1. On Friday September 3rd 2010, I attended a Nokia N8 preview event organized by the good folks of Nokia Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur.
2. It is nice to catch up with fellow bloggers like Toh of MyTechNews.Info, Joshua of Tallboyz, Jason of SmashpOp & Nigel of NigelSia.Com and some more bloggers who were also attending the preview session.
3. We were told that we are the 2nd group of people to preview the Nokia N8 on that day. Phew…
4. For the record, this is not the first time I am able to touch and test the N8. It’s my 3rd time. First was during a Nokia developer event in Kuala Lumpur, then the 2nd time was in June where I attended Nokia Connection 2010 in Singapore.
5. I am excited, as well as expecting there would be some great news such as the availability of the N8 in Malaysia, and also its RRP.
6. Following are my opinion and observation of the Nokia N8 after previewing it for around 25 minutes :-
- The firmware is dated 1st September 2010 and labelled as RC1. Meaning it’s very close to the final release firmware (depends also on how many RC that Nokia wants) 
- I tested a silver coloured N8. Looks very nice.
- There are 10 units of N8 in the room for us to test (not including the one used by Glen Cha)
- We were like small kids who happen to open a box full of chocolates and toys!
- The preview and demonstration was conducted by Glen Cha, Head of Operative Product Management, Nokia Singapore/Malaysia & Brunei.
- Asked about the price, they are very tightlipped and make reference to the announcement price of EUR370 (RM1484). But that doesnt include taxes yet.
- Nokia Malaysia will organise the N8 launch event at the end of September and the N8 will start available in Malaysia in early October 2010.
- It will be available in 3 colurs first (Silver, Dark Grey, Green), followed by the other 2 colours (Blue & Orange) a few months later.
- The retail box will include a micro-USB cable for USB OTG, a HDMI cable, and also a special custom made rubber/silicon casing (it has nothing to do with bad network reception lol!)
Photo courtesy of http://www.mytechnews.info
7. The 12 mp camera
- Honestly, jawdropping performance
- Packed with features like face detection, auto-focus, and so on.
- 25 Frame Per Second video recording in MP4 format
8. The external / body
- One hell of a sexy Nokia phone.
- The anodised-aluminium body makes it look like a piece of alien spacecraft!
- The overall feeling is solid. No squeaking
- It is very comfortable in hand. Not too wide and not too slim.
- The screen is magnificient!
9. Symbian^3
- I found some surprises in Symbian^3 which I didnt think before. Like the redesigned dialogs and checkbox.
- Slick and smooth overall performance.
- Feels at home instantly.
- I dont have time to explore deeper because the time is too limited 
- Plays video at 30 Frame Per Second.
- Supports MP4, AVI and MKV container out of the box.
- XViD is confirmed to be supported in the video player. But DiVX is not confirmed
10. However, I managed to install 2 Symbian^1 applications into the N8. It’s Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta and Smartphoneware’s Best Screensnap.
11. Opera Mobile 10.1 Beta runs very smooth inside N8 and doesnt crash no matter what I did and no matter what website I visit. Just so stable!
12. Enjoy some screenshots and photos of the events below.
13. So, what do I think about the N8 after attending the preview which showcased the most recent firmware that’s close to the final release firmware? I have a mixed feeling about this. Mainly concerning the battery (BL-4D 1200mAH). I know Symbian is power efficient. More power efficient than any other mobile smart OS out there. I am worried if one uses all internet functions in N8 like Nokia Messaging, Social, all connected at all time, the juice wont lasts long… Until I can use it myself and test it thoroughly, I will still be worried about N8 power.
14. Another thing that baffled me was the inclusion of a Social app which is integrated into the Contacts app. The Social app lets you access and update your Facebook and Twitter accounts easily. But it is NOT a native application. From the different Menu and ugly looks of it, I bet it is developed using Widget Runtime (WRT). In my opinion, Social Networking functions are very important nowadays and in order to give the best user experience to users, a native application is better than a Widget. Why on earth did Nokia throw a WRT app for social networks in N8? It’s slow… It’s sometimes unresponsive and it’s not as good as a native app…
15. I’m not very concerned about the Social app because for me, I can install Gravity anytime! But for average users out there who will not be bothered to find alternatives, they will be stuck using this ugly app.
16. Anyway… After the preview, I decided to BUY the N8 once it’s available because the screen is gorgeous, the body is nicely designed and fits into pockets easily as well as the multimedia capabilities it has like FM Transmitter, great video support and amazing camera. Most importantly, it’s Symbian powered
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- Photo courtesy of http://www.mytechnews.info
*** Thanks to Chief Insult Officer of Mytechnews.Info for some of the photos and video
- Asri al-Baker
