Nokia Lumia 800: Nokia Drive and Nokia Music hands-on
Much has been written about how Nokia would attempt to differentiate their Windows Phone 7 smartphones to other Microsoft OEM licensees. Well now that we have our hands on the new Lumia 800, we can just see how much, if at all, Nokia has customised the UI in their quest to set themselves apart.
As you can see from the video embedded below, the core Windows Phone 7 experience has been left untouched. The love it or hate it Metro UI is fast, sleek and benefits from Microsoft’s rigid chassis 1 specifications. The first generation Windows Phone 7 devices all contains the same single core 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and nobody complained about the performance.
The one found in the Lumia 800 is clocked at 1.4 GHz which is quite a speed bump. Some has mentioned that the Lumia 800 would benefit more from a dual core processor. Perhaps when Apollo or Tango arrives with 720p display support, but right now Windows Phone 7 is so well optimised it just does not need one.
Many people have asked and I can confirm that Nokia Pure is no where to be seen. In fact there is still no way of changing the default typeface on Windows Phone 7. I doubt many people will mind. Segoe is a modern and clean sanserif typeface that works really well with the Metro interface. So much so I have even used it in my previous Nokia N8. Still it would be nice to see font changing as an option in future Windows Phone updates.
There is one small consolations for those seeking for a more “Nokia experience”. Under the theme settings you will find a new accent called ‘Nokia Blue’. This is the same hue of Nokia’s famous blue logo, and it looks great on the Lumia 800's AMOLED screen.
The Lumia 800 ships with two Nokia-exclusive applications, Nokia Music and Nokia Drive. There is an icon for Nokia Maps, but this takes us to a Nokia Maps app-holder page on the Marketplace, plus it isn’t a Nokia exclusive application. Nokia has also announced an ‘exclusive’ ESPN application, but this was no where to be seen on my Lumia 800. Besides, an ESPN app isn’t exactly that exciting.
Nokia Drive is a free voice navigation application. It works exactly like Nokia Maps on Symbian, complete with 3D landmarks, 2D/3D and satellite mode, and access to a huge database of POIs. Nokia Drive has an advantage over competing maps applications in that you will have access to maps from over 100 countries and these maps are available in offline as well.
Maps are available to download in regions or whole countries. For example the entire UK maps is available as a 231MB download, but you can also download the maps for Wales separately. Map downloads is fast. It took the device ten minutes to download the entire UK map via WiFi. Unfortunately it is not possible to queue downloads.
Voice guided navigation aren’t unique, but at least with Nokia Drive you will know you get this for free with guaranteed access to the latest maps and POIs during the entire lifetime of your device.
The second exclusive application that Nokia has provided is Nokia Music. We all know about Spotify, and that Spotify requires subscription to listen to streaming music on mobiles. It also isn’t available in many countries. Well Nokia Music is similar (in a stripped down sort of way), but instead of paying US$10 a month, you get the streaming bit for free. The application is integrated into the Zune music app.
What Nokia Music provides is a easy interface to prepackaged radio stations that has already been customised for different regions and genres. Nokia has announced that stations can be downloaded for offline listening, though I have found no way of doing so. As the Lumia 800 I have is a prototype device running on none-finished software, this may be possible on the retail version.
In any case, the app makes music discovery a rather easy process and most customers will find being able to get music right out of the box with a new phone to be a compelling experience. Once you start listening to a music you can control the jukebox from anywhere within the OS, even on the lock screen. Pressing the volume button will toggle a pop up control.
As Nokia Music is also a music store, you can easily purchase and download music directly from the phone. Tracks costs from £0.79 and you can buy them individually or the album as a whole (which tends to work out cheaper). Album prices are also competitive. Nirvana’s Nevermind for example costs £4.99 on the Nokia Music store, a full 50p cheaper than if bought via Amazon UK’s MP3 store. Track previews are available for each tracks.
Before I sign off. I have received questions regarding Internet Sharing function on the Lumia 800, or the lack of it. I can confirm that there is no Internet Sharing feature on my Nokia Lumia 800, but Nokia has also confirmed that they are working on making this feature available.
HTC Sensation XL hands-on
The HTC Sensation XL isn’t the most exciting smartphones currently on the market. But it is one of the few devices that comes with a massive 4.7? display. If you are the type of person who finds the original HTC Sensation small, then this may be the device for you.
The single core Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC doesn’t exactly scream exciting, but the 1.5GHz Scorpion CPU combined Adreno 205 GPU is fast enough for Android Gingerbread and the majority of apps available for it. 768MB of RAM is included, which is plenty of multi-tasking purposes though falls short of flagships by Samsung and Motorola with their 1GB RAM.
The 4.7? Super LCD display has a resolution of 480×800. Granted, a qHD or 720p resolution would probably be more suited for a screen this size, but the screen looks sharp nevertheless. Colours are well saturated and the contrast ratio is good for a LCD display. The capacitive touchscreen offers good all around sensitivity.
Below the screen lies four of the standard Android hardware keys, and above it the ambient light sensor, proximity sensor and 1.3MP front camera. The micro USB port is located on the left side of the device while the right side only contains a single volume rocker. The power button and 3.5mm headphone jack are found on the top of the device.
Finally on the back you will find the 8 Megapixel camera with backlit sensor and a 28mm widescreen f2.2 lens, dual LED flash and loudspeaker. Peel off the unibody back cover and you will find the 1600mAh battery and a regular size SIM card slot. Unfortunately the Sensation XL does not feature an expansion card slot so you will have to make do with the 16GB flash (of which almost 12.6GB is accessible) already built-in.
Inside the device you will find all the usual wireless gubbins that makes up a standard 2011 smartpone. These includes a GPS receiver, quad band GSM with EDGE, tri band 3G with HSPA+ speeds of up to 14.4 Mbps, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n including DLNA feature, Bluetooth 3.0 and Stereo FM.
I did not find the size to be as much an issue as the slippery metal back and side was. At times the phone feels like jumping out of my palms. Despite the modest increase in screen size over my Samsung Galaxy S II, which is my main everyday smartphone, the Sensation XL’s extra 0.4? in display size makes all the differences in usability.
The Sensation XL runs on Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread with HTC Sense UI. This isn’t Google’s latest and greatest, but it is Google’s latest and greatest that is currently available on the market. HTC has promised that the Sensation XL will receive the Ice Cream Sandwich update, though they have not given a definite rollout date.
Sense UI is a lovely piece of third party overlay, though not everyone is a fan of it. Still for the majority of users, the launcher works well and provides adequate amount of useful widgets. More can be obtained from the Android Market, and users can even completely replace it altogether.
Included in the box is a pair Monster urBeats in-ear headphone. The headphones comes with a love it or hate it red cabling. While I doubt the urBeats are capable of taking on my mighty Sennheiser IE 8, this is probably one of the nicer headphones that a consumer can find bundled with their phones. I am no fan of Dr. Dre products, but we will be testing BeatsAudio to see if it does make a difference in improving the overall sound quality of the phone.
The HTC Sensation XL is currently available in the UK market on the Three network.
New Motorola accessories hands-on
At the recent Motorola RAZR press briefing in London, Motorola announced a range of new accessories designed for the RAZR. These new accessories are designed to be compatible with other Motorola devices going forward. It is not known if these will work with older devices like the Atrix.
The first was the Multimedia Dock, which is basically a souped by cradle that allows the RAZR to be docked, charged and connect to a TV. Behind the dock resides three full size USB port, a mini HDMI out port and 3.5mm audio out port. The cradle feels weighty which is always a good thing to have on a dock, though I do find that the footprint to be a tad large.
The new Multimedia Dock can be used with a new wireless keyboard by Motorola. For those who owns a none-HDMI compatible monitor or projector, Motorola has also shown a portable HDMI to VGA adapter.
Also shown to us were two new Motorola Lapdocks. The Lapdock line of accessories were first introduced with the Motorola Atrix as an accessory for people who want to get more out of the Android phones, by turning the Atrix into a full size netbook and laptop. The Lapdock 100 features a 10.1? display, while the Lapdock 500 features a more generous 14.1? screen. The keyboard has a traditional none-chiclet type, so it feels comfortable to use, but on a whole the Lapdock looks like a cheap generic netbook design.
Unlike the Atrix’s Lapdock, the new Lapdocks comes equipped with a cable instead of a dock, a less elegant way of docking but at least it opens up the new Lapdocks to other Motorola Webtop enabled phones. Personally I am not keen on the idea of using a Lapdock in public with an expensive smartphone hidden at the back, only secured via a cable.
Finally, we were demonstrated the new Smart Controller, a Bluetooth remote control for your Android phone. The remote control features the four buttons that are typically found on an Android smartphone, as well as a multitouch trackpad above the buttons that mimics the touchscreen functionality.
The idea behind this accessory is to be able to connect your Android phone to a TV, but instead of having to bend forward to control the phone, a user would instead control the phone from far away using the Smart Controller. A mouse cursor will appear on the screen. Because the accessory uses the HID Bluetooth profile, it is compatible with any Android smartphones.
But the Smart Controller is more than just a simple remote controller. You can use the Smart Controller as a wireless Bluetooth phone. A speakerpiece and microphone resides on the back. Just flip it backwards and press the button to answer the call. It’s actually rather neat and I can see the Smart Controller as being a popular accessory for both home and office use.
While no availability and pricing info has been announced yet, Motorola has promised that these accessories will be available in the next coming weeks.