Nokia N1: Getting Nokia back in the game

After what seemed an epic weekend, the start of my week just went even more awesome upon the announcement of the Nokia N1:

Just when I thought Nokia is no more, after being sold to Microsoft, Nokia's sudden reemergence out of nowhere to announce this was... shocking to say the least. And that's not all...

This is a sleek and stylish tablet that's at 7", runs on a vanilla Android 5.0 OS (unlike the forked Android OS that's found on the Nokia X series phones), with a price tag at an incredibly competitive price of $249 (roughly Php11,500).

OH. MY. GAWD.

I've been a fanboy of Nokia handsets, and quite frankly after owning a Nokia X (which I thought would be the last I'd see a Nokia brand on a handset) this makes me really happy. Add in the fact that it runs on Android makes me jump for joy!! DREAM COME TRUE!!

However, despite this announcement, I still have a few questions in my mind, and the one thing that bugs me the most is, will this run Google apps (namely the Google Play store) on it and be installed with every Google app that comes standard with Android devices? Or will this be another Nokia X? Please for the love of goodness Nokia, stop with the forking and simply support Android full force!! Will be updating you guys as soon as I get new info soon.

My Lolo’s brand new Nokia 2690!!

Quick post!!

Well yesterday, I went with my lolo to buy him a brand new Nokia phone, because his old celfone was a cheap second-hand china phone. I kinda wanted my lolo to have a phone with features he really likes, so I asked him what exactly is he looking for in a phone. And he specifically told me the following:

• “Yung may kodak” (translation: Has a camera built-in)
• “Gusto ko din yung may radio” (translation: Has a radio function)
• “Tapos ung may casette na din” (translation: Has an mp3 player)

With that in mind, I looked for a phone that fits the bill nicely, and I got me a Nokia 2690. Considering I’m running on a budget of just 3K, the fone fits the bill quite nicely. It has the following specs:

• Full colored screen
• VGA camera
• MP3 player with FM Radio
• Bluetooth 2.0
• MicroSD expandable memory slot

Here’s the pics I got of the phone itself:

I got this baby for only Php 2,900+ has Nokia warranty and it comes with a free SIM card as well. For what it’s worth, its really a pretty nice phone. And here’s my lolo really happy with his brand new Nokia phone.

 

My lolo is definitely having an early christmas this year. Mission accomplished!! ^__^

Samsung ES30 VS Nikon Coolpix L21–part 1

Hi guys!!

I wanted to do this comparison last week, but my GF beat me to it with her own comparison of the 2 cameras in her blog. You can read all about it here: http://kitten-insideacatsmind.blogspot.com/2010/12/tech-talk-samsung-es30-vs-nikon-l21.html

Now as for me, here’s my own set of comparison shots:

The settings used for the Samsung ES30 would be default Smart Auto, while the settings used for the Nikon Coolpix L21 was the “Food photography” setting and not the default “Easy Auto” mode.

As you may see with the pictures, Samsung’s picture quality is noticeably much darker than Nikon’s and does a poor job in illuminating the subjects when using Smart Auto. However, it does a sport a much wider-angle shot compared to the Nikon Coolpix as shown in the picture of the room as well as giving the room a much better contrast and not too bright compared to the Nikon Coolpix. Sadly, Samsung’s photos at times doesn’t come as sharp as Nikon’s which would come to no surprise since Nikon is well-known for taking very sharp and crisp photos.

Currently I’m figuring out how to adjust the settings if ever, so next time I do another comparison with the Nikon Coolpix L21, it would be on even terms. Till next time!!

PS: Bonus shots from my Samsung ES30, now using “Program mode” which essentially gives you a lot of options to tweak your settings before taking a shot. XD

Life with my Nokia C3

It’s been roughly 2 weeks atleast since I’ve been with my Nokia C3. At first I was abit skeptic about it being an absolutely great phone. I mean I was really torn whether or not I’d get a C6 or the C3, since I’m such a fan of the N97 mini’s touch+QWERTY setup. Most of the people I talked to and even online reviews say its pretty much worth every cent considering its relatively affordable price, so I made the jump. And after 2 weeks, its an absolute joy to own this phone and I’m glad I made the purchase. Although I’ll tell you right now, that having both touch+QWERTY is definitely the best setup for me, I’ve learned to love my phone’s unique set of capabilities and just being an all-around reliable phone.
Since I love gaming, first thing I did was I immediately looked for games for my Nokia C3, and here’s some of the games I got:
Red Alert Mobile

Dictator Defense

Considering I haven’t played much game on a standard S40 Nokia handset, these are pretty impressive. I particularly play Red Alert Mobile a lot when I’m bored as I’m a Red Alert fan, and playing it on my Nokia C3 is definitely awesome!! XD
Oh speaking of impressive, I’m quite pleased that the Nokia C3 is about at par with my old phone; Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, when it comes to battery life. The thing lasts for about 2 days straight without charging and considering I’ve been using Wifi, Bluetooth, Playing games, Media Player, and doing some calls every now and then. It’s definitely a great reliable phone and something I’m pretty pleased with.
Speakin of reliability, I love the phone’s build. It’s pretty sturdy and has a nice metallic finish on the back while sporting a glossy front. It already suffered 2 falls already, and it still looks just like new. It’s definitely business looking and believe me you won’t believe it’s a really cheap fone once you get your hands on one.
As for the built-in camera, I generally liked what I saw considering it’s the same spec as my old Nokia phone.

But despite having the same megapixel as my old phone, the Nokia C3’s built-in camera has some minor improvements, particularly when it comes to capturing video. Now, it runs smoothly, compared to my old Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. Here’s a sample video:

Nokia C3 video test

Another great thing about the Nokia C3 as well is the fact that its got some built-in community apps that can easily connect you to Facebook or Twitter. And I’m glad that the built-in community app can easily upload your photos from the phone straight to Facebook/Twitter. SWEET~
Lately, I’ve been using my netbook less due to the fact that I do most of my surfing on my phone nowadays, and that’s a good thing I guess, since I don’t need to always be stuck on a desk to get online. I’m pretty thankful atleast that I choose Nokia C3. ^___^

Goodbye my Nokia 5130 XpressMusic… Hello to…

…my brand new Nokia C3. XD

As much as I love the Nokia N97 mini, I have to admit, its way expensive here, and sadly I can’t afford one in anytime soon. And in my line of work, I need to be connected online most of the time. And with the increasing number of emails I get from work most of the time, and the fact that I can’t always have my laptop with me to get connected; I went ahead and decided on getting the Nokia C3 instead.

I got it for a pretty affordable price of Php 6,300 ($126) and I think its a good deal. Here’s a simple unboxing of my new Nokia phone.

I’ll be setting up my new phone in a few minutes, as I need some time to learn the new features. I’ll definitely miss my old phone; the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. It served me well for over a year which is a testament to the reliability of Nokia phones. Hopefully my new Nokia C3 will be just as reliable as my old Nokia 5130 XpressMusic phone. ^__^

How I fell in-love… with the Nokia N97 mini

I suppose the title says it all. Yes, I’m in-love with the Nokia N97 mini.

It’s been a few days since I sent back my Nokia N97 mini trial device back to Nokia, and I’ve been missing it since. T___T During the past few weeks I have been with the unit, it’s had its fair share of pros and cons, but overall… it was something that I fell in-love with. Some people think I’m crazy to be choosing the N97 mini over the N900 since the latter was much more powerful and versatile than the N97 mini; but for some reason the N97 mini hit the sweet spot for me in being both versatile and utilitarian at the same time. It may not be as powerful, but it does the job, something I have known Nokia phones for. And most important of all, this unit single-handedly removed my initial fears about slider-phones. Nokia certainly took this to heart and built one of the most sturdy slider-phones I’ve handled so far. Genius.

Here’s my Pros and Cons with the unit.

PROS

• The unit doesn’t wobble or creak at all. I’ve never had an issue of the phone creaking out or having any loose parts during my use and that’s saying alot considering this is a slider-phone.
• The unit is both lightweight and study. The aluminum body gives the phone a durable build quality without being heavy (unlike the N900 which weighs like a brick) while giving the phone a look of sophistication and oozes with sexiness. XD
• The OviStore is definitely a good pack-in. It may not be as mature as the iApp store or Android marketplace, but for what its worth, its definitely a good start. I love the free apps!! XD
• Ovi Maps is definitely a must have feature for me. It was certainly awesome to know that the Ovi Map app works both offline and online. It was a very handy feature, specially when I was trying to go to a place I’m not familiar with.
• Out of the many apps I got from the Ovi store, the 2 best apps I got were; Emoze (email client) and Socially (twitter/facebook feed client). A definite must-have for most people who wanted to be connected most of the time.
• For one thing, I tried out this app from the Nokia BetaLabs called Nokia Notifications. It’s my favorite widget as it gives me instant notifications of all updates that happened so far (like who called, how many people sent me an SMS, emails I recieved, etc.) all under one window screen. I can’t wait for Nokia to apply this to all other Nokia phones.
• The setup used in Nokia N97 mini, is definitely something I found a sweetspot to. I like having both touchscreen input AND a full QWERTY keyboard. Something that I would want to have in my future phone if ever.
• The 5MP Carl Zeiss camera is a joy to work with. It’s definitely gonna save me money instead of me buying a separate digital camera, my phone can do the job.

CONS

• I honestly didn’t like the fact that the battery life didn’t even last for more than 2 days atleast. I noticed that at the end of the day, I always end up charging the phone, something that I didn’t like. I kinda wished they did something about the battery life and made it last longer, since this isn’t the N900.
• Having a touch resistive screen can certainly be a bother, as it doesn’t have the same level of accuracy as an iPod/iPhone. And add the fact I have big hands in using the devices.
• While the Symbian OS is definitely much more easier to use than the Maemo, it still has quirks. Most notable of these quirks is the double-tap/single-tap issue, where there’s parts of the OS you’re required to double-tap, while others just a single-tap on the icon would do. It’s confusing to say the least, but not something that’s a deal-breaker.
• Apps hangs/crashes from time to time, probably dude to poor memory management. There are times I get “Not enough memory” warnings even if there’s no app open at the time.
• As a music lover, I’m quite disappointed with the performance of the music player here. The sound system wasn’t as loud as my old Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, and the headphones that came with the unit are a pain to use.

Overall, that’s my experience with the N97 mini. Yes it may not be perfect, but I can’t help but root for the phone as it simply fits most of my needs to a T. Simple, and elegant; just what I’ve come to expect from a Nokia phone. Even my dad love it!! XD As much as I love the phone, the unit cost is wayyyy too expensive here in the Philippines. For the same price, I could buy myself a new netbook. So as much as I want one, I’d rather wait for prices to come down or check out its spiritual successor; the Nokia C6.

Till then, I’ll be dreaming of my Nokia 97 mini…. XD

Cosplay + N97 mini camera/video test

Hey everybody!! As promised, I will be doing an extensive test of the Nokia N97 mini for daily use, as I have been contemplating recently which phone to get. Considering that the N97 mini is quite expensive here, it does have alot to live up to.

I started off the day by taking testing the N97 camera, as I was intrigued by the quality of the shots produced by the phone. And I must say, it didn’t disappoint. Take note, I haven’t done anything with the settings yet, as I’m just using the default settings. But regardless, these are relatively great shots, compared to most 5 Megapixel camera phones out there. Here are some shots taken with the N97 mini:

• Front Facing Camera (VGA):

• Back Camera (5 megapixel):

• Low Light (with Flash):

• Low Light (without Flash):

• Under Artificial Light / Indoor shots:

• Under Natural Light / Outside shots:

• Zoom 50%:

• Zoom 100%:

After messing around with the camera, I went out. I was supposed to be handling a meeting of some sort with my group, but apparently everyone was pretty much busy so I canceled the meeting and went to a local mall instead. I was inside SM Megamall (which is like the go-to place here in the Philippines on a weekend by most people) and as I was on my way home, I came across this place inside the mall where a cosplay event is going to take place.

Intrigued, I went in and found myself in a pretty good spot that’s quite near the stage. As the event begins, I suddenly realized that I haven’t exactly done a video test with the Nokia N97 mini yet!! This is a perfect opportunity for me to combine both my love for cosplay and gadgets!! Man I’m such a geek… :-D So I decided to start using the N97 mini and take videos of the event. And here’s some of the footage I got:

Overall, the cosplay event was pretty okay. I love the efforts with War Machine, Optimus Prime, as well as the highly detailed and gorgeous design of Spawn Orient/Mandarin. As for the other contestants? Meh. I wasn’t able to finish the event, but I was glad that atleast my favorite Spawn Orient/Mandarin won a spot there. I wasn’t around to find out who won 1st and 2nd, as I was really tired and hungry.

If you are wondering about the fuzziness in the video, that’s because I had to zoom in real close just to get the shot right, so this one is definitely alright with me. What I do like about the quality is that the sound cancellation was great, and that the colors are vibrant. Sure its not exactly HD quality, but for a 5 megapixel video camera? This is simply gorgeous. I also love the fact that there are no skips in the video itself. Unlike my previous fone; the Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, this one records videos smoothly with no skipping or choppiness. I love it alot!! XD

The one thing I hate though, was that the battery life didn’t last long for me to cover the whole event. As I was about to cover the last cosplay finalist, my Nokia N97 mini died out on me. I guess its pretty understandable, considering I’ve been doing some heavy usage with the unit (FM Radio, MP3 player, camera, Internet browsing, downloading apps via ovi store, calls, etc) but I do wished the fone had a better battery pack. It would have been great if it worked for 1 day straight of heavy usage.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Will be adding more of my experiences with the N97 mini next few days. Man I’m beginning to get worried that I may get too attached to the fone… T___T