[Raja]

Originally Posted by Anand123

N8 is expected to be priced around 22K.

The phone has just gone on pre-order in USA at $550.
That's approx Rs.25,700/-

I hope the India price will be cheaper than USA and more competitive.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Thanks Rohan, my wife went to this store and found the exact model and color she wanted.

Now she too has moved on from iPhone 3GS to Nokia 3710 fold, her first flip phone. This phone is really cute.

Samurai, congrats on the buy.

Could you please give a brief review of 3710. Especially its screen, camera and keypad for sms.

Thanks

[thelightening]

I am a new android user on my new HTC Wildfire. I would like to convey that once you started using the android operating system based phones, you will never think back about nokia's symbian operating system. That much difference will be felt.

[vjoy3]

Originally Posted by Ram

Nokia's new N9 is a Nokia N8 with MeeGo.

What is MeeGo?
MeeGo is an embedded Linux 2.6.33 based OS, formed by a merger between Nokia's Debian-based Maemo and Intel’s Red Hat Fedora-based Moblin.

The UI is based on Qt 4.6, but GTK+ and Clutter will also be included.

[b]Is MeeGo better than Android?

So, Meego gets the Crown now.

Back on the forum after months.
Ram - Meego might be faster, but without much apps available for the phone it is just another brick, faster one though.
Gone are the days when the brand was the sole deciding factor. With 800,000+ apps available and hundreds getting added everyday to marketplace, androids are going to lead the market.
The BB and iPhones are things of the past with their closed/controlled development will make them obsolete in time.
Nokia's OVI or Samsung's android photocopy OS/market are also nothing to be talked of.

So if I was to buy a phone expecting a lifespan of even 1+ year, would think android, else the nokia's of the world will do for now.

BlackBerry Torch 9800 at Half Price After Only One Week Nokia too might end up this way unless they do something drastically different.

Vijay

[bharanidharang]

Will Microsoft finally change the game in the phone world.

Xbox Live launch titles for Windows Phone 7 finally revealed, we've got the full preview -- Engadget

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by vjoy3

Ram - Meego might be faster, but without much apps available for the phone it is just another brick, faster one though.
Gone are the days when the brand was the sole deciding factor. With 800,000+ apps available and hundreds getting added everyday to marketplace, androids are going to lead the market.
The BB and iPhones are things of the past with their closed/controlled development will make them obsolete in time.
Nokia's OVI or Samsung's android photocopy OS/market are also nothing to be talked of.

It easy to say that iOS 4 will go down the dumps and Android will take the lead but its far from the truth. The point is App store still has the largest number of applications and the most usable applications. Its by far the still most attractive platform for the developers to be making apps for compared to Android when it comes to pure economical reasons. The quality and variety of apps on iPhone is still the best.

Coming to the OS itself, the iOS4 is still the best touch based operating system for mobile devices when it comes to interface and usability. Android I am afraid is still playing catch up.

Originally Posted by vjoy3

So if I was to buy a phone expecting a lifespan of even 1+ year, would think android, else the nokia's of the world will do for now.

Also lets not forget that Meego is also open source and has the might of Nokia and Intel behind it. If the first build and the device is good, you yourself will see the developers get in line to develops apps for it. BMW has already announced that it will use Meego as the platform for its entertainment system along with other manufacturers.
I am huge iPhone fan but will shift to Meego device in a heartbeat even if it as good as iOS 4. Nokia is still the king when it comes to reliability.

Originally Posted by vjoy3

BlackBerry Torch 9800 at Half Price After Only One Week Nokia too might end up this way unless they do something drastically different.
Vijay

Frankly I dont understand what wrong with RIM. The Blackberry OS 6 is pretty OK, its the hardware which is letting the platform down in case of Torch.

[vjoy3]

It easy to say that iOS 4 will go down the dumps and Android will take the lead but its far from the truth.

May be my comments are far fetched. Apple + iOS4 is a force to reckon with.

The point is App store still has the largest number of applications and the most usable applications. Its by far the still most attractive platform for the developers to be making apps for compared to Android when it comes to pure economical reasons. The quality and variety of apps on iPhone is still the best.
Agree on both accounts for now . Android should catchup soon with the arm twisting apple does for its developers sometimes in the name of quality. Besides the apple app developers would be eager to get their apps rewritten for the second biggest OS.

Coming to the OS itself, the iOS4 is still the best touch based operating system for mobile devices when it comes to interface and usability. Android I am afraid is still playing catch up.
Yes and catching up fast. Gingerbread release is 2+ months away.

Also lets not forget that Meego is also open source and has the might of Nokia and Intel behind it. If the first build and the device is good, you yourself will see the developers get in line to develops apps for it. BMW has already announced that it will use Meego as the platform for its entertainment system along with other manufacturers.
I am huge iPhone fan but will shift to Meego device in a heartbeat even if it as good as iOS 4. Nokia is still the king when it comes to reliability.

Will take lot of investment to get that kind of developer pool. Google has flexed its muscles throwing lot of money and phones to attract developers. iPhone has a brand name and back then was the only rider (ignoring the half baked attempts of smaller companies) back them. Agree that Nokia's reliability and ergonomic design are its key strengths but then HTC and Samsungs of the world are fast catching up

BlackBerry Torch 9800 at Half Price After Only One Week Nokia too might end up this way unless they do something drastically different.
Vijay[/quote]
Frankly I dont understand what wrong with RIM. The Blackberry OS 6 is pretty OK, its the hardware which is letting the platform down in case of Torch.[/quote]
Guess the sturdy hardware and formal looks are not good enough with aging UI. The mail adv. they had is all but gone now with MS exchange being supported on most of the newer gen. smartphones AND they still do not have a apps store(?)

Vijay

[SPARKled]

Is there any phone available with Android OS and does not have a touch screen?

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

Is there any phone available with Android OS and does not have a touch screen?

I think you should go for a phone with QWERTY keyboard in addition to the touch screen like the Motorola Droid coz I don't think there is any Android phone that is completely keyboard based. If you want such a phones, Nokia is your only bet when it comes to smartphones with only a keyboard. I remember there is one Samsung phone too , but it is very costly.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Also lets not forget that Meego is also open source and has the might of Nokia and Intel behind it. If the first build and the device is good, you yourself will see the developers get in line to develops apps for it.

As a mobile developer do you believe this is going to happen? Where is the money? In fact, I am in a similar space and I am not able to figure out how to consistent make any money out of developing for mobile market. I can only think of giving free mobile apps that will work as extensions of out mainstream products. But an independent mobile app that can earn to sustain the development cost? I don't see it happening.

Today I came across an article that supports my dilemma: Loic Le Meur Blog: How much can you really make developing mobile apps?

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Samurai

As a mobile developer do you believe this is going to happen? Where is the money? In fact, I am in a similar space and I am not able to figure out how to consistent make any money out of developing for mobile market. I can only think of giving free mobile apps that will work as extensions of out mainstream products. But an independent mobile app that can earn to sustain the development cost? I don't see it happening.

Today I came across an article that supports my dilemma: Loic Le Meur Blog: How much can you really make developing mobile apps?

I dont know on what assumptions the article seems to build its logic upon but looking at the hard numbers, even if I average 200,000 Apps with a total payout of around $ 1 Billion, the payout is huge. Take into account that only a small percentage of the apps are truly hot selling you do have great potential. And if this wasn't the case, you would not have seen big developers like EA, Gameloft and the likes to be developing apps for the iPhone.
Also you can't expect fun apps like "iBoost" to be generating huge revenue for the developer but given that even a single developer can create that application in his free time, any output out of it is acceptable.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

I dont know on what assumptions the article seems to build its logic upon but looking at the hard numbers, even if I average 200,000 Apps with a total payout of around $ 1 Billion, the payout is huge.

Are you saying average $5000 per application is huge payout? That does not even start to make a business case. For every app the succeeds, there will be 10 that fail to take off.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Take into account that only a small percentage of the apps are truly hot selling you do have great potential.

The members of Indian national cricket team make really big bucks. Does that means the millions of cricket players who aspire to represent India have great potential?

Do people buy $50 or $100 apps for their mobile on a regular basis? I don't think so, but they do it for their Desktops.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

even a single developer can create that application in his free time, any output out of it is acceptable.

Creating applications in free time? I think you and I are talking about completely different things.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Are you saying average $5000 per application is huge payout? That does not even start to make a business case. For every app the succeeds, there will be 10 that fail to take off.

A 1:10 success to failure ratio, may be the case for PC applications as well, Samurai.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Do people buy $50 or $100 apps for their mobile on a regular basis? I don't think so, but they do it for their Desktops.

As mobiles get more capable, and more capable they certainly will,
are $100 or higher priced apps for the RPC (Really Personal Computer) world, inconceivable ?

Intel's Moorestown x86 architecture processor has started to happen.

With the Nokia Intel tie-up, it is not inconceivable that a future Nokia phone (running MeeGo) will incorporate Moorestown.

The smartphone will be an RPC (Really Personal Computer).
Intel is working to reduce the power consumption and cost of x86 processors, with their proven semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities. That may just tilt the smartphone market tables away from ARM processors.

By 2012, smartphone shipments will exceed PC (desktop & laptop) unit volumes.
Approximately 480,000,000 smartphones versus 430,000,000 PCs,
going to 650,000,000 next-gen devices by 2013.

x86 has irrefutable advantages over ARM
Remember that the established base of x86 developers is vast.
The same goes for the availability of free, open as well as proprietary software and libraries tuned to the x86 architecture.

So with Intel's Moorestown, Tunnel Creek SoC and their descendants, we may just get there.

Intel CEO Unveils x86 Moorestown Smartphone
Intel Announces New Atom SoC ''Tunnel Creek''

Silicon verification on the x86 side is far more advanced and dependable than ARM.

What about ARM?
Can you imagine what a nightmare multi-processor ARM will be to debug?

ARM’s only advantage is its low power. Intel expects to mitigate this issue with their process supremacy.

Intel may integrate programmable baseband, application processing, and power management into a single piece of silicon. If they are first to do that, do it well, and do it cheaply, they will be king of the smartphone hill.

Would I spend money on software for my mobile phone?
Speaking for myself, in December 2009 I purchased
CorePlayer Mobile for Symbian S60 3rd Edition ver. 1.3.6
The price was US $30

Why?
I wanted a comprehensive set of codecs for my Nokia N82.

CorePlayer Mobile has YouTube support, with built-in browse and search
Matroska MKV (Blueray Quality)
BlueTooth Stereo (A2DP) and Audio/Video Remote Control Bluetooth profile support
Audio: MP3, WMA, AAC, MKA, WAV, OGG, Speex, WAVPACK, FLAC, MPC, AMR, GSM, ADPCM, ALaw, MuLaw, MIDI
Video: CoreAVC (H.264), AVCHD, MKV, MPEG-1, MPEG-4 part 2 (ASP), DivX, XviD, MJPEG, MSVIDEO1
Images: JPG (420, 422, 440), BMP, PNG, GIF, TIFF
Containers: FLV, Matroska, ASX, ASF, TS, PS, M2TS, 3GPP, MOV, AVI, MPEG-4, NSV

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Are you saying average $5000 per application is huge payout? That does not even start to make a business case. For every app the succeeds, there will be 10 that fail to take off.

No, because all apps aren't the same. Out of the 2 lakh + apps only a minute percentage will be real utility or proper gaming apps which as the sales would tell you are doing quite well.

Originally Posted by Samurai

The members of Indian national cricket team make really big bucks. Does that means the millions of cricket players who aspire to represent India have great potential?

If they are good enough YES. The reason why it also encourages developers to create meaningful, useful apps.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Do people buy $50 or $100 apps for their mobile on a regular basis? I don't think so, but they do it for their Desktops.

I haven't seen many apps in the app store which are above 15$. In anycase, the pricing is decided by the developer taking into account the expected volumes.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Creating applications in free time? I think you and I are talking about completely different things.

I am talking about the .99 $ applications which can be found aplenty and hardly do any useful stuff. For those applications even a few thousand dollars is a huge payout.

For further facts and figures, read Ram's reply.

[NetfreakBombay]

Originally Posted by Samurai

As a mobile developer do you believe this is going to happen? Where is the money? In fact, I am in a similar space and I am not able to figure out how to consistent make any money out of developing for mobile market. I can only think of giving free mobile apps that will work as extensions of out mainstream products. But an independent mobile app that can earn to sustain the development cost? I don't see it happening.

Product development always has this risk. Even on PCs, there is a long tail of free applications or sharewares that would not make any money.

But users do pay for applications they find useful (like GPS navigation) on mobile. Basically product development is a risk regardless of delivery platform.

Only "safe" area would be enterprise. E.g. now couries companies can hand out off the shelf smartphones to delivery personnel to scan items being delivered. And it will definitely need a suite of apps.

Similarly, for my checking account (Chase) , I can just scan checks with an iPhone app instead of depositing that in ATM or at the branch. This was developed by a third party for Chase. Banks saves money even by distributing it for free and developer gets money for each install.