Never played with an iphone, & not a phone techno gizzmo expert whatsoever, but Virgin sent me a Nokia 5800 last week for £10 a month. Have to say its great for using the internet, & the sat-nav thing seems really good also. Is weird having no buttons on it though.

Why do people always think that the iPhone is the only one with lots of applications? I bet there are way more Symbian apps out there than iPhone ones… Symbian phones being Nokia N series, E series, 5800 etc etc.

Currently loving my 5800 fwiw. It's Symbian v5 rather than v3 on the others and it's loads nicer.

I bet there are way more Symbian apps out there than iPhone ones

Possibly "Out there" somewhere, but where?

The App Store has 65,000 apps available in one place that can all be downloaded directly on the phone or through itunes.

As has been said before, none of the iPhone tech is new, it is just easier to use.

The App Store has 65,000 apps available in one place that can all be downloaded directly on the phone or through itunes.

And that's the key thing. Apps are easy for non techy types to find and install. Lots of iphone users I know would never have downloaded anything on their other Nokia phones but happily use the AppStore.

Plus because there's such a big market, people do constantly develop for the iphone and will continue to do so for a long time – there's a lot of crap out there but a lot of good stuff too.

And good news from viewranger…. They are currently working on a version for the iPhone. So sometime soon there will be a decent OS mapping software available for the iPhone.

I think the big downfall in iPhone marketing was actually calling it 'iPhone' as it isn't primarily a phone at all. It is a multi function device for taking pictures, playing music, keeping connected via email, messenger, Facebook etc

There are loads of phones that do all those things. So what's your point? It's a phone that does other stuff like all higher end phones.

To be fair the only reason i have an iPhone is:

1) I got a 3G one second hand of brother in law for £180

Christ, I got my 5800 for nothing

2) It only costs me £20 p/m using the 02 Simplicity tariff (unlimited data/600mins/100txts no contract)

£15/mo here.

4) Saves me buy a SatNav as well

So do tons of phones.

I know they are nicer to use than Symbian 3 phones but Symbian 5 is almost as good and iPhones are stupidly expensive compared to the 5800 etc.

Funny, one of the big items missing from the iPhone, that Nokia fans always shout about is an FM radio. I always think that's rather quaint. I've got a radio on my iPhone. I usually listen to BBC 6 Music, sometimes KROQ, today I was listening to CBC Radio 3, which plays lots of interesting indy rock from Canada. I'm sure there are lots of apps for Symbian phones out there, but I've got better things to do with my time than try to track them down.

Nokia n97 updates over the air, no need for a PC, it also has a buit in FM *transmitter* hugely expandable storage (ships with 32gb but can be easily expanded to 48gb), it supports facebook and shedloads of other apps, the ovi store isn't too shabby (although it could do with a bit of a tidy up!) and the Nokia music store is also very good, its faster at web browsing and it has a qwerty keyboard that is superb to use (none of that hypersensitive tpuvh krybpard of the jesus phone), whats more dare I say it, the sound quality from the nokia is better than the iPhone/iTouch!! oh and its got proper satnav, proper tethering, bbc iPlayer and shed loadsa other ommpfka! oh and a proper camera! I'm reet happy with it tbh! (oh and this was typed on my beloved Macbook Pro)

yeah…but you still know you should have got the iphone…it's like trying to justify the mp3 player that may be technically better than the ipod, but the user interface and design are much better.

ah but I've been using an n95 up until now so I know my way around S60 with my eyes closed and the polish of the jesus phone doesn't impress me tbh and if the n95 was anything to go by, the n97 will be a real treat come the firmware upgrades 🙂

the jesus phone

Your prejudices are hanging out. Rest of post judged accordingly

Just means he reads The Register, who have been calling it the Jesus Phone since it first came out.

Again, I tried the N97 and really wanted to like it (having been happy with my N95 8Gb) as I didn't really want to buy an Apple product but I just couldn't get away from the fact that The N97 just wasn't great and I wasn't going to compromise to ruin jobs' year 🙂 I also tried out the HTC alternative with similar feelings.

The iPhone does cost a good bit more but that wasn't my primary consideration considering how much I use my mobile for all the things other than phoning. Ymmv

posted from my JesusPhone 😉

I didn't really want to buy an Apple product

why not just evaluate what's best for your needs, instead of getting hung up on some idea of image?

That's exactly what I did. Read my post 🙄

doesn't mean that I have to like the rather lame looks of approval I get from other iPhone users when they see mine.

I'm sure there are lots of apps for Symbian phones out there, but I've got better things to do with my time than try to track them down.

Google too difficult for you? Maybe if there was an apple branded search engine you might enjoy it more… 😉

As for the FM radio, I use mine loads – it's a requirement on the phones I buy – since it's free forever and the reception is a shedload more reliable than the mobile network. I will be using internet radio when the nice Nokia app is released for Symbian r5 tho subject to reception and data bundle.

Google too difficult for you?

Not me.. no. But you did ask "Why do people always think that the iPhone is the only one with lots of applications?" and "Because of the App Store" is the simple answer.

Pretty much any iPhone user can manage to browse the App Store and install some apps. I could give it to my technically-illiterate mum and she could manage it. How would I even start to get her to install some apps on a Nokia?

In fact, how many Symbian apps in total have you ever actually bothered jumping through the hoops to install on your Nokia?

I've currently got 69 apps sitting on my iphone and I've probably installed and deleted at least twice that.

I bought an E75 a couple of months ago, had never got around to adding any apps. It was a nice phone but it developed a fault which meant I couldn't open the SMS app. Unfortunately it fell out of my bag at some stage during a series of crashes on the black run at Les Houches and that was that.

I'm going Apple now. All I want is something that is easy to use for email, music, photos and video, and has some half decent apps that are easy to get hold of.

Why do people get het up? Your mobile phone does not define who you are…

jam bo:
Why do people get het up? Your mobile phone does not define who you are…

Indeed, why do non-iphone users seem so intent on telling iphone users they have made the wrong choice.

…and vice versa of course.

I use mine to communicate whilst away from the office, sync'd up with various options, push e-mail, nice browser and I just generally like the UI.
Even in the Highlands without 3G I get overall better reception than with my old network (main reason I changed provider) prior to that I had been happy with HTC phones, but they did crash on me, freeze and occassionally drop calls. Oh, and the new iPhone software has sorted out the only "issues" I had with the phone – cut/paste, horizontal keyboard and picture messaging. Some like / some don't!

How would I even start to get her to install some apps on a Nokia?

Well you click the 'download' menu item, then go to the one you want, and click 'install'…. 🙂

The reason people get het up about phones is that people make out that yours is rubbish – and it's often a personal choice hence people feeling that justice is not being done to the thing they chose. Hence geeky arguments 🙂

jesus its like being back at school a week up early "my phones better than yours it does this that the the other" " no shut up mines better"

No my phones shittier than all yours, it phones people though, now shut the **** up and do some work.

do any iphone users actually get 3g? I'm on 02 and i haven't seen a snifter of 3G on my n86 (Stirling based).

In fact the last time I remember seeing 3G on any mobile I've had was when I was in Dublin about 2 years ago. Anyone getting 3G on O2 in Scotland?

Its a pain because I have unlimited web package and am dying to make the most of it 🙂

Extremely useful on the bike. The iPhone is as close to the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy as it is possible to get at the moment. It's completely brilliant…and I really can't stand Apple either!

Well you click the 'download' menu item, then go to the one you want, and click 'install'…

Riiiight… so I can just click 'download' on the phone and get the app??

Well that's easy.

There was me thinking I'd have to go through untrusted third-party web sites; determine if the app was genuine or not; contend with downloading strange files to my PC; and then sync the phone with Nokia PC Suite via Bluetooth or a special cable.

do any iphone users actually get 3g? I'm on 02 and i haven't seen a snifter of 3G on my n86 (Stirling based).

Get it nice and clear daahn saf. Worked ok when i was Sheffield the other weekend as well.

Anyone getting 3G on O2 in Scotland?

Yep. 3 bars of 3G in Dunfermline right now. Usually get full bars in Edinburgh.

Riiiight… so I can just click 'download' on the phone and get the app??

Aye.

There's a downloads app on my phone, click and install. There's also the Ovi store. Neither of which are as good as apple store of course, but do you really need 69 apps? The ones you have to save to your PC you can just double click to install with PC suite, which is about as tough as it gets. The untrusted sites I go to are places like CNET which has been offering these dodgy apps you talk about for like 15 years.

Holy cow, I just found Quake for Symbian!

@GrahamS

fife gets 3G and we dont? shocking 😉

I suppose thats one good thing about dunfermline now…

NB. no fifers were harmed in the making of this mediocre joke…

Yes Ovi Store is a undoubtedly a step in the right direction, but they only launched that in a panic after App Store showed them the way it should be done.

do you really need 69 apps?

Need? No. Want? Yes.
Because it is so easy to do, trying out new apps is part of the fun of using the phone. Some are genuinely useful, some are entertaining, others are crap.

..double click to install with PC suite, which is about as tough as it gets..

Assuming that you've installed the optional Nokia PC Suite and you have bought (and set up drivers for) the appropriate cable, infrared or Bluetooth dongle.

The untrusted sites I go to are places like CNET..

Yes, but how would a novice user tell the difference between a 'trusted' site like CNET and an untrustworthy symbian-apps-4-your-nokeea-mobil.com.ru?

I'm not denying that Symbian has apps. Or saying that you can't install them. But the reason iPhone is seen as "the phone with apps" is because anyone can install them. And they do.

As I said, how many apps have you actually bothered to install on your Nokia?

Davidrussell – 3G in Inverness !

I'm sure there are lots of apps for Symbian phones out there, but I've got better things to do with my time than try to track them down.
Google too difficult for you? Maybe if there was an apple branded search engine you might enjoy it more…
As for the FM radio, I use mine loads – it's a requirement on the phones I buy – since it's free forever and the reception is a shedload more reliable than the mobile network. I will be using internet radio when the nice Nokia app is released for Symbian r5 tho subject to reception and data bundle.

An FM radio using headphone leads more reliable than the phone network? Seriously? You must live in a large city then. My experience of FM on small portable devices is that it's hopeless, the signal breaks up all the time, if you get any signal at all. I've tried using a personal FM receiver in my back garden, and got noise and break-up, and I can see the transmitter from my bedroom window at the front of the house! Anyway, that just restricts me to BBC stations and the unlistenable commercial crap. Explain how I can receive 6Music, a digital station, on an FM radio. My phone gets perfectly good streaming audio inside my workplace, which is inside sheet metal walls, which usually caused my old DAB radio to only get a 30% signal. And the Digital transmitter locally puts out 82W, against the 2W of the FM one. Sorry, but an FM radio on a phone is a joke. Oh, and I do know how to use Google, it's my search engine of choice on my phone, although I use Bolt sometimes as well. I just fail to see why I should have to go to all that bother when I can just click on an app and go install, and then get free updates for life. Get a clue: that's why people like Apple stuff, not nessessarily because it's better, it's because Apple make things really easy for non-technical people to use. That might not be important to you, but it is to a great many people. It's called ergonomics. Try looking it up in Google.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8223005.stm

I just got a new iPhone 3G S and absolutely love it! I don't think i'll ever want to change it…

dont do it .

To people who MTB with their iPhones….
How do you find it deals with mud, rain and shocks? What sort of case & holder do you use?

If they are gonna do viewranger for it then I may give up waiting for an improved rugged symbian.

I had an iphone but managed to break it, since then ive been using a sonim XP3, I can do anything to it now and it just works

jimbob