Gizmodo has a video of Nokia’s prototype touchscreen-based Symbian S60 interface. The first devices might be ready as soon as end of 2008. In the meantime, Nokia announced their highest-end S60 smartphone, the N96. It’s pretty similar to the N95 that we reviewed last year, but with the addition of a DVB-H receiver for digital TV signals in Europe and Asia, 16 GB of flash storage, and the N-Gage gaming platform built-in.
Nokia’s Symbian S60 Touchscreen UI Unveiled
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I see they’ve moved from the brushed steel-ish gray look they’ve had for a while to the black shiny look of the N81, 3555… that’s an improvement. Giving it BOTH 16 GB of storage AND the microSD slot is a smart move; now you don’t have to wonder whether larger storage now means getting left behind later (and there’s something the iPhone doesn’t have yet). I notice it has no slide-out QWERTY keypad; that’s kinda sad but then again, it seems to be a media device, not a PDA.
On a side note, I wish that press release were broken up into paragraphs.
Edited 2008-02-11 22:56 UTC
If they want a touchscreen interface, why not work with Sony Ericsson on developing UIQ, or even better, making Series 60 and UIQ apps cross-compatible? Admittedly, porting apps between the platforms is supposedly not that hard, but that’s not the point. The point is that Nokia and Sony Ericsson seem to be more interested in playing a game of “who’s the bigger man” than in quickly bringing competitive products to market. (Read: competitive with the iPhone). Aside from serving to stroke the respective development teams’ egos, what purpose does this serve?
Samsung, LG and Motorola are already going their own ways with touchscreen interfaces–not based on either variant of Symbian. If touchscreen interfaces are the future (which I believe they are), and if Symbian is going to survive into the next wave of handsets, then Nokia and Sony Ericsson need to get with the program FAST. Bumbling around in their separate towers isn’t going to cut it.
Edited 2008-02-12 00:11 UTC
It will be easier to port existing S60 applications to the new system rather than using UIQ.
More over, UIQ is bad, bad, bad in terms of usability. I have THREE UIQ phones (one v2.1 and two v3.0), and one is worse than the other. UIQ is the WORST touchscreen interface I have ever seen. I blogged about it a while back: http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/2007/12/28/cellphone-usability/
Sony-Ericsson have had touch screen phones for years, going back even to the days when they were separate companies.
What I find odd is the assumption that Apple’s GUI is ahead of everyone else. For a touch screen it’s clearly ahead but not every one has or even wants a touch screen.
I’ve just upgraded to a non-touch screen phone (2 weeks old and Nokia replaces it already Grrrrrrrr). Aside from the ability to enter text quickly I don’t miss it (and anyway if I really want text I can use a bluetooth keyboard). The buttons require a few more clicks maybe but it doesn’t bother me really.
It’s certainly preferable to wiping greasy fingers all over a screen – in my opinion the fact the S60 demo supports a stylus puts it miles *ahead* of the iPhone.
Anyway, I don’t expect Nokia or SE are terribly worried by the current iPhone, it may be selling well in the US but elsewhere it appears to be hardly selling at all – not surprising given it’s unexciting spec and horrendous price.
Seriously that UI sucks right now. But don’t flame me by saying its a long way from production, if it is then on the one hand its good to know nokia won’t release something that unappealing, on the other why oh why are they so far behind on touch ui, given they’ve had internet tablets for a while now.
From the video it currently resembles the sort of UI pleasure that I got from my last windows smartphone (Orange SPV M600), and let me tell you that was painful. Buttons that were too small and that occasionally you touched the wrong things, clearly meant for stylus not fingers.
The lady interviewed mentions that they tried to keep the interface familiar because people are used to the s60 interface. Yes, but that had keys. I don’t want to go anywhere near scrollbars with my finger. Let alone menu lists.
I think sometimes a complete change of input requires a change of UI. Make things resemble the previous interface but don’t copy it!
I understand it’s been a year…wish himobile will send over a N95 8GB for your review. I found it is an amazing phone, especially for business users. MailForExchange (download free from Nokia) will make you forget blackberry style e-mail and it won’t suck battery as much as DirectPush.
Google map and the built-in GPS receiver will allow users to view traffic in real-time, though i’ve found it not so real-time now and then (takes note G folks!). Just press 0 and it will locate your current position.
I was able to use WLAN+Gizmo to call Vietnam. The call quality was amazing. It was as clear as you would use the land line. WLAN never got dropped.
I’m glad I bought the Nokia N95 8GB and not the overhyped iPhone.