A decade ago, I was invited to the UK launch of Windows Phone 7. It was Microsoft’s attempt to compete with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. Sure, Microsoft could make a brilliant OS and had excellent hardware partners – but could they convince developers to use yet another system? At the time, I wrote: The…
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I was working in the mobile phone industry just as smartphones were taking off. I saw the Palm Pilot rise and fall. I witnessed NEC and Sagem and a host of companies launch smartphones and then disappear. But the greatest tragedy of them all was Nokia and their Symbian Operating System. (Actually, Symbian’s ownership and…
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Last year I complained about a dangerous change to Google’s Maps app. When driving, you want to spend the majority of your time concentrating on the road ahead. Flicking one’s eyes to the mirrors & speedometer should be enough to quickly assess one’s environment. The same applies for SatNav apps – every second that is…
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It was the best of phones – it was the worst of phones… I want to start this review by saying three things: I got this phone for free – thanks Nokia! I’m an extremely demanding mobile user. I recognise that I am an edge-case; what I find annoying, you may not. I’ve tried to…
Continue reading →Stephen Fry has recently recorded a BBC podcast about the history of the mobile phone. It’s a really great series, and I encourage you to listen to it. At one point in episode 4, Stephen sings the Nokia ringtone. So, here it is for your edification, and delight. Feel free to set it as your…
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Nokia’s marketing team are idiots. They’ve used URL over which they have no control on an advert for one of their premium handsets. This is the story of how I hijacked stole hacked recycled it and, in doing so, prevented Nokia from having a serious PR problem. E7 Poster This is advert for the new…
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There’s a delightful video doing the rounds of an Augmented Reality game for the iPhone. What better use of technology than to simulate the destruction of TIE Fighters? While undoubtedly cool, what amuses me about this game is why it has taken the gaming world so long to catch up with Symbian! Way back in…
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Way back in 2010, I was sent a Nokia N8 to review. It was dreadful. Simply one of the worst devices I’ve ever used. My original ranty blog posts have been lost from tumblr, so I’ve reposted it here as a single post. It is pretty slapdash. I’ve added some commentary. Warning! There be swearing…
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Three failures and one giant lost opportunity Failure 1 – Targeting This version of the Tesco shopping app is only available on Nokia phones. Nothing wrong with that – Nokia are still the biggest phone seller on the planet. So why allow the advert to be shown to Android users? It will annoy users, reduce…
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I’ve mentioned Nokia on here a few times. For a mobile focused company, they seem to have a real problem with mobile advertising. It starts well enough with an animated GIF. The site it links to is http://music.nokia.co.uk/ – cleverly, Nokia redirect mobile users to a specific mobile version of the site. That’s where it…
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