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[Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...]The N95 8GB may be one of the most advanced devices on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There are a few software issues that I believe need attention and can be easily fixed with a software update. So Nokia please take note and include these in your next firmware update. 1) Slow Gallery load time, especially after picture was taken: The N95 8GB is overall a pretty speedy device, but when it comes to the Gallery load up time, it’s pretty slow. This is a behavior that seems to affect only the devices with the built-in 8GB. When I had the N81 8GB it too exhibited the same behavior, until it was supposedly fixed by the version 10.0.058 (N81-1) / 10.0.035 (N81-3) software update. The software update for the N81 8GB description said: “This software version includes improvements in WLAN performance, memory transfer and camera stability.” The key words are “memory transfer”. It seems they fixed the issue on the N81 8GB by improving the memory transfer and things got a lot faster. I believe the same thing is affecting the N95 8GB and just like the N81 8GB it can easily be fixed. To retest my findings, I took a test shot with the camera, which by itself is pretty fast. But when opening the gallery to see the picture I had just taken, it took me almost 40 seconds before I could actually see a thumbnail of the photo! The same process on the N82 took 5 seconds.
2)Better slide handling. This is an [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] She had received the N81 and noticed the numerous slide handling options offered on the N81, which strangely enough cannot be found on the flagship N95 8GB! Basically the N81 allows you to set every aspect of the slide behavior as you can see from Darla’s screen shot. The only option offered on the N95 8GB is the option to lock keys if the slide is closed. Why Nokia? If the N81 can do this, so should the N95 8GB and all variants for that matter.
3) Separate tracks from tunes. So I have 8GBs on the N95 8GB to put in all my tunes, definitely a great feature, but not so when the music tracks are not separated from the ringtones. This is a very old complaint and should be fixed now as storage capacities get larger. The other day I decided to change my ringtone, only to be shocked with the realization that I had to scroll through 8GBs of music because the tones are not separated from the tunes. Yikes! On top that they need to add the ability to search for tones by typing in the name.
4) Lay of the heavy image enhancements. If you’re a frequent “The Nokia Guide reader” you’d know that I do many image quality tests. Recently I did an ISO test [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] While the N82 is undoubtedly the better shooter, I can conclude that the N95 8GB has room for improvement. One thing I noticed is the heavy usage of Noise reduction that on one hand does take care of noise, but on the other hand the images lose a lot of detail and give the image an almost hazy dream effect. I propose that they lay of the image reduction and find a better balance that takes care of image noise, but that doesn’t create that hazy effect.
5)Add Auto-rotation. The Auto-rotate Feature of the N82 should make its way into the N95 8GB and all variants and Nokia should make sure that they fix the complaints I had about the Auto-rotate feature [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] While we’re on the subject I think they should hire [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], the guy behind rotate ME, Nokmote and ShutUp and quickly develop these apps and integrate them into the firmware of every device with the accelerometer, including the N95 8GB.
6)Allow the option of turning the music keys into gaming keys in N-Gage games. I think it was from the guys at AllAboutSymbian that I heard the rumor that N95 8GB’s music keys would be used as gaming keys with N-Gage games. This is a great idea that I hope becomes reality. But I would like to add a little detail to the feature, I stress I would like the OPTION of turning this on or off. It’s important to have the choice of turning it on or off because I know some of you like to play music while playing games and it’s pretty handy to have the music keys to change your tracks without having to go into the Music players. On the other hand some prefer dedicated gaming keys and don’t care at all about music. There should be an options that allows you to set the behavior of the music keys in N-Gage games: music keys or gaming keys?
7) We want the Video Editor back! Now that these devices have plenty of RAM it would be perfect timing for them to re-introduce the Vide editor. Sometimes I would like to quickly edit a movie while on the road, isn’t that the purpose of a “Multimedia Computer” as Nokia puts it? Why would I have to turn to my notebook or PC to perform a task that could easily be done on the device itself. Come on guys, put the application back!
8) The ability to choose between WAP Browser and Full-blown browser. The S60 browser is great, but sometimes I need a WAP browser as some sites require you to go to the WAP browser to download certain apps and as luck would have it, they recognize the S60 browser as a full-blown browser and tell you to: “access the site via a WAP Browser” Sometimes the opposite happens, the S60 browser will be seen as a WAP browser and you would not be able to access all content. Maybe they should return to the N80 days where they would have two separate browser or maybe even a switch that turns the built-in browser into either a WAP browser or full-blown browser.
9)Speed up the search feature. The search feature on the stand-by screen is slow and took nearly 10 seconds to open. 10) Add FOTA and actually use it this time. I remember when we were introduced to S60 3rdd edition feature pack 1, one of the most talked about features was FOTA. Although it was enabled on several handsets I don’t think it was used that much. Can we add this on the N95 8GB and actually use it?
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This is the first report from my [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], where I spent the first 2 days demonstrating the camera and video recording capabilities of the device as well as the accelerometer goodness.
Day 1 - Camera & Video Recording
When I first found out that the N95 was going to sport a 5MP cam and 640×480 video resolution with 30 fps, I was really impressed. I mean those are specs higher than my stand-alone digital camera. I am not a pro photographer, my main use of a camera is taking quick pictures and videos, now and then, for the memories. I usually didn’t mind having a low-quality picture or video as long as the moment I took it in was great. After all, pictures and videos are like a visual diary, they are just here to remind us of great moments in our lives, moments that our lazy memory would erase or blurry. But with the N95 8GB, I am sure that I not only have a way to revive my memories, but also a way to show it and share it with everyone around me. That is the greatest part about it.
My Own Impressions
The picture quality is impressive. I don’t print pictures, I don’t make posters of them. I just keep them on my computer to view them later, so the 5MP is much more than enough for me: we all know that the laptop screen has a maximum resolution of 1280×800 (with something around 80dpi). The N95 8GB takes pictures with a maximum resolution of 2582 x 1944. Point made. Even if I did want to print out my pictures on a 17×15cm paper, they would come out really good.
The video quality also blew me away. Yes I knew I was expecting a similar quality to my stand-alone Kodak digicam (who takes videos with the same resolution and fps), but I was thinking that it wouldn’t actually BE the same quality. Well, I was wrong, really wrong. I also made a little comparison with the N73 (352×288 video res, with 15fps), which still accounts as one of the best cameraphones out in the market. I took a video my friend had recorded with her N73 and sent it over BT to the N95 8GB. I then recorded one video with the N95 8GB itself. Then, using TV-Out, I played both videos on our 29in flat TV. And the result? Are you actually asking? No way you could compare them. The better resolution on the N95 8GB had a role to play, but the 30fps is the one that made the N95 8GB stand out. The N73 delivered a cameraphone video, expected result, but the N95 8GB delivered a quality as good as my own digicam. Thumbs up Nokia, seriously.
Also, having a dedicated not configurable gallery button was bugging me at first. But after a couple of days with the N95 8GB, I thank the designer team for introducing it.
Now, what didn’t impress me all that much?
First of all there’s the fact that everytime I popped the TV-Out cable in the N95 and selected TV-Out, the device would reboot. First time I thought it was my mistake, then I noticed it kept happening. So afterwards I had to press Cancel to have the thing working. But when I would disconnect the device from the TV, it would reboot, so it’s a lose-lose situation. I guess it’s a problem with my unit because I haven’t heard anyone complain about it.
Second there’s the fact that when I am connected on TV-Out and I take a picture, the preview image isn’t the full resolution image, which means that quality on TV-Out looks crappy. I know that not many people would eventually try to take a picture while connected to a TV, but what if they do? They’ll think their hand moved or that there’s something wrong with the autofocus.
Speaking about autofocus, I noticed that getting the autofocus to work was pretty hard at first. I always ended up taking the picture before the focus was correct. Eventually I got used to it, but still…
The gallery is painfully slow to load. I first thought that it was just me because I’m running so many apps in the background. Turns out [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...].
Why the hell can’t I use the 1 and 3 buttons to rotate images left and right in the gallery? Why??? It exists on all S60 3rd edition devices!
And finally there’s the obvious “where the hell is the video editor?”, along with “where the hell is Muvee?”. I saw Muvee on my friends’ N73 and N76, which means it exists for S60 v3 (9.0 and fp1) why isn’t it on the N95 8GB? Plain stupid! People’s Impressions
What people first notice is the huge lens on the back of the device. I got a lot of “is that a new camera?” questions. Well, I believe that no one would expect to see such a huge lens on the back of a mobile phone.
The other great positive they note is that point and shoot is tremendously easy, just because of the huge screen. They don’t have to stare at a small screen to take the picture, they have 2.8in of goodness to feast their eyes on. 2 persons even told me the experience was comparable to their Sony CyberShot digital cameras!
With a TV around, I also demonstrated viewing the pictures and video on TV-Out. The only comment I got was: Wow. People don’t know what 5MP or 3MP or 8MP is, they just buy the highest number around. When you say you’ve got a 5MP cam on a mobile phone, they think about their own 7 or 8MP digicam and tend to think that 5MP is much lower quality. Stretching the picture on a whole 25in or 29in screen shows just how good it is. They are even surprised that it comes with a TV-Out cable! Video playback on TV also got a lot of admiration.
Negative comments I got were about:
the camera button being a little hard to press
night pictures being lower quality
front camera is worthless
zooming takes all the picture quality. I did explain that it was a digital zoom, which doesn’t compare in quality to an optical zoom, but hey, the end result remained the same, and that probably was the major letdown for many. Day 2 - Accelerometer Goodies
We were all mad at Nokia for not mentioning that the N95 had a built-in accelerometer, and I still don’t understand why they hid it. But thank God, they revealed it eventually! Thanks to [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], the accelerometer has a couple of great uses now. I have installed [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] and [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] on the N95 8GB and leave them running in the background. My Own Impressions
The accelerometer is pretty darn accurate!
RotateMe is simply the best application in the world. Viewing pictures, watching videos, browsing the web, everything is made ridiculously simple with it. Normally you would see a picture in portrait mode and either use the zoom either slide the screen downwards to reveal the multimedia menu, which rotates the interface to landscape mode. RotateMe simplifies the whole thing. Just physically turn the device and taraaaa! I found it extremely helpful while browsing pages: sometimes you need to enter text, just slide the keypad out, enter your text, either holding the device vertically either horizontally, like you wish. Makes browsing a lot easier. But RotateMe does annoy a little because it sometimes rotates the screen when it’s not meant to. Fiddling with the settings got the problem somewhat solved, but after all it is quite fast so i don’t mind re-rotating the device myself.
Nokmote doesn’t have an adjustable senstivity and reactivity, for the obvious reason that it is still in development. But still having it around while playing [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] or N-Gage’s Asphalt 3 was a very nice experience. At first I spent the whole race time going from wall to wall, now I’m better at it, and I think that after a couple of days, I’ll be a real pro at it. Of course Nokmote isn’t meant to be used with the device, because you end up twisting it a lot, which makes looking at the screen to see where you are rather difficult. It is meant to be played on TV-Out and that’s where it really shines. But it’s pretty much impossible to leave it running on the device, because the sensitivity can’t be set. I normally leave RotateMe on, but close Nokmote and only open it when in need. People’s Impressions
RotateMe really stood out as the champion of the day. People thought I was pressing a button or doing something, until I handed them the device and said “take it, see for yourself”. A lot of nice comments were said. And because the iPhone is just starting to become famous in Lebanon, I heard 3 persons (roughly my age, 22-24) say “oh it’s like the iPhone”. Yeah the N95 can do that too baby! One comment I got from everyone (and I mean every single one) is “why doesn’t it rotate the other way? or upside down?” Funny question. “The device is meant to be used in these 2 configurations only, I would understand wanting to rotate it the other way, but upside down, why would you need it?”, answer “it’d be nice”. So as you see, it wasn’t about functionality, it was about the cool-factor.
I demonstrated Nokmote to a lot of people, who really liked the concept. But the main public I was interested in were my 9 (male) and 10 (female) year old neighbors, as well as my 23 and 20 year old male cousins. I started Asphalt 3, launched Nokmote and connected the N95 8GB to our 29in screen. All of them thought it was impressive. The 9 year old boy, who had just got a PS2 for Christmas said “oh it’s like the Wii!” and I couldn’t get him off the N95 for 15 minutes. He bumped into a couple of walls at first, then 2 laps later, he was flying like rocket. “What do you think of it, Tony?”, poor boy looked at me after I took the N95 out of his hands and said “Cool, really cool, can I play more?”. The 10 year old girl played a little bit, but she’s not into racing games, I guess if I had some sort of Super Mario running, she would’ve been swept away. My 23 year old cousin who loves technology a tidbit (he’s a mechanical engineer after all), didn’t have any trouble adjusting to the play mode, but 3 minutes later, he was tired of twisting the device. My 20 year old cousin who is really into all those racing games was watching his brother not impressed about it, but when he got to play with it he ended up having fun and getting used to the sensitivity in no-time. Other friends that saw it didn’t get the chance to experience it with gaming and TV-Out, but just with the gallery, videos and music playing. They were amazed by the concept but found it rather annoying and hard to control. I explained it was still in development.
What do you think of the comments I have been receiving so far? Do you get the same remarks with your friends? As far as I can see, the first experiences have been rather good. Stay tuned for more N95 8GB Lebanon Ambassador reports. Coming next are music and video playback, wifi and browsing.
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I have to admit, buying a top smartphone on contract does appeal financially. Thanks to Ewan for pointing out that [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] with no initial bulk outlay, £15 a month 'rental' (i.e. buy it bit by bit) and £15 voice plan. So the same £480 as you'd pay SIM-free up front, but with your calls, Skype, texts for 18 months? Unlimited data (of the browsing kind) is an extra £5 per month and the first 500 customers get a free set of speakers. Seems like a good deal to me.
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A US variant of Nokia's flagship Nseries device, the [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], will shortly be made available. The only change in the specifications from the standard N95 are in the supported the WCDMA frequencies - 850/1900 MHz instead of 2100 MHz. The device will be available from Nokia Flagship Stores and Nseries retailers during the first quarter at an estimated retail price of $749.
The US version of the N95 8GB follows on from the US version of the N95 classic. Nokia is clearly keen to push Nseries devices to US audiences. The US is Nokia's worst performing market globally, especially among high end smartphones. In the US the market leaders in device sales terms are the Blackberry devices, Windows Mobile devices and the Apple iPhone. Nokia represents just a few percentages of the market. This is partly due to the differing frequencies used in 3G technologies, the US Nseries variants address this issue.
However a more serious and unresolved problem for Nokia is the power of the US operators. The majority of people in the US by their phones through an operator; and the operators tightly control the models of phone available. Nokia has been less flexible in accommodating operator requirements (or demands depending on your perspective) and consequently few Nokia phones are carried by US operators. As with the N95 classic there is, as of yet, no operator partner for the N95 8GB and as such sales will be driven through Nokia flagship stores and retail partners on and offline.
The US is seeing an increase in the number of people buying SIM free phones, but it is a very slow change. The reality is that Nokia still needs an operator partner who is able and willing to appropriately market an Nseries device in order to gain any real traction in the market. We are sure that this is something that Nokia is working on.
The pricing of the N95-8GB at $729 compares very favourably with European prices (partly due to current exchange rates). This equates to £360 for the US version compared to around £500 for the stand version (UK RRP pricing), which may cause some complaints from savvy shoppers.
You can read our [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...]
where we cover the main features of the phones and discuss some of the changes from the N95 classic.
From the [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...]:
With consumer demand for the most advanced wireless devices continuing to rise, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) announced today that it is optimizing the Nokia N95 8GB for networks using 850/1900 MHz HSDPA (high speed data packet access) in the Americas. Combining speed, technology and content - the new Nokia N95 8GB bridges the gap between traditional fixed entertainment centers and portable wireless devices with its stunning 2.8 inch QVGA screen with support for up to 16 million colors, eight gigabytes of built-in memory, A-GPS positioning for improved location access and enhanced battery life.
A recent global study commissioned by Nokia, entitled 'A Glimpse of the Next Episode', predicts that by 2012, up to 25 percent of all entertainment will be created and consumed within peer communities as opposed to traditional media groups. With this trend dubbed by Nokia as 'Circular Entertainment', devices such as the Nokia N95 8GB, which allow the consumer to create, edit and upload content directly to the Internet, will be more important than ever as consumers personalize content and make it their own.
"Today's savvy consumer wants an all in one device that enables them to customize and share content immediately with their social communities. The Nokia N95 8GB fills this void as one of the most advanced wireless devices currently on the market in North America," said Bill Plummer, Vice President, Go-to-Market, Nokia Americas. "With the addition of HSDPA for ultra-fast connectivity, the Nokia N95 8GB delivers on the promise of a multimedia computer in one surprisingly small package."
The Nokia N95 8GB comes with the advanced feature set expected from a state-of-the-art Nokia Nseries multimedia computer. The new Nokia N95 8GB offers a class-leading five megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and autofocus, WLAN, and a full eight gigabytes of internal memory, allowing for storage of up to 20 hours of video or up to 6000 songs. Complete with captivating 3D graphics, the Nokia N95 8GB will also offer compatibility with the upcoming N-Gage games service. It is also a full-featured GPS device with assisted GPS (A-GPS) and a large map database covering more than 100 countries, including a number of US state maps preloaded. The Nokia N95 8GB will also support Nokia Share Online 3.0, which will be made available via Nokia Download! and will enable consumers to upload photos and videos with one click to Flickr or Vox, allowing them to quickly share content with their social communities.
Based on powerful Symbian S60 3rd Edition software, consumers can personalize their Nokia N95 8GB by choosing from a wide selection of advanced mobile applications, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. The Nokia N95 8GB comes out of the box ready to create, connect, consume and interact with some of the Internet's most popular services including Yahoo! Search, Amazon's MobiPocket Reader or Flickr. The device also features widget support which enables users to customize the online content they can receive quickly on their Nokia N95 8GB.
Here's our video preview of the N95-8GB from the original launch at Nokia's GoPlay event in August 2007:
Nokia N95 8GB North American Edition hitting Nokia flagship store, online e-tailers t
Finally, Nokia used CES as an opportunity to officially confirm what we [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...] — they will be launching their flagship N95 8GB Symbian S60 based smartphone to the U.S. market. The right HSDPA frequencies (850/1900 MHz) are there, and the device should hit Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago, as well as online e-tailers during this quarter.
Want one? Sure you do! Estimated retail price without any contract is $749. Or you could wait for AT&T to pick it up… We hope they will… Full release follows after the break. [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...]
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The highly-anticipated Nokia N95 8GB NAM is live! Nokia launched it last night and we managed to snap a couple pics of the sleek, large-screened beauty as we threw back complimentary drinks and scarfed down some delish eats.
Before anyone starts complaining about the craptastic photo quality, please bear with us. High-resolution pics are on the way, hang in there.
Just like its [Only Registered and Activated Users Can See Links. Click Here To Register...], the Nokia N95 8GB NAM rocks that larger screen, 8GB of onboard memory (of course), larger battery, more RAM, 5 megapixel Carl Zeiss shooter, and that conspicuously absent lens-cover. Here’s a little taste of the Nokia N95 8GB NAM in all its black-clad glory.
Keep reading to see the rest of the pics.
Update: High-res pics added, enjoy!
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N95 8GB News
The highly-anticipated Nokia N95 8GB NAM is live! Nokia launched it last night and we managed to snap a couple pics of the sleek, large-screened beauty as we threw back complimentary drinks and scarfed down some delish eats.
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