4 ms·

Clearly you don't know about the runaway hits like N95 and other N series. Those were some exceptional phones.

by manojlds 10y ago

Tobani 10y ago
If nobody knows about them were they really runaway hits?
- jacalata 10y ago
  Everybody who knew about smartphones at the time knew about them. A couple people on HN who aren't in that group doesn't mean 'nobody knew about them'.
  - reitanqild 10y ago
    Upvoted. Although tbh: the moment iPhone started iterating the N-series was a lost cause IMO. I had the N82 candybar model with a great camera and real xeon flash.
coldtea 10y ago
Yeah, know them. Wouldn't call them "exceptional". N95 was introduced a few months before the iPhone -- which totally killed it. That said, Nokia had indeed some exceptional (for their era) devices, namely the Nokia Communicator.
- blub 10y ago
  I had an iPhone 4 at one point and the existing Nokia devices were still able to compete, thanks to Opera also on the browser side. In fact I remember switching back from the 4 due to missing features and several annoyances.
  - markonen 10y ago
    The contemporary 2010 Nokia device was the N8, specs here: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-3252.php http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-3252.php The Finnish tech industry is still filled to the brim with ex-Nokia folk who simply do not understand what was better about the iPhone. Even today.
    - blub 10y ago
      Yeah I know, I also had the N8 among other models (but I had switched back to the E72). Some things were better about the iPhone, notably the UX, browsing and the app ecosystem which was starting to pick up (but was nowhere near what we have today). Some thing were worse, and this is where many people seem to have developed selective memory issues. In particular the E72 didn't drop calls if one held it wrong, had a battery life at least double that of the iPhone and was less than half its price. The N8 had a great camera and free offline maps. With Opera mobile it had a pretty damn good browsing experience. It was far from a complete dud. The N9 could compete toe to toe with the 4S also on the UX, but by then it was too late. Nokia didn't have the foresight and guts to kill Symbian and bet the company on Maemo/Meego while they still had the possibility to build an ecosystem around it. Apple invested all their effort into the iPhone and incrementally turned it from a good browsing device albeit average smartphone into a superb mobile computer while Nokia was starting and restarting four projects to compete with it.
  - coldtea 10y ago
    >I had an iPhone 4 at one point and the existing Nokia devices were still able to compete, thanks to Opera also on the browser side. Thanks to Opera? Mobile Safari on the first iPhone was the first browser that actually made sense and showed the web as you should.
    - blub 10y ago
      Yeah, Opera mobile and mini, arguably the most innovative mobile browsers ever invented. I had a Sony Ericsson P1i and was enjoying the mobile web thanks to Opera just fine. Safari was impressive back then for sure, but feature-wise it's pretty bad even today.
- jamespo 10y ago
  The first iphone didn't even have 3g
pjmlp 10y ago
If I still remember correctly it was the first Symbian to have hardware support for OpenGL ES, until then it was only done in software. I think Asphalt was the game chosen to demo it. Had chosen something else most likely OpenGL ES would never had taken off, given how lousy it was supported across mobiles back then.
Aaargh20318 10y ago
The N95 hardware felt cheap and plasticky. Performance wasn't that great either, nor was the screen.

Clearly you don't know about the runaway hits like N95 and other N series. Those were some exceptional phones.

Tobani 10y ago

If nobody knows about them were they really runaway hits?

jacalata 10y ago
Everybody who knew about smartphones at the time knew about them. A couple people on HN who aren't in that group doesn't mean 'nobody knew about them'.
- reitanqild 10y ago
  Upvoted. Although tbh: the moment iPhone started iterating the N-series was a lost cause IMO. I had the N82 candybar model with a great camera and real xeon flash.

coldtea 10y ago

Yeah, know them. Wouldn't call them "exceptional". N95 was introduced a few months before the iPhone -- which totally killed it. That said, Nokia had indeed some exceptional (for their era) devices, namely the Nokia Communicator.

blub 10y ago
I had an iPhone 4 at one point and the existing Nokia devices were still able to compete, thanks to Opera also on the browser side. In fact I remember switching back from the 4 due to missing features and several annoyances.
- markonen 10y ago
  The contemporary 2010 Nokia device was the N8, specs here: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-3252.php http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_n8-3252.php The Finnish tech industry is still filled to the brim with ex-Nokia folk who simply do not understand what was better about the iPhone. Even today.
  - blub 10y ago
    Yeah I know, I also had the N8 among other models (but I had switched back to the E72). Some things were better about the iPhone, notably the UX, browsing and the app ecosystem which was starting to pick up (but was nowhere near what we have today). Some thing were worse, and this is where many people seem to have developed selective memory issues. In particular the E72 didn't drop calls if one held it wrong, had a battery life at least double that of the iPhone and was less than half its price. The N8 had a great camera and free offline maps. With Opera mobile it had a pretty damn good browsing experience. It was far from a complete dud. The N9 could compete toe to toe with the 4S also on the UX, but by then it was too late. Nokia didn't have the foresight and guts to kill Symbian and bet the company on Maemo/Meego while they still had the possibility to build an ecosystem around it. Apple invested all their effort into the iPhone and incrementally turned it from a good browsing device albeit average smartphone into a superb mobile computer while Nokia was starting and restarting four projects to compete with it.
- coldtea 10y ago
  >I had an iPhone 4 at one point and the existing Nokia devices were still able to compete, thanks to Opera also on the browser side. Thanks to Opera? Mobile Safari on the first iPhone was the first browser that actually made sense and showed the web as you should.
  - blub 10y ago
    Yeah, Opera mobile and mini, arguably the most innovative mobile browsers ever invented. I had a Sony Ericsson P1i and was enjoying the mobile web thanks to Opera just fine. Safari was impressive back then for sure, but feature-wise it's pretty bad even today.
jamespo 10y ago
The first iphone didn't even have 3g

pjmlp 10y ago

If I still remember correctly it was the first Symbian to have hardware support for OpenGL ES, until then it was only done in software. I think Asphalt was the game chosen to demo it. Had chosen something else most likely OpenGL ES would never had taken off, given how lousy it was supported across mobiles back then.

Aaargh20318 10y ago

The N95 hardware felt cheap and plasticky. Performance wasn't that great either, nor was the screen.