Symbian: The forgotten FOSS phone OS

Comments

• bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I loved my N95. It showed what an oldschool smartphone could look like.

  Until the N900 came along and defined for me what a modern smartphone should look like. Thus killing my enthusiasm for all future Android phones.

  But the N95 was sturdier. I still have it in my backpack as a backup phone.

  source

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    N900 was by far my best phone.

    source
• A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Before Nokia was assimilated and digested by Microsoft, it open sourced the OS

  Huh. Did not know.

  Symbian’s swansong was the remarkable Nokia 808 PureView. The 808 and other late-model Symbian devices run Nokia Belle which was really quite nice.

  I still have a device here that runs that version. A Nokia 701. With AngryBirds games on it. It had an extensive app store. And that wonderful tiny charger connector (but also takes a charge from USB micro).
  Nokia 701

  there was that brief attempt at a revival by Planet Computers but it really didn’t stick

  Oh, again I did not know that. I was interested in one of their later devices for a while, a keyboard phone running true Linux iirc.

  source
• ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  /me cries in Maemo :`-(

  source

  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    Maemo => Meego => Sailfish OS 👍

    Nothing ever replaced the N900. And there’s a different between a large corp developing a true Linux OS, as opposed to a tiny company. But still: it’s not dead.

    source

    • Patch@feddit.uk ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Don’t forget Tizen too; MeeGo’s other bastard offspring.

      I think Tizen is still around?

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Meh, the Sailfish guys made the same mistake that Nokia made in not open sourcing their work. That has kept me away from them so far.

      Then again their company is still in business so maybe it wasn’t such a bad move after all.

      source
    • wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      My N810 was my single favorite piece of industrial design in a mobile device. Not perfect, and use cases moved on (to say nothing of the internals), but it was so unique and thoughtful and intricate without feeling overly fragile.

      source
• Quazatron@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Have a look at what came before Symbian : Psion series 5

  In the end, when the Series 5 finally shipped, it was like being transported into the future, only through a very murky tunnel.

  Gretton’s hardware clocked in at a meagre-sounding 18Mhz — but performed like a desktop Intel PC from just two years previously — and it could still maintain 30 hours use on two AA batteries. Once the circuitry was complete, the Series 5 performed the same tasks as its Windows CE rivals but used only a quarter of the power.

  I still have two working Psion 5MX palmtops and love them to death.

  source
• majster@lemmy.zip ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  I really liked my Nokia 5800. I just checked online and see that it retailed for almost half the price of an iPhone. No wonder it was popular where I’m from. It seems if you loose in USA market you loose everywhere.

  source
• AncientSoul@reddthat.com ⁨20⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  There were some really good. Nokia Symbian phones and some not so good ones. An issue back then was that not all apps were available for all phones. They would probably have fixed this if it hadn’t been for Elop killing them.

  source

  • jagermo@feddit.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    To be fair, Nokia flodded the market every year with a ton of different phones

    source

    • latenightnoir@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Which, honestly, was another thing I’ve come to love about the old Nokia! They weren’t just phones, they were accessories as well! Every model had a clear personality and a target audience! I remember my mum had a thing for changing her phone often, especially with models only found in other countries (she would find THE weirdest salespeople, who brought in phones from friggin’ Spain and such, and they were way cheaper than retail), and… while I don’t agree with her somewhat rampant consumerism, I gotta say, every single model had a Vibe!

      Besides my 5800, my other favourite from Nokia was my 6303 Classic. That was a downright sexy phone, and rugged to boot!

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• JayGray91@piefed.social ⁨14⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  i still have a 808 Pureview. needs a new battery but otherwise I could flash a CFW for it to keep using it as a point and shoot camera lol

  source
• latenightnoir@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  Oh, maan… I still remember my 5800, I loved that phone to pieces… Excellent speaker system for the time (it was genuinely stereo and had a bit of meat on the sound, too!), my first touchscreen (which was a bit frustrating due to my thick logs, but worked perfectly with the stylus), and it was also my very first experience with multiplayer on a phone! Used to play that default racing game with a year mate in Uni, and it was very fun! And the OS was as an OS should be: so smooth as to not even register with the user!

  source

  • stoy@lemmy.zip ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    The 5800 was a nice phone, but for me the king of Symbian phones was the E7, I am still pissed mine got stolen ):

    Loved the fold out keyboard, it made the phone absolutely amazing, I remember running Putty Touch on my E7, sshing into a friend’s server to access irssi

    source

    • latenightnoir@lemmy.world ⁨18⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      That was my Goal Phone, yes! Either that, or the N8, but the 5800 was the only thing I could afford at the time:))

      They were really nice phones, properly into “smartphones” by that point - the 5800 was more like a… clever phone:))

      Oh, nooo!:( I’m so sorry, that’s how I lost my 5800, too! Got mugged at night, ffs…

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    My Nokia 701 also has Stereo:
    Nokia 701

    source

    • latenightnoir@lemmy.world ⁨19⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      Well, I can’t speak for that one as I’ve never used it (nice though, looks like a proper Nokia should, gone through war and still running fine!), but the 5800 was a completely new experience for me in terms of phone-mounted speakers. Like, this was like a miniaturised sound system. The levels were unexpectedly balanced, the speakers were mounted well apart (at either end of the phone lengthwise), the stereo definition was very clear and dynamic, and it was loud enough to use as background music generator for a light social gathering, like a dorm room mini-party, setting the mood for… other activities, etc.)

      source