Series 40 v5 was announced on May 7, 2008. Its key feature is full support for MIDP 2.1 and JSR-248. There seems to be little difference as compared to the 3rd edition of the platform, but from the point of developers it’s a great achievement. JSR-248 development was finished on December 21st, 2006 through the instrumentality of Vodafone mobile operator to support a common set of Java standards in all products by other manufacturers. JSR-248 is also one of the key components of the S60 firmware platform which is sure to secure a high compatibility for Java applications developed both for S40 and S60 platforms. The MIDP update from 2.0 to 2.1 also introduces support for media keys in Java applets (for example, Nokia 5300 can’t use its media keys to control Java applets while with newer handsets this limitation won’t be present).

The MIDP 2.1 update supports the use of media buttons in Java applications. Formally, compared to the devices based off the previous platform revision, such things were added as Java APIs for Bluetooth (JSR-82) v1.1; Mobile Media API (JSR-135) – granting the Java applications access to a variety of multimedia functions; SATSA-CRYPTO package support for Security and Trust Services API (JSR-177); 3D sound support for Java applications (JSR-234); Adobe Flash Lite Player 2.1 update.

The changes are rather significant; the most fundamental one is the global application compatibility never seen before, especially the compatibility between two different platforms. Other major upgrades include support for extra button in 3rd party applications and better multimedia controls system. It’s quite natural to expect that further editions of the firmware will involve even more advanced features, but there’s little hope for any global innovations – the firmware’s good reputation and a user interface approved by time need little to be changed, only a few additional features may appear.

Standby mode

The active standby mode as seen in Series 40 3rd Edition phones, looks like a row of ‘iconized’ shortcuts bringing up five custom applications visible on the display simultaneously (the number of shortcuts is also configurable and scrollable as well), the user himself picks the applications out of a long list.

Also there’s an option for shortcutting to a custom application instead of an embedded function. Another option is to display app info taken from up to three user-set applications simultaneously. By default those are the mp3 player, the radio tuner and the calendar. The calendar displays all of today’s upcoming events. It can be navigated through with no need to quit the standby mode with the help of the navigation button (left-right). A notice remains a simple text message popping up on the screen in the standby mode. Applications that can submit info on the screen during the standby mode include the timer, general indicator and the ‘my location’ embedded function. The order in which text lines appear can also be manually configured, the number of lines can be reduced. All in all, the 8600 allows the user to customize more than he could imagine - from a totally empty screen to a lot of diagrams and indicators in the standby mode. The Active menu is traditionally present and the font color is still customizable. The latter function proves useful when it comes to setting a custom wallpaper.

The order in which the lines appear can be customized, the number of lines can be manually decreased. In other words, almost anything is configurable – you can either have a totally empty desktop or a screen packed with all sorts of status indicators in the standby mode, or anything from the range between the two extremities. Besides the active standby mode, a dedicated Active menu is offered, containing user shortcuts to the frequently used applications.

Main menu

Similar to the rest of the new phone models by Nokia, the main menu has four display modes: list, icons, icons with text, tabs. While list and icons are found with most phones, the latter two options are a novelty. The submenu looks like lists with smaller icons, clear and simple. The font size is only customizable in three applications: Messaging, Contacts and Web. Voice dialing doesn’t require voice sample recording, the menu supports numeric keys shortcutting.

Finally it’s worth mentioning that all of the menu items can be arranged in any custom order you like (however submenu items don’t offer such a function). Almost any of the phone’s functions can be added to the menu or to the desktop in the standby mode, every application can be accessed through a few clicks. Navigation button functionality is fully compatible with the standby mode (up to three button position is configurable in this case, the fourth is reserved for navigation during active standby).
An interface theme includes not only a unique wallpaper and menu background, but also a different way of displaying the menu items, a unique screensaver and so on.

Call service

A simple check revealed that the total record capacity of the phonebook equals to 1000 of simultaneously stored records each hosting five phone number slots and an extended address line. The memory is not dynamic, the same limit of 1000 records persists even if some of the records only store 1 or 2 phone numbers. However such a loose limit would hardly be of any problem to the vast majority of users. Every contact stores up to five phone numbers of different types (common, mobile, home, video, work, fax), address (street, city, region, ZIP code, country), a PTT address, a e-mail address, a presence indicator, a short notice and a video clip. It was very nice of Nokia to include an option to bind a custom ringtone to every contact - not a custom ringtone per group only.

There are three alternate ways of viewing the phone book - name list, name + number, name + picture. The call picture size is large enough, occupying the most of the screen. Also the videoID function is present - if a video clip is set to a specific contact, it will be played in a loop when this person calls you. If both a picture and a clip are set for a contact, the priority goes to the video, also replacing the ringtone with its corresponding sound.

The user can create their own contact groups (up to 25), there aren’t any preset groups. A same contact may belong to several groups at the same time. If a custom melody is set for a contact residing a in a group with another custom ringtone selected for it, the phone will play the contact-specific ringtone and not the group-specific one, which stands to reason. The groups are displayed on the same list as the contacts and come with a special icon, which also seems quite logical. A quick dial feature is available keys from 2 to 9 acting as hotkeys.

The call log displays all the recently called numbers, both received and missed, every call is indicated by a type-specific icon. This approach seems to be very handy, every time you press the call button you see all the calls sorted by type thanks for the icons or just the contact names if a number has a name associated with it in the phonebook. Any number from the call log can be immediately saved into the phonebook right from this menu. Also you can instantly start an SMS just by selecting a desired contact from the call log, or view the call stats like date, time, length, etc.

Messaging

The messaging service includes SMS, MMS and e-mail capabilities as well as voice messages and quick messages. The SMS messaging is quite traditional like with the absolute majority of cell phones, but the one minor yet nice addition is the quick icon panel for quick access to multimedia content. The messages support embedding contact names and numbers, adding emoticons, on-the-fly message type conversion (from SMS to MMS vice versa), the service is easy to use considering that you don't have to call context menus - the quick icon bar does its job perfectly. The list of hot functions includes everything necessary: text templates, insert media (audio / video / picture) and so on. If you attach some multimedia content to an SMS messages, it's automatically converted into an MMS message.

The messaging system supports a phonebook of its own so you don't have to deal with the regular contact book if you want to send messages. If you send somebody a message, their contact will stay on the recently sent/received messages log so you can easily look it up again if you want to send another message to that person. The same log also contains info from the recently called contacts log, so you can quickly send a message to somebody you just had a phone talk with. A contact can be made a Fav, so it becomes the default phone number for sending messages.

The MMS service is quite standard, there are some changes in how the interface looks as compared to previouos models, but on the whole it's still the same. The maximum MMS length is 300 Kb, there's support for automatic image compression should the attachment size exceed this very 300 Kb limit. In the settings the user can define the default MMS image attachment size, by default that's set to 640x480, as well as the standard size for the MMS Plus image attachments. The display time is also customizable for any image content, the default value being eight seconds. Voice Messages are a branch of MMS service, once you start recording one the voice recorder pops up immediately so you just press the record button and say what you like. When you press the record button again the record stops and the phone automatically composes an MMS message with this record attached to it. The last thing needed is just to select the person you want to be the recipient of the message.

The embedded e-mail client supports the following protocols: POP3/IMAP4/SMTP/APOP. Attachments are supported, the content is easily recognizable by the phone itself. Image attachments can either be automatically resized to 1280x960, 640x480, 320x240, 120x160 or left without change.

The text copy/paste capability first appeared on the Feature Pack 1 phones like N6131, N6233. In Nokia 7500 this function is accessed through a context menu because it has no dedicated button for text editing (unlike the S60 smartphones). However the very presence of such a function is a big advantage.

Message settings include Common Settings, SMS Settings, MMS settings and E-mail settings. The message font has a customizable size (tiny, small, normal and big), graphic symbols are supported, sent messages can be stored in the sent message box. The messaging service of 7500 stands up to the latest standards and isn't any worse in comparison to most modern phones.

PIM

The PIM comprises a number of applications including Calendar, Events, Notes, Timer and Stopwatch. The calendar supports different layouts, it can display the schedule By Month or By Week, the latter type shows every day's hour schedule. Five type of events can be associated with different dates: Meeting, Call, Birthday, Note, Reminder. Recurring events can be flexibly tuned in the options, expired events can be deleted automatically with an optional delay from a day to a month.

The schedule book allows for traditional arranging of tasks with customizable priority levels and user-defined time limits for task completion. Notices are an even simple matter, a notice is a custom text up to 3000 symbols. The alarm clock can be set either for a single go or tuned to play the signal on specified weekdays at exact hours defined by the user. A custom ringtone can be chosen as the alarm signal, another option lets the user activate the radio instead (headset must be plugged in order to use this one). The stopwatch, timer, a world timetable are quite traditional with nothing special about them. The currency converter supports up to seven currency types and is easy to operate.

The Calculator has been vastly improved, it now sports a well-designed interface and expanded math capability with a lot of math functions supported. The Loan Calculator will be of use to anyone willing to do a quick count of their monthly payouts and things alike.

Gallery

The gallery management functions are very similar to those of the rest S40 phones it’s no more than a file manager allowing for browsing and viewing the contents of user memory. Three options for folder content viewing are available to the user, so you can customize it to you liking. The pictures can be viewed in a slide show listing all of the pictures found in a particular folder, which proves useful when it comes to making a small presentation involving a lot of pictures. The pictures and videos can be viewed in full-screen mode with screen rotated at 90 degrees? The following video formats are supported: H.263, H.264, MPEG-4 and 3GPP. A memory state check option is available, showing the overall size of each content category - from pictures in the gallery to application data. The Series 40 gallery displays a moderate functionality, especially as compared to their S60 smart cousins or analogous devices by the competitive brands.

A simple graphics editor is available, offering the most basic functions:

Multimedia features

The music player interface was changed from what we had with Series 40 v3 FP2. The player skin has become customizable, introducing a similarity between S40 and S60. As compared to the interface seen in FP2v3 solutions (which is identical or all such devices regardless of positioning), you stumble upon a thought that such a personalization feature will be universally liked among all audiences. This kind of customizability is currently exclusively found in Nokia phones only. The appearance of the player is very changeable, from the color scheme to the arrangement of elements.

An album cover or a custom image can be used as a big logo displayed during playtime, that’s rather amusing and is a good substitute for the visualization option found in S60 v3 FP1 smartphones. The equalizer has five bands and two customizable presets available. An enhanced stereo mode is available, which can be accessed via the Multimedia menu. This seems to be a bit useless however, since actually it doesn’t get the sound quality better enough to feel the difference.

A few playlist options are available: sort by performer, genre, also reshuffle and separate playback. Player controls stay unchanged like in earlier models, the navigation button is used for sorting and browsing the content. The player submits some info to the screen while in standby mode and can be used in background with a Java applet launched at the same time.

Video playback is possible as well in the MP3 player, looks like that the video player with a same interface is activated automatically once you try to play a video clip while in the MP3 player mode. Full screen viewing is supported.

Video playback is possible as well in the MP3 player, looks like that the video player with a same interface is activated automatically once you try to play a video clip while in the MP3 player mode. Full screen viewing is supported.

The FM tuner uses the headset as an aerial. The tuner interface is the same with that of the MP3 and Video player. The options include autosearch, favorites list that stores saved frequencies, Visual Radio support is present. Polyphonic playback is supported. The aerial sensibility is high as well as the sound quality.

Nokia Maps

The Nokia Maps application is found on several models based off the fifth revision of the platform like 6300i, 6600 fold, 6600 slide. The application looks almost identical to the first version of the S60 version of the application, yet the options come in a smaller number. No one is after a full parity between S40 and S60 in this aspect, though. S60 devices are originally meant and designed to offer a higher functionality and more software options.

The interface enjoys some really good graphics. Search can be done with extra criteria like tagged locations and points of interest. A variety of options including voice hints are available while composing up your routes. All in all, the S40 version of Nokia Maps goes on par with Sony Ericsson’s Wayfinder Navigator, but only makes sense as long as there’s an onboard GPS receiver available. By the end of this year, we will see some S450 models with onboard GPS. Until then, you can hardly make a good use of the Maps. People looking for good GPS capabilities will inevitably prefer picking a smartphone, and the rest is more likely to stick with Google Maps which is absolutely free and can be installed on almost any kind of phone. So you can take the current appearances of Nokia Maps on S40 devices for a kind of demonstration of power, a promotion of features which will only reach a full blossom in the later models.

Conclusion

As a conclusion, we’d like to say that Series 40 5th has long kept the title of the leading platform on the whole telecom market, also the most widespread solution. The Sony Ericsson A200 platform offers a better interface design and a few extra possibilities in some of the aspects of functionality, as well as Java multitasking, yet has less developed customization possibilities. The sixth revision of the platform got extremely close to A200 as far as the graphics goodies go, yet no multitasking support was introduced. It’s a general rule that each platform comes with its own ups and downs and none is perfect.

Author: Solovyov Ilya

SMAPE.com

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