Archive for September, 2010

Nokia World: Very quick hands-on impressions of Nokia’s three new smartphones

Yesterday was a really fun day spent at Nokia World, the Finnish handset maker’s annual shindig. Conveniently, this year it was held in my home city of London and I got to cover the event for TechCrunch Europe.

On day one, Nokia unveiled three new smartphones running Symbian^3, the C6, C7 and E7, which I later had a brief hands-on with, along with the previously announced N8. I came away quietly impressed with subtle but extremely necessary improvements to the UI of Symbian, which also seemed snappier and in touch form really benefits from Nokia’s decision to (universally) switch to capacitive touch screens. The build quality on all four devices seems rock solid too, and the newly introduced ClearBlack screen technology “for improved outdoor visibility” and contrast levels was quite impressive too. That said, Nokia is still crying out for wider developer support to bring better and more third-party apps, but that’s also what events like Nokia World are for.

Oh, and the other personal highlight of Nokia World was definitely meeting Chris Ziegler and Thomas Ricker from Engadget, and being recognized by the awesome Leila Makki of TelecomTV, along with a few other folks from Twitter.

Read my full coverage over at TechCrunch…

Kindle vs iPad: The case for the dedicated e-Reader

Over at TechCrunch I’ve penned an op/ed piece on why I’m in love with the Kindle. Or more specifically, why the dedicated e-Reader still has a role to play in the context of Apple’s iPad and competing multifunctional tablet computers, such as the plethora of Android-powered devices that are about to hit the market.

I’m now a total Kindle convert.

Yes, I know. It’s a laughable notion to anybody that knows me well and judging by the number of unread books – mostly Christmas presents from friends who should know better – that occupy shelf space and the spare cupboard in my house. But I can’t get enough of the Kindle.

Why?

It’s the only gadget that encourages me – no, forces me – to go off the grid and get away from, as Mike Butcher puts it, the “background hum” of being always-connected. If fact, it’s for exactly the reasons that Carr states, that the dedicated e-reader can be seen as the anti-iPad. And that might well be its long-term appeal.

Head over to TechCrunch to read the full article…