Microsoft, Nokia Team To Add Mobile Office Apps To Phones 154
CWmike writes "On the same day a court banned sales of Microsoft Office for PCs, Microsoft and Nokia said they are working together to put Microsoft Office on Nokia handsets. It's a move that should give Microsoft leverage against Google and others that are attacking its Office business with free or low-priced Web apps. The aim of the deal is to bring an application called Microsoft Office Mobile to Nokia's Symbian devices, they said. They will also do the same for other Microsoft communications, collaboration and device-management software. The applications will be available first on Nokia's E-series phones, but eventually will extend to other Nokia handsets. The Microsoft-Nokia deal brings two competitors together, but could spell the end of Windows Mobile. Gartner analyst Nick Jones said he is becoming 'more concerned' about the future for Windows Mobile and added in a blog today that Windows Mobile 7 could be Microsoft's last update of the product."
So much for ... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:So much for ... (Score:4, Funny)
"I see you're trying to drunk dial your ex. Would you like some help with that?"
Re:So much for ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Really, Microsoft has been cannibalizing their own business for profits. They don't have the ability to innovate and they have been resorting to forcing upgrades on their customers to maintain revenue. It's too bad, they had a lot of money and they were in the best position to leverage their strategic position to branch into new businesses. But, they didn't have the ability to invest the money in new technology and make it pay.
So many obvious opportunities simply slipped through Microsoft's fingers. They could have owned browsing, searching and the internet in general, they could have taken over business software, they could have owned gaming. Microsoft, like GM, seems to have gotten too big without redefining themselves.
The end of Microsoft will be good for software development and for consumers. Microsoft has been a tax on computing and a hindrance to innovation. Windows 7 should be the end.
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Yeah, I don't think that word means what you think it means. Innovate \= copy from everyone else.
Innovative does not mean something you haven't seen before.
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Such as?
Empty assertions are just that: empty assertions. Forgive me, but I have seen too much astroturfing at each Windows release to take these kinds of statements seriously. Unless you can actually name improvements, I'm just going to assume that Windows 7 is what every release since Win2k has been: more make-up on the pig.
Mart
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Such as?
Empty assertions are just that: empty assertions. Forgive me, but I have seen too much astroturfing at each Windows release to take these kinds of statements seriously. Unless you can actually name improvements, I'm just going to assume that Windows 7 is what every release since Win2k has been: more make-up on the pig.
Mart
Great. I'm vague about Win7, so I'm astroturfing. But if I talk about Win7, I'll be astroturfing. If I take the time to tell you the improvements I've noticed between XP and 7, you'll say "lipstick on a pig".
Am I an 'astroturfer' or are you a 'hater'? Frankly I hope you just think astroturfer means "somebody experienced with a product who doesn't hate it like the GroupThink thinks you should."
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I didn't call you an astroturfer, now didn't I? I just said I had seen too much astroturfing to take any praise, especially unqualified praise, seriously.
Why are you so defensive about that?
Mart
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I almost went to the trouble that AC did to point out the things I've seen since trying out Windows 7. Actually he took it a bit further than I would have and pointed out comparisons to XP and Vista. Somebody who uses Win7 tried to answer your question and you dismissed that whole thing and said 'lipstick on a pig'. Bet you didn't even read it.
Defensive? No. Annoyed? Yep. The last time I behaved like you, I was giving Sony an irrationaly hard time about the PS3. I fuzzed my definition of 'astroturfing
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Heh. I useta have a sig that said: "What's the difference between a Linux Zealot and a Microsoft Fan Boy? The Fan Boy read the article!"
Re:So much for ... (Score:5, Informative)
Citation needed.
The standard office file formats (i.e. doc, xls, etc) were the same from Office 97 to Office 2003. The Office 2007 file formats (docx, xlsx, etc) are readable and writable by Office 2000 or later. Contrast this with a company like Autodesk, where the file formats change every three years (in a thinly disguised attempt to sell upgrades) and I find it hard to agree with the statement you make above.
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The standard office file formats (i.e. doc, xls, etc) were the same from Office 97 to Office 2003.
No they were not. I still remember how Office 97 could not read all files created by Office 2003.
Re:So much for ... (Score:4, Informative)
That's a whole truck load of BS you just posted there my friend.
For many years, Microsoft has had the nasty habit of breaking their own software and data formats to force customers to upgrade.
If anything, MS bends over backwards to maintain backwards compatibility. Vista was their first OS in which you couldn't run DOS apps (at least w/o third party s/w). Office 2k7 is completely able to consume/publish in Office 2k3 formats. Office 2k3 is completely able to consume/publish in Office 2k7 formats. 64-bit Vista and 64-bit Win7 can still run your 32-bit Windows apps. Office 2k3, Office 2k7, Vista, Win2k3, WS08, XP etc. are all still supported (some are past their 5-year mainstream support lifecycles but are in extended support). What the hell are you talking about???
This was happening on a large scale with XP, mostly because Vista required a hardware upgrade, and because the 'upgrade' cycle happening during a time of budget tightening.
Prove it. You're running your mouth off in a public forum so be prepared to back your claims up. Large scale? Because of a hardware upgrade? Time of budget tightening? And MS considered all the factors when designing for Vista? References please!!
Really, Microsoft has been cannibalizing their own business for profits.
Nothing insightful there -- when you own 90+% of the market, you are your own biggest competitor. But cannibalizing? Please explain? They were eating their own sales to get more of their own sales? That doesn't even make sense!
they have been resorting to forcing upgrades
How did they force people to upgrade? References? Sources? Anything? Did they hold a gun to someone's head? Did they prematurely curtail the mainstream support of some product? Did they decide to forego an extended support lifecycle of some product? What on god's green earth are you talking about??
The end of Microsoft will be good for software development and for consumers.
There's absolutely no proof / logic by which you can make that claim definitively. No matter what you say, there will be counter-arguments that can be made. So understand that your view is simply colored by your MS hatred.
Microsoft has been a tax on computing and a hindrance to innovation.
This is slashdot, so I guess you'll get modded +5 Insightful for this kind of unsubstantiated drivel..
Windows 7 should be the end.
???
You should be the one to decide that right?...
Just because you hate MS for some irrational reasons, doesn't mean they will stop trying their best. If you dislike Windows, you have other options that you can exercise. But pretending that Windows is somehow broken or a dying product is, well, typical slashdot trolling.
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I keep hearing that.
I also keep hearing tales of hardware no longer working because the driver model changed yet again.
I also keep hearing astroturfers tell me that applications that break after an 'upgrade' to the newest Windows are the fault of the application writers for not sticking to MS' rules.
And yet, you guys keep reassuring me that Microsoft bends over backwards to maintain compatibility. Welcome to Microsoft Newspeak, now eve
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If anything, MS bends over backwards to maintain backwards compatibility.
I keep hearing that.
I also keep hearing tales of hardware no longer working because the driver model changed yet again.
See what I mean?
1) XP used the XPDM driver model. Vista bent over backwards by supporting it. Read that again. Vista worked with XPDM drivers that were meant for XP. Aero required WDDM drivers -- but Vista would still work with XPDM drivers. What the hell are you talking about??
2) XPDM drivers used to run in kernel mode. Poorly implemented XPDM drivers could cause a BSOD. MS addressed it by moving to WDDM in which most of the driver code is running in user mode. The WDDM driver is a huge improvement. So
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I have absolutely no problem with people using Windows. I happen to think that Windows is a lousy OS, full of minor and major faults that nobody ever seems to acknowledge, while picking at every minor fault in Linux or OSX.
I do think that the kind of unqualified praise that appears in Slashdot threads like these is either by dumb fanbois or astroturfers. And if you check my posting history, you'll see that I have little patience for fanbois of any OS.
Mart
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I have absolutely no problem with people using Windows.
Then why did your post contain non-factual FUD?
.
I happen to think that Windows is a lousy OS, full of minor and major faults that nobody ever seems to acknowledge
(1) See what I mean about unsubstantiated FUD? (2) When there's a discussion of some of those flaws feel free to contribute. For now, the stuff you pointed out was utter fucking bullshit. (3) Your claim that "nobody ever seems to acknowledge" Windows' flaws is again, utter fucking bullshit.
.
I do think that the kind of unqualified praise that appears in Slashdot threads like these is either by dumb fanbois or astroturfers.
Now what the fuck are you talking about?? Unqualified praise? I backed up every single point I made with good logic and facts. Go back to my response to OP and and yo
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Hmm. Defensive much? Now who's the fucking fanboi here?
As for flaws? How about utterly broken Z-order handling, where a closing dialog suddenly leaves no window focused? Or the maddeningly irritating raise-on-focus? Or inconsistent keyboard shortcuts among Microsoft's own software? Or the unpredictably crashing clipboard service when you run multiple TS sessions? The total hang of the entire desktop when Explorer tries to scan for network shares?
Every equivalent flaw in a Linux distribution is cause for sar
The Slashdot death-spiral (Score:2)
Microsoft has been cannibalizing their own business for profits. They don't have the ability to innovate and they have been resorting to forcing upgrades on their customers to maintain revenue.
they could have taken over business software
Slashdot and reality are perilously close to a permanent disconnect:
"SharePoint is saving Microsoft's Office business even as it paves the way for a new era of Microsoft lock-in," said Matt Asay, an executive at Alfresco, which makes an open-source content management system.
Microsoft and Nokia? (Score:2, Funny)
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It seems that Nokia could play both of the brothers, actually. It seems to have a strange multiple personality thing whereby it buys Qt, opens it up more, encourages open source, and then jumps into bed with MS (again, if I recall correctly). An interesting attempt to be all things to all people.
usability (Score:4, Insightful)
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Works fine here:
Let's set so double the killer delete select all
See?
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If voice recognition worked...
Or handwriting recognition.
Yeah, I know, I know, tablet PCs (or whatever the latest buzzword for them is) have been the Next Big Thing for twenty years now. But sooner or later we will have handheld phones/computers (whatever buzzword they're calling them at that point) which will be able to translate regular handwriting into text as reliably as typing the same text on a keyboard. Faster than dictation, and a hell of a lot more private. Doing this on a device the size of mos
Re:usability (Score:5, Insightful)
By my calculations, we'll get handwriting recognition just about at the point computer keyboards will have killed everybody's ability at handwriting.
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Not for Chinese characters. Since Chinese is going to be the dominant language for business worldwide in a few decades, this is a pretty important concern.
-1, Failtard (Score:2, Insightful)
Chinese input is done using pinyin, which *gasp* uses a tradational keyboard. It's hilariously faster to type Chinese using pinyin input vs. hand writing. I mean sickengly, stupidly, mind boggingly faster to the point that it's not even negotiable: anyone who claims otherwise is lying or doesn't know what they're talking about (e.g. the above poster).
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But sooner or later we will have handheld phones/computers (whatever buzzword they're calling them at that point) which will be able to translate regular handwriting into text as reliably as typing the same text on a keyboard.
But by then, it will be too late [slashdot.org].!
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You mean like "astro" and "turfing"?
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Yes. I've even occasionally done it; sure, I wouldn't want to do too detailed layout on a smartphone, but most "serious" documents don't need a lot more than a text editor with the ability to put basic structural features (multilevel headings, mostly, and maybe some tables) for most of the work you do with them (i.e., everything you do while its in the "working draft" phase.) Sure, to finalize something, for certain audiences, you may want
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Say what? Can we try that with a little closer touch with reality?
What you are referring to is not creating a serious document, it is the same as editing a SMS message. This is not synonymous with what we are referring to by serious document editing. An "outline" done on a phone properly involves some hefy processing and is not something that can be done easily without a mouse or touchscreen/hauptics.
That could be as simple as positioning of a clipart or attaching a spreadsheet to a word doc, neither of th
Re:usability (Score:5, Informative)
This is a news story about bringing Microsoft Office to business Symbian smartphones made by Nokia. Most of the E-Series referenced in the story have keyboards and look like Blackberries.
This is not about your average T9 cellphone.
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Also T9/ordinary looking Nokia E series smart phones accept standard bluetooth keyboards or whatever you choose like the laser virtual keyboard at thinkgeek
http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/keyboards-mice/8193/ [thinkgeek.com]
If I knew I could stand to people staring, I would buy that laser thing right now.
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I think you'll find *any* Symbian smart phone can use a bluetooth keyboard. I've had a 3250, E71, E90, N95, N73 and they all worked just fine with my Apple bluetooth keyboard.
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You mean abstract speculation has a greater touch with reality than, you know, actually having done something in reality?
Strange, the actual serious documents I've actually done it with were nothing like SMS messages.
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All Nokia S60/Symbian phones come with s/w to read MS Office format files. The E series also come with s/w to edit them. It's called QuickOffice. Here, read up on it :
http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/news/item/10289_Quickoffice_responds_to_Nokia_.php [allaboutsymbian.com]
"One of the interesting side stories is that Nokia's Symbian phones already have an outstanding Office compatible software suite, in the form of Quickoffice, which ships with every current Nokia Symbian phone. Quickoffice have released their own statement today no
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My smartphone is way more powerful than my desktop computer from 10 years ago. That's not the point. My desktop computer has the same sized keyboard that my 10 year old one had, except that it is connected to the computer by USB rather than a 5 pin AT connector; whereas my smartphone has a tiny keyboard where it is impossible to touch type.
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Ever try one of those small (or large one if you do not mind carrying it around) blue tooth keyboards? I have seen a few people using them and it worked OK. I have big hands, on that small keyboard I was touch typing again.
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whereas my smartphone has a tiny keyboard where it is impossible to touch typ
You'd be surprised, assuming you have a full QWERTY with a decent "feel" to it. I get 40-60wpm on my blackberry and have used it for some "serious" documents. I doubt it technically qualifies as touch typing -- you can't really look at the screen without seeing the keyboard directly below it -- but the point becomes moot if you can type at a satisfactory speed.
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That's what bluetooth keyboards are for.
When I'm too lazy to take my laptop (or it doesn't have enough battery life), I just pack my foldable bluetooth keyboard and smartphone - voila, perfect note taking solution, with oodles and oodles of battery life.
Re:usability (Score:4, Insightful)
The primary use of this is for reading and annotating.
However, many cell phones now have screens like 800x350 or 800x480 and allow full (folding) Bluetooth keyboards to be used with the phone; that kind of setup isn't all that different from a netbook.
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many cell phones now have screens like 800x350 or 800x480
Yep. That's more pixels than my first laptop, and I wrote novels on that thing. GPP's idea that they're somehow inherently unusable for large document creation strikes me as very odd.
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Hell, I take notes and write my creative fiction on 320x240... 800x480 is my next stop, and I'm having trouble getting the drool out of my keyboard. That should make writing down lab results on Excel Mobile a lot easier/more efficient :)
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Doing things this way had two major advantages:
Cheap laptops tended to be stupidly heavy then and a 140gram phone with 20 gram keyboard is small enough to fit in a coat pocket.
The second and by far the most important advantage was the poor typsetting capability of pocket word forced me to spen
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I have read many excel sheets, edited, and even created some basic ones on my phone. Been doing it for years.
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Can anyone even imagine creating a serious document on any cellphone? That would be hellish.
No but I can imagine updating spreadsheets from my phone. Mainly because I've done it before. You have no idea how badly I ache for Google Docs to work as nicely on my iPhone as it does on my computer.
What's the big deal? (Score:5, Interesting)
Whooptiedoo! We can now edit files on the go! (sound familiar?)
What am I missing here?
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It works on-line, as opposed to off-line like most phones that support Office docs do. It's a big deal because it means you can make changes to a document without having to go through a sync operation for those changes to be reflected back at home base. The changes are, for lack of a better term, instantaneous. Any company that uses spreadsheets, for example, would potentially find this rather interesting.
If your Nokia Communicator's editing Office docs like Google's Docs, then tell me now so I can buy o
Uh ho (Score:2, Funny)
"Hi! I'm Crappy, your personal handset buddy. I noticed you pressed a number on your phone keypad. It looks like you're trying to make a call. Would you like me to continue to interfere with this even though you almost certainly know what you want to do?".
The usual Gartner nonsense (Score:3, Insightful)
What an idiotic statement. MS doesn't give up markets that easily (unfortunately). They'll have a windows mobile OS if they have to start building their own phones to sell it.
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It wouldn't surprise me if he's right about this. I have a lot of friends who work for Microsoft in various divisions and I can say without a doubt that the rank and file of Microsoft considers Windows Mobile to be an embarrassment. They've done a piss-poor job with the platform for years now and everyone knows it.
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I have a lot of friends who work for Microsoft in various divisions and I can say without a doubt that the rank and file of Microsoft considers Windows Mobile to be an embarrassment.
I don't doubt that this is true, but surely it's just as true of many other Microsoft products including most releases of Windows for the desktop. Releasing crappy products has never, AFAIK, kept Microsoft out of a market they really want to be in -- and I guarantee they want to be in this one, given that the smartphone market
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Problem is that nobody every got fired for buying Blackberry either.
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Nobody got fired for buying WordPerfect either.
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So, the question would be; what are they waiting for? Mobile OS's are springing up left and right and Microsoft has no market share. Obviously, they can't deliver.
Windows Mobile has fans, community (Score:2)
Thanks to iPhone, Windows Mobile now has fans too. You know, iPhone policies, app store made both Symbian and Windows Mobile some kind of "freedom OS".
I haven't heard anything bad about Windows Mobile for a long time and it is a first in Windows operating systems. No security scandal happened too.
Don't tell me that "analyst" at Garner doesn't have a clue about Silverlight coming to Nokia phones. It was announced year or more ago. Not Moonlight, the Silverlight.
With Office announcement and the fact that Silv
No big deal (Score:3, Insightful)
And Nokia may even release WinMO model (Score:2)
One of the issues with Nokia's customers is: They demand official, Microsoft solution if they are Windows based.
I remember reading on The Register that Nokia stated they MAY release a Windows Mobile smart phone and it should have no effect on their future with Symbian. The main reason was that.
Customer runs exchange server, ms office, win 2k03 server and goes to buy Asus Windows Mobile (like thousands of them) while Nokia is superior and could even run/sync better. Why? Because Asus has Windows Mobile OS.
Sa
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You mean with Nokia still outselling iPhones thrice, and being an old and very experienced company? No offense, but apart from the hype, the iPhone is a fart in global long-term economics. All other companies already brought out their competing products, with all that what the iPhone lacks (tons of features, no lock-in, Java, etc), while overtaking it in its own strong spots.
user interface ? (Score:4, Insightful)
Uh? Who in their right mind would even want to use office on a mobile phone? The UI is bad as it is on a full-size PC.
Seriously, a lot of these "tools" are just crap for middle management that for some reason feels empowered when they can do the secretaries job, just worse.
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Uh? Who in their right mind would even want to use office on a mobile phone? The UI is bad as it is on a full-size PC.
"Here is your travel itinerary in Microsoft Word format."
"Here is the almost-final proposal; could you please have a look and mark (with a "*") any items that we need to discuss?"
"Let me give you a 1-minute run through our presentation; I have the slides on my phone."
Re:user interface ? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Here is your travel itinerary in Microsoft Word format."
Can you just give it to me as plaintext instead?
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Unfortunately, this message reached you via e-mail (thanks to your fancy schmancy smartphone) and the person who sent it is out of the office.
The truth is that there's a large number of phones with office on them already...
Re:user interface ? (Score:5, Informative)
Can you just give it to me as plaintext instead?
Nope. I send all important email messages as blank body with a Word attachment! If I can't be bothered to copy and paste do you think I'm going covert something to plaintext just for you? I don't even know how to do that and don't have time to learn. Much too busy. Much much too busy.
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Well, fuck off then. Get back to me when you want to communicate with me again. (OK, maybe not in the real world, but we all want to say that!)
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I live and travel in different time zones.
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Been there, done that. I've owned one of the first Palms and I own an iPhone now. I've had notebooks since before they were cool.
Yes, 10 years ago I sometimes ssh'ed into our servers from a Palm III using IR connection to a mobile phone and dialin from that. It worked, it was geeky - and things that take me seconds on a desktop took me minutes on that setup.
If you have to do work while you're on travel, take a notebook. People who really have actual work to do use notebooks. People who just want the feeling
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Ssh to servers is not the usual use case (although it works in a pinch), but E-mail, web browsing, file downloading, Word/Excel/Powerpoint access, text messaging, mapping, and IM are. Modern phones are faster than powerful desktop machines from a few years ago, and you can hook up reasonable keyboards to them.
E-Mail and web - I much prefer the desktop, though it's useable (barely) on a phone.
Word/etc. - been there, done that, hated it. As I said, I'm reasonably sure that I can do in seconds on a desktop what takes you minutes on a phone.
Messaging/IM - same thing, though not quite as bad. Yes, a phone is great for a quick on-the-run message. For anything resembling a conversation, I prefer an actual keyboard. And once you hook up a keyboard to your phone, why not use a netbook?
(Of course, as an iPhone user, you have already outed yourself as a lover of gimmicks; if you actually want to get work done, get a Symbian phone.)
My other phone is one, thank you ver
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I would love to. What I want is full Powerpoint (or even a greatly improved Powerpoint viewer) on a mobile phone, complete with the ability to play back movies (and install codecs of course) and multiple animations and transitions and to output it to 1024x768 projector via VGA connector. Right now I have to carry a laptop to conferences if I am giving a talk there. With NVidia's Ion platform, netbooks are getting to the point of being usable for my needs. But I would love to just bring a cell phone. A bit m
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So what you need is a document viewer, not an office app.
Wow, big deal. Last I checked (i.e. yesterday), the iPhone had that ability built-in, and from what I've heard, about every other smartphone does as well.
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Symbian has had this capability for many years via a 3rd party app that you can install (QuickOffice) - I expect you could buy it from one of the several app stores that sold apps for Symbian...all years before iPhone was released, let alone Apple's app store, and probably before Apple started development of the iPhone.
doesn't the iphone do this already? (Score:2)
They're fightin RIM (Score:3, Informative)
put a server on a cellphone, too (Score:2)
ridiculous. the only thing that's good for is to carry a document into a meeting with. last I heard, any laptop or tablet with a wi-fi card will do the job, and plug into the projector or printer, too.
Um... ok, but my Nokia already has office apps. (Score:2)
Has for years in fact, even reads & writes the Microsoft Office (tm)(r)(c) documents.
Not sure what gap this is supposed to fill.
That's odd (Score:2)
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From your link :
Update: As Reggie has pointed out in the comments, Peter Schneider, Nokia's Maemo marketing guru, has put the brakes on this rumor via Twitter. "No, Nokia is not replacing Symbian with Maemo. Symbian and Maemo will continue to coexist." So much for intrigue, and romance.
Symbian has a release roadmap all the way to 2011 [symbian.org]. It's also open source now, so it will be updated for as long as there's a community interested in keeping it alive.
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Oh, you just gotta love it!
If Nokia gets this on Symbian, then Microsoft is hosed, as the mix just can't be good.
If Nokia gets this on Maemo, then we have Microsoft Office on Linux.
Interesting times :)
Seriously?... (Score:5, Insightful)
If you want/need to type a Word doc or Excel spreadsheet on your damn phone then put down the phone, quit the ridiculous job that is consuming your life, and go enjoy life. A tiny screen and keyboard is no way to go through life, son.
I guess I am throwing in the towel on my geek cred here, but seriously as many IT jobs as I've had and this has never been a need (or want).
Re:Seriously?... (Score:4, Insightful)
I guess you've never seen the tv out feature that normally comes with nokia phones.
Don't forget keyboard (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, you forgot to tell that any bluetooth keyboard (Apple preferred for fun) can be "plugged" to Nokia smart phones to use as input, adding more to shock.
Oh (for iPhone users), no hack needed. Nokia advertises the driver/app themselves and gives free.
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Wow, you're actually defending this by trying to say hooking up your cell phone to a TV is a viable solution? So if you are near a TV, and have the requisite cables... you can then output your Office files and still have a tiny keyboard. Brilliant! Or not.
What could be so pressing that you have no laptop, or access to a computer, yet you have a cell phone, proprietary AV cables, and a TV. This is some alternate reality isn't it?
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> What could be so pressing that you have no laptop, or access to a computer, yet you have a cell phone, proprietary AV cables, and a TV. This is some alternate reality isn't it?
Are you seriously suggesting you've never been :
1) without your laptop, and
2) without access to a computer, and
3) had your cell phone, and
4) near a TV?
The only issue is if you happen to have a cable, and that doesn't really require much forethought. I could easily imagine such a situation...cable in the glove compartment in the c
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I wonder if this would work for you :
http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/accessories/all-accessories/headsets/bluetooth-headsets/nokia-bluetooth-stereo-headset-bh-214 [nokia.com]
I've been impressed by the quality when using it to connect my Senn HD-25 headphones and my E90 (which has a stupid 2.5mm socket).
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My suggestion was based on the idea that you would have a small cable connecting this device to your stereo and you can then use your phone as if it were a remote control, except in this case it is the actual source too. It at least avoids you needing to drape a cable across the room, no?
The point of it in my case is that my phone doesn't have a 3.5mm jack (it has a stupid 2.5mm one), and with this device I can leave the phone in my bag or whatever and just have a short headphone cable attached to the small
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yes, the charging issue might be a blocker - I doubt it like to be constantly plugged in and charging, but I'm not sure.
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As opposed to bringing a laptop, you suggest bringing a TV set and a generator to use with your phone? Impressive. :)
May I interest you in this handy and accurate wristwatch [leapsecond.com] as well?
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I'll never understand your kind of people: "I do not therefore nobody should".
Bloody hell, I occasionally browse slashdot - it has two side panels which takes huge amount of space so I have to scroll and zoom. Then I have to navigate to reply button and write text to it, in a small screen.
Apparently, according to your ideas, I should quit my free time too?
Well, I think the way you think about games, especially portable games: "get a life!" (or do I, was I just pulling your leg?).
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Why would this be for IT purposes? I use it for note taking in uni lectures and creative writing on long trips where my laptop battery isn't going to last... works perfectly fine, albeit with a full size bluetooth keyboard.
What do you mean? (Score:3, Insightful)
This sounds like they had done something innovative in the past. If you really believe that, than please enlighten me of what that might have been. I'm dying to know.
Copying from others, repackaging it in a user friendly manner and subversively bringing OEM's to install it on all new machines does not count. I mean something technical in their core business.
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"Coming out"? Symbian is already on top, shipping on more than 50% of smartphones, and has been for a long time.
If anything they bet it won't tank (which in itself is weird of course...)