@Gizmodo, @Adrian, you've let yourselves down. you've let your readers down. how can you avoid an OS that currently HOLDS 47.2% of the _smartphone_ OS market. to say that its not a smartphone OS is asinine. to say that because its presence in the US is lacking that it doesnt deserve a spot. WTF is the G1, the ONLY ANDROID PHONE out, has a greater presence than Symbian in the USA. SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! Lame ass cover up excuse you didnt even take the time to re-read to see if it was believable. WebOS has only been ANNOUNCED!!! Windows 6.5 only exists on XDA!! and iPhone 3.0 came out 2 days ago. how the hell do you explain that discrepancy ... with your og post and subsequent excuse for not including symbian.
DO NOT ASSUME YOUR READERSHIP IS STUPID ... cuz that shit you spewed thinking that itd assuage your audience was faulty at best. to then continue and say that its not a smartphone OS, who determines that, apple? did smart phones exist before the iPhone?
i am not sure why it was REALLY left off, the ONE os you so arbitrarily left off has the most going for it with the categories that were chosen for this article.
im not the first to mention this or the last but shit guys, dont be ignorant it taints all the other posts you have on the site. no one likes to be affiliated with ignorant ass shit such as leaving the most globally dominant smartphone OS off the chart.
haha all but one category is a YES (omniaHD is capacitive as well as the memoir) and you all left it out.
i wonder what other snake oil agenda you all have going on up there.
WinMo has a better browser then some of the other webkit ones around. SkyFire uses a sort of capture-send system where you visit a site, and Skyfire servers actually pull in the site and send you it EXACTLY as it appears on a computer, plays flash, at full speed and works 10x better then even the iphones excellent browser (i have itouch and i wont pretend its not amazing, because it is)
There is a slight problem with your breakdown in the WM6.5 column, specifically, the WebKit Browser item. There exists a WebKit browser for WM ... Torch Mobile's Iris Browser.
@MackenzieAriadne: Until it ships baked into Windows Mobile, it doesn't count in that particular category, which compares native browsers, not all available software.
I don't get why a Webkit browser belongs on this comparison chart... with alternatives like Opera Mobile (w/ flash support) and Fennec (I know only beta as of now) it doesn't make sense to make Webkit seem like the only satisfactory option. Just saying.
@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: Just a couple of problems there. As others have noted, S60 does support video recording, but it's dependent on the phone. Capacitive screen support is again dependent on the phone. There are none out yet, but if we're discussing the Palm Pre, then we can include the S60v5 Omnia HD. I haven't heard whether or not it will have multi-touch, though. And Symbian's being open sourced, so while the NO there is correct, another line with asterisks might be justified. I understand WebOS is Linux-based as well, so that one is also partly OSS and Gizmodo missed it.
I also love my E71, and the N73 I bought before it. Nokia and S60 are like the Toyota of smartphones. They generally don't inspire excitement, but they're well built, perform well, are feature packed, and are dead reliable.
@despisethesun: "Nokia and S60 are like the Toyota of smartphones. They generally don't inspire excitement, but they're well built, perform well, are feature packed, and are dead reliable."
Yes. They may not be pretty but I typically choose function over form anyway..
"Note: We have updated certain notes in the chart to reflect the lively discussion going on in comments, and we want that to continue. That said, we plan to leave Symbian both out of this discussion and any future discussions of the hottest smartphones of the day because it has little or no presence in the US, where we are based, despite its popularity in other countries. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause you."
No offense to anyone but this doesn't makes any sense... isn't the article about smartphones? whether they are popular or not in the us should not be a reason to ignore the world's leading smartphone platform, by that logic, the pre should not even be there since it hasn't lauched, therefore, it has NO presence in the us or another part of the world...
@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: Well, they clearly have bias, that much is certain. Giz has always leaned heavily toward Apple, but the Pre has most of them jizzing in their pants. However, justa bout anything else gets pretty well slammed. Unfortunately Symbian seems to be entirely off a lot of people's radar, and Adrian obviously is just flat out ignoring it based on false assumptions and skewed reasoning.
I have to concur with acheronsgrief. Given that Adrian is dismissing Symbian, then the Pre also should be similarly dismissed. Mixing and matching bullet points based on platforms that are either unavailable, or OS updates that aren't out yet, and leaving out Symbian is strange indeed. Even if one doesn't like it, it would make sense to cover it, since it clearly exists and some of the other things on the list don't.
On the other hand, when you write for a blog, you have the luxury of reporting the news you like without having to deal with silly little things like facts or balanced coverage. It's a perk.
I think that considering Mr. Jrsy Devil said "No love for Symbian?", which is quite polite and certainly not trolling, that from a blogger (which means you are held to a higher standard when replying to nice comments "that shit is like smartphone lite for the time being" is a pretty harsh/uncalled for and a simply unnecessary reply.....
Just sayin'.
I know bloggers slip up here are there, but in this case I would say you should at least point to shy you find symbian to be shit....
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: It just underscored the fact that, as bloggers, they aren't intrinsically higher up any metaphoric ladder than we, the commenters.
It was a rude thing to say, and a rude way to say it. It's the sort of statement that would get other commenters disemvoweled. I stand by my earlier statement that it's just clear bias (bordering on fanboyism) and hardly different from some of the trolls that get verbally kicked in their e-peens.
I might get de-starred, disemvoweled or harshed on for this reply, but considering Adrian is a "reporter" that was inappopriate behavior to a respected star-commenter.
@BeautifulAgony: hahaha exactly! what bugs me the most is the fact that this is not just some random dude's blog, but a well renowned tech site, and is not run by one guy, but a whole staff and owned by gawker media.
So when they do this, they enter the same bandwagon of credibility that -iAirsmanshik/TechFanErik/LinuxChiefHardwareEngineer- had.
And i say "they" because the "disclaimer" clearly states the plurality (WE plan to leave Symbian both out of this discussion and any future discussions) meaning this was discussed between staff members.
@acheronsgrief: I find the hypocritical behavior somewhat annoying, but what can you do? Although, I have to remind myself, as I have said countless times before: It's just a blog. They write what they like, they act how they want to act.
I think Adrian owes Jrsy Devil's Food Cake® an apology though, if not for troll-ish behavior, then simply because it was a rude way for a staff member to respond to a legitimate post (as Lindsay Joy very smartly pointed out).
I think the main problem here is because Nokia, the main Symbian-powered devices manufacturer doesn't give a shit about Gizmodo. I mean, they don't send them swag, loaner/review devices, they don't advertise with them, etc. like Apple, Sony or other companies. In the editorial world it's a common practice to shit over those manufacturers and brands that doesn't align to your side. And invest in your publication.
About Adrian's reply... well, it only shows us that Gizmodo is too busy being the famous boy of the blogsphere to remember where they did came from...
@Seph Blaze: if you knew anything about Nokia, you'd know that is not hard to get trial devices form WOMWorld, even small-fry bloggers can easily get review samples so i think that is a poor (ass-hat) reason.
Also, i don't think because even if they dont advertise here (which i'm not sure it's the case since i think i saw some e71 ads here a while ago, but i'm not sure) they should include symbian either way.
That' like saying that if Dell or HP don't have ads here, Windows products will be ignored.
EVEN if that was the case, i'm think that Samsung and/or LG (the two other symbian devices largest manufacturers) have a good relationships with giz.
remember, the ass-hat statements are double edged weapons...
One thing is that Nokia doesn't give a shit about Gizmodo, and another is they being accesible or not. I'm not attacking Nokia here.
I know about Nokia because I'm a Forum Nokia member and also a S60 Ambassador. Personally, I have never ever had any problems receiving loaner/review/discounted devices, support and assistance from them.
But I also know how PR depts. (I worked in the PR mafia) run their business and I have seen how many companies just discriminate between news outlets. A good example is how Apple PR treats some news outlets (be bloggers, big boys, or good ol' printed media) in their events. They tend to make differences.
And about Samsung, LG (and some time ago Sony-Ericsson) they barely produce Symbian-based phones, many of them not intended for sale in the Americas. Again, the largest manufacturer of Symbian-based devices is Nokia. And remember that Nokia has a big stake on Symbian right now.
Dell and HP may not have constant ads here, however, they tend to cooperate pretty well with Gizmodo. Also Microsoft. That's why Windows gets covered.
But let's say you're right (and maybe you're). They don't have any problems with Nokia. Why they're leaving Symbian outside? The "it's not popular in the US" it's not valid, since other sites like Engadget acknowledge the opposite. Does bias and personal preference can really make an established and popular site like Gizmodo (which in many aspects is not just a simple blog anymore) shoot themselves in the foot leaving important info and facts outside a feature? From fellow commenter to fellow commenter, I would really like to know your opinion here.
BTW,I'm not defending Gizmodo. As I said, sometimes think Gizmodo is right now on stardom heaven and forgotting where they come from...
Gosh, what did I start! And on top of it the bottom of my comment came out all screwy. Anyways, it looks like they added a note in response to this thread but I must say that a blogger making a comment that Giz would not like it own commeters to make calls for some sort of response from Mr. Covert to not condone such comments in the future. If that comment was from a facebooker he'd be flamed to bits by now!
@BeautifulAgony: I read all of what you said and it was all well written. I was being really really tactful but you spelled things out. If they take away your star for that it would really be horrifying.
@Acheron's Grief: That note was not there originally, I think it was in response to this comment thread...correct me if im wrong.
@Seph Blaze: haha first i apologize if i sounded a bit harsh, but honestly man, there are no excuses for ignoring symbian in the chart.
my guess is, in first instance, bias or ignorance (on the symbian features that is, not calling ignorant to anyone), on second stance(after the "disclaimer"), is failure to acknowledge the chart is incomplete and or stubborness.
Honestly i can keep guessing all day, but in the end is up to them. I asked Mr. Covert to explain why does he thinks symbian is a "Smartphone lite shit" even though it would have had "yes" al over the chart(check jrsy's chart), as you see, the question remains in the air.
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: yes, that was an update, due to this thead and other comments, not only symbian related ones but winmo, android, bb and pre.
And I TOTALLY share your feeling about the lack of Symbian around here... that OS has walked a long way since its Psion origins. It's just a matter of having a look at Handango's Symbian store (S60 and the now deceased UIQ) to see its popularity. Too bad Giz is a little blind for it... whatever the reasons are for it...
Anyways, I think Jrsy's chart actually complemented this post (in an unofficial way though) as well as this commenting thread, so...
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: You didn't start any trouble and I did appreciate yours, BeautifulAgony's and Acheron's Grief's supportive comments (as well as everyone else's!). If I had made a comment like that I'm fairly certain, star commenter or not, I would have been banned. I would have appreciated (or at the very least, respected) a more tactful, professional reply then one which was so casually dismissive..
@BratPAQ: Very nice article. I might have to give Engadget another try. Articles like that might just pull me back over there (assuming the general atmosphere is congenial and not clogged with idiots who post rude, unhelpful comments).
@BeautifulAgony: You're going to be sorely disappointed. The place is basically flooded with iTrolls, with regular trolls making up much of the rest. That's a bit of an exaggeration, but on a discussion that reaches 50 comments, at least 10 will be from iTrolls, regardless of whether the article has anything to do with Apple or their direct competitors.
I find the coverage in general to be better, though, which is why I read both blogs. Just don't expect intelligent discourse in their comment section.
03/19/09
DO NOT ASSUME YOUR READERSHIP IS STUPID ... cuz that shit you spewed thinking that itd assuage your audience was faulty at best. to then continue and say that its not a smartphone OS, who determines that, apple? did smart phones exist before the iPhone?
i am not sure why it was REALLY left off, the ONE os you so arbitrarily left off has the most going for it with the categories that were chosen for this article.
im not the first to mention this or the last but shit guys, dont be ignorant it taints all the other posts you have on the site. no one likes to be affiliated with ignorant ass shit such as leaving the most globally dominant smartphone OS off the chart.
haha all but one category is a YES (omniaHD is capacitive as well as the memoir) and you all left it out.
i wonder what other snake oil agenda you all have going on up there.
03/19/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
Capacitive
[gizmodo.com]
Multi-touch
[www.symbian-freak.com]
Open Source
[www.techcrunch.com]
And yes it has video recording, gps navigation, multi-tasking, Flash in the browser, webkit, appstore announced
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/19/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
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03/18/09
1° - Symbian OS from Symbian Ltd. (47.1% Market Share Sales Q4 2008)
2° - RIM BlackBerry operating system (19.5% Market Share Sales Q4 2008)
3° - Windows Mobile from Microsoft (12.4% Market Share Sales Q4 2008)
4° - iPhone OS from Apple Inc. (10.7% Market Share Sales Q4 2008)
5°- Linux operating system (8.4% Market Share Sales Q4 2008)
6°- Palm webOS and Palm OS developed by PalmSource (now a subsidiary of ACCESS) (0.9% Market Share Sales Q4
2008)
Android from Google (Released 22 Oct 2008)
Android, which was developed by Google, has yet to own even a small part of the smartphone market because of its recent release date.
03/18/09
-Management
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
Where is SymbianOS? It should definately be on this list since it is the most popular worldwide.
03/18/09
03/18/09
What about battery life, bluetooth enable-ness, wifi, networks supported, price, and firmware upgradeability (as in, is it tied to a carrier?)?
03/18/09
jackass.
03/18/09
Hamburger iPhone
Unlocked Yes No
Eatable Yes No
Put ketchup
on it without
it to break Yes No
See what i mean!
03/18/09
but does it copy+paste?
03/18/09
Has spelling autocorrect feature to change "eatable" to "edible"?
Hamburger NO
iPhone 3G YES
03/18/09
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03/18/09
03/18/09
03/18/09
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03/18/09
Phone Chart
03/18/09
Phone Chart
03/18/09
03/18/09
Yeah, oops. I missed that one.
03/18/09
Symbian IS the most common smartphone OS in the world and the third best alternative, so it should be included...
03/18/09
03/18/09
I also love my E71, and the N73 I bought before it. Nokia and S60 are like the Toyota of smartphones. They generally don't inspire excitement, but they're well built, perform well, are feature packed, and are dead reliable.
03/18/09
03/18/09
Yes. They may not be pretty but I typically choose function over form anyway..
03/18/09
03/18/09
No offense to anyone but this doesn't makes any sense... isn't the article about smartphones? whether they are popular or not in the us should not be a reason to ignore the world's leading smartphone platform, by that logic, the pre should not even be there since it hasn't lauched, therefore, it has NO presence in the us or another part of the world...
03/18/09
Is that backpedaling or Jacko's Moonwalk...
03/18/09
phones
03/18/09
phones
03/18/09
I have to concur with acheronsgrief. Given that Adrian is dismissing Symbian, then the Pre also should be similarly dismissed. Mixing and matching bullet points based on platforms that are either unavailable, or OS updates that aren't out yet, and leaving out Symbian is strange indeed. Even if one doesn't like it, it would make sense to cover it, since it clearly exists and some of the other things on the list don't.
On the other hand, when you write for a blog, you have the luxury of reporting the news you like without having to deal with silly little things like facts or balanced coverage. It's a perk.
03/18/09
I think that considering Mr. Jrsy Devil said "No love for Symbian?", which is quite polite and certainly not trolling, that from a blogger (which means you are held to a higher standard when replying to nice comments "that shit is like smartphone lite for the time being" is a pretty harsh/uncalled for and a simply unnecessary reply.....
Just sayin'.
I know bloggers slip up here are there, but in this case I would say you should at least point to shy you find symbian to be shit....
03/18/09
It was a rude thing to say, and a rude way to say it. It's the sort of statement that would get other commenters disemvoweled. I stand by my earlier statement that it's just clear bias (bordering on fanboyism) and hardly different from some of the trolls that get verbally kicked in their e-peens.
I might get de-starred, disemvoweled or harshed on for this reply, but considering Adrian is a "reporter" that was inappopriate behavior to a respected star-commenter.
03/18/09
So when they do this, they enter the same bandwagon of credibility that -iAirsmanshik/TechFanErik/LinuxChiefHardwareEngineer- had.
And i say "they" because the "disclaimer" clearly states the plurality (WE plan to leave Symbian both out of this discussion and any future discussions) meaning this was discussed between staff members.
as christian bale would gladly put it
"THIS IS FUCKING UNPROFESSIONAL!"
03/18/09
I think Adrian owes Jrsy Devil's Food Cake® an apology though, if not for troll-ish behavior, then simply because it was a rude way for a staff member to respond to a legitimate post (as Lindsay Joy very smartly pointed out).
03/19/09
I think the main problem here is because Nokia, the main Symbian-powered devices manufacturer doesn't give a shit about Gizmodo. I mean, they don't send them swag, loaner/review devices, they don't advertise with them, etc. like Apple, Sony or other companies. In the editorial world it's a common practice to shit over those manufacturers and brands that doesn't align to your side. And invest in your publication.
About Adrian's reply... well, it only shows us that Gizmodo is too busy being the famous boy of the blogsphere to remember where they did came from...
03/19/09
Also, i don't think because even if they dont advertise here (which i'm not sure it's the case since i think i saw some e71 ads here a while ago, but i'm not sure) they should include symbian either way.
That' like saying that if Dell or HP don't have ads here, Windows products will be ignored.
EVEN if that was the case, i'm think that Samsung and/or LG (the two other symbian devices largest manufacturers) have a good relationships with giz.
remember, the ass-hat statements are double edged weapons...
03/19/09
Hey, hey, hey! Cool down!
One thing is that Nokia doesn't give a shit about Gizmodo, and another is they being accesible or not. I'm not attacking Nokia here.
I know about Nokia because I'm a Forum Nokia member and also a S60 Ambassador. Personally, I have never ever had any problems receiving loaner/review/discounted devices, support and assistance from them.
But I also know how PR depts. (I worked in the PR mafia) run their business and I have seen how many companies just discriminate between news outlets. A good example is how Apple PR treats some news outlets (be bloggers, big boys, or good ol' printed media) in their events. They tend to make differences.
And about Samsung, LG (and some time ago Sony-Ericsson) they barely produce Symbian-based phones, many of them not intended for sale in the Americas. Again, the largest manufacturer of Symbian-based devices is Nokia. And remember that Nokia has a big stake on Symbian right now.
Dell and HP may not have constant ads here, however, they tend to cooperate pretty well with Gizmodo. Also Microsoft. That's why Windows gets covered.
But let's say you're right (and maybe you're). They don't have any problems with Nokia. Why they're leaving Symbian outside? The "it's not popular in the US" it's not valid, since other sites like Engadget acknowledge the opposite. Does bias and personal preference can really make an established and popular site like Gizmodo (which in many aspects is not just a simple blog anymore) shoot themselves in the foot leaving important info and facts outside a feature? From fellow commenter to fellow commenter, I would really like to know your opinion here.
BTW,I'm not defending Gizmodo. As I said, sometimes think Gizmodo is right now on stardom heaven and forgotting where they come from...
03/19/09
Gosh, what did I start! And on top of it the bottom of my comment came out all screwy. Anyways, it looks like they added a note in response to this thread but I must say that a blogger making a comment that Giz would not like it own commeters to make calls for some sort of response from Mr. Covert to not condone such comments in the future. If that comment was from a facebooker he'd be flamed to bits by now!
@BeautifulAgony: I read all of what you said and it was all well written. I was being really really tactful but you spelled things out. If they take away your star for that it would really be horrifying.
@Acheron's Grief: That note was not there originally, I think it was in response to this comment thread...correct me if im wrong.
Anyways
03/19/09
my guess is, in first instance, bias or ignorance (on the symbian features that is, not calling ignorant to anyone), on second stance(after the "disclaimer"), is failure to acknowledge the chart is incomplete and or stubborness.
Honestly i can keep guessing all day, but in the end is up to them. I asked Mr. Covert to explain why does he thinks symbian is a "Smartphone lite shit" even though it would have had "yes" al over the chart(check jrsy's chart), as you see, the question remains in the air.
@LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M: yes, that was an update, due to this thead and other comments, not only symbian related ones but winmo, android, bb and pre.
03/19/09
No problem at all :D
And I TOTALLY share your feeling about the lack of Symbian around here... that OS has walked a long way since its Psion origins. It's just a matter of having a look at Handango's Symbian store (S60 and the now deceased UIQ) to see its popularity. Too bad Giz is a little blind for it... whatever the reasons are for it...
Anyways, I think Jrsy's chart actually complemented this post (in an unofficial way though) as well as this commenting thread, so...
LONG LIVE TO THE COMMENTERS! :D
03/19/09
03/19/09
Thanks. Too bad I was in such a rush to post it the first time that I made a few mistakes along the way....
03/19/09
03/19/09
f**k this, here's a better comparison, any by better i mean unbiased. [www.engadget.com]
03/19/09
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03/20/09
I find the coverage in general to be better, though, which is why I read both blogs. Just don't expect intelligent discourse in their comment section.
03/20/09
I think it's contagious and migrating to here as well..