*OFFICIAL THREAD: Nokia N97

Sure, I'm not going on maligning resistive screens but rather my experience with the 5800 has shown the one they used on that phone to be crap. The video you linked to does seem that he's having an easy time manipulating objects (finally), but it also contradicts other videos. We really don't know how hard he's pressing, but I saw several inconsistencies in touch response of the N97 in other videos.

Even the 5800 is weird in that sometimes it responds to the lightest of touches and sometimes it doesn't. There's got be an algorithm to get these things right, and I suppose Nokia will be beta testing on us and giving us more FW to further beta test as they try to figure out how a touch surface should respond to a human's input. It's like watching a child try to walk for the first this trial and error process. You can see it in the 5800 as you go from FW to FW. Now it is so sensitive that it seems to respond in the browser to links when you intended to scroll.

I know they've made N800 series and S90, but they seem like such amateurs when it comes to making S60v5.

When they master the basics then maybe they can progress to the more intelligent responses you see in the iPhone. It is fun just playing with the iPhone to see "how it works". It is just very intelligent. If you move something just halfway and release it sort of figures out your intent and completes the swipe. If you do it too little it just goes back.

If anyone is going to build an artificial intelligence or learning touch screen interface it will be Apple one day and I have a feeling it will earn with the user such that it adapts to you and not the other way around. That is the level we are starting to see as being possible.

In the meanwhile Nokia will continue to struggle on figuring out how to register basic x and y co-ordinates properly.
 
Well I picked up my N97 NAM this afternoon and since it has been no secret how much I've been wanting this phone, I thought I should give my very early impressions (I've had the phone powered on for less than 4 hours).

Hardware:

- I don't know who said the phone is smaller in person than it looks in person because it's not. It looks smaller in the box and the keys on the keyboard are smaller than I expected but this thing is still a monster. It feels much heavier than my old N95 but the funny thing is it doesn't feel heavier than my E71 even though it is supposed to outweigh it by 23g

- Everything that you've heard about the build quality of this phone is absolutely true. No creaks, squeaks or wobbles. If someone picked up this phone without knowing what an N97 was, they probably wouldn't even realize that it has a slide-out QWERTY

- Slide mechanism is smooth. Snaps open, snaps closed.

- Screen is just as gorgeous as it looked in those pictures from MWC and trade shows of the like. So bright and clear that it looks fake as I look at it right now on my desk. Having no issues with the touchscreen either. I cut my nails really short when I got back from DR and have to use my fingertips and I have no problems selecting items in a list or dragging the scroll bar

- Keyboard. Now when I saw that factory video of the woman sticking the keyboard onto an N97 like a sticker, I was worried. It looks like I was right and wrong. It's not nearly as bad as I thought it would be but coming from an E71, I'd be lying if I said the experience was even comparable. The keys have tactile feedback but not as much as the E71 (which makes sense seeing that the E71's keyboard has individual keys and the N97 doesn't) but it's by no means rock solid, you'll definitely know when you're pressing a key. The home keys (F & J keys) on the keyboard are marked but not nearly raised enough, if I didn't look at the keyboard closely while typing this, I wouldn't even have noticed the small ridges at the bottom of each key.

Software

- While my N97 has about 56MB of RAM on boot, after the widgets are loaded (I'm using App Shortcuts, Accuweather, Facebook, AP News & Music Player) I'm left with 20-29MB. It's amazing what this phone can do with that little RAM and how fast it can do it BUT it's a brand new phone so don't take that as a positive just yet.

- I really regret not using my N85 because jumping from S60 3rd Edition FP1 to S60 5th Edition is not an easy one so I've been fumbling my way through the settings and menus.

- N-Gage is not pre-loaded on the N97 NAM that I have or it was and got deleted when I hard reset the phone after I took it out of the box (bad habit of mine)

- Even though I've been using Conversations beta for about 3 years, I don't really miss threaded text messaging yet but that might be because I've only texted one person so far

- No fancy slide to unlock screen which I'm happy for.

- Software version is v10.2.012 out the box and no updates are currently available.

- Nokia Maps is now Nokia Maps on crack. Loads in less than 3 seconds, locks on to your position before the map finishes loading.

That's it for now. I'm about to load a bunch of music and movies onto this thing and see how the media playback is.
 
No shipping notice..pre order was May 8. Spoke to Nokia..the rep said 2nd quarter. So..I said...does that mean it could maybe not ship until June 30..reply was yes, if we meet the 2nd quarter commitment. I'm not counting on any shipment anytime soon if he was correct
 
according to the N97 Member Club email I just got,

Greetings.

Exclusive news just in for the Nokia N97 Members Club: the Nokia Nseries flagship will start shipping to stores worldwide from this week! Keep an eye out for more online updates about when the devices will be available for purchase in your country.

Those members who have pre-ordered their new handsets will be one of the first in their country to receive the new Nokia N97. Expect an email from the online store shortly with delivery dates.
 
Papa John's was a browsing example, I live in NYC where I get better pizza from my the pizza shop downstairs in my building. But as an example I don't think I need for the page to be blank and to get 3 secure web page warnings.

This will happen on any secure site not just Papa John's, it will happen on delivery.com, seamlessweb etc. Whatever happened to a simple lock symbol? But anyway this is a S60 thing and always has been. But on this phone everything just goes black and the time that it takes to recognize your touch is quite long - longer than if you hit the center key on S60v3 which is pretty fast. I can get 4-5 touches in before it does anything. I guess I need more patience with this device.

Yes I agree the web has pictures and on other devices you see everything at first, but when I want to sit down and read - which is what I want to do basically at any site eventually after looking at the pictures a simple double tap on the text column of my interest makes that column expand to the screen. I think it's just better. Having to exit full screen then hit zoom and then resize and then go back to full screen is a lot of work to read something. No, I like my images when I first look at the page but I like my text to occupy the page when I ask for that. It happens in half a second on other devices. It takes about 3-5 on the 5800.

There is lag in general even opening apps, but not enough for me to care and less in fact than other devices of the type.

The main problem for me is really the text box issue and how it is not consistent in entering them. When trying to get a saved log-in it is nearly impossible to get the right entry without a stylus. Even zoomed in, it isn't very good at letting the user choose the text they wish.

But honestly it is much better than the earlier firmwares.

Things in the calendar are still weird like the to-do list issue. Again very inconsistent.

I suppose as it currently stands it is: not bad anymore. But it isn't yet at the level where innovative technology is used to navigate the menus or browser in a way that reduces going around the menus.

I suppose if you take without reference to other devices it has now become acceptable. But if this flagship is to compete with this years crop of innovative touch interfaces, it isn't really in that league. But it does share that kind of price tag. I think a lot of work needs to be done to get it to that competitive level. However, it is less frustrating than it used to be.

Maybe I should take it for a spin this week and see how I fare with it.
 
At least with conversations all texts were in one place with contacts and you could see the history. But nokia hasn't even ported THAT to s60v5! Wish they would, its better than the default text app. I do like the one click text icon in the call log. Helps out alot of situations for me.

Anyway i don't get all the email bashing at the level of "the sky is falling". Yes the email is barebones, but it does the job for a regular gmail user. Its the same email that's been in all nokia phones since forever. Their update to it is supposedly the new nokia email app, which at least looks better than the stock app.
 
You're not like the others. You actually try to make valid points backed by logic and experience. I'm just trying to improve the signal to noise ratio of what I read in this thread.
 
I think the idea is that it allows you to view quick information at a glance rather than having to open an application and retrieve information. The only instance of this I've ever really wanted was updated weather on my home screen, which is available on both the phones I'm interested in. I can see how they would do it for stocks, Facebook, Twitter, and things like that, but for me, I don't care about any of those.
 
My credit card company called me today and said Nokia tried to charge my preorder but the idiots entered the wrong expiration date, so it was obviously refused. I tried calling Nokia CS to solve this thing but they've put me on hold for over 30 ****ing minutes and I was never connected to any rep.

This is my last time dealing with Nokia USA. Price glitch or not, my time is more valuable than a few bucks. **** these mofos...
 
Sure, the 5800 plastic screen is soft. You can literally bend/dent the screen with your thumb when you press on it. I used the 5800 for about a month now, so I def feel the difference.

For the proto N97 there's actually 2 very different builds that the guy from Nokia brought in. The white one uses a hard plastic and the black one had glass as quote from the Nokia rep when Gwapz asked.

The guy from Nokia brought in the white version more often and the software is constantly updated. The last time I play with it was on 4/25 and the firmware on it was dated like 4/20 if I rem right.

Anyway. The plastic on the N97 is much harder than the one on the 5800. I would say it feel more like the touch screen on the N810 which is hard.

I will be going to the next NYC S60 User meeting on May 29, so feel free to PM me any question I may help answer.
 
Nice vid; makes me want to play a bit with the N97. Really nice to see the fixes that have already made it into the device. I wonder what the firmware release schedule will be once its realeased. There seems to be a considerable amount of things addressed.

The 5800XM should get some love in light of this though. At least on teh WRT side of things. That would be a nice thing for NOkia to leverage with the Ovi store piece.

Idou supposed to be coming in the 2nd half of this year (carrier tests pending I am sure); so Christmas might be great for teh S60v5 crowd.

If this device plays the "recognize my environment" game better than any other mobile, I will be happy. If I have to constantly give it attention like some remade Tamagochi, this I'll be a very disappointed person.
 
There is a divx mobile application. Just go to the divx website and download it. If it isn't ready for N97 yet then ask for them to make it so.
I used to use it on my N95 8GB.
Also Skyfire has promised to add divx functionality to their browser later.
 
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