alistairphillips.com

I’m : a web and mobile developer based in the Australia.


Nokia 6120 Classic

The Nokia 6120 Classic mobile phone is a Symbian handset running on top of Symbian Series 60 (3rd edition feature pack 1). Unlike most Nokia devices the 6120 Classic actually has a speedy UI with it being quite responsive most of the time. Unfortunately it's still a Nokia and as such is full of the usual idiosyncrasies.

Nokia, like most other manufacturers, bend over backwards to network operators allowing them to customise the handset firmware to no end. Whilst I fully understand that the network operators have a cash investment in the phone this custom firmware creates inconsistencies in the product line.

As an example I have this handset on the Three UK network and Bryn one from MTN South Africa. We were trying to get IM working only to come across completely different menu structures and installed applications. Compare that to the Apple iPhone where the whole experience is exactly the same whether your're purchasing in Russia or America.

And on top of that you won't get the latest bug fixes until your network operator releases an approved image for your device with their customosations on it. Once you're a customer there really is no incentive for them to look after the "older" phones as there are newer, smaller, better phones out there to push at customers.

I'm not sure if this is possible but could the network customisations not be included in a secondary mandatory update. For example firmware 5.02 is released and you get it installed onto your phone with the network providing their customisations to 5.02 to be applied afterwards. Or perhaps somehow included on the fly when the update is initially installed. But of course this still means the networks have to be actively involved in creating, testing and delivering these extra updates.