iPhone vs N95

[thesheephair]

No not really a nailbiter,

depends all on what you want the phone to do .....

both phones are excellent in their own way,

its like comparing a F1 car with a Ford Mondeo..... good in their own ways

 

[mpw]

...its like comparing a F1 car with a Ford Mondeo..... good in their own ways

Very true, the vast, huge majority have no use in their lives for an F1 car, as the Ford is so much better at doing most of the important things. But the F1 car is nice to look at.

 

[tommevin]

Re:

I personally prefer the N95 and don't think iphone will make such an impact. N95 is 5megapixel camera phone with an open system to install software. It does your usual phone functions. While iPhone is a fashion piece, very easy to use and doesn't do complicated things. It is a closed system and has a very bad camera. It’s touch screen and looks beautiful. Get a N95 vs iPhone comparison based in user experienced opinions. swottiDOTcom/mobilephones/

 

[giodelgado]

No not really a nailbiter,

depends all on what you want the phone to do .....

both phones are excellent in their own way,

its like comparing a F1 car with a Ford Mondeo..... good in their own ways

that's right, if you want an iPod Touchscreen with phone capabilities get the iPhone but if you want to do a load of **** get the N95.

 

[plumbingandtech]

I personally prefer the N95 and don't think iphone will make such an impact. N95 is 5megapixel camera phone with an open system to install software. It does your usual phone functions. While iPhone is a fashion piece, very easy to use and doesn't do complicated things. It is a closed system and has a very bad camera. It’s touch screen and looks beautiful. Get a N95 vs iPhone comparison based in user experienced opinions. swottiDOTcom/mobilephones/

You have heard there is an SDK coming next month right?

 

[Phil A.]

I personally prefer the N95 and don't think iphone will make such an impact. N95 is 5megapixel camera phone with an open system to install software. It does your usual phone functions. While iPhone is a fashion piece, very easy to use and doesn't do complicated things. It is a closed system and has a very bad camera. It’s touch screen and looks beautiful. Get a N95 vs iPhone comparison based in user experienced opinions. swottiDOTcom/mobilephones/

I was a long term Symbian fan with fond memories of the genesis of Symbian OS on the old Psion Organisers. However, for me the N95 was an absolute disaster: Really badly made, cheap plastic and trim that scuffed as soon as you looked at it revealing more plastic underneath. On top of that, it was unstable as hell and painfully slow. I understand they've improved reliability with a recent firmware update and the 8GB N95 might be better, but to my mind the N95 is the perfect example of how not to make a phone. There are phones out there that people may find better than the iPhone depending on their requirements, but based on my experiences of the N95 (and other people I know who've had them), I don't think the N95 is one of them

 

[emotion]

...don't think iphone will make such an impact.

Do you live under a rock?

The iPhone, despite being a half finished device, has turned the whole phone industry on it's head.

Impact? Has a phone ever made a bigger impact?

 

[sjo]

Do you live under a rock?

The iPhone, despite being a half finished device, has turned the whole phone industry on it's head.

Impact? Has a phone ever made a bigger impact?

well several. only from nokia model we could pick (the original) 2110, first affordable decent sized digital mobile, 1100 first mobile for low income markets (sold over 200m), 7650 first symbian phone (about 200m symbian phones sold to date). from motorola eg startac & razr.

 

[stevearm]

they sort of neglected the fact that the iphone has 50x the memory.

They sort of neglected the fact that the N95 is free with a contract and the iPhone is £270 with a contract.

You sort of neglected the fact that Nokia released an 8GB N95 months ago.

You also sort of neglected the fact that the N95 has a memory card slot and a removable battery.

I find the comparison in the article interesting. It seems how sexy each device is is as important to the reviewers as features and call quality. Personally, I'd place more importance on 3G, GPS, MMS, Radio, Downloadable apps, 5MP camera etc etc than the fact that the iPhone looks a little prettier.

 

[kdarling]

You have heard there is an SDK coming next month right?

I'm sure he has, but we still gotta wait and see what it will allow.

Still, even if it's just for apps and nothing deeper, that'll help enormously.

I just hope Apple forces developers to be aware of and design for, screen size changes. Not just from portrait to landscape, but with the eye towards higher resolution screens in the future.

 

[plumbingandtech]

I just hope Apple forces developers to be aware of and design for, screen size changes. Not just from portrait to landscape, but with the eye towards higher resolution screens in the future.

agreed. different size i*** screens will make this a very important feature.

 

[3nm]

personally i prefer the features on the N95, but it's really a shame that it suffers from cheap construction.

 

[giodelgado]

You have heard there is an SDK coming next month right?

The SDK will open doors for a new iPhone year, hopefully with the next iPhone using HDSPA will take advantage of that but not for this iPhone version.

Symbian apps have been available and still in development since the first N95 came out, an SDK won't give the iPhone IR features, internal GPS or this service...

http://sportstracker.nokia.com

 

[giodelgado]

They sort of neglected the fact that the N95 is free with a contract and the iPhone is £270 with a contract.

You sort of neglected the fact that Nokia released an 8GB N95 months ago.

You also sort of neglected the fact that the N95 has a memory card slot and a removable battery.

I find the comparison in the article interesting. It seems how sexy each device is is as important to the reviewers as features and call quality. Personally, I'd place more importance on 3G, GPS, MMS, Radio, Downloadable apps, 5MP camera etc etc than the fact that the iPhone looks a little prettier.

Hey you forgot also that the N95 is a Tri or Quad device World Phone. Apple has no experience making phones, those apples are still green.

 

[merlinmagician]

My wife has the new 8GB N95 and I have an iPhone. There are a few things that I find really nice on the N95 first being the camera. It's really good and takes fantastic pictures. Call quality is good and there are loads of embedded applications enough to keep anyone happy.

On the bad side the interface is painfully frustrating. Whilst it has the GPS built in you can't get it to navigate unless you pay for the voice directions which is an additional cost. This weekend my wife decided to use the voucher she got with the phone for £25 of music from the Nokia store.

What a mess that was. I am very techno literate being a programmer/system tester but I couldn't get the blessed thing to sync up properly without getting duplicate and license errors. Admittedly I tried using Parallel Desktops to connect the phone but even in native Windows XP had problems. Once I did get the music on there we were constantly facing Invalid License messages on the phone which required us to re-activate. Even now not all of the songs will activate despite my best efforts and even resorting to the manual.

On the flip side the iPhone has its faults. There are a lot of things that I find annoying about it particularly EDGE and the camera. But I don't reach the frustration level where I would like to throw the phone through the window like I wanted to do with the N95.

The iPhone's interface is what is it's selling point. It's simple and easy. Even my wife admitted that syncing the iPhone was much easier than her N95.

 

[Hellenek]

The iPhone's interface is what is it's selling point. It's simple and easy. Even my wife admitted that syncing the iPhone was much easier than her N95.

That's exactly it! Recently a friend of mine saw my iPhone and started showing off his N95. He'd mention a feature and immediately start muttering "It's here somewhere...". I kept my iPhone in my pocket as I didn't want to be cruel. Then I remembered this thread and smiled. No contest. Seriously!

 

[sjo]

That's exactly it! Recently a friend of mine saw my iPhone and started showing off his N95. He'd mention a feature and immediately start muttering "It's here somewhere...". I kept my iPhone in my pocket as I didn't want to be cruel. Then I remembered this thread and smiled. No contest. Seriously!

to be fair, we can only assess the relative user friendliness between iphone and n95 once all the features available on n95 are implemented on iphone. a device with one feature is obviously easier to use than a device with two features etc...

eg, many seem to think that the lack of cut & paste on iphone is because the feature might be difficult to implement in a user friendly way on iphone. but as i said, we'll only know how user friendly it is once apple implements it.

 

[Sesshi]

My wife has the new 8GB N95 and I have an iPhone. There are a few things that I find really nice on the N95 first being the camera. It's really good and takes fantastic pictures. Call quality is good and there are loads of embedded applications enough to keep anyone happy.

On the bad side the interface is painfully frustrating. Whilst it has the GPS built in you can't get it to navigate unless you pay for the voice directions which is an additional cost. This weekend my wife decided to use the voucher she got with the phone for £25 of music from the Nokia store.

What a mess that was. I am very techno literate being a programmer/system tester but I couldn't get the blessed thing to sync up properly without getting duplicate and license errors. Admittedly I tried using Parallel Desktops to connect the phone but even in native Windows XP had problems. Once I did get the music on there we were constantly facing Invalid License messages on the phone which required us to re-activate. Even now not all of the songs will activate despite my best efforts and even resorting to the manual.

On the flip side the iPhone has its faults. There are a lot of things that I find annoying about it particularly EDGE and the camera. But I don't reach the frustration level where I would like to throw the phone through the window like I wanted to do with the N95.

The iPhone's interface is what is it's selling point. It's simple and easy. Even my wife admitted that syncing the iPhone was much easier than her N95.

I plug mine in and it syncs automatically with the Podcasts and an N95-specific playlist.

The iPhone is like the Macs and iPod. A great 'default' choice with a lot of pizazz if you don't know what you're doing and want something to kind of work. And 'not knowing what you're doing' even applies if you believe you are an 'IT expert'.

On the other hand, with some alternatives many things may not work as well out of the box, but can be made to work (with a little smart effort) a heck of a lot better than something that is easy to use at first but ultimately limiting.

Many of you are effectively crowing "I'm a bit hopeless and I love this because I am". Is that good? There are some plusses to the iPhone but it seems like you're arguing it wrong.

 

[merlinmagician]

I plug mine in and it syncs automatically with the Podcasts and an N95-specific playlist.

The iPhone is like the Macs and iPod. A great 'default' choice with a lot of pizazz if you don't know what you're doing and want something to kind of work. And 'not knowing what you're doing' even applies if you believe you are an 'IT expert'.

On the other hand, with some alternatives many things may not work as well out of the box, but can be made to work (with a little smart effort) a heck of a lot better than something that is easy to use at first but ultimately limiting.

Many of you are effectively crowing "I'm a bit hopeless and I love this because I am". Is that good? There are some plusses to the iPhone but it seems like you're arguing it wrong.

I take your point on board. The thing for me is this, when I invest in technology I want it to work straight out of the box. I am a contract software/system tester there is nothing that annoys me more than buying a piece of kit or being supplied with it and then having to work out how to use the damn thing or spend time trying to make the things that don't work, work.

I shouldn't have to. I have better things to do with my time that mess about with the N95 trying to get it to sync - even with as you say a little time spent on it.

I am not a great one for poring over manuals etc. If I can't unpack it, use it without consulting the manual or online help then in my opinion it's a bad gadget. I apply this rule to everything not just iPhone. Hence why I like the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and my Macs. I can unpack them, not read the manual, connect it up, work with a simple interface and get it to do precisely what I want. That's not my experience with the N95 and lots of other things i.e. Vista, why do I have to go through all these prompts for you to uninstall a program - just do it!!

The N95 is not a bad phone just complicated.

 

[emotion]

This discussion is another flavour of the PC vs. Mac debate.

For MS PC read N95, for Mac read iPhone.

The usual bottom line applies. If it works for you then use it, converting people very rarely happens.

 

[Sesshi]

I take your point on board. The thing for me is this, when I invest in technology I want it to work straight out of the box. I am a contract software/system tester there is nothing that annoys me more than buying a piece of kit or being supplied with it and then having to work out how to use the damn thing or spend time trying to make the things that don't work, work.

I shouldn't have to. I have better things to do with my time that mess about with the N95 trying to get it to sync - even with as you say a little time spent on it.

I am not a great one for poring over manuals etc. If I can't unpack it, use it without consulting the manual or online help then in my opinion it's a bad gadget. I apply this rule to everything not just iPhone. Hence why I like the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS and my Macs. I can unpack them, not read the manual, connect it up, work with a simple interface and get it to do precisely what I want. That's not my experience with the N95 and lots of other things i.e. Vista, why do I have to go through all these prompts for you to uninstall a program - just do it!!

The N95 is not a bad phone just complicated.

Exactly. Which is why when people want a car they can just drive they choose a Ford, Hyundai, etc, and for those wanting some degree of cachet there's entry-level BMW and Mercedes - and are perfectly happy with it. For those who're not happy with those, there's other options which may require more skill to use but ultimately does more. By the same token, a lifetime commuter may pronounce himself an expert driver, but he might never have driven anything beyond a BMW 3-series.

 

[Matti]

Do you live under a rock?

The iPhone, despite being a half finished device, has turned the whole phone industry on it's head.

Impact? Has a phone ever made a bigger impact?

The very first telephone used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 comes to mind first as pretty obvious choice. Talk about impact, eh?

Somebody mentioned Nokia's model lines to 3rd world. Those are bringging telephone to places where landlines never even existed. Literally hundreds of millions of people are connected over distance for the first time in human history. I would put that impact ahead of iPhones snazzy UI any time.

Google up some of the things mobile-phones are doing in the developping world. There's, for example, a strage micro-banking system developping in central-Africa, where people are using serial codes of PAYG telephone-cards to send money to relatives, friends, etc. They buy card, make a call to "telephone-bank", the recipient picks the money and finally "telephone-bank" takes small cut of the sum and resels the serial number. This in places where banking doesn't even exist unless you're super-rich.

 

[emotion]

The very first telephone used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 comes to mind first as pretty obvious choice. Talk about impact, eh?

Somebody mentioned Nokia's model lines to 3rd world. Those are bringging telephone to places where landlines never even existed. Literally hundreds of millions of people are connected over distance for the first time in human history. I would put that impact ahead of iPhones snazzy UI any time.

It's pretty clear what I'm talking about and I still stand by what I say.

In fact scratch just the mobile phone industry. The iPhone has made a huge impact on mobile computing/internet use too (web usage stats etc).

Yes, it's a flawed device as it stands but it's a very interesting flawed device at that.