Flashback: phones that weren’t, part 3: an award-winning design hobbled by an awful chipset

25 June 2023
The NuAns Neo was an ambitious phone with desktop capabilities and an easy to personalize design, but it had the insides of a $100 phone.

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  • 26 Jun 2023

Anonymous, 26 Jun 2023So much cringe for always saying that wireless can sound gr... moreNo any latency. Stop complaining. Even cheap ones sound great. Unless you use some serious in ear monitors wired earphones are trash.

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    • Anonymous
    • gqb
    • 26 Jun 2023

    Hemedans, 25 Jun 2023Windows phone had best YouTube apps available, they were be... moreIt was great, but it was Microsoft's own solution. Microsoft also dod the same thing with Facebook.

      blue, 25 Jun 2023As you can see, people don't want it.And I care about what other people want because?

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        • gqb
        • 26 Jun 2023

        Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023Nowadays phones are miles better. Though some still cry for... moreSo much cringe for always saying that wireless can sound great. Not only it never reach wired audio sound quality, it always suffers latency amd never been universal. That's why smartphone brands develop their own proprietarty wireless audio tech so that you are completely succumbed to their ecosystem. Marketing 101 right there.

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          • Anonymous
          • KZK
          • 26 Jun 2023

          Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023Nowadays phones are miles better. Though some still cry for... more"...wireless earbuds can sound great too..."

          No it doesn't, and it never will. Come back to me when wireless audio can play lossless WAV/FLAC audio at full bitrate. 💁

            blue, 25 Jun 2023Don't add anything, because you're totally wrong.... moreIf it was that easy to sell millions because of tech media campaigns phones like Asus Rog, pixels, Sony flagships etc they are everywhere in Media they would ship millions every year.

            You are just cheap hater.

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              • 0CN
              • 25 Jun 2023

              Hemedans, 25 Jun 2023Yeah and manage to Sell milion units with 0 advertising bu... moreDon't add anything, because you're totally wrong. They only managed to sell million of units after a massive campaign in all phone and tech related media. The system was so user-unfriendly that it attracted only geeks (and only few of them).

                blue, 25 Jun 2023Still the nonsense about MeeGo. The system was bad from the... moreYeah and manage to Sell milion units with 0 advertising budget.

                If you think Nokia, Intel, Asus, Acer, Amd etc dont know what they are doing and you random person in internet is more than smart than them then i have nothing to add.

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                  • 25 Jun 2023

                  Hemedans, 25 Jun 2023Agree with Symbian. But Meego=linux, Meego was Mergin... moreStill the nonsense about MeeGo. The system was bad from the start and dumb fans like you are not willing to accept it.
                  It was good for those kids, who have playing and modifying their phones as the only hobby. But for normal users who need to actually use a phone to basic tasks, it was a disaster.

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                    • 25 Jun 2023

                    Hemedans, 25 Jun 2023This is just revisionism people make Nowadays. Windows phon... moreLOL, you can't be serious about this. Really, you mean it?

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                      • 25 Jun 2023

                      Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023Nokia didn't really need Linux based Maemo to succeed,... moreYeah nokia phones used to run java, symbian apps and that was the thing i still miss these days with android.

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                        • 25 Jun 2023

                        I remember those days when my few friends switched to windows phone bandwagon but they failed to stay with that till this year.
                        Reason - 1) Limitation of many functions like sharing content, 2) They kept the app ecosystem not open source type.
                        At that time i bought android and most of my friends bought android too.
                        So, that windows phone mania went off slowly.

                        Nowadays i see apple is more popular and capaturing a portion of my contacts.
                        But i don't feel comfortable in switching from android to apple.
                        Reason - 1) android gives more freedom, 2) i'm used to that ecosystem since my school days.
                        During school days i could not afford apple ecosystem but could buy windows devices, hence i had windows desktop, laptop but on smartphone bought android.
                        Now i can afford apple but don't find the need for it.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • Ids
                          • 25 Jun 2023

                          Nowadays phones are miles better. Though some still cry for headphone jack and micro sd card slot but overall we can't forget about how mature and great Android is and how bad it was. Now companies offer long software support with many updates. Now phones almost never lag unless you buy a dirt cheap useless phone. And for ending I can add that wireless earbuds can sound great too and others simply tell lies.

                            Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023Nokia didn't really need Linux based Maemo to succeed,... moreAgree with Symbian.

                            But Meego=linux,

                            Meego was Merging of Maemo and Mobile linux (Moblin), this project had lot of backers, big players like Asus, Intel, Acer, Amd, Tencent, Nokia, Ea, Gameloft etc everything was Ready and Elop happen.

                              Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023People want official app, not copy. Lack of apps is why... moreThis is just revisionism people make Nowadays. Windows phone were doing just fine Sales increased and Active user increased, in like one year wp 8/8.1 managed to capture like 4% of marketshare and around 50m active user, there was 1 wp user for every 3 iphone user, not perfect accomplishment but it was enough as base for success.

                              What make wp died is Microsoft mobile division, most of them didnt know how to run phone business, after Nokia Sold Phone Division to Microsoft they slowly Ruined what Nokia made.

                              1. They start downgrading phones, Nokia made All phones with krait Cores even Nokia 520 had same core as Galaxy s3, S4 and flagship of that time, this made lot of people especially those on low budget to switch to Wp, flagship experience on low end. Microsoft didnt continue this trend, They start downgrading and release phone like Lumia 530, 540, 640 etc which use cortex A5 very slow cpu.

                              2. After Downgrading those phones they released Win 10 and decide those powerfull old devices wont get win 10 and newer weak devices will get, win 10 + cortex A5 made horible experience

                              3. Microsoft discontinue Nokia apps which made Wp Unique, We had Nokia Reader, offline Nokia Maps, etc. Like Nokia reader was one of the first mobile app to made pdf like epub to be readable in phones.

                              This made lot of people Quitiing wp around 2014/2015.

                              Come back to your point, those Wp youtube apps were Amazing, its 2023 now no app offer same features and easy to use UI as 2013 wp youtube app, you could download videos, comment, switch quality, finger swipe seeking, dark mode etc many thing were ahead of time. Those who use Wp liked them at that time.

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                                • Anonymous
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                                • 25 Jun 2023

                                Hemedans, 25 Jun 2023Windows phone had best YouTube apps available, they were be... morePeople want official app, not copy.

                                Lack of apps is why MS gave up.

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • n1h
                                  • 25 Jun 2023

                                  Kangal, 25 Jun 2023In one of the better timelines, things would have developed... moreNokia didn't really need Linux based Maemo to succeed, in fact one can argue that Linux based Android would eclipse it. Symbian unfairly gets the blame. However, Symbian was an excellent operating system that could be very simple, efficient, lightweight but highly customizable and powerful at the same time, an excellent alternative to Android. This OS was intentionally killed off by Nokia and Microsoft. Nokia, then soon to be taken over by Microsoft, deliberately underpowered Symbian phones such as N97, giving them same chipset and RAM as entry level phones. N97 even had worse CPU and GPU than much older N95 and N82! And those two companies deliberately under-developed Symbian OS and delayed it's development by 2 years. N97 should have had same chipset and Symbian^3 as N8, whereas N8 should have been released with the same Symbian version and the 1ghz chipset as 808! When N97, then N8 came out, everyone said Symbian was unsuitable for modern smartphone. However, Nokia 808's UI was on par with Android, just came out too late, after Symbian was confirmed to be killed off. This shows Symbian's "failure" was fully intentional.

                                  Windows phone was a failure to its core, powerful hardware and Microsoft's expertise couldn't save it.

                                  Unfortunately, loss of Symbian has been the worst loss for us. We're stuck with Android which is increasingly heavy and restricted.

                                    Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023There is nothing about patent there. Samsung see functi... moreWe don't know, but Microsoft has lot of Influence on what Samsung phones do, Even when Samsung made Windows phone, it was Because of patents Agreement, Samsung made Windows phone to get better price.

                                      Anonymous, 25 Jun 2023People were sick of the fact so many apps were not availabl... moreWindows phone had best YouTube apps available, they were better than Android and ios version at that time.

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                                        • 25 Jun 2023

                                        Kangal, 25 Jun 2023Had Microsoft stopped with their shenanigans with Windows P... moreAgree wholeheartedly,
                                        What I want to add is my own experience and understanding.

                                        In 2023 we have the phones Octo Core 5G yet most of the time spent is removing ads that cover content, it's like Djokovic Nadal in a grand slam final and spectators requesting autographs whenever they feel like it.

                                        Many people will be surprised to discover that all the major players had a Windows version as well as an Android version


                                        This was Windows 7, What Microsoft did or didn't do was to release Windows 8 which was DUAL Core and had memory expansion.

                                        Nobody after that went with Windows 8, Google Essentiall eon out.
                                        I bought a Lumia phone as it had Nokia maps which after downloading you could use offline.

                                        My other trial of other competing OS was Blackberry BB10 (QNX)
                                        Blackberry fault maybe not the main one was its serious delay in releasing a phone with a secondary camera.

                                        They did this in 2013, and per Google Nokia 6680 incorporated this in 2006, all new entrants phone had Video call. Playing catch up was bound to fail App developer follow phone sales do when the Asian market are selling similar specs phones not at premium prices well.

                                        At the time Microsoft were offering all Lumia phones capable at least the initial Window 10 OS.

                                        There were multiple upgrades of Windows 8 vastly improving phone abilities.

                                        Microsoft also were to release their flagship Lumia 1050 with Windows 10 running

                                        Problems then arise WP 10 simply didn't work, this was reported back to Microsoft who then revised their list removing some models who could upgrade to WP 10

                                        Microsoft stopped selling phones as essh sale was a phone with an inbuilt software problem.

                                        Many Windows Phone 8 users wo upgrade to 10 reverted back to Windows Phone 8

                                        Windows Phone 10 almost acts like a virus, it cannot be running on any phone to be developed.

                                        Microsoft also closed down WP 8 app store

                                        The Lumia 1050 did not have a the features promised due to the software. HP who were the only firm to release a Windows phone were also let down by Microsoft

                                        Following the 1050 release Microsoft stopped selling phones and tried for over 2 years to fix it they couldn't

                                        Windows Phone 8 was viable but cancelled, Windows Phone 10 not, Microsoft knew WP 10 was problematic even before it's release, but hey if phones are not your main income well

                                        The demise of these 2 operating system is bad both were more secure than the multiple patch Android, Windows did not need antivirus

                                        Delay on Blackberry part Microsoft culpable neglect or even malicious intent

                                        Competing OS give manufacturer choice, paying less to Google could increase specs offered better chips

                                        Despite adding the book mark to the home page avoiding the App there are almost daily App updates

                                        Google is not on the side of the phone user, but to proliferate adverts, e.g. replacing an ad that covers content with a different same size means your vote doesn't vount