Win Mo or S60?

I got into PDA's rather late.  My first was a HP 6515c in 2005 and I like that form factor.  Since then I've had a TytnII which frankly still does everything I want it to do.  The problem comes with having a local (Qatari) business sim and of course my UK roaming sim......

Due to a collapse of my old Nokia mobile which carried my UK sim card, I decided to use the opportunity and replace it with a new E72.  This is a report I placed on the forum at Smartphone Daily.

Ok, having had the E72 for a week and played with it I think its time to give an initial report. I've applied a simple score to each important (for me) criteria. You will note that I've weighted each criteria out of ten and then applied a score based upon my personal preference to provide a comparison. From the table below you will see that from a possible 700 the E72 scores 587 whereas the TytnII scores 511.

Criteria/Weight/HTC TytnII/Score/Nokia E72/Score

Battery Life - 8/4/32/10/80
Apps as supplied - 7/7/49/7/49
Ease of Use PIM - 6/7/42/8/48
Screen Resolution
(Daylight) - 9/2/18/10/90
Phone Experience - 10/7/70/10/100
Internet Connectivity - 10/10/100/4/40
Keyboard - 10/10/100/10/100
Ability to leave
laptop @ home - 10/10/100 /8/80

Totals 700/ 511/ 587

On the face of it then the Nokia wins hands down but there's a bit more to it than that.

Over here in Qatar you don't get all inclusive data usage, I pay 10 Riyals per MB which equates to Pst1.80, so you can see that is a very important issue. Sadly the Nokia will not hold on to the Wireless LAN no matter what I do. So the first week has cost me 53 pounds! For a business device I consider this to be an abject failure. I can make it connect but as soon as I ask it to browse/download it defaults to the cell, unless I go offline, which kind of defeats the object of a smartphone.

I think the installed apps are about the same as a Win Mo device, indeed Quickoffice is basically Win Mo lite, thus to produce the kind of reports I do I will need to buy further software. The pre installed maps thing is no better than Google maps so really a waste of space. Overall no different to the TytnII so no absolute advantage here.

I've always maintained that Nokia make the best mobile phones and the E72 is no exception. Easy to dial numbers/input basic contact info. It does well here compared to the TytnII, but the actual contacts and calendar set up is much better on the TytnII hence there's little difference in the score. Messaging is virtually the same on both devices so again no clear advantage.

Screen resolution is far superior on the Nokia.

As to battery life, this has always been an issue with Win Mo which is why we carry spare booster batteries on long journeys. The Nokia lasts at least 48hrs between charges.

Could I leave the laptop at home? Well with the software I've got on the TytnII then yes, but more than that it behaves like a laptop so scores better than the Nokia thus I feel more confident in traveling with the TytnII.

I realise the TytnII is getting long in the tooth but it still stands up to comparison and it does its job very well. In my opinion the E72 doesn't offer a significantly better experience to the extent that I would recommend changing from Win Mo to S60. That said I do like the Nokia as a "lite" business device so it will do for now.

Oh and the OVI thing? Keeps asking for my login and then rejects me so another failure.

Also I suspect the media software on the Nokia is superior to that on the TytnII but I haven't tried it, other than the camera which is very good but not high on my list of priorities.

Burj Khalifa Branded "Pointless" By Germans

Well is it?

In the Middle East, There is generally no business plan involved in building the tallest/longest/deepest structure, it just has to prove you've got money.  This is the reason it was built.  So there is substance to the pointless argument.  American Architect, Samsung C&T of South Korea as the main contractor and "expat" (read Indian, Philipino, Indonesian, etc.) labour.  Let's face it the only local input was money.  It therefore wasn't built to demonstrate the construction prowess of the local community.

All of which means I can't get into the celebration of the building itself, it isn't even particularly pleasant to look at, although tall structures like the Burj Al Arab hotel are, to me, pleasing to the eye.  But from an engineering viewpoint I look forward to the reviews in a couple of years after the initial start up and "running-in" period, if you will.  Then we'll know if there are limits to what we can build in terms of height.

So, not entirely pointless then.