Symbian in Motion

N81 8GB Special Edition Part 2 - Getting Set and Familiar

Continuing with the N81 8GB review, this post will cover the setting up of the N81 8GB, getting it ready for usage, the UI and the Multimedia button.

Updating and Getting Set

Starting it up initially was smooth sailing, I was expecting the device to come up with the “insert simcard” message which used to plague the enjoyment of new handsets. But I’ve noticed as handsets have evolved and are now not just mobile handsets but almost multimedia devices this approach has changed. I was able to start-up up the N81 8GB without a SIM card inserted and enjoy the great S60 OS with the only restrictions being not having the ability to use any data services or change the profile from General. I didn’t want the experience to be interrupted by phone calls, SMS etc whilst familiarising myself with the menu and OS. The Menu is similar to all the other handsets in the S60 3rd FP1 family but has the new menu structure where there are sub-folders for Media, Utilities etc, thus making the main menu screens less frightening at first glance. I still believe there are too many pre-installed applications which I’ve never used and may never have the need to use. I wish Nokia can either have these in a sub-menu somewhere in the settings or utilities or plain remove access / visibility from the general user. Matthew of Symbianverse makes a very valid point of pointing out some of the issues in regards to this in his post on “A Waste of Space and Resources” which I believe highlights many of the applications I’m referring to here.

So after nosing around the menus I plugged it into the micro-USB port and connected up with Nokia PC Suite, which kindly informed me there was an update available for my device, that’s more like it! At first I was apprehensive about upgrading the firmware as I had already added 100 of Mp3s into it, transferred my Phonebook, Calender etc to it from my N95 using the Nokia Switch feature which is a cool and useful application to have. But after having it reboot at least 4 times trying to use Wi-Fi to access the internet and download applications and themes I decided to research what sort of features the new firmware added and bugs it fixed. It seems the V11.0.045 firmware is somewhat a critical update and also fixes Wi-Fi stability and other issues, so I opted to upgrade.

After going through the initial steps of connecting the phone, recognising, identifying the firmware, downloading all going smooth I ran into somewhat of a brick wall. When it came to actually installing the firmware the application kept on giving me the same error over and over (see picture below).

After repeating this several times it finally worked and I was a much relieved, the last thing I wanted to do was send it back to WOMWorld! After the upgrade finished and the phone had a reboot and was ready for use I was expecting all my information to have been erased as was the case with previous handsets and firmware upgrades. It seems Nokia has decided to implement “User Data Prevention” which is about time. I remember Symbian-Guru Ricky mentioning this a while back, it’s good to know Nokia does take note of bloggers opinions and implements useful features to make the S60 experience that much smoother. This was especially welcomed as transferring 6GB of music to the N81 8GB is no easy accomplishment, the micro-USB cable transfer speed is not the fastest and I wouldn’t want to go through the whole process again.

Next process was to get some cool applications and themes onto my device, no offence but the Nokia themes are kinda bog standard and boring. Besides there are many great themers around the world which make some great themes for S60 devices and it would be a shame not to use them.

User Interface

The speed and response of the actual UI on the N81 8GB is really fast, with almost immediate response to selection and menu loading. The V20 firmware upgrade for the N95 increased it’s response navigating through the menu, but even still the N81 8GB is much faster and smoother. Whilst the N95 taking 1/4 of a millisecond to respond to selection and loading the screens may not sound much, in general usage it is considerably faster. Now when I’m testing out applications on my N95, the difference is very much evident, this is annoying as I’m not a very patient person when it comes to waiting times with electronics. I will definitely miss the speed and response once I give this back, I hope Nokia updates the N95 to match this.

Multitasking on the N81 8GB is great as it has 77Mb of RAM with 40MB available after a reboot, taking into consideration the Music player is “always on” in the background, that is quite a lot. Although not as much as the N95 8GB it is sufficient enough and doesn’t cause any unnecessary reboots. I haven’t yet come across any applications closing due to low memory nor a soft reset since the upgrade to V11 firmware.

Dedicated Multimedia Button

The dedicated multimedia button is a great addition to the N81 8GB, the multimedia button adds that little extra touch that gives you quick access to the most constantly used features on the handset. The multimedia button brings up a menu which can be navigated using the “navi wheel” which works very similar to the iPod’s “Scroll Wheel”. This gives quick access to 6 menus in a scrolling style, which includes Music, Games, Gallery, Contacts, Internet and Maps, each having their own unique features and options. All of the Menus can be rearranged to suite your own individual needs, but it won’t allow to remove and replace with any other quick access of your choice, which is a shame as it could come in handy to have your most used applications ready for action at a touch of a button. Perhaps this is something for the future which can be implemented in a firmware upgrade.

Music - The music sub-menu has the all familiar “Now Playing” which shows what is playing or was played last, so if you were listening to a specific play list it will continue from the last song played. The “Music” shows all the songs in your library currently, “Podcasts” also shows the number of podcasts currently available, “Playlists” show the number of playlists you have set up, there are 4 predefined playlists - NokiaN81Mix, Most Played, Recently Played and Recently Added, so no surprises there. The “Shuffle All Songs” does exactly that.

Games - The games menu has three options available, “Discover N-Gage”, “Try N-Gage games”, and “Install N-Gage” respectively. I would like to think this will change once the N-Gage platform is released and purchased games will be displayed here for quick access, if not it would be pretty disappointing as it’s an ideal solution for quick access to your favourite N-Gage games.

Gallery - Here we have 3 simple options which are all self explanatory and do as the titles suggest, “Last Captured”, “Slide Show” and “Albums”. I’m still not a fan of the general Gallery structure on the N Series so far. I’m not sure why Nokia stick to the feature of showing every picture and video on your device rather than having a more intelligent set-up where the user can choose which items to show instead of your whole gallery popping up by default. A sub-menu like the Music menu where there are options of Albums, Folders, Pictures, Videos or All would be a much better option. This would allow the user to choose and narrow it down to show only those desired. An option to lock specific folder would also be useful, most Samsung’s come with this feature by default, this is something Nokia should really look. I get tons of request on Mobile9 asking for this exact feature, but have to refer them to other 3rd party applications which is not ideal as they take up precious system resources.

Contacts & Internet - Both of these menu’s can have up to 5 of your contacts and favourite urls. Whilst on the Contacts menu you can add or remove the 5 contacts you’d like quick access to, the Internet menu lists the first 5 of urls in your bookmarks, so you’ll have to re-arrange your bookmarks to change the order or urls displayed in this menu, which is rather strange. It would make more sense to add your favourite urls either from your bookmarks or manually input them for quick access to them.

Maps - The Maps menu lists the last 5 accessed landmarks, point-of-interests, or addresses. Again it would be great to be able to manually add your own landmarks for quick access.

This concludes the Getting Set and Familiar with episode with the N81 8GB, I apologise for not covering the actual listening to Music and playing Games, that will definitely come next episode. I didn’t envisage this post to become so big! Next post I will let you know if the N81 8GB succeeds at becoming a great Music and Gaming device.

You can read the previous posts on the N81 8GB by clicking through the links respectively.

Landed and Acclimatised - N81 8GB Special Edition Part 1

N81 8GB Special Edition Picture Special

N81 8GB Special Edition Landed

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