Nokia E7

BeVonk!

BeVonk!

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Okay folks, so now there's a new Nokia out called the E7. This apparently replaces the E90. I struggle to understand Nokia's strategy here. This top of the range device runs on Symbian 3 soon to be replaced by Symbian 4 soon to be replaced by Meego ...

Who will go for this very expensive device now knowing that it's OS is already on deathrow? Why not put Meego on? Nokia seems lost. They need to tie up these loose OS ends, or am I missing something here?
 
Here's a link to it on PCWorld and Nokia.

Looks good, honestly I wonder whether it isn't too late to compete with the latest line of Android handsets already available. I don't think it's too late for Nokia/Symbian to up their game, but they're going to have to make moves quickly.
 
I can now understand why Nokia is hiring and firing senior staff at present because they seem to be lost in the wilderness. I see the person who headed the Palm Pre development is also going to Nokia. Clearly the Nokia board realised that desperate changes are needed. In my mind the E7 is proof of the need for change. The E7 is issued with a death cerificate in the box LOL!
 
Snippets from Edgadget today:

"One look at the N8 and E7 should be enough to convince the casual observer that Nokia is serious about design. The man behind Nokia's hardware and software design for the last year is Marko Ahtisaari, Senior Vice President of Design and former CEO and co-founder of Dopplr. We asked Marco what it would take to be successful in the US market. His response, while not direct, was still illuminating and gives us implicit insight into how MeeGo, not Symbian, might be Nokia's near-term play to conquer the American smartphone market.

MeeGo, not Symbian, is the product that will generate that degree of buzz and excitement."
 
So it appears that Nokia has realised that they need to dumb things down if they want to break into the American market. It appears to be the trend here too where I hear people complaining about the complexity of Symbian phones when they seem pretty simple to operate to me....
 
LancelotSA, very good article (first one) ... confirming my concerns. It was written it seems with the understanding at the time that the E7 will be a MeeGo device. Very true about the confusion it creates with developers. What do you write for? With iOS and Android it is much simpler. Make no mistake, the hardware of the E7 is a beauty. With MeeGo on it - with a clear MeeGo upgrade path - it would have been a winner, but now that we know Symbian is not going to be the high-end OS in future, it's a bit of a dud imo. Developers are already advancing to MeeGo, skipping the ^3 and ^4 waystations.
 
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The second article supports the Nokia two OS model ... Symbian for lower-end phones, and MeeGo for higher-end models. That makes sense. MeeGo on the E7 would then have made perfect sense. Will E7 owners have the option in future to legally (no hacking) upgrade to MeeGo?
 
Nokia & Microsoft to team up?

Against a backdrop of Nokia-blue screens, the company’s head of markets Niklas Savander tried to command the stage on Tuesday morning at London’s ExCel center. He was no Steve Jobs, opting for a conservative khaki suit and bungling a few words, but at the end of his opening address, he tried to deliver his last line with gusto: “Today is all about here and now, it’s about three words: Nokia is back.” Although seemingly sincere, these are strange words for a company that seems anything but “back.”

“In turmoil” is a more fitting description.

“The question analysts are asking is: ‘Where does Nokia sit in the four stages of bereavement?’ Is it denial?” asks Benedict Evans, a consultant for Enders Analysis in London. “Or have they finally come to realize that Apple’s product is indeed better.”

The rest ...
 
Describing Nokia as currently locked in a “death spiral, just loaded with challenges,” senior Needham analyst, Charles Wolf says “It would be a disaster. Ballmer [(Microsoft’s CEO)] is not the brightest bulb… but I don’t think Ballmer is dumb enough to do it.” :D :D
 
From Engadget:

Care for a little more insight into Nokia's smartphone development habits? In an email to our pal John Gruber, a former Nokia software engineer has laid out his perspective on why the Finnish phone maker seems to be struggling in that lucrative high-end smartphone market:
"Here's the problem: Hardware Rules at Nokia. The software is written by the software groups inside of Nokia, and it is then given to the hardware group, which gets to decide what software goes on the device, and the environment in which it runs. All schedules are driven by the hardware timelines. It was not uncommon for us to give them code that ran perfectly by their own test, only to have them do things like reduce the available memory for the software to 25% the specified allocation, and then point the finger back at software when things failed in the field."
He goes on to say that Nokia's haughtiness extended to the point of turning an assessment of the iPhone's relative strengths into a list of reasons why it wouldn't succeed, which -- considering that the doc was compiled at around the 3GS' launch -- seems like a distinctly foolish thing to do. The really interesting bit here, though, is where that leaves Nokia today. As far as its Design chief Marko Ahtisaari is concerned, the future's MeeGo all the way, but that new platform was nowhere to be seen at Nokia World this year, and Gruber raises the question of whether Nokia shouldn't perhaps switch to the already ubiquitous Android or soon-to-be-everywhere Windows Phone 7. Neither makes a ton of sense on the surface, as Nokia's proud tradition doesn't exactly mesh with dancing to Microsoft's stringent spec tune or becoming yet another Android phone manufacturer. But in the current fast-moving market, a good smartphone software platform today might just be better than a great one tomorrow -- more to the point, we probably wouldn't be pondering this if Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was still in charge, but now that a software guy has finally taken the helm, maybe the winds of change might blow once more in Espoo?
 
From Daring Fireball ...

What’s Next for Nokia?
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Here’s the situation facing Nokia’s new CEO, Stephen Elop:

■Nokia needs to settle on one software platform for mobile devices, very soon.

■None of their Symbian-based stuff should be the choice.

■The only other thing they have in-house is MeeGo.

■It’s too late for them to start over from scratch, and I don’t think they have the software chops to do so even if they did have time.

So it’s either MeeGo, or something from outside the company. The top two choices: Android and Windows Phone 7. Given that Elop comes to Nokia from Microsoft has led some to wonder whether they’ll go with Windows Phone 7.

Nokia’s problem — and I’ve heard this same story from at least half a dozen former and present Nokia employees who read DF — is that their handset business is fundamentally based around hardware teams. When they decide to make a phone, they put together a hardware team for that model, and that team makes all decisions. That’s why they have no cohesive software strategy. Nokia sees software as one component in a hardware-based view of the industry. Here’s a description from an email sent to me by a former Nokia software engineer:

Here’s the problem: Hardware Rules at Nokia. The software is written by the software groups inside of Nokia, and it is then given to the hardware group, which gets to decide what software goes on the device, and the environment in which it runs. All schedules are driven by the hardware timelines. It was not uncommon for us to give them code that ran perfectly by their own test, only to have them do things like reduce the available memory for the software to 25% the specified allocation, and then point the finger back at software when things failed in the field.

In addition, I read their “competitive analysis” of the iPhone. It was a short powerpoint deck that proceeded to lay out all of the reasons why Nokia did not have to change what they were doing at all. They even included “developer annoyance at the App Store submission process” as a reason why the iPhone would ultimately fail (this was around the time that the 3GS was released, so they had no excuse).

Bottom Line: Nokia is a hardware company that hates software.

Bringing in an executive from a pure-software company like Microsoft may well be the smartest thing the Nokia board could have done. Judging by some of the stories coming out of Nokia World this week, though, it seems as though the message hasn’t yet worked its way through the ranks. E.g., “Nokia Expects Hardware Design to Attract Smartphone Customers”:

Leading handset maker Nokia, which has struggled against competitors in the smartphone segment expects hardware design to play an important role in attracting smartphone customers.

Marko Ahtisaari, Company’s design strategy director expressed that the smartphone is now attracting user beyond tech-savvy software enthusiasts who want to express their personality with a unique and good-looking device and thus the hardware design will be important in the segment.

Sure, that’s the ticket.

None of Nokia’s options seem appealing, though. Symbian is crufty and has no legs. MeeGo isn’t ready, and has the whiff of vaporware. But going with Android or Windows Phone 7 reduces Nokia to the role of a commodity OEM, a peer not to Apple or RIM but rather merely to companies like HTC and LG. Nokia needs a platform that makes people want to buy a “Nokia phone”, not an “Android phone” or “Windows phone”.

It’s not that hardware isn’t important. But everything starts with the software platform.
 
The lack of debate in this thread is an indication of the lack of interest in Nokia as a smartphone brand. When I had my E90 discussions quickly evolved into a HTC TyTN vs E90 heated debate as the fanboys stuck into one another. This has since moved to iOS vs Android. Interesting how the OS has become the focus; in the past it was the hardware. This is what Nokia failed to realise. As a person who evolved with the Nokia Communicator this is sad. If Nokia stayed on course the E7 would have been a big hit and discussion topic. It's not.
 
BeVonk! said:
The lack of debate in this thread is an indication of the lack of interest in Nokia as a smartphone brand. When I had my E90 discussions quickly evolved into a HTC TyTN vs E90 heated debate as the fanboys stuck into one another. This has since moved to iOS vs Android. Interesting how the OS has become the focus; in the past it was the hardware. This is what Nokia failed to realise. As a person who evolved with the Nokia Communicator this is sad. If Nokia stayed on course the E7 would have been a big hit and discussion topic. It's not.
Click to expand...

You're not really saying anything other than just quoting articles you find. This probably explains the lack of debate. Most cellphone threads are like this anyway. They never really illicit much banter.

I'm still holding out for the Nokia N8. I am not swayed too much but the OS. I have no problem using Symbian. Not much to debate.

I notice you have taken the reference to your new phone out of your sig? Sick of it already?
 
BeVonk! said:
The lack of debate in this thread is an indication of the lack of interest in Nokia as a smartphone brand. When I had my E90 discussions quickly evolved into a HTC TyTN vs E90 heated debate as the fanboys stuck into one another. This has since moved to iOS vs Android. Interesting how the OS has become the focus; in the past it was the hardware. This is what Nokia failed to realise. As a person who evolved with the Nokia Communicator this is sad. If Nokia stayed on course the E7 would have been a big hit and discussion topic. It's not.
Click to expand...

Too true. I've been a Nokia user for too long now. I wanted to change, then the 5800 came out- I gave them one last chance.

Next up for me: Android. Most likely the i9000 Galaxy. If/when Nokia return with something worthwhile (2-4yrs, upgrade cycle dependent) I may consider a return. Till then, Adiós.
 
Budza said:
Too true. I've been a Nokia user for too long now. I wanted to change, then the 5800 came out- I gave them one last chance.

Next up for me: Android. Most likely the i9000 Galaxy. If/when Nokia return with something worthwhile (2-4yrs, upgrade cycle dependent) I may consider a return. Till then, Adiós.
Click to expand...

That's the thing with most of us on here. We are fairly tech savvy and like change. Nokia realises that a lot of users don't. They like familiarity.
 
Budza said:
Too true. I've been a Nokia user for too long now. I wanted to change, then the 5800 came out- I gave them one last chance.

Next up for me: Android. Most likely the i9000 Galaxy. If/when Nokia return with something worthwhile (2-4yrs, upgrade cycle dependent) I may consider a return. Till then, Adiós.
Click to expand...

Went from a Nokia 5800 to the Galaxy S myself, loving it.
I think Meego is promising, it could be just as good as Android, maybe better and I expect it to bring Nokia back into the big league when it comes to high end smartphones.
Symbian doesn't belong in high end phones unless it gets heavily reworked, in my opinion. Symbian 3 seems decent but hasn't impressed me at all from the videos I've seen. It's just not as elegant to use as Android.
Meego on the other hand, could give Android a kick in the butt :)
 
LancelotSA said:
I notice you have taken the reference to your new phone out of your sig? Sick of it already?
Click to expand...

My sig has been running for longer than a year so the Blackberry is not so new. Stopped noticing my own sig long ago, should actually kill it altogether. Done. :D
 
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Bevonk: As I have mentioned before, Symbian and Meego apps will be cross compilable, as long as you use Nokia's QT toolkit.

So in other words, if you develop an App for Symbian now, you will be able to compile it for Meego later on as well.

And this is why Nokia went with Meego and not with Android. They wanted to keep backwards compatibility.
 
EtienneK said:
Bevonk: As I have mentioned before, Symbian and Meego apps will be cross compilable, as long as you use Nokia's QT toolkit.

So in other words, if you develop an App for Symbian now, you will be able to compile it for Meego later on as well.

And this is why Nokia went with Meego and not with Android. They wanted to keep backwards compatibility.
Click to expand...

I have read something along this line but it is great to have it spelt out here. I highly doubt Nokia would release a phone like the N8 with Symbian^3 and then leave users with no applications as a result of no one developing for it.
 
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