Nokia N8 Megathread

KrisW

My reading of Nokia's blog posts is that there will be another batch of product versions released for Anna at the end of this week.

I linked to the latest list in the monster firmware thread.

deco nate

ok,so after the anna update i thought id have a look an see
if rte player would work.and i found out it does,well to a degree.
it plays the ads,then notthin.anyone know why this is?
do i have to change some settins?or is it a bug??
cheers.deco

touts

barone wrote: »

to save me reading the whole thread, should i get this phone?

i mostly use phone for txts,calls,music,bluetooth. so long as theese work fine im happy., obviously

Don't! I have been a Nokia fan for years but the N8 is a piece of **** in comparison to the Sony Android phone my wife has. I'm happy with the camera and the GPS on the N8 but beyond that when I compare the apps and the look of the two phones the N8 feels years behind the Sony. The N8 is the last nokia I will have (I'm seriously unconvinced that Microsoft Windows will come close to Iphone/Android in terms of the user experience). I'm just waiting for my upgrade from Vodafone then I'm off to whatever is the latest and best Android phone but I'll be keeping the N8 as my camera/GPS

In summary N8 is a great camera a great GPS but an awful smartphone which sort of defeats the whole purpose.

Italia

LOL... great post. Very informative and so convincing :rolleyes:

The N8 is probably not the 'greatest' phone on the market, but neither is it a 'piece of *****' as you put it. If you're into eyecandy, no issues - 'droid phones look better.
Functionality? I don't think so. The N8 does everything I've ever asked it to do without bitching or falling over. I am also easily able to access my work email and also to RDP into my pc at work. Plus it has OVI maps which I use almost exclusively to the extent that my Garmin is relegated to the glove compartment.

So, lets talk about 'apps' - its 100% true that OVI isn't in the same league as Android or Apple, but its getting better. The major apps are available, so its not as if you can't get anything. If you're referring to the app for reading your favourite news paper or for getting Boards.ie - then no its probably not avaiable. Having said that, how difficult is it for you to set up a bookmark in your browser? (BTW, there is an updated browser in Symbian Anna that is 1000 times better than the one previously available). Plus, how many of the apps for Android or Apple are really useful or duplicates?

My OH and one of my friend's experience with Android and specifically the HTC Desire has been nothing short of disastrous. Constantly falling over, dodgy apps, refusing to start, black screens. Does that mean that all Android phones or all HTC Desires are cr*p? No, it doesn't, but neither does it mean that they are the best.

It makes me laugh to see and hear people carrying on as if they cannot live if 'THE' app or 'THE' application / functionality is not available or if the phone does not respond within 2 nanoseconds of the speed of light. What are you going to do next year when xyz company comes out with a phone that makes you a capuccino and a scone whilst surfing the net? Declare that all non cappucino making phones are cr*p?

A bit more objectivity, please
(rant off)

touts wrote: »

Don't! I have been a Nokia fan for years but the N8 is a piece of **** in comparison to the Sony Android phone my wife has. I'm happy with the camera and the GPS on the N8 but beyond that when I compare the apps and the look of the two phones the N8 feels years behind the Sony. The N8 is the last nokia I will have (I'm seriously unconvinced that Microsoft Windows will come close to Iphone/Android in terms of the user experience). I'm just waiting for my upgrade from Vodafone then I'm off to whatever is the latest and best Android phone but I'll be keeping the N8 as my camera/GPS

In summary N8 is a great camera a great GPS but an awful smartphone which sort of defeats the whole purpose.

touts

Italia wrote: »

LOL... great post. Very informative and so convincing :rolleyes:

The N8 is probably not the 'greatest' phone on the market, but neither is it a 'piece of *****' as you put it. If you're into eyecandy, no issues - 'droid phones look better.
Functionality? I don't think so. The N8 does everything I've ever asked it to do without bitching or falling over. I am also easily able to access my work email and also to RDP into my pc at work. Plus it has OVI maps which I use almost exclusively to the extent that my Garmin is relegated to the glove compartment.

So, lets talk about 'apps' - its 100% true that OVI isn't in the same league as Android or Apple, but its getting better. The major apps are available, so its not as if you can't get anything. If you're referring to the app for reading your favourite news paper or for getting Boards.ie - then no its probably not avaiable. Having said that, how difficult is it for you to set up a bookmark in your browser? (BTW, there is an updated browser in Symbian Anna that is 1000 times better than the one previously available). Plus, how many of the apps for Android or Apple are really useful or duplicates?

My OH and one of my friend's experience with Android and specifically the HTC Desire has been nothing short of disastrous. Constantly falling over, dodgy apps, refusing to start, black screens. Does that mean that all Android phones or all HTC Desires are cr*p? No, it doesn't, but neither does it mean that they are the best.

It makes me laugh to see and hear people carrying on as if they cannot live if 'THE' app or 'THE' application / functionality is not available or if the phone does not respond within 2 nanoseconds of the speed of light. What are you going to do next year when xyz company comes out with a phone that makes you a capuccino and a scone whilst surfing the net? Declare that all non cappucino making phones are cr*p?

A bit more objectivity, please
(rant off)

Objectivity! Pot kettle black.

No one is designing apps for the OVI store any more. It's a system that had been given a death sentence. I've had reliability problems with the N8 with it randomly powering off at times and the touch screen is a disaster when it cuts you off in mid call because your cheek slightly grazed it. But on balance in terms of pure hardware the N8 is great. Proper GPS. Great camera. FM radio transmitter etc.

However when it comes to software Nokia are simply not at the races and that's why they are in such a rapid decline and why they are searching for a lifeboat (but if microsoft are a lifeboat or an anvil has yet to be determined). Like you I would not have believed that until I was playing with my wife's sony and setting it up for her. Android is generations ahead of Symbian.

I don't have a killer app that I desperately need on the N8 but there are many that I would like to have (the RTE suite of apps, various newspapers etc). Sure I can use the browser and the FM radio and podcatcher and various other bits and bobs to get most of what Apps will give me but apps just make the whole experience easlier and slicker.

It's like saying MS-DOS will do it all if you know what you are doing and this Windows thing is really buggy and unreliable and full of unnecessary functions.

KrisW

First off, it sounds like your N8 is faulty. There's a proximity sensor that should ensure that the screen is disabled when the phone is up to your face.

On the OS, each to their own, I suppose, but to me Android is only superficially better than Symbian. Its user interface is a good way ahead of current Symbian, but on features, there's very little to separate them; Symbian can do things that Android can't, and vice versa. It depends on what's important to you, and what you're used to.

There's an announcement of the new Symbian "Belle" release today at around 1:00pm, by the way. This will give the N8 and company a user interface to match its hardware at last. And it may look very familiar to people with Android phones.

Italia

As KrisW has said, it seems that your handset might be at fault. I have (have had) none of the issues you describe. If anything the opposite has been true. The only issue I picked up, was the day I got my N8. I didn't run the update (as suggested by many) and it froze - my fault. Took the battery out, replaced it (all of 30 seconds work) and since then its been perfect.

As far as new apps - I think you're wrong there. I see new stuff every week on OVI. True, Nokia has 'embraced' Windows, but just last week they confirmed full committment to Symbian right up to and including 2016. If there was no intention to develop anything at all, why bother?

As regards DOS...what's your problem? I work for an IT company where the latest and greatest sw is ALWAYS readily available (all 100% legit.... for all those aspiring Gardai out there :P ), yet I still manage to do most of my work in a command line environment.... and I do it faster than the young GUI clicking hot-shot kiddies out there... These whizz kids have no idea what a command line even is.:rolleyes:

touts wrote: »

Objectivity! Pot kettle black.

No one is designing apps for the OVI store any more. It's a system that had been given a death sentence. I've had reliability problems with the N8 with it randomly powering off at times and the touch screen is a disaster when it cuts you off in mid call because your cheek slightly grazed it. But on balance in terms of pure hardware the N8 is great. Proper GPS. Great camera. FM radio transmitter etc.

However when it comes to software Nokia are simply not at the races and that's why they are in such a rapid decline and why they are searching for a lifeboat (but if microsoft are a lifeboat or an anvil has yet to be determined). Like you I would not have believed that until I was playing with my wife's sony and setting it up for her. Android is generations ahead of Symbian.

I don't have a killer app that I desperately need on the N8 but there are many that I would like to have (the RTE suite of apps, various newspapers etc). Sure I can use the browser and the FM radio and podcatcher and various other bits and bobs to get most of what Apps will give me but apps just make the whole experience easlier and slicker.

It's like saying MS-DOS will do it all if you know what you are doing and this Windows thing is really buggy and unreliable and full of unnecessary functions.

touts

Italia wrote: »

As KrisW has said, it seems that your handset might be at fault. I have (have had) none of the issues you describe. If anything the opposite has been true. The only issue I picked up, was the day I got my N8. I didn't run the update (as suggested by many) and it froze - my fault. Took the battery out, replaced it (all of 30 seconds work) and since then its been perfect.

As far as new apps - I think you're wrong there. I see new stuff every week on OVI. True, Nokia has 'embraced' Windows, but just last week they confirmed full committment to Symbian right up to and including 2016. If there was no intention to develop anything at all, why bother?

As regards DOS...what's your problem? I work for an IT company where the latest and greatest sw is ALWAYS readily available (all 100% legit.... for all those aspiring Gardai out there :P ), yet I still manage to do most of my work in a command line environment.... and I do it faster than the young GUI clicking hot-shot kiddies out there... These whizz kids have no idea what a command line even is.:rolleyes:

Unfortunately its not a faulty handset. Its a very common problem as a browse through the various boards and a call to a Nokia repair shop confirmed. The "experts" told me the Anna software would solve it but it didn't.

Look its great that you are still loyal to Nokia. I feel sort of guilty not to be any more but if they made better phones and had more loyal fans then they would not be in a desperate fight for their lives. The original question was should the person buy an N8 and at this stage I could not tell them Yes. If I could jump back a year knowing what I know now I would not buy the phone.

KrisW

Unfortunately its not a faulty handset. Its a very common problem as a browse through the various boards and a call to a Nokia repair shop confirmed.

I've never experienced this problem either. If my phone works correctly, and yours doesn't, and both of them are running the same software (Symbian Anna?), that pretty much leaves a hardware or user issue.

At the risk of using the Jobs Defence, how do you hold the phone when calling? If you keep the speaker tilted away from your ear, you may see problems. The prox sensor has a range of about 1--2 cm, but with the bottom of the phone against your mouth, the top will be further away than this.

The microphones on the N8 are very good, you don't need the phone this close (and if you're worried about radiation,note that the GSM antenna is actually in the bottom, not the top)

Hold it with the top against your ear, and if you still have problems, it is most likely to be a defective proximity sensor, and needs to be fixed.

Pete2k

I just want full Flash 10 support. When the hell are Nokia going to finally implement this. I want to watch US tv on tvpc but I can't do this on my N8, yet my friends Galaxy S has no problems viewing channels on here. Pull your finger out Nokia!

kirving

Looks like you'll have to buy the DVD instead. :pac:

I used to hold the phone incorrectly and often put people on hold, but that was because I wasn't used to a touchscreen phone. I was on the phone today, cycling in the wind, and the person on the other end could hear me perfectly. Often had trouble doing that on other phones.

I'm not left short with Apps either, you have to remember that 90% of apps are rubbish anyway, and anything worth having is usually developed for all platforms - liek the Budweiser Ice Cold Index App

ofcork

I switched from an n8 to a htc sensation and imo there is just no comparison,the htc is so much faster and smoother,google maps and streetview on a phone is great just sorry i didnt switch years ago.

Piusno1

Symbiab Anna when will we expect to download in Ireland, no sign of it yet in the Ovi website

deco nate

Piusno1 wrote: »

Symbiab Anna when will we expect to download in Ireland, no sign of it yet in the Ovi website

it all depends on your product code,id say by the end of the week.
i got it on friday night.but mine was sim free on vodafone.
i think krisw posted a link with the dates of the roll out
for diffrent product codes.
who are you with??

jimmynokia

Anna now in ireland

http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/discussions/attachments/discussions/swupdate/96200/1/SymbianAnna%2025082011.xls



Symbian Anna is now live with 7 more countries. We have just published updates for:
- France
- Spain (vanilla only)
- LatinAmerica incl. for example Argentina/Brazil (vanilla only)
- Ireland
- HongKong
- Romania
- Ukraine

Please note that for operator variants in France we will offer OviSuite updates only & for Ireland Symbian Anna is avialable only via OviSuite for the whole portfolio. For all other countries you can download over the air (via WiFi) or via OviSuite, whatever suits you better.

kirving

Not available for Metoer (059D7X4) yet.

jimmynokia

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Not available for Metoer (059D7X4) yet.

i have questioned Nokia and meteor about this,Nokia should let me know soon meteor well thats another story.
Nokia should quit the lottery rollout of updates once and for all.

rickyjb

Meteor didn't even bother to release PR 1.2, I won't be holding my breath for this. Is there any other way to get it without flashing your phone or whatever?

deRanged

I just got the upgrade this morning through ovi suite.
sim free phone on O2 if that matters.

DonFred

My battery is only last lest than a day all of a sudden! Any ideas why this is happening, use to get 2 days out of it and have Wifi searching off, etc.

KrisW

rickyjb wrote: »

Meteor didn't even bother to release PR 1.2, I won't be holding my breath for this. Is there any other way to get it without flashing your phone or whatever?

P1.2 was offered to the networks as an "optional" release - they could take it or not. The main purpose of 1.2 was to fix some bugs with Microsoft Exchange and email, and maybe Meteor didn't believe that many of their users needed better MS Exchange support...

Raedwald

Lads I tried to download the Phoenix software required to flash my phone. Except that when i did my AVG recognized it as a Trojan and locked it away?

jimmynokia

for people that can actually get anna
here is a troubleshoot guide

http://discussions.europe.nokia.com/t5/Software-Updates/Symbian-Anna-Troubleshooting/td-p/1127953

g0g

Hope someone might know the answer to this one! Since updating to Anna the Boards mobile website is showing up for me in a TINY font on the screen and very hard to read or use. I have font size set to medium and other websites work absolutely fine. It's just Boards that gives the problem. I know I can use the full version instead of mobile, but that's much messier to use.

Also I find when I link to a thread from the daily update link that's emailed to me it seems to be presented as a "better" mobile version with emoticons and images sometimes, but the normal web browser version is more basic.

Any help much appreciated!

jimmynokia

g0g wrote: »

Hope someone might know the answer to this one! Since updating to Anna the Boards mobile website is showing up for me in a TINY font on the screen and very hard to read or use. I have font size set to medium and other websites work absolutely fine. It's just Boards that gives the problem. I know I can use the full version instead of mobile, but that's much messier to use.

Also I find when I link to a thread from the daily update link that's emailed to me it seems to be presented as a "better" mobile version with emoticons and images sometimes, but the normal web browser version is more basic.

Any help much appreciated!

i always have issues with boards on my phone the page is very slow does not render,i have tried java script settings no change either the page moves slow on full version on my older phones it would hang my phone seems to be when site is busy

jimmy_t

g0g wrote: »

Hope someone might know the answer to this one! Since updating to Anna the Boards mobile website is showing up for me in a TINY font on the screen and very hard to read or use. I have font size set to medium and other websites work absolutely fine. It's just Boards that gives the problem. I know I can use the full version instead of mobile, but that's much messier to use.

Also I find when I link to a thread from the daily update link that's emailed to me it seems to be presented as a "better" mobile version with emoticons and images sometimes, but the normal web browser version is more basic.

Any help much appreciated!

I presume you're using touch.boards.ie? I find it better than m.boards

jimmy_t

DonFred wrote: »

My battery is only last lest than a day all of a sudden! Any ideas why this is happening, use to get 2 days out of it and have Wifi searching off, etc.

you're email client might be working properly now, check how often its receiving msgs and if its downloading the full email, there are some datacounter apps out there too that tell you which apps specifically are using the most data so you could narrow down which one is using the most data and hence the most battery, I find its the 3g radio in poor reception that kills my battery the most.

nogoodnamesleft

Raedwald wrote: »

Lads I tried to download the Phoenix software required to flash my phone. Except that when i did my AVG recognized it as a Trojan and locked it away?

Ive been messing around with Phoenix for a full day now. You will require the latest version which is available online (2010.8). From my experience its buggy on Win 7 (64bit) and Vista. It can detect and read the firmware version on my Nokia E5 in Xp no probs.

You will have to disable your virus protection as the "trojan virus" your anti virus detects is actually the emulator for a nokia dongle.


Im attempting to change the product code on an unlocked Three UK mobile. I have the correct product code for the generic Nokia software however phoenix is requesting an "Order Number" 7 digit apparently. I havent attempted anything like 1234567 or 1111111 as of yet. Does anyone know what this parameter function is and what would be a valid number?

Raedwald

Sorted that thanks man. Is it possible to flash a blocked phone. I have my n8 with meteor and they are awful for releasing updates.

nogoodnamesleft

Raedwald wrote: »

Sorted that thanks man. Is it possible to flash a blocked phone. I have my n8 with meteor and they are awful for releasing updates.

Yup, it is possible to flash network locked phones to the latest firmware. You could use navifirm to select the correct RM release and product code you require and then use phoenix to flash the phone. Your phone will still be locked to meteor if your successful in flashing the handset.

My E5 is less than 1week old (already have it unlocked) but loading firmware other than what is specific to my product code is proving elusive!