-->

Where are my applications?

Over on All About Symbian I’ve been grappling with the issue of why some phones from Nokia don’t come with the same applications as other phones from Nokia – and I’m looking at you, Mr Podcasting Application

If your smartphone is all about personalisation, why is it that we are left with the manufacturer’s default choice of applications in the firmware? Years ago you checked the memory size and radio frequencies, now it’s interrogating the firmware load-out. It’s a given that no matter what Symbian OS product comes out, there are caveats in the review as to why application (a) was left out while application (b) made the cut. With the example omission of Podcasting from Nokia’s recent E-Series smartphones,

Yes there are (arguably) operational reasons for these omissions. Each design team for each model is going to make their own call on what their user group will want, what they’ll be using the machine for, and they will also have a budget (of time and money). Put all that in balance, and choosing which 50 or so applications ship on a device isn’t always a clear-cut decision.

But it shouldn’t need to be this way. There is a lot of effort put into the customisation options on a device, from your wallpaper and ringtones to the application icons and screen fades and wipes. So why not have the same ability for your second line applications?

Here’s my suggestion. When you first switch your phone on, there already are some set-up things that have to be done. The date and time are obvious ones, as is setting up email. So why not have a (likely widget-driven) application that lists all those optional components, such as Podcasting, Nokia Messaging, Ovi Chat, and so on. You could even use it to promote the Ovi Store and certain third party applications – all with the requisite disclaimer. And behind it you have ‘generic’ versions of these not quite core applications which you know will happily run on all the devices out there.

The full article and more discussion at All About Symbian.

November 17, 2009; Links to my Articles, Podcasting, Symbian;

Possibly Related posts:

If this is your first time here, why not consider subscribing to my RSS feed?

Comments

Leave a Reply