Nokia’s N9 is an interesting new challenge to the iPhone. Its had a lot of criticism since it was announced a couple of days ago, but I want to concentrate on something I think it does pretty well: simplify the touch screen interface.
The system Nokia has devised for moving around on an N9 is designed for speed and one-hand operation, and to achieve that they’ve done something rather Apple-esque: reduced the options available.
The N9 home screen is actually three screens, that rotate in carousel between an events timeline (including notifications), an app launcher, and an app switcher. That’s it.
Once you’re inside an app – which you might reach from any of those three home screens – you return home by swiping in from a screen edge. Any edge, it doesn’t matter. Doing this swipe action pushes the current app out of sight, and drops you back in the home screen you were in last.
Now, they could have added more features. They could have made swipes in one direction do one thing, and swipes in another direction do something else. More features, yes, but also more complexity. I think they deserve some credit for saying “no” to themselves, for the stuff they’ve left out.
Here’s a video of Nokia’s Marko Ahtisaari introducing the N9:
So, over to you. What do you think of the N9? Does the interface appeal to you?
(In the interests of full disclosure: some of my friends work at Nokia, and I’ve worked for Ahtisaari before when he was running Dopplr, but none of that affects my personal opinions of the N9 and its user interface.)
Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He also writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. You can find out more at his website, and follow him on Twitter @gilest.
116 responses to “Things To Admire In The Nokia N9 [Opinion]”
“We want Nokia to keep MeeGo” petition:
http://twitition.com/3c3ah
1000+ already signed
he’s a lousy presenter. that aside, it looks like a great product that might help nokia get back into the game. may even be a sleeper hit. but didn’t elop throw away this os in favor of windoze?
I like the whole package. The unit design is VERY nice and most importantly really sets itself apart from the rest of the me2 smartphone crowd (apple excepted) – it’s a pity they have made so many mistakes that the dev community just isn’t there to offer the same degree of apps as iOS and Android – these are the main drivers to adoption and they’ve missed the boat. They could have THE best device in the world but it’s a hard sell if the ecosystem is is too small to be seen as a viable alternative. :( Why soooo late Nokia, why so late?
it was a bad presentation. looks like some cool stuff but it was 9 minutes in before we actually saw it in action and then it wasn’t presented in an exciting fashion. there may be a big steak there, but no sizzle!
Dear Lord, The man presenting this device seems not convinced himself, Very Boring and poor presentation ! .. That man has an iphone :D, U can see it in the way he’s talking ( he also suffers from the antenna problem) !
Nokia and their 200 million mega pixel cameras :D
if this was presented in the AWESOME WWDC i might have considered this device to use WITH my iphone ofcourse :D
Well, lousy or not lousy presenter, all I’ll say is he has a different style than that of our friend Steve. But as for the N9, it’s by far the closest thing of a real competitor to the iPhone. All the rest don’t come even close.
Now let’s see how easy Nokia makes it to the developers, and how good of an AppStore they’ll create. Because what makers seem to forget is that the iPhone per se is an excellent device with remarkable hardware and a kick-ass OS, but it is the AppStore and the geometrical multiplication of the device’s functionality what makes the iPhone an unparalleled success.
Let me talk about the body! this guy is worst ever. I had to skip several parts as it was so boring and not interesting. Will not buy it, because of this Mongol.
Very sleek design; it puts my iPhone 4 to shame, so much that the i4 looks OLD. I agree with other posters; the presentation was dreadful. Perhaps we’re spoiled by the ‘magical’ presentations given by Apple, which could explain the ‘cult’ effect. But this one almost put me to sleep. As for the OS, the presenter didn’t go into enough detail, perhaps because Nokia is now partnered with Microsoft. Pair this with WP7/8 and Nokia may have a real winner. The hardware is certainly ready.
Maybe Nokia Windows Phone will have the same swipe ?
That’s how Nokia differentiate ?
What I admire the most is how this device, like so many others, is a blatant copy of an iPhone!
-Chris
http://friendsofmaconfb.wordpr…
the guys a creep, he shoulda just done his prez at cupertino. Could have saved the cost of his knockoff set and put it into the N9 R&D.
Can’t wait for Apple to win the injunction on production, ahahah
Mongol. Ahaha
i actually *really* like the looks of the n9; i’m surprised by how much i like and appreciate the choices with hardware, software, ui, aesthetics, etc.
it almost makes me want to get one, except that i know it’s a completely dead-end platform (since they’re going wp7).
OMG best non-apple phone!!! I would buy this over ANY android crap phones.
. Btw i’m an iphone lover
GREAT JOB Nokia! Don’t let WP7 take over you! BUILD ON N9!!!
This is the sad fate of WebOS as you probably know. Shame as WebOS almost crushes the iPhone still even after iOS5. Too bad apple didn’t buy Palm. Multitasking tray is a failure. I’m tired of opening a wall of apps, notification center is getting clogged with widgets and is just UGLY. Why a drop down menu like android. Yuck
I like it and I hope my employer’s mobile phone vendor will carry it. My contract is up for renewal soon and I think I will pick the N9 if it’s got a reasonable price tag. I really really dig the UI.
Meego looks better than Android or Windows Phone 7. It’s a damn shame they’ve orphaned the platform.
Hm, this could be an Apple presentation at half speed…
Nevertheless: Kudos to Nokia to doing something new, and something that looks interesting. It took 4 years but still…
Uhh… I take everything back, the N9 looks AWESOME
This is the first phone I have seen, since 2007, that makes me think about switching from the iPhone. Seriously. This is going to sell like hotcakes.
Seriously, please FORGET ABOUT WINDOWS PHONE RIGHT NOW and make MeeGo phones.
Presentation was terrible. Hardware / software is fantastic.
I think this is the last stand for the MeeGo camp at Nokia; let’s hope for the sake of the company that they’ll build on that platform. WP is DOA IMO.
Here’s the difference: This – the N9 – is something new. It has a touch screen, but things make sense, and look better than the iPhone. WP looks different still, but not in a good way, in a bad way.
Same here.
I think this is interesting for all people who love iPhones, which should make it an instant hit, given how many people have an iPhone.
yup, agreed, Palm’s IP would have been a great addition to the Apple engineers pool of tech. I was talking to some mates at work and we all agreed that, on balance, iOS4 is looking a bit creaky at the mo, Android is all over the place and our WP7 looks amazing but needs a good polish. Then this comes out and it looks lovely. Nice and simple, clean like Apple, nice UI – a real peach but already rotting on the branch.
The biggest shame here though is that NOKIA have made a really nice looking bit of kit. Their ind. design dept. have made something that is non-gender specific (unlike the macho iPhone4 and DROIDs) and would be the first choice for I would guess (based on looks etc), would be a clear winner in a taste test.
If all things were equal (apps stores etc) and you asked 100 people to choose between this and half a dozen other phone this would be the winner.
Love the multitasking view and 3D maps. This is the only thing close to being a true iPhone competitor, but as usual, M$ rains on the parade.
That presenter was freaky! Who’s his tailor?
It doesn’t appeal to me, but then again I’m not put off by the complexity of the iphone (in part cause I pushed most things to my ipad at this point. That said, I can see where the simplicity would appeal to some and I think that Nokia made a good call on this.
Wow,i really didn’t expect this much positive comments on an Apple-fan site.
I really really like the phone, and i was thinking of buyin an iPhone this fall, but, since i’m also a big fan of NOKIA i will most definitelly change my mind.
The iPhone 4 is better looking than this (IMO), but the 3 swipe concept is very very good, very clever.
I would like to see this kind of “notifications” concept on iOS5 better than the android copy.
Doesn’t the first sentence of his speech remind you of what Jobs said at the original iPhone launch back in ’07?
The N9 does look great but Nokia’s utter disarray leaves this promising phone dead on arrival. It’s amazing how a company with such an apparent lock on the mobile industry can fall apart so quickly. Worse still they look for rescue to Microsoft, a lifeboat that has Steve Ballmer drilling holes in it as quickly as he can! The world’s gone mad : )
They will be releasing one MeeGo device each year, and will continue to support each device for at least three years. Don’t be surprised if the developers-only device called Nokia N950 be released next year as the Nokia N9-01. This will be like their iPhone like release. MeeGo is definitely not a dead platform; they might ditch Symbian but that’s it. Windows Phone is the primary platform and MeeGo is the “experimental platform for future disruptions.” That’s what the CEO said.
that would be cool.
actually it can run android apps. click to above link
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobile…
It’s not been orphaned, it’s now a single parent family.
MeeGo isn’t finished, and it’s not DOA.
Handsets live on in MeeGo and Nokia have shown how a good UI on MeeGo (even if it’s actually Maemo) can excite and interest people – time for another handset manufacturer to step up to the plate and replace Nokia… LG perhaps? Plenty of Chinese manufacturers now getting involved with MeeGo at the Linux Foundation. Losing Nokia to Microsoft was a blow for MeeGo, but not a mortal one.
Really good attempt at delivering excellence in a way that is differentiated (somewhat) from iPhone. The mystery to me, though, is threefold: (1) why would ANYONE buy this when the company is riding another horse to the future? (2) why would any developer waste his time developing for this, for the same reason (3) What is so wrong with this implementation that Nokia thought it right to abandon it and jump into bed with those MobileMeisters from Redmond along with their stellar mobile record (was it to get the NFC benefits from working closely with that technogiant Ballmer? I think we should be told.)
Actually it’s fourfold: (4) where did he get that suit??
Nope, their CEO, Stephen Elop said recently to a finnish major newspaper, Helsingin Sanomat, that Meego-N9 is dead. Even if N9 sells well, Nokia won’t invest on it.
Here a link to this news (in Finnish) http://www.iltalehti.fi/digi/2…
Sad bud true.
I think that after using a bunch of apple products (ipods, ipod touch,and iphone, i don’t have ipad), I mostly download my games and apps on the ipod touch, it’s like my main mobile game device, but I also have been using droids (lately) and nokia (for a long time), in my opinion, in terms of being a phone, the N9 is brilliantly simple and intuitive, if you really like apps (like in my case) you can just use the ipod touch for it. As for me, I may be planning on buying an N9 and using it as my main phone, and the ipod touch when I need to use some apps that may not be available on N9… But, let’s just see where this will take me..
One answer: Qt.
Qt apps run on 100 million Symbian devices today (same number as Android’s current installed base), another 150 million Symbian devices to come (thought Symbian was dead? Ha!) AND most importantly a BILLION future S40 devices (the world’s new largest smartphone platform). And yes, N9 will run those Qt apps (some minor modification may be needed for some apps) so you’re supported indefinitely both as a developer and user.
to add to this (Qt) MeeGo is not dead…only Nokia (dumb) won’t support it…but its taken up by Intel…they are the future…you will see with time…they are taking huge strides….
Elop was being a bit sly though, what he meant was that it wont become the primary OS for the western markets. Meego will be developed further for its launch markets and the UI and Qt will find its way to the S40 platform.
Qt for S40 means many apps will be developed as it sells by the bucket load.
Sigh. You need to check your eyes my friend. It looks nothing like an iPhone.
So, you’d consider the same device with the same capabilities that it has now only if presented in a different venue. Gotcha, really clever way of rating your devices.
Check this out too!! Another petition website!
http://www.petitiononline.com/…
Nokia has had an app store already before Apple. Yes, it is mostly Symbian currently, but more than 4 million loads daily is still quite a lot. And with Qt supported, it will keep on growing.
So, when there is nothing bad to say about the device, let’s rant about the presentation :)
Nokia doesnt come under contracts.
its a whole sold device. so carry up for the full price you’ve to pay.
4 years? o_0 less than 2 years. Nokia N900, check it out, it was out in the market in december 2009.
you guys have never tested that device, having maemo 5 and is the best after N9.
What will be the resolution of the camera?
It does come for contracts. At some places!
I’m totally disappointed that the CEO won’t take advantage of the sales to improve their products under the MeeGo platform, but will instead kill the whole ecosystem to focus on a non-selling OS.
I just hope for the best! And should they kick Elop from his position now? I don’t think so. Let’s just see how Windows Phone performs this fall.
And MeeGo is a win-win, if they just considered going to that route.
Actually, the N9 gives you options, you can have the default “you return home by swiping in from a screen edge. Any edge, it doesn’t matter”. Or you can activate an option and make the swipe from the top down to close the apps instead of hidding it ;)
you cant blame elop. He was born with stupidity. someone hire an killer to assasinate him.
If only Nokia and Apple will merge as one big giant corporation. Everything will be much more than satisfied. :D
I actually am thinking of the same thing. What if Europe or Finland (their government) decides to kil/assassinate Elop if he sells Nokia to Microsoft, given that Nokia is one of their most important companies? :) That should be fun.
no, m$ will not accept a nokia’s UI.
Nokia WP7 is Sea Ray. N9 Specs just running WP Mango. I’m a Nokia and Mac fanboy and I’ve seen for myself the Hands-on demo of WP7. Yeh, not wow, but it may be better then you think. N9 is defs an iPhone killer. Shame MeeGo is dead in the water
I was at a car show where a car was fitted with a MeeGo based infotainment system. Looked good, and you could send/sync your media files to the device and play it in the car.
The manufacturer said that at least in Europe about 65% of all infotainmentsystems would be MeeGo based. They had signed a deal with over half of all the car brands in Europe.
They said that 2012-2013 would be the data when is was common in most cars. First as a more expensive extra and later on included with every car.
Intel is pushing hard for this – as they make a lot of the hardware that MeeGo can run on.
Android makes their systems too, and I’m sure Apple are working on something like this too.
Time will tell.