Posts by Walker

Firefox laggards offered security update

On what planet is Firefox bloatware?

It weighs in at a measly 7MB, which is only a couple of megabytes heavier than Firefox back in 2004 (go check with the Wayback Machine if you don't believe me). The installation doesn't include anything but the browser, and any add-ons (including things like dictionaries that some would consider essential browser components) are optional downloads AFTER the browser is up and running. The setup program doesn't even ask you to install so much as a toolbar, so how exactly is Firefox bloatware?

Also, it's pretty obvious why the updater won't take you from 3 to 3.5 automatically. It's a new version with new standards, and for which some plugins need to be ported. Although ALL of my existing plugins worked with 3.5 (and I use a lot), it's hardly a good idea to risk the productivity of end-users by automatically updating to a version that could break essential add-ons.

Let them seek it out and understand the risks first, eh?

Jeez, El Reg, where are you picking up these new commenters? Sky News?

Adobe turns on to Flash TVs

What a joke.

They haven't even created a Flash player for 64-bit Windows browsers yet.

Their development priorities are... interesting.

Brits not sold on eco handsets

Yes indeed...

Nokia's online store tried to jump on that particular bandwagon by sellng the black N79 for exactly the same price as the white, and grey, but without a charger. "Be kind to the environment and use your existing one!" - and they'll donate £5 to charity. Never mind that the missing charger costs £15. So why not donate £15 to charity? In fact why not buy the handset for £40 less elsewhere and donate the money saved to the same charity that would only have received a paltry £5 if you'd bought from Nokia?

Because most mobile manufacturers see the eco-bandwagon as a smokescreen through which to rip people off, perhaps?

Nokia E75

You might want to wait...

...until the 5730 XpressMusic is out. It will be here around June 2009.

It also has a slide out QWERTY and slightly outspecs the E75, despite costing around £130 less.

The thing about E-Series phones though is that they tend to have far superior build quality to N-Series and XpressMusic phones... so maybe more money for less features will end up being worth it in the long run?

iPhone and iPod Touch dominate handheld web traffic race

Why are iPhone & iPhone 3G numbers not separate?

Given that all the Nokia handset figures are separated?

There are four N-Series handsets in that list. Why not lumber them all together, as was done with the Apple handsets?

Apple to push Nokia into smartphone second place

Made-up statistics are funneh!

I knew he was talking crap when I read this:

"iPhone web browsing makes up 80% of all mobile web browsing."

That lie is based on a European survey which established that

"80% of iPhone owners USED their handset to browse the web."

Major difference. lol.

Many thanks to pk_de_cville for demonstrating that 98.8% of statistics are made up on the spot.

My opinion of Generator Research just dropped through the floor.

"Apple is more focused on Smartphones, with a broad handset product line to develop and promote?" So the dozens of highly successful Nokia N-Series handsets released over the past few years were figments of our imaginations then?

"Apple has an app store, and third-party apps allow them to create a broader product than defined by hardware alone?" Then what is the Symbian API about then? Symbian has more third-party apps available than any other mobile OS.

I somehow suspect OVI is on its way to becoming Nokia's App Store too.

Nokia's strategy became clear with the staggered released of the 5800 XpressMusic. Rather than target the iPhone with a single handset, they're creating a series of touch phones which play on individual strengths and target different demographics. For starters, we've got a music oriented device aimed at low-to-mid end users, and eventually a flagship N-Series aimed at power-users later this summer. Nokia's worldwide distribution network is something Apple don't have, allowing them to stagger the release of their products worldwide, and essentially smother the competition. Unlike the iPhone, Nokia's first touchscreens can be operated with fingers, plectrum and stylus, the latter opening it up to Asian markets where handwriting recogition is so important.

I hate the iPhone <> every other smartphone comparisons as much as the next guy, but this Generator Research report is just not credible and the above is just a few reasons why.

Nokia coughs to ballooning batteries

The reason GMail takes an age to load on your N73...

...is because 3 install loads of apps (some which autostart with the phone) which eat a considerable proportion of the memory. 3 are one of the worst phone companies for doing this. Flash that phone with a generic firmware and do a factory reset, and the Gmail app will load in 2-3 seconds.

SMS bug: Nokia's Conversation goes mute

Unfortunately...

...a 4 yo Razor isn't going to connect to the net via Wifi, or let you use internet radio, or Skype, or Mobbler (Last.fm), or BBC iPlayer, or install a torrent client and playback DivX files (on the nearest TV if you like), or transmit music to the nearest radio, or take 30fps, 640x480 (DVD quality) video, etc., etc. Comparing a RAZR to a Nokia N-Series smartphone is like comparing a Sinclair ZX81 to a quad-core laptop.

The N85 suffers appalling build quality but is visually very appealing. Other N-Series smartphones are more robust. The RAZR was a joke with a bad reputation when it first hit the market. It's major selling point was "zOMG it's so thin!" But if that's all you need, you go girl!

How very typical of Nokia...

Their wall of silence when problems arise is so very typical.

The Nokia N85 was only released three months ago, and within a month, the d-panel was falling off review models because it's held on by glue and is constantly hammered by fingers due to the built-in buttons. Many of these handsets are owned by well-known Nokia *advocates* (mods at Nokia-centric forums), so it's difficult to put this down to dirty tricks by the competition, but Nokia chose to say nothing.

A month later, reports started springing up all over the place of the same panel falling off purchased models... and at £400 a pop, you'd think Nokia would at least acknowledge the problem and declare a change in manufacturing methods to make the handset more robust. The d-panel on my own N85 was falling off on the day of purchase (direct from Nokia UK so not a knock-off), and when I challenged them on the phone, they refused to acknowledge it. Despite me pointing to photos all over the web of the d-panel falling off, they said it was a one-off problem.

Still now, more and more reports come in of N85s falling apart, but Nokia remain silent.

Something tells me they'll address the SMS/MMS issue because it can be resolved with a firmware update. As for the incredible disintegrating N85... I'm sure they'll continue to quietly rip off unsuspecting punters to the tune of £400 quid simply because they can.

Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot C905 eight-megapixel cameraphone

Way too expensive....

...for a non-smartphone.

Interesting comments. Except for the tl;dr one.

iPlayer finally makes friendly with Mac and Linux

The guy who is devastated at Mac users being called fanbois is hilarious.

Just sayin'.

SkypeOut goes mobile, Skype goes beta

3 Skype app for TYTN II?

Where did you get an iSkoot client for the TYTN II that connects via 3s Skype proxy, and routes all calls via 3's Skype landline number?

No Aaron...

...Fring isn't suitable for use with 3 if you want to use Skype for free.

Their Skype client is a modified version of iSkoot which connects via 3's own servers and routes all Skype calls via a UK landline. The bandwidth usage for connecting/refreshing/text chatting via that custom server doesn't count towards your internet usage, and calls to that UK landline are free.

Anybody accessing Skype the regular way would notice a considerable bandwidth hit, which could cost them a lot of money... depending on the plan they're on.

How did you "find this feature on your handset"?

Their Skype app (iSkoot) on my N95 has not offered to update, and the version at Planet 3 is the same old bug-ridden, memory leaky v2.00.16. (If you put Handy Taskman on your phone, you'll see that it leaks about 1MB an hour.)

I'm surprised at the lack of connection problems noted above with Skype via 3. (Assuming your using Skype's 3 (iSkoot) app which connects to 3's own overburdened server.

I've got two handsets (one SE k770i, and one Nokia N95) that both suffer simultaneously, despite (as stated previously) being in a very strong 3G area. When Skype works, it works with both. When it doesn't work, both are affected. When one is logged out, the account on the other gets booted at the same time. All these factors lead me to conclude the problems are at the server side. With PAYG users now being given access to Skype, it wouldn't surprise me that the service is oversubscribed.

I've even thought about uploading a video to YouTube showing the charade that has to be gone through in order to get both handsets logged into Skype. I find it's generally best to start trying at 7am, because a login by 9am is usually (but not always) guaranteed if you do that.

"Loss of revenue would be hard to justify"

LOL. Have any of you guys at The Register tried using Skype on the 3 network?

Even with a 100% 3G signal it more often than not takes over an hour to login, which is frankly a pain because the crappy iSkoot application they use for Skype doesn't remember the password between failed attempts, so you have to keep manually entering it (which is oh so bloody easy on a numeric keypad - honest!).

And within a few hours their servers forcibly log you out so you have to go through the whole rigmarole again.

Oh I'm sure 3 aren't concerned about loss of revenue at all. They know their Skype implementation is so oversubscribed and useless that customers will choose to pay for calls the regular way almost every time.

Price cutting rivals eat into Nokia's market share

Um, what?

If it takes ages to connect a call, that sounds like a network provider issue. As for the N95 "still" suffering from crashes, instability and bugs, what on earth firmware do you have installed? Or third-party software?

After seven months since v21.0.016 firmware was installed, I got my first crash last week because my MicroSD card went bad. Replacing it resolved the problem, so Sandisk's fault. Then I switched to Three this week and their Skype application (actually iSkoot in disguise) crashed it, so I uninstalled that. iSkoot has a memory leak so bad that the phone loses 1MB of RAM every hour the program is running.

All too often we see SymbianOS being blamed for performance issues which are actually caused by ancient firmware, faulty hardware or dodgy third-party apps.

Obviously your outraged reply will confirm that none of these things are causing your problem, because it's all Nokia's fault. OK then!

Getting back to the topic, I'll be surprised if Nokia's market share picks up because the newly released N96 is way too expensive given current economic conditions, and although it's technically superior to pretty much anything else out there, the design is seriously bland and uncool compared to Apple's overhyped gadget. It's also more expensive. Oh yeah, and those HTC Touch Diamond's are damn sexy and about £130 quid cheaper too. Nokia seriously needs to enter the touch-screen age if it is to survive.