Mobile Phones

Symbian to be wound down. Inevitable really.

It's 50/50 if that's going to happen. The board are considering two proposals; one to wind up the operation, the second to run it with a staff of 40 (currently it employs 110 people). Either way a lot of people I consider friends will lose their jobs.

An IT job isn't just for Christmas. Oh wait, yes it is.

How transferable are Symbian skills?

Embedded C++ and knowledge of mobile protocols and architectures are very transferrable at the moment. Everyone wants Android skills and people with them are, for now, few and far between.

So it's not like Welsh mine workers? No probs then.

I should add, Symbian isn't dead yet (although the life signs are diminishing). It takes a lot of time and effort to switch to a new mobile platform so the incumbents (Nokia and DoCoMo in Japan) will still be producing Symbian products for a few years yet.

Android is a good platform but it will face difficulties in the near future that might see the honeymood period end.

Symbian's strength is in the lower levels, it's very power and memory efficient, so with a decent UI (produced by someone other than Nokia) it could still be a player. We'll see.

Its good to hear. I'd like to see it survive. More choice of quality OS' must be a good thing. I loved the SE Satio, though it was limited compared to Android phones. Anything but Windows in my book....though Windows 7 looks like it could be a game changer. Those active tiles look good, and the concept is interesting. Unfortunately, I'm still to be convinced that Windows on a mobile, won't be anything but memory hungry.

Am I right in saying, that the mobile field is more active now than at any time in its brief history so far? It sure does look like it.

I can't believe Microsoft are still in the game, 12 years of trying and their market share is minimal. They only survive because of the billions of dollars they have in the bank which means they can subsidise the cost of development to those unfortunates daft enough to make a Windows phone. As an aside, it'll be interesting to see if HTC remain committed to Windows Mobile. The success they are having with Android could see them concentrate solely on it.

GA2G - you should read Tomi Ahonen's blog. The current activity is to do with platform dominance; the smartphone market is set to grow massively in the next couple of years and only a few platforms will survive.

If I was a betting man I'd put my money on four;

1. Android
   
2. Nokia's platform (it'll probably be Qt that thrives with the underlying OS, be it Symbian or Meego being secondary)
   
3. iOS (although Apple will remain a high end niche player)
   
4. Bada
   
   

I'll add a caveat, Stephen Elop has to be radical in turning Nokia back into an efficient producer of desirable phones. If he doesn't they could be the next Motorola.

Nokia cancels X7 phone from its USA rollout. Things just went from bad to worse. There's still hope as they have other things lined up, but its still a huge blow. Maybe the Nokia N9 will have the pizzazz to turn the tide.

US media bollocks as usual - the US is nowhere close to the leading edge when it comes to mobile.

Don't hold back andy. Lets hear how you really feel. :D

As for the N9, it might be announced next month, but I bet it won't be released for some time.

Nokia is still the most prolific manufacturer of cell phones in the world, but that's largely because it holds a commanding presence in underdeveloped parts of the world, where it can ship out tens of millions of phones on a regular basis. But these areas of the world don't use powerful smartphones like the US, and Nokia's profit margin isn't anything to write home about

This kind of lazy journalism really gets my goat. Nokia continues to be the single largest manufacturer of smartphones by some margin. Their profit margins might not be comparable with Apple, but then who's are?

Andy I think you might have missed the news that Nokia have employed an ex-Microsoft man, they are clearly about to annihilate the competition in a matter of hours with a mixture of extreme innovation and flawless UI.

So long Apple! Sayonara Google!

Hi all,

I took my HTC Desire HD into a mobile repair centre to have a new screen fitted. I have just been to collect the phone and the repair job is not up to standard.

A new screen has been fitted; however there is a gap between the screen and the bezel making it totally fragile to water. The repair center claimed that all replacement screens fitted look like this and screen 'rubbers' are not replaced during a screen replacement.

I think the job is frankly sh!te and not at all up to standard. I am not happy paying them for the work and have told them I will contact them tomorrow to prove other shops repair HTC screens fully.

Should i be looking to get trading standards involved or should I just demand the phone back without paying?

Being a bit of a technophobe I'm rather naive when it comes to the ins and outs of mobile phone technology.

I simply want a phone that I can text, call from with internet access.

My daughters Blackberry has rather slow internet access is this due to the phone of the provider?

Can someone recommend me a phone please? (on contract)

iPhone 4

And for a bit of balance,

Android thread >>>>>>>>>

I've always found the Nokia's to be quite straightforward to use and not too fussy - if that's what you want.

Any Android phone or the iPhone 3/4, both do what you want.

"My daughters Blackberry has rather slow internet access is this due to the phone of the provider?"

One or both, hard to know without details.

Blackberry curve on Virgin network

Thanks for the input guys.

I've got a blackberry curve on Vodafone and internet speed is fine for me.
Personally, I have an i-anything phobia, so have always stuck to anything but those things.

Such a noob with these things...

My daughters birthday soon she wants a Nokia C3 pink (it's not up for debate). Her current phone is on a Virgin contract which I am quite happy to continue with but Virgin Mobile do not offer that phone on their site. Can I just buy the phone on a pay as you go from anywhere and slip her current sim card in to continue with the Virgin contract?

if u buy payg virgin then yeah... or get a cheep one from ebay and get it unlocked for like a fiver!

depends if the other network provider put a restriction on the phone to their own network. Judging by the cost of the handset on PAYG im guessing it won't be, but have a chat to the network that are offering the handset as a pay as you go unit before you purchase just to be sure.