Maemo has come a long way from the time it was just an OS used for Nokia’s internet Tablet series – N770 to the N810 WiMax edition.
The Maemo on the N900 is a completely different beast, yes beast. The N900 is clearly one of the most intriguing devices in recent times. It’s a PC that doubles up as a phone, a PMP and more. This means the OS for this device really needs to perform. And this is no cake walk. Expect Nokia or for that matter any manufacturer/OS developer to falter here and there.
The QWERTY slides out
N900 is a gorgeous looking device, no I’m serious. Design wise, Nokia has really paid attention to details while crafting this device.
A lot of people out there would probably not agree to this. The N900 clearly borrows from the Nseries design elements – a chrome metallic band across the screen half of the phone. The rear and the sides of the phone are finished in plastic with a ceramic finish. Continue reading
The last time I got an N900, it was courtesy WOMWorldNokia. That time I played with the device for a month and and loved the device. The N900 is a fantastic device. It really blew me away and I should have known that things would not remain the same after that. Continue reading
This review comes in a bit late, but better late than never.
SPB Software is quite a renowned company making apps for various mobile phone OS platforms. Symbian is one of them. We were lucky to snag a copy of SPB Mobile Shell v3.5 for review.
So what is the SPB Mobile Shell? In simple words, without a lot of techno babble, it is a customization and personalization tool for Symbian touchscreen phones.
Before I go into great detail let me post a few lead features of this application.
Lead features: –
– Multiple customizable homescreens
– Widgets for tasks, agenda, weather and a lot of others
– Widget-based photo contacts
– Launcher with fast access to all the features
– Adaptive skins, support for OpenGL and 3D carousel
So what does it do…. well what it does is makes your drab boring homescreen interesting and alive. If you have had a touchscreen Symbian for quite sometime, you know what I am talking about. The screen is good, but it just can’t contain all the things you need on one screen or a pane even. I, for example would like to have my homescreen full of icons of apps I use all the time, but I can’t. In such a case I am left hitting the menu button quite often and then browsing for that app and firing it up… phew that’s a lot to describe imagine doing it every now and then!
In this last part of the review of the 5233, let’s look at the Internet, Camera, Ovi Store and Accessories.
Internet:
As we all know that the 5233 has only connectivity up to EDGE there is no other way of connecting to the internet except for using the GPRS/EDGE connection by the operator. So you are dependent on the operator for internet. The browser on the 5233 is the same ‘Webkit’ based browser which is quite robust.
Surfing the net on the 5233 is not a problem as the moment you type in the link and hit ‘Go’ the browser starts loading the page and you get a full screen view by default. With the ability to view Flash objects in the webpage itself, the internet experience is further enhanced.
The ability of blocking pop ups is an added advantage for the device. Although this is a feature common to the browser, having it in a 7K phone makes it a big plus.
I’d rate the internet experience at 8/10. A full-fledged internet browser on a budget phone. The absence of tabbed browsing still continues to be a major drawback for the browser.
Camera:
The 5233 comes with a 2MP fixed focus camera. This means that you cannot focus on a particular object, but you can click incredibly quickly. The 2MP sensor is as good as or perhaps even better than what the N70 had. This is a pretty tall order for this device since the picture quality on the N70 was one of the best. The 5233 also does not disappoint. In low light, however it is a letdown. One cannot use the 5233 for any picture taking in low light. The 5233 does not have any LED flash so the camera is rendered useless.
The 5233 has various modes & colour options along with brightness, contrast and ISO settings as well. These settings cannot be found in some of the other device in this segment, which gives it an edge over its competition. The absence of auto focus is a little bit of a drawback for this device and could have been included in my opinion.
Geo-tagging is also not available as there is not GPS chip in this device.
Overall, for the price, the 5233 offers an excellent camera easily getting a 8.5/10. A big view finder due to the 3.2 inch screen, lots of modes and settings and a dedicated camera button on the side allow for some fast camera action.
Ovi Store:
The Ovi Store on the phone is accessible only through the data connection on the 5233 and that makes it a bit of a pain, and it is not because of the store, but because of the connection. The other way to access the store is through a PC and then installing the apps using the Ovi Suite. Ovi Store, has over a period of time, really grown and has quite a few apps, and there are quite a few things you can get for free.
It is definitely a must to check it out pretty often just to see if there are any new additions. From downright silly apps to some very smart ones, they are all available. I’ll give the Ovi Store app and experience a 7/10. Why have i not ranked it up there. The reason for that is quite simple. The app and store has room for a lot of improvement and there are a lot of apps that can come on the S60 5th edition platform.
Accessories:
The Nokia 5233 comes with the following accessories in the box –
The battery of course has been covered in the last part of the review so I won’t go into the details of that. The charger is a regualr 2mm charger and not the Micro USB type, the 5233 does not support Micro USB charging so even if you have your own charger, you won’t be able to charge it. The stereo headset is the same that comes with the E63. It’s good, but if you are looking for a music experience, you will need to buy an even better set of headphones/earphones. These ones are good for taking calls and some occasional listening. The plectrum stylus is a good touch and it’s a nice thing to use. But, I did not use it that much, it’s all about personal choice really. The stylus in the phone was good enough for me.
I’d give the 5233 in terms of accessories a good 7/10. A better set of earphones could have done the trick.
World of Phones
Aditya Singhvi's Phones 