What is wrong with Symbian?

W

werr r

New member
Please explain. In my opinion, Apple's iOS or Google's Android are "good looking" and that is pretty much it. They have better looking UI, but Symbian, even S60 3rd Ed, is a very very powerful operating system, something like Unix. It probably takes a little time to learn how to use Symbian phones, but other than that, why is it called outdated OS?

BTW: I never really used iOS or Android.

Tintin
 
I think the number one problem imo is ease of use. some of the things are just harder or take more effort to do. specifically the touch versions of symbian. non-touch is fine with keyboard shortcuts and what not.

other than that, I would say the amount of apps is far too little.

I don't care for pretty ui, but it's nice to have too
 
Weren't you the same guy that made a big fuss and threatened to leave nokia and go to an iPhone? Perhaps you should do that and see the other side for yourself; it'd help more than asking a bunch of nokia users that like their phones for the answer this question.

My answer though? The user interface and the font.
 
The biggest issue? No/Low developer support.

Symbian will likely keep losing share compared to Android if it's suffocated by a lack of new applications. For a series of reasons that we've all gone over ad-nauseum, most of the major developers have given up on the Symbian platform.

End users will migrate to where the apps are. It is what it is.
 
That is a strength, Symbian will see a lot more top selling apps (Angry Birds) ported from the other stores, when the sales die down and less crappy apps.
 
When the sales die down from what?

Oh, by the way, it still is technically a rumor, but The Guardian and TechCrunch all report that their Nokia sources are telling them that WP7 is a go at Nokia.

TechCrunch goes further with noting a 'secret' internal Elop memo to employees that describes Symbian and Meego as "standing on a burning platform". Elop is supposed to also be considering " 'how much he wants to keep Finnish talent in the leadership team' in what’s being described as an essential play 'to take advantage of the North American consumer.' ”

Friday should be interesting.
 
"Microsoft and Nokia have formed a global alliance to design, develop and market mobile productivity, communications and collaboration solutions.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will begin collaborating immediately on the design, development and sales/marketing of productivity solutions for the mobile professional, bringing Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia?s Symbian devices. These solutions will be available for a broad range of Nokia smartphones starting with the company?s business optimized range, Nokia E series. Over 50 Nokia devices today have Exchange ActiveSync capabilities and several models have Communicator Mobile (for OCS) capabilities developed by Microsoft engineers on the Nokia platform."
 
I just don't see how switching to an OS that has thus far proven to be an astonishing disappointment would make sense on any planet except for Planet Microsoft. Imagine launching your amazing, totally new product to positive critique on a global scale on tons of carriers on numerous premium-spec devices with full subsidization plus an astonishing ad spend to go with it, plus the ad spend from carriers. And you only end up selling 2M units in the Christmas quarter. Sorry, but that's a big disappointment. Meanwhile, Symbian picked up more devices sold than that in the same quarter vs. the previous one.

If Stephen Elop is seriously considering Windows Phone 7 he must be a closet crack addict. Call the Finnish police and have them search his house for the rocks and pipes. Windows Phone 7: It's just like switching to Android, only you pay for the privilege and it's way worse in every sense.

The only sense in which this would be a good business move for Nokia is if Microsoft directly subsidizes Nokia's sales (i.e. Guarantees that x phones will be sold at price y by directly buying any phones that don't sell below amount x at price y.) and doesn't preclude Nokia from pursuing any other platforms it would like to, notably its own, which is where the company's future lies.
 
I think its more like an experiment. The rest of the global market is supposed to be unaware of this venture and will keep on with existing symbian 3 devices while working on Meego still. If this experiment is a hit, then great. If not, at least it was fun to take a chance.

My hunch is that this will not happen though, and the announcement will be some random services or email partnership.
 
Honestly, I'm not a huge WP7 fan either, though I do have a Zune and enjoy using it.

That said, I just find all this fascinating from a business studies perspective; back in college, my professors would have asked us to use it as a case study.
 
I don't think there's much wrong with Symbian, either. The coding allows for the use of cheaper processors, too, giving us approximately the same performance on an N8 that we'd have on an iPhone 4, but for a lot less money. At full retail, an N8 is going for under $450 now, and at full retail an iPhone 4 would be maybe $750.

The visuals of Symbian are not currently fashionable. No matter what kind of screen you put on a Nokia, Android just looks better because of the more modern icons and the easier interface (easier is relative, I know, but the jury's in and they seem to think Android and iOS is easier).

As far as its operation goes, I think Symbian is still great and thoroughly modern, but it's hard to get people to look beyond the old icons to see that the functionality is there.

I do not know what to say about the Windows 7 Mobile press releases. I don't think I like it. I was looking forward to a Nokia N9 with the newest Meego. If it's Windows, I'm not going anywhere near it.
 
Well, Nokia Ovi Chat is now powered by Yahoo! if that's what you mean. Actually, just got this email today (we'll see if the last sentence (emphasis minde) brings anything more interesting):

-----------
Nokia is pleased to announce that the updated Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo! service has been released! What does this mean for you? You can now invite your Yahoo! Messenger friends and Ovi Chat friends into your friend list, giving you access to an even larger community for chatting.

If you have an Ovi Chat account but cannot log in, visit https://t.ovi.com from your phone or computer to accept the additional Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat powered by Yahoo! Terms and Privacy Policy. Once you have done this, you will be able to log in to your Chat account.

If you do not see some of your friends in your friend list, they might not have accepted the additional Terms and Privacy Policy. Please encourage them to go to https://t.ovi.com so they can join you on Ovi Chat and share in the updated experience.

We will have more exciting updates to share about Ovi Chat in the coming weeks. Until then, keep chatting with Ovi Chat!

Sincerely,
Ovi by Nokia
 
Er, my guess is .NET coming to ^3... remember the (mysteriously disappeared) Silverlight for Symbian?

QT really hasn't been the success that was hoped for, IMO.
 
Ok I just read that leaked memo and wow. I change my mind, there will definitely be major changes. It doesn't get any clearer than that. Strong words.
 
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