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Well seriously, I was nearly ready to pay 50% more (Nokia E50 ~300€ vs. basic WM6-phone ~450€) just to get a better today-screen. Seemed too much back then, but today I'd make a different choice (although the E50 is still a nice solid phone).
I'll have more "vs" posts coming in the near future including (I hope) a few video comparisons of different functions and how they are achieved on each device.
There are really only a few main differences between the older N95 and the upcoming US HSDPA version, but they're pretty big ones:
<ul>
<li>US HSDPA (of course)</li>
<li>Internal memory (160MB)</li>
<li>Big RAM upgrade (about 85MB free on reboot - post apps)</li>
<li>Slightly bigger screen (I believe)</li>
<li>No lens cover</li>
<li>Higher capacity battery compatibility</li>
<li>A-GPS</li>
</ul>
The only item above that I can't really comment on is the bigger battery as my proto was delivered with the old battery. There are probably a few things I missed but that should cover the big ones. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to try anything out. :)
Love the site by the way. It's truly a great resource for S60 users.
I've haven't had much time to play with it so far but I have to say that I'm liking it a lot compared to WM5 and any WM smartphone edition devices I've used. Comparing it to S60 is a completely different story...
I'll be doing some more comparisons over time here, but some basic info after my initial impressions: They're both about equally as stable/buggy - each has issues that can only be resolved with a reboot/powercycle. I'd call the WM UI a bit more attractive but that's 100% due to the fact that it's so open and HTC has done a good job with tweaking it and adding some great functionality. The touch interface is nice and there are lots of advantages to it, but I do start to miss buttons when typing long messages. As such, the Kaiser might be a better choice - but I really wanted to embrace the touch UI in my testing and IMO you can't beat the form of the Touch.
In terms of usability, I'm liking HTC's WM6 UI very much so far -BUT- it should be noted that WM apps are much less "usable" than S60 apps in general. For some reason most WM apps that I've played with so far are almost counterintuitive! They're set up badly and settings are often confusing. I suppose it's related to the programming environment but apps just seem to flow and function MUCH better on S60 devices. I've even been playing with a few apps that make S60 and WM versions to compare them. The difference is often huge and unmistakable...
I guess you have noticed what pissed me off the most in my WM vs Symbian post. The Today screen in WM totally blew me away when I got the Qtek, I was so frustrated I didn't have 10% of it's usability on my Nokia.
But i've got something more interesting to say now.
Take a look at SPB's (http://www.spbsoftwarehouse.com) Mobile Shell and Pocket Plus.
If you just look at Mobile Shell you will see that it has the same functionality as HTC's home/weather/launcher, except the launcher isn't as configurable. While Pocket Plus adds an extremely configurable launcher and a couple of other goodies like a task manager that "weirdly" reminds of the task manager you have on the extreme upper right.
Let's add that both SPB's programs have been best sellers, you can check it on Handango.
Which brings me to my conclusion:
1 - HTC have seen what was popular and integrated it in their Today (the 3-part home/weather/launcher)
2 - WM have really noticed that the most annoying part of their platform is that the close button doesn't actually close the programs but hides them and the task manager on WM5 takes 5 minutes to access (horrible), so they implemented the same feature as SPB's Pocket Plus.
Proof that they listen to their customers and try to make life easier for them :)
FINAL WORD: I would love to see Symbian implement for free the features of the best-selling apps for their platform... maybe i'm too optimistic.
I guess then you'll be able to make your choice mre clearly. For me, I wouldn't put my SIM card in the Qtek 9100 for nothing in the world. I love my Nokia!
First of all, Symbian cant indeed compete with WM in terms of home page. WM's today screen is so much configurable with tons of 3rd party plugins, you can build the today page you want to!
Speaking of PIM, Symbian apps are so poor compared to Pocket Informant or Agenda Fusion! Yes, Papyrus is an alternative of the standard PIM (and also on WM5 for Smartphone devices), but it's not the same... Anyway, I bought it on my N95.
But, there is a domain where Symbian is much better than WM: connectivity. Using WM devices, if you want to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot to surf with Pocket IE, you need to first launch the Wi-Fi manager to connect to the hotspot, then to launch PIE. And after closing PIE, dont forget to deconnect from the hotspot... Connection process is so smooth using Symbian devices!! You launch your app and the proper connectivity just pop-up to confirm connection (or even connect directly), and when you're done, the connection is silently drop off. Superb!!
This connectivity efficency is, for me, far more important than the poor active standby... :-)
Regards,
Regarding WM however, there's something to be said for maintaining one connection and having all apps with a data requirement automatically use the active connection. In terms of WiFi, I've been using PhoneWeaver's Today plugin and I love that I can tap the WiFi icon and have the phone drop EDGE and connect to my WLAN with minimal or no additional steps. Then apps make use of the WiFi connection until I disable WiFi (again with just a single tap of PhoneWeaver's WiFi icon).
Perhaps there might not be as many apps, but stability is definitely not an issue!
The programs pictured above on Active Standby ordered from left to right are:
Palringo, S60 Browser, Handy Weather, Reboot, Papyrus, GSync, and Jaiku Mobile
As for getting your email do display on Active Standby, this is a function unique to Eseries devices unfortunately. What device are you currently using?
It'd be cool to see how this compares to wm 6.
Hopefully Ricky (symbian-guru.com) or Stefan (intomobile.com) will get their hands on the TyTN II that they've been talking about and we can get some perspective from some more savvy gamers.