New N76 Firmware - What Is Nokia Thinking?
I had my N76 all packed up to go back to WomWorld after putting it through the ringer, when a new firmware is released, and I was given permission to hang on to it for a little while. I went ahead and updated the firmware this evening and found all sorts of fascinating menu re-organizations. For those wondering, according to AllAboutSymbian, A2DP has been added, though I’ve yet to test this particular feature. Edit: I also found FOTA settings. That’s right, folks, FOTA in the N76!!
My biggest reaction was to these new menu changes. We’ve all razzed Nokia for the default way that their S60 menus are setup. It fascinates me the odd-ball places that they put things. Plenty of times bloggers and regular consumers have asked for a simplification in the menu setup, but I think the N76’s new layout is the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen. Let’s take a quick exploration, and see if there’s any way to figure out the method behind THIS madness.
From the top, a look at the Active Standby defaults. First up is the contacts, obviously. Next is New Message, followed by Web. Normal stuff so far, huh? Next up is the Clock, then Profiles, and Bluetooth. Why on earth would you put these apps on the front screen? Or do these make more sense than the previous defaults (which I have no idea, I change them too fast)?
Next up is the new menu folders. First up is the new Music folder. It’s not the image of a folder like normal, but a music note with a CD. It’s kinda nice and houses the Music Player and Radio apps. The next new menu folder is Games. We’ve seen this on a few other devices, it’s a regular folder with the little green dice. It contains Snakes.
The Tools folder is typical, but has 2 extra folders, Connectivity (remember from the old S60 devices?) and Utilities. The first thing I noticed is that Bluetooth and Sync are NOT in the Connectivity folder (last time I checked, they’re methods of connecting to things). What’s in the Connectivity folder? USB, Conn. Manager, Wls Keyboard, GPS, Landmarks, and PTT. I’ll let them have that, as all those are "Connection" options.
What’s in Utilities? Speed Dial, Voice Comm, Call Mailbox, Device Manager (that’s where you get to FOTA, btw), Setting Wizard, Memory, Switch (aka Transfer), GoTo (wtf?), Welcome, Help, and About. Sounds like I can move a few things around and rename this my "Crap" folder.
Back out to the main menu, inside the Applications folder is where things get weird. We’ve got Clock, Calculator (don’t those belong under Office or Utilities?), App Manager, Camera, and two new folders. Media and Office are new, and forgive me if I’m wrong, but shouldn’t the Camera be in the Media folder? Obviously Nokia doesn’t think so. Media contains Recorder, Realplayer, Flash Player, IM, and Actv. Keys. (does anyone know what Actv. Keys really is, or why in the world it’s not in the Utilities folder? Office simply contains Adobe, Converter, and Notes.
So what’s this all about? They’ve finally got some folders that make sense to help organize things, but it seems like they’ve just sorta tossed things into random folders. I mean, I don’t suppose it makes sense to me, as I’m only going to rearrange things anyways, but I’m fascinated at the notion that they’ve really been pushing this as a mainstream S60 handset. I’ll be taking a look into different aspects of this phone in the next two weeks, and how they’ve started catering more to the mainstream customer with it.
What do you think? Do you find these menu layouts just as arbitrary as I do? Who decides what they’ll end up being, and how? Am I the only one who finds this fascinating?
I’ve pretty much come to accept that Nokia’s thought process when it comes to setting the default organization for S60 menus is never going to make sense to anyone. When I update my firmware, I set aside an extra hour or two just for reorganizing my menus.
Something I missed: where in the menu is the Bluetooth icon now?
Yeah, it’s just you!
Steve
i just received my Trial-N76 and the first thing that came in my mind was the new Firmware .. hmm ..
Will it be worth upgrading?!
could u post where i can download that theme? cheers
Well, everyone has their own logic, and I don’t think (based on what I can get from your story and the screenshots) I would call it madness.. just different, and perhaps not perfect but hey, that’s why we have those lovely “move” and “move to folder” options!
I agree with Viipottaja. I’d be happy if only they stick with one arrangement. That would be theirs, period.
If you couldn’t move the icons and organize it as you want it, that would be a bad bad thing, so this doesn’t bother me that much.
Do you guys really leave the menus at their default configuration? I’ve never had one S60 device that didn’t have a completely reorganized menu after the first twenty minutes with it, at most.
My N95 did just revert back to the old menu settings for some reason the other day. Don’t know what happened there, but down the drain went another ten minutes trying to get things back to normal- because, you’re right… the default menus make little to no sense!
Hi..I tries updating my phone firmware..means for the N76..but not able to get it..The NSU says, theres no update available..How to get it???
nokia n76 is the worst cell phone i have ever seen in my lyf this phone totally sucks
The ‘Activ Keys’ belongs in Media, as it is a shrunken version of DRM used by networks to ensure downloaded songs cannot be copied to other phones
Jul 9th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
[...] - In looking back, I noticed that the Nokia N76’s firmware update last August put things in roughly the same place. If I didn’t already have them setup how I want them, [...]