on my NAS, a nice Facebook app, various Twitter clients, interesting ham radio apps with decoding capabilities, games games games, a water level, VNC access…..and an app store with access to 140k+ apps.

And all of this from a three year old multimedia player that comes with a fixed battery, no real multitasking capabilities, no camera and a proprietary dock connector. So how come I am rejoicing on this device like a small child?

Because it delivers. And because it’s dead simple to use. The user interface is so intuitive, everything just works, I actually don’t have to *think* while using this device. And yet it’s just a multimedia player. Amazing.

The Nokia E72? Well, it is a great phone – it really is a great phone – but it sure lacks this comfort I’ve now experienced with the iPod.

I am also using a last.fm client on my E72, I can also use it to access the Twonky Server on my NAS, there also is a new Facebook app for the E71 & E72, there also is a really, really great Twitter client for the E72 which I still like best btw (Gravity is just perfect), and it also comes with an E-mail client that’s easy to set up. And I am very sure that it will take some time until I find another phone with a camera that’s better than my old Nokia N95 which is idling in the drawers here.

However, the Firmware on the E72 keeps on crashing, the browser is very cumbersome (I am not a great fan of the Symbia S60 browser) and the E-mail client isn’t as comfy as the one on iPhone OS 3.1.3. And I don’t even want to repeat myself on Nokia’s lame app store.

In short: I used to hate touch screen phones, I now like them.

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I bought this iPod Touch as an introduction to the OS, because it was very cheap and because I will give it to someone special soon. I also bought a used 2G iPhone – with a broken screen, which is yet to arrive see update here and here. Spare parts like display unit & new battery are already here. Which means that I’ll be using the E72 and a 2G iPhone over the next few weeks to see which phone performs better. As I said, an unorthodox comparison because the iPhone certainly won’t be as fast as the E72. Both devices will have to compete for the space in my pocket though.

For all of you out there who have been using iPod Touch and iPhones in the past: yes, you were right, I was wrong. The user experience really is the important part. Everything else like removable batteries, a better camera, built quality – who cares about those details? Geeks like me maybe. And you can clearly see where this stupidity ends up.

12 years of using Nokia phones. Got my first mobile contract in 1998 on a D2 (now: Vodafone) line. 5110, 7110, 8210, 6210, 6310, 6310i, 6230, 6230i, N95 E71, E72. Like M said, we were Nokia 4 life.

However, when it comes to the hardware inside the phone, I am very much pro Nokia. Why? Because a Nokia phone can be disassembled and reassembled within 4 minutes. Try that with an Apple device… which of course weren’t built for being opened by end users. From an engineering point of view, disassembling Apple devices is really interesting. Ah well, Bwana Kikuyumoja is slowly starting to understand the way the cookie crumbles in the Apple Universe…

So why a 2G and not a 3GS? Because
a) too expensive
b) I have a working phone – the E72 also has a compass, GPS and so on
c) I am waiting for a chance to get my hands on the Nexus One
d) I am expecting other – interesting – phones with Android in 2010 & 2011 and will save on those.

[UPDATE:] Updated the Nokia E72 to its latest firmware but still prefer using the iPhone 2G. The phone just does the job for me. Amazing. Ok, I’d prefer using a 3G with better connection speeds and GPS, but I’d have to sell my phone collection in order to afford a better phone.

Reasoning from above is still valid: Nokia = great hardware but lousy software. You know I am not alone with this assumption. Actually, what I’d love to have is Nokia / SonyEricsson hardware, coupled with the openess of Android and the Apple iPhone OS user interface. That would be great…

OtterBox Commuter, ftw!

I know I’ve already mentioned this on my Posterous blog earlier today, but the truth is: I’ve never been so excited about a gadget/ an accessory since maybe when I unpacked my Leatherman Wave some years ago.

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I was looking for a decent cover for my Nokia E72 as the leather pouch it comes shipped with isn’t that great. It opens to the side and is very tight, so you’d have to push the phone inside (with some force) and pull it out (with even more force). Not that smart.

Another reason – and explanation why I went for a cover instead of another pouch/sheath – is that the E72 is rather thin, maybe too thin for a phone. It lacks a rubber back, like the one on the E63 for instance. So any potential cover would have to ensure that the phone gets a better grip on the back side.

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I then checked the market and bought a cheap (3€) silicone cover. The one that came delivered wasn’t good at all – the silicone was too stubborn and didn’t even cover all the edges (as pictured above). Such a cheap quality. I threw it away after taking these pictures.

So I kept on looking and stumbled upon this OtterBox Commuter Case. There are almost only positive reviews on the cover online, the people behind OtterBox seem to be innovative and responsive to customer input (they are on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) – and such a cover costs around 29 €.

Now, I can probably get two used Nokia 1208 phones for the price of such a cover, and it took me some time to think about this investment. Why should I invest 29 € on a cover that will only add weight to my phone? And it’s a lot of money for “just a cover”…

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I am so glad I just bought it in the end. The cover instantly worked for me – it’s such a pleasure to handle the phone now (almost as thick as an E63 now, yay! :-). The OtterBox Commuter really is the BEST phone cover I’ve ever bought for a phone so far, makes so much sense on this particular Nokia phone and I am sure I’ll also never again waste any money on cheaper alternatives that just won’t work.

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It also came shipped with a screen protector (sticker), a little card and a cleaning cloth which will help you apply the sticker onto the display. Amazing. I am yet to see something like that (the card) on other – also professional – screen protectors. Sooo… yes, I can only highly recommend the OtterBox Commuter Case to other E72 users.

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Shot & Burned

Dear Internet Diary,

I’ve bought an iPhone today. A used 2G with a broken screen.

It was (really) cheap, a spontaneous deal and I bought it because I want to enjoy some apps like this one – which will most probably never be available for Symbian S60 3rd. Heck, it was even cheaper than a used iPod Touch (which are also still very expensive). Imagine a 2y+ old 2G iPhone still sells for the same amount (on eBay Germany) you could also cough up for a brand-new Nokia business phone.

So why this video? Because it’s cool and it represents to some extent what I’ve thought about the iPhone(s) & other “smartphones” in the past.

The apps, however, the missing apps…. the missing apps really did it for me.

My Nokia E72 is a great phone and I will continue using it as a phone, but – and that’s the important part – it will not be the device that I’ll pull out for some entertainment. Mind you, though, the same could be said about my N95, which obviously comes from the eNtertainment range of phones. However, I wouldn’t want to compare the iPhones with any Nokia phone, but the way apps are made available to consumers.

Sure, there are now free Ovi Maps with free navigation and a few other apps I’ve mentioned earlier, but that’s maybe 5-10 good apps for my E72 vs. a plethora of apps on Apple’s Appstore. And it’s not that there are no other Symbian apps – there are quite a few interesting ones out there – but you most probably won’t find them on Ovi, Nokia’s all-in-one website (“the door”) which also includes Ovi Store.

Now, Nokia’s “Appstore” Ovi Store is nothing but a lame joke. And this in February 2010. They could do SO much better and start selling all their R&D beta apps, market them accordingly and show what’s really inside their devices (think of all the sensors). Ovi Store is also available online, via a browser – which I think is a very good approach (does that also exist for Apple’s Appstore, or will you have to visit their store using iTunes?). The Ovi Store application for Nokia phones though is a failure. Imagine what could be done if e.g. the developer of (the Twitter client) Gravity was to redesign this app…

You’d think that Nokia is where German car manufacturers used to be some time ago – at least from a customer’s point of view: a company run by engineers who are trying to deliver a perfectly engineered product, but then getting stuck in bureaucracy and end up selling less than they could.

Nokia. Great R&D, but such lame implementers. Great hardware, lame software. Why?

I don’t know. What I know is that I’ve just invested money into my first Apple product ever. Because Nokia couldn’t deliver.

Creakia E72

A comment on CJs latest review of the Nokia E72 reminded me of something I had also observed on my phone: “a tiny creak in the lower bar below the spacebar”. A noise that irritates the user and shouldn’t be on a brand new phone.

fix0

Since I had already opened it up the other day, I knew where the noise came from and consequently fixed it by adding a piece cut from double-sided adhesive pads as seen in the following pictures.

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(behind the keypad – too much play even though there’s a silicone gasket already in place…)

fix4

fix3

It’s simple, it’s cheap, it wins!

the cable thingy for Nokia’s (E72) WH-601 headset

While searching for a little present for her, I came across this simple cable retractor – which inspired me to build my own.

As with most other headsets by Nokia, the WH-601 that came shipped with my E72 is a little bit stubborn as the cables seem to contain too much rubber. And while this may as well be intended by Nokia’s engineers (or because no one at their Chinese factories maybe never really thought about this), storing the headset in your pocket will ultimately frustrate you sooner or later. It unfolds inside the pocket – and this peculiar behaviour will not change over time with more frequent use. It’s a design fault, in my opinion.

06012010142

One possible solution is such a cable thingy which can be bought in different shapes (there are even some with magnetic clips) or built on your own (hint hint, dear Kenyan jua kali workers: how about a version cut from car tires or flip flop sandals?). It just consists of some glued cardboard, wrapped in paper. It’s my first prototype and I may come up with a better solution – but for the moment, this will do:

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Nokia headsets have always been an issue on my blog. This one comes with a nice (much better) remote control (than the one on my N95). However, the headphones suck so much because of their shape (which can be adjusted using silicone caps, at least) and because of the sound they deliver.

I made this JKE-version of a headset in September 2008 which still works and delivers beautiful sound using Sony headphones. The cables are a bit too short on this mod though, and the remote control on the WH-601 is nice, slimmer and thus more attractive. I will probably hack this new headset soon and solder my favourite Sony headphones to the pcb inside the remote control.

And for those of you who came here looking for geek pr0n, here’s a recent pic of my opened Nokia E72 – enjoy :-)

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One may assume that the active parts (besides of the keypad, display, antenna, charger port, etc.) are all hidden underneath these metal cases only. Well…they are, and if you’ve ever opened a mobile phone yourself, you will know what they usually look like. So this is some fine piece of hardware engineering, I’d say. It’s ALL under these few covers. Also, the (multi-layered?!) pcb is of good quality. The only thing I don’t like from this first visual inspection (I had to open it because of dust under the display – yes, on a 4 weeks old phone. Nokia…) is that both microphones are directly soldered onto the pcb. The one above (visible on this pic within the gap on the left side next to the metal shields) is part of the noise reduction circuit. It’s also where most current E72 owners are crying out loud because it results in a noticeable light leakage on the keyboard. But uhm, well…. that’s the difference between a phone with many buttons (= QWERTY keyboard) and a touchscreen phone, I’d say. You can’t have it all.

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Anyways, I am happily surprised by the built quality I’ve found on the E72 and how (previously) fragile parts seem to be well engineered this time. I know the E71 has a better back cover and (metal) middle frame, but it still is a lot of high-tech they’ve hidden underneath these few metal shields. If it wasn’t for the display, the keyboard and the battery, the E72 could just as well fit into a matchbox. Seriously. Great hardware.

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Oh, and check out this massive pcb (the green part) that powers the camera flash and flashlight! Has about 1-2mm thickness.

It’s just great pleasure to see how things are engineered and that someone really thought about such design details and how they could reduce costs, materials and improve accessibility. Two screws and you can already remove the display, 4 more screws and it’s dissassembled.

Now I wish that someone at Nokia is smart enough to reconsider the materials used on their (cheaper) headsets, and that they really improve their OVI store + fill it up with Gravity-styled apps.

P.S.: Happy 2010 to all of you!