Nokia unveils budget Symbian smartie
1GHz handset?
While Nokia has been playing the numbers game with its naming protocol, unveiling a new labelling system today, it has also found time to bring out a new smartphone to sit smack bang in the middle of it all.
The Nokia 500 packs a 1GHz ARM11 chip, which according to IntoMobile, is basically the equivalent of 400MHz on something more modern such as the widely implemented Cortex-A8. We're not sure how precise those comparisons are, but a looking at the processor overview on Arm's website, suggests it can't be too far off the mark.
Still, the Nokia 500 becomes the company's first 1GHz handset, running Symbian Anna with a 2GB memory and a 3.2in touchscreen at 640 x 360. It's expected to price in around £150 when it goes on sale later this year.
The Nokia 500 therefore sits in the middle of the company's new naming convention, clearly showing where the company places it, as well as the scope it has to build above and below. ®
COMMENTS
"ensuring that no consumer can place the new device in relation to the rest"?
I'm not sure why you think that's a problem -- why do you need to know where to "place" a device? Surely you walk into a shop, check out the specifications and how the device looks, then buy the device you like the look of that has the right stuff written next to it? Does it matter that the phone you bought is supposed to be consumer, multimedia or business or supposed to be top, middle or bottom of the range? How does that change its suitability for _you_ as an individual?
As an example, lots of teenagers seem to like Blackberrys, which are a "business device", and many people use their iPhone for corporate email and doing things like remoting servers, yet the iPhone is a "consumer device".
the product number is nothing more or less than an identifier to use when comparing phones or asking for support -- it doesn't need to tell you what the manufacturer thought the device would be used for.
Oh ffs!
So as well as destroying their current Market they want to scatter the remains by ensuring that no consumer can place the new device in relation to the rest.
Well done Nokia, well done. They should just drag you out the to the yard and shoot your decrepit shambling corpse.
Rob Moss FAIL?
"Why bother releasing a Symbian phone without a GPU?"
Because a GPU is not needed if the intention is not to use the phone as a gaming device.
"I've used the Nokia X6 with Symbian and it was awful compared to any other touchscreen phone out there now."
Right, so what? FYI: the X6 is OLD, it is from 2009 which is *antique* by todays standards, and the Symbian S60 it runs has very little in common with the modern Symbian^3 Anna which runs on the Nokia 500. If you're really surprised when a 2 year old entry-level smartphone can't keep up with the latest Andoid smart phones then you should get your head examined.
Now, if you look at more modern offerings from Nokia like the N8 or the C7, the situation is different. They hold up quite well against similarly priced Andoid phones, and while they may lack the high number of fart apps that are available for Android, they come with global offline navigation as standard, don't track your whereabouts for their manufacturer, and unlike other smartphones can sustain several days with a single battery charge and provide great call quality. Go figure.
Nokia: Good hardware, OK OS, no apps
Thing is, if you want a mid-range smartphone phone that has a good camera, good audio for music, good signal reception and an adequate web browser you'd have to go with Nokia. If you are happy to overlook a little sluggishness and don't care about apps, you'd have to pay an extra £100 to £200 to get an equivalent Android or Apple handset to Nokia devices.
@hyartep : arm11
"ARM11 uses older manufacturing methods (it means chip size a energy requirements of the ARM11 chip are not (much?) better than those of Cortex chip, despite ARM11 is more simple)."
ARM cores are IP, not chips, so while the manufacturing process used for this particular SoC may be older (I haven't seen that information anywhere yet myself, so I just don't know) - that doesn't stop Qualcomm, Samsung, Freescale or whoever from qualifying the layout on a smaller, or more efficient, process.
