Impact of Nokia E-series on communicators.

[Another Guest]

What I think is really interesting, is what the new E-series mean for the Nokia strategy with regards to platforms and models.

Why has the E-series been based upon series 60 instead on series 80 ? Has the platform strategy changed with the arrival of Symbian 9? If so, does this man that series 80 will disappear too?

Furthermore, what does this mean for the communicator models? Are they going to disappear in the future (or play second fiddle)? Or are they going to become part of the E-series based upon series 60 (e.g. E80 and E90)?

Thanks for the answers!

[666joe]

Advanced series 60 - 80 is to flakey and less support...

It's going to divide the market even further - hats off Nokia yet again

[Michael]

The Eseries devices are not S80 because they are not communicator style devices, they don't have the same types of buttons, etc.

It doesn't portend the death of S80 any more than it does the death of S40.

[carcomptoy]

Definitely...S80 is for communicator devices, like the 9500 and 9300(i). The only way I would see a foreshadowing to S80's demise is if a communicator-style phone had S60 or some other platform:cool:

[jayesh]

Definitely...S80 is for communicator devices, like the 9500 and 9300(i). The only way I would see a foreshadowing to S80's demise is if a communicator-style phone had S60 or some other platform:cool:

I dont see this happening anytime soon . Unlike s60 s80 devices have some of the most loyal following going ... people who use these devices will be buying new ones and upgrades for a long time to come... so i doubt nokia is going to shoot itself in the foot by crippling these devices.

I am sure we will see some great innovation in this range pretty soon... outside of the nokia e series ive been waiting for the rumoured 3g communicator for a long time now....

that 640 by 400 screen with edge / 3g .... throw in stereo sound and u got a dream multimedia/ serious business device

[commedecargons]

hmnm i see something, Nokia wants to be the dominating UI in the phone industry, if it sees itself as the next generation of OS for cellphones.... it will really dominate! Imagine this, Nokia wants to shake off the image of S60 being as smartphones, and it proceeds to further root its S60 into all sorts of categories of phones, then eliminate S40 themselves.... wat will then be?

People will start to say this : Nokia's phone are good, there's alot of software; just like windows. By then Nokia no longer hav to worry about foes such as SonyEricsson coming up with better 'designed' products.... who designs the best product, will eventually have to source the OS from Nokia, who'd be making millions. .... now... who would've thought Microsoft was toppled by the future of computing -- Nokia? not Intel, not IBM nor apple, but NOKIA. :)

[666joe]

The Eseries devices are not S80 because they are not communicator style devices, they don't have the same types of buttons, etc.

It doesn't portend the death of S80 any more than it does the death of S40.

not the point I was trying to make - the E61 could well have been a series 80 UI but they plumped for the beefed up S60 and it works well.. Had a long hands on with all the E range and newer sliders - seem Nokia have got more game - just when things were hotting up...

E61 is nice - and stops those left handers (just 10% of them globally) moaning about not having a left handed BB...

[Dynamoo]

I seem to remember that Series 80 development roadmap was coming to an end.. I can't remember if the replacement was meant to be S90 or an upgraded S60 though.

But anyhow, the Communicator is a very different type of device to a Blackberry-alike. The 640 pixel wide screen is pretty much a unique selling proposition, plus the decently sized keyboard. The E61 is in no way an equivalent device.

Talking of Symbian ownership - it's not a Nokia OS, although they do own 47.9% of Symbian - you can see the ownership here: http://www.symbian.com/about/ownership.html

Interestingly Sony Ericsson plus Ericsson themselves control 28.7%.

[TheZodiac]

Maybe the S80 is in for a revamp as well. DOes anyone know the version, so to speak of the current S80 communicators? I know thie current slew of S60 is v3 (I believe). Im my opinion, there should be a successor to the N9500/9300 soon. THey seem rather dated, and even though the N9300i has been around some ties claiming to have WiFi, I think the design is in need of some work.

Anyone? I LOVE communicator style devices, but Im not sure I would use an E-series as one, because im not a blackberry type, nor a 6800-feel type.. even though I love those devices. I think a radical revamp in the S80 camp might be a nice idea.

And.. is this E-series pack the alleged combination of the S60/S90 we heard about this past Spring? (or so)

:)

[666joe]

Zodiac - it's about time....lets hope so...

As for E-series software it's S60 down the line just enhanced for the E61 (due to massive screen)

[Another Guest]

Hi, for what it is worth. My earlier statements were based upon the following :

1. Nokia has revisited its strategy (leading to N series and E series). The E-series are clearly meant as the E nterprise line. From a Nokia point of view communicators fit in that line. The current communicator is a left over (Nokia has publicly admitted in the past that they were not sure for a long time what to do with these type of devices).

2. Symbian 9 is unlike former versions, very effective in dealing with different screen formats. And I would expect series 60 v3 also to have this flexibility.
In other words the old paradigm that the communicators needed a different version is probably not longer valid. From this point of view, it also made sense to merge series 90 into 60 (as announced earlier).

3. It would not be in Nokia's interest to announce the end of series 80 to the market. It would both reduce handset sales and third party software development. In case of Series 90 / the 7710 both the impact on sales and third party software are of course much less an issue.

4. Incorporating Series 80 in Series 60 does not only save money / complexity at the Nokia side, but will also increase the amount of third party software available for those devices.

5. Furthermore, it looks that in the type number Nxy the x describes a sub family. In the N family the products go up to N90. In the E family they currently go up to only E70. This leaves E80 and E90 over for other sub families (e.g. a communicators).

In my point of view this is all leading to one conclusion. I hope that this time I have made my case clearer and more convincing.

Lucas