Why Nokia's N9 Smartphone Is Set Up for Failure

Nokia has finally announced the long-anticipated N9 handset, the culmination of Nokia's five-step plan to deliver a mainstream Linux-based smartphone. The N9 is an impressively engineered device that is matched with a sophisticated touch-oriented interface and a powerful software stack with open source underpinnings. It's a worthy successor of the developer-centric N900, but it provides a user experience that is tailored for a mainstream audience.

The N9 is the first truly modern smartphone that Nokia has unveiled since the start of finger-friendly interface revolution. Although it's a significant technical achievement, it's sadly a pyrrhic victory for Nokia - the device has arrived a year too late. The Finnish phone giant has already abandoned its Linux platform in favor of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system.

The N9 has a 1GHz TI OMAP Cortex A8 CPU, 1GB of RAM, a 3.9-inch AMOLED capacitive display, and an 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics. The hardware specifications aren't industry-leading, but are still respectable - especially when you consider the fact that much of the software is native code, not hampered by the resource overhead of a managed code runtime. The industrial engineering is outstanding, featuring a curved glass screen and slender polycarbonate body.

The front of the N9 has no buttons, a design decision that was made possible by the software's gesture-based interaction model. The N9 user interface, which is largely built with the open source Qt development toolkit, has a completely new look and feel. Aside from the rounded icons, it looks very different from Symbian and the Maemo interface of the N900. Nokia is calling the new user experience layer “Swipe” in reference to its emphasis on the swiping gesture. It has a very fresh and distinctive style.

There is some confusion about the exact configuration of the N9 software stack. Nokia's official marketing and PR material cite MeeGo 1.2 as the software platform, but it's actually a hybrid that is largely built on Harmattan, the legacy Maemo 6 code base that Nokia shuttered when it committed to MeeGo.

It seems sort of dubious on the surface to call the software MeeGo when it's really still Maemo, but the hybrid is apparently designed in such a way that it has full API compatibility with MeeGo 1.2. What this means is that the distinction will be little more than an implementation detail as far as users and application developers are concerned.

A closer inspection of Nokia's MeeGo strategy shows that this hybrid approach is entirely consistent with the roadmap that Espoo was espousing earlier this year.

Another major point of confusion is the relationship between the new N9 and a leaked prototype with the same name that showed up on the radar last year. The original MeeGo-based N9 prototype had a slide-out physical keyboard and was thought to be scheduled for a Q1 2011 launch. That design, which was known internally as N9-00, was dropped. The release date got pushed back as Nokia started a new keyboardless design called the N9-01, codenamed Lankku, which was likely the basis for the N9 that Nokia unveiled this week. Based on some odd images that Engadget spotted, it looks like N950 - a special developer variant of the N9 that will only be available to select third-party developers - might be based on the original slide-out keyboard design.

Will it blend?

Although it appears to have a lot to offer, the N9 unfortunately won't get an opportunity to shine. Nokia's schizophrenic platform strategy and lack of long-term commitment make the device a non-starter. The new phone is a bit like the Titanic: a masterpiece of quality engineering and luxury craftsmanship that is doomed to sink on its maiden voyage. The ambiguity of MeeGo's role in Nokia's future product lineup and the company's frustrating mixed messages to third-party software developers have already set up the N9 for failure.

When the rumors first started to emerge about the possibility of Nokia adopting Windows Phone 7, I was highly skeptical. As I pointed out at the time, Nokia's MeeGo efforts were very close to producing the kind of platform that Nokia needs to be competitive. The company had effectively bet its future on MeeGo - meaning that any change at such a late stage would be borderline suicidal.

When new CEO Stephen Elop issued his now-infamous “burning platform” memo, my advice to the company was to go all-in on MeeGo and avoid the distraction of a transition to another operating system. Elop, however, had other ideas. His opinion was that MeeGo would simply take too long to deliver, whereas adopting WP7 would allow them to get a product to market with a modern operating system right away.

The fact that a compelling MeeGo device will likely launch first raises the question of whether Elop misjudged the Linux-based platform and its suitability for consumers. It's worth noting, however, that Nokia is also on track to launch its first WP7 device this year. Elop was not wrong in his contention that Microsoft's platform offered Nokia a quicker path to the market.

It's likely that Elop viewed the long-term challenges of doing proper MeeGo maintenance and integration (vs. the quick-and-dirty hybrid model of the N9) as an untenable challenge for a company in Nokia's position. The decision to adopt WP7 was an exit that allowed Nokia to avoid the difficulty of advancing its own platform. The downside is that dependence on WP7 will relegate Nokia to the role of a mere hardware manufacturer. In choosing WP7, Nokia is sacrificing the kind of platform autonomy and opportunity to control its own ecosystem that it would have had with MeeGo.

Elop has said on several occasions in the past that MeeGo will remain in the background at Nokia as a research platform for future innovation, albeit with significantly reduced investment. It's not really clear what this means, but it seems fairly obvious that MeeGo doesn't have a strong strategic relevance at Nokia anymore due to the switch to Windows Phone 7. Without more clarity about the extent to which Nokia will support the platform and consumers who buy the N9, it's hard to imagine it attracting a serious mainstream audience. If Nokia doesn't treat MeeGo as a serious platform, then the N9 is simply not going to get enough traction to make it viable, especially when it comes to third-party software.

The sad part is that Nokia once had a large audience of third-party developers who were eager to support a MeeGo device. Companies like Rovio and Qik already had Qt-based ports of their applications under development specifically for Nokia's MeeGo devices. The new platform strategy has thrown the company's existing third-party developer community under a bus and has made it impractical for them to continue supporting the company's products.

If Nokia ported its open source Qt toolkit - which is supported today on MeeGo and Symbian - to WP7, it would open the door for building applications that target all three of the company's major operating systems. Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen. Elop himself rejected the possibility of Qt on WP7.

Nokia's attitude about Qt through this platform transition has been agonizingly inconsistent. During the presentation at which the N9 was unveiled, Qt was repeatedly highlighted as a critical part of Nokia's vision for mobile development. From where I'm standing, it's not at all clear how Qt can continue to be defining part of Nokia's mobile strategy when it's not even going to be supported on the company's flagship WP7 devices.

Nokia can tout the large Symbian install base as a target that makes Qt relevant in the mobile space, but that's a dead end - Sybmian will be phased out in 2014. It's not even clear now if Qt 5, scheduled for release in 2012, will even officially support Symbian. Qt is still one of the best tools available for cross-platform desktop development (and thanks to a permissive license and diverse community, the toolkit's survival is ensured in the long run irrespective of what Nokia does), but it's not officially supported today on any mainstream mobile operating system.

When I think of Nokia and its place in the market today, I'm reminded of Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions. Janus is often depicted as a being with two faces pointed in opposite directions. At times, it seems like Nokia is still looking back at MeeGo as if it lies ahead and at other times the company is seemingly aimed at an unwavering path towards WP7.

The mixed messages and inconsistencies in the platform strategy are not helpful. By creating confusion about what development tools and platforms Nokia is really going to stand behind in the long-term, the company is making it impossible to have any confidence in its future plans. This is especially problematic for its first - and possibly only - MeeGo device, a compelling product with little future ahead of it.
source: Gadget Lab

Sprint Q3 roadmap leaked: Samsung Epic 2, BlackBerry Bold Touch, ‘full touch' 4G Samsung on the way

From time to time, we find out about carriers' plans for the future (plans regarding new device launches) via leaks of their roadmaps. Today is the day when yet another roadmap has leaked, this time from Sprint. This is my next heard about Sprint's plans for the third quarter of this year (that's July to September), and the carrier certainly has some interesting handsets up its sleeves.

Let's dive right in. First of all, a successor to the Samsung Epic 4G (Sprint's version of the Galaxy S) will be released, and it will be called (not surprisingly at all) Epic 2. And while this will be succeeding the Epic 4G, it won't be entirely different. The 4-inch touchscreen is still there, and so is the side-sliding QWERTY keyboard. The processor has been upgraded a bit and will be a 1.2 GHz affair, although interestingly single-core in what is quickly becoming a dual-core Android world. Anyway, the Epic 2 will also feature an 8-megapixel camera (as opposed to the Epic 4G's 5 MP).

Next up is a ‘full touch' 4G smartphone from Samsung (which probably means one without a physical QWERTY keyboard like the aforementioned Epic 2). There are no details about this device as of yet, but considering previous rumors talking about a release of the Galaxy S II on Sprint – this may just be it. And it will be presumably use the words Within, 4G, and/or Galaxy in some random order to form its name.

Sprint will also launch the BlackBerry Bold Touch and Monaco, although they may be sold under any other names, since retail branding for RIM's newest devices is still reportedly ‘up in the air'. Both RIM smartphones will come with ‘global roaming' capabilities built in, meaning that they will have both CDMA radios for operation on Sprint, as well as GSM/HSPA radios for use pretty much everywhere in the world. It's really nice to see US carriers adopt these ‘world phones' more and more, and customers of CDMA networks such as Verizon and Sprint are surely happy about their availability, especially those who travel internationally a lot.

A new push-to-talk BlackBerry will also be in Sprint's lineup, as will be a couple of Kyocera/Sanyo models in the works to solidify Sprint's switch from iDEN to CDMA for push-to-talk. Businesses that rely on (and love?) PTT will surely be happy about this.

That's about it for now. As the third quarter is fast approaching, expect leaks about all the devices mentioned above to intensify, providing us images, as well as full details about pricing, specs, and exact release dates eventually. After that, Sprint will announce each and every device, then they will finally hit the streets.
source: Unwired View

Samsung Galaxy S II set to outsell Motorola DROID BIONIC, study finds [infographic]

There are countless methods research firms use in an attempt to amass useful data for their analyses, and perhaps one of the most underutilized sources of sentiment at this point in time is social chatter. Several progressive firms have emerged recently, however, and they see the value in scouring the social web for freely-available data, and that data can be extremely valuable to researchers and businesses alike. Case in point: using online social mentions and opinion between April 1st and June 21st as a gauge, social media listening firm Mashwork has determined that the Samsung Galaxy S II is the more highly anticipated upcoming Android superphone compared to the Motorola DROID BIONIC. Data from 14,838 users across Facebook, Twitter and other social networking services shows that 68% of prospective buyers are interested in purchasing the Galaxy S II while 32% are interested in the DROID BIONIC. More specifically, 39% of of the unsolicited opinions gathered stated that they will purchase the Galaxy S II and 29% expressed interest in buying the phone. Meanwhile, 19% said they would be purchasing the DROID BIONIC and 13% simply expressed interest. In terms of trends, interest in the Galaxy S II is on the rise leading up to the smartphone's launch while interest in the DROID BIONIC has decreased over the past two months. Mashwork's infographic detailing social opinions on the two phones follows below.
source: Boy Genius Report

Rogers Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Android 2.3.3 update now available with Facebook inside

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc, the company's current non-gaming focused Android-powered flagship smartphone, has been available in Canada from Rogers for a couple of months already. While the Xperia Arc did launch running Android Gingerbread out of the gate, it was version 2.3.2. The latest right now is 2.3.4, which incorporates Google Talk video chat, but for some reason no non-Nexus devices have this OS version available yet. Manufacturers seem to be taking their time with it.

However, if you own a Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc bought from Rogers, there is an update for your phone available. It will make your Arc run Android 2.3.3, which is a step in the right direction undoubtedly. The Android 2.3.3 update for the Xperia Arc most notably introduces the Facebook inside Xperia concept to the device. This represents pervasive Facebook integration throughout the UI, allowing you to share the music you love, see all your photos together in one place, sync Facebook events with your phone's calendar, sync Facebook contacts, and more. Full details about Facebook inside Xperia are available here courtesy of Sony Ericsson.

The Android 2.3.3 update for the Rogers Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc also brings better battery performance, better HD video recording, and stability improvements for Wi-Fi connections. You can also expect increased overall stability in operation.

The update is of the over-the-air variety, so your phone should notify you that the update is available. Once that happens, you can easily download and install it. Of course you should back up your data first, and ensure that the device isn't about to run out of battery before starting the update. As usual in the case of OTA updates, it may take a while until the update reaches your particular device, so don't panic. It's on the way.
source: Unwired View

UK: T-Mobile Motorola Defy Android 2.2 Froyo update comes at the beginning of July

While we all like to dream about Android Ice Cream Sandwich, there are those who have in their possession Android phones which still run version 2.1 of the operating system unfortunately. Such is the case with the Motorola Defy, or used to be the case. Customers of T-Mobile USA have started receiving an update to Android 2.2 Froyo (which, of course, still isn't the latest version, but at least it's miles ahead of the positively ancient 2.1) back in April.

Last week, those who got their Defy in the UK started receiving the update as well, with one exception apparently: customers of T-Mobile UK. Those who got their devices from TMo's UK arm are still stuck on Android 2.1.

Luckily, the operator has taken to Twitter today to announce that that won't be the case for long. It will be pushing out the Android 2.2 Froyo update to Motorola Defy smartphones it sold in the UK at the beginning of July.

Since the literal beginning of July is in a week from now, that means that owners of TMo-branded Defy handsets in the UK only have a bit more waiting to do before they step into 2010, with their OS version at least.
source: Unwired View

Verizon Motorola Droid 3 may be launching on July 14

The Motorola Droid 3 has been leaked, and leaked, and then leaked some more. It's certainly been one of the most leaked handsets in recent history. How all that pre-launch attention will translate (or not) into sales remains to be seen, of course, but for now, let's talk about another leak regarding the successor to the successor to the well-loved original Droid.

The Droid 3 looks like it's set for a July 14 release, at least if the screengrab you can see below can be believed. The image represents a quick shot of Best Buy's inventory system, apparently.

As you can see, the Droid 3 is clearly stated to arrive at the retailer on July 13. That means that the phone can theoretically be released as early as the next day – in this case, July 14. And conveniently July 14 is a Thursday, and it's well known that Verizon likes to launch smartphones on that day of the week and that day alone (for some reason).

Whether this will turn out to be true or not, we'll have to wait and see. But we probably won't have to wait until July 14 is here, since regardless of whether that will be the actual release date, we're going to see more leaks about this. And more leaks about the Droid 3 in general, probably. After all, judging from how many leaks we've already seen about the Droid 3, that should be the case.
source: Unwired View

Nokia X6 gets a software update to version 32

The Nokia X6 has received a software update, taking it to v32. For those of you unfamiliar with Nokia's conventions, that doesn't mean that this phone has already received 30 updates (although it has received some). 32 is equivalent to 3.2, in a way.

Anyway, one thing you really can't say about Nokia is that it doesn't support its Symbian phones with minor updates. The X6 was announced in September of 2009, and here it is getting updated in June of 2011. Granted, the update doesn't bring any earth-shattering new features.

It does, however, update the phone's built-in applications, improves overall performance, and makes the X6 more stable by “minimizing errors and lags”. In other words, many bugs have been squashed, some performance tweaks have been made, and minor new app versions were added.

Not a bad deal for X6 owners. To get the update, go to Settings > Tools > Software update or just dial *#0000#, hit Options > Check for update, and go from there.
source: Unwired View

LG Optimus 2X and Huawei U6150 now available from Wind in Canada

In Canada, Wind Mobile has launched two new phones today. We've known that both the LG Optimus 2X as well as the Huawei U6150 were headed to Wind, and now they're finally available to buy.

The LG Optimus 2X can be yours for $445 outright, or $295 on the WindTab. The LG Optimus 2X has a 4-inch 480×800 capacitive touchscreen with Gorilla Glass, a dual-core 1 GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, an 8 MP autofocus rear camera with LED flash and 1080p HD video recording, a secondary front-facing 1.3 MP camera, 8 GB of internal storage space, microSD card support, 512 MB of RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS, and a 1500 mAh battery.

The Huawei U6150 on the other hand is not high-end or anything even close. It is however a cheap text-focused phone that may just end up selling very well. It can be bought from Wind for $98 outright, and it's free on the WindTab.

The Huawei U6150 runs Qualcomm's BREW platform, and has a 2.4-inch 320x240 screen, GPS, microSD card support, a 2 MP camera with video recording capability, Bluetooth, and a music player.
source: Unwired View

Best Buy Will Launch Virgin Mobile's Motorola Triumph

Best Buy has started taking pre-orders for Virgin Mobile's Motorola Triumph. The handset comes jam packed with a 1GHz processor, a 4.1-inch WVGA display, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a front facing VGA camera, an HDMI output and an SD card slot that supports up to 32GB of storage. Additionally, the Triumph offers the Google experience and Virgin Mobile Live 2.0 for a Virgin Mobile branded music stream. The Android smartphone is listed for $299.99 without a contract. [Best Buy]

Sony Experia Active Smartphone

Smartphones are no longer known for the sensitive devices that they are. Most of today's new smartphones now have that higher level of toughness that makes them more ideal for day to day use. Sony may have just gone the similar path by introducing its new Sony Experia Active Smartphone.

The Sony Experia Active smartphone is designed to be water and dust-resistant. Users no longer have to worry about getting their smartphones wet while answering a phone in the rain or accidentally spill water on it. It also features a unique wet-finger tracking that makes the touch screen fully functional even when your fingers are wet. Other features announced for the new Sony Experia Active is that it will be an Android smartphone running on a 1GHz processor, 5MP camera with 8x digital zoom, 720p HD Video recording, 512MB RAM with 1GB internal phone storage and support for an additional 32GB microSD card. The Sony Experia Active will be made available in the market by the 3rd quarter of this year.
source: Gadget.com