The difference between Symbian and Android is that Nokia only have a place on the Symbian Foundation board, and so get to *influence* Symbian's direction, just like the other members; while only Google get to influence Android's direction. Of course, you can take Android and make your own thing from it, but then you've just fragmented Android, which is not good for anyone in the long term (IMO).

Also, some people here seem to be confusing Symbian with Nokia. Nokia used to own Symbian (briefly), but don't any more.

Also, some here seem to be confusing Symbian with a user interface. I can understand that from people who use Microsoft Windows where the UI is integral with the OS, but that's not the case with Symbian - until the Symbian Foundation, there were several UIs that ran on top of Symbian OS.

No Nokia N900 planned? That's what I would buy...

I recommend watching some of the videos on the Maemo5 youtube channel : http://www.youtube.com/Maemo5UIteam

Of course, Apple's bluetooth keyboard has been working for years with any S60 phone...but that's Apple 'Thinking Different'[sic]....Apple always think they know what you want better than you do.

@Justin Bell: re links...no, I don't. I didn't claim that I knew of any...it was just my only explanation for how it could work...call it thinking out loud..."They'd have to have..."...or else..."it'd have to close the shutter, then open it again..". Someone later says that they actually do the latter...

@chrisk1590 :

That's an interesting point - how would that work? Even in regular (compact) cameras...they'd have to have two sensors - one to take the shot and one for the viewfinder. If they somehow use the same sensor for the viewfinder then what's the point in having a shutter? With just one sensor, it'd have to close the shutter, then open it again...

Perhaps they do have two sensors. Same applies to compact cameras too, I suppose. I see your point and I don't know how they work.

It's obvious how cameras with *optical* view finders work...not problem there...but how do the ones with LCD view finders work. Perhaps I'm wrong that they have mechanical shutters - I've had an SLR for too long...the most recent compact camera I've had was the Olympus C3040...quite a while ago now.

@Devin: re N95

Sounds convincing. Thanks for correcting me.

Eh? You're kidding. I've never seen a camera, compact or otherwise, that doesn't have one, analog or digital - apart from phone camera. Even the old 'pin-hole' ones had a shutter, albeit a mechanical one (remove the lens-cap for a while).

Having said that, I don't know what the advantages are over just electronic 'virtual' shutters. It is clear that the mechanical shutter must be better, at least with the current state of virtual ones, otherwise they wouldn't all use them.

Are you thinking of the mechanical lens cover? ...that's not what we're talking about here.

...oh, I missed some of the details on the shutter :

1Large and variable aperture: F2.4, F3.2, F4.8
2Macro focus: 10-50 cm
3Wide angle optics: 28mm. High speed shutter, max shutter speed: 1/1000 sec

...here's a quote from AllAboutSymbian to fill that gap :

"The N86 8MP has a mechanical shutter, operating at 1,000th of a second. It has 'Wide angle Carl Zeiss optics', with f2.4-4.8 'large variable aperture' (F2.4/3.2/4.8) meaning better photos in all light conditions - the first camera phone to seriously challenge standalone cameras?"

@Devin : I still think you're mistaken. I've owned a couple of them (original and 8GB), and I see no evidence on forum nokia's n95 page about a shutter. I'd be interested in any evidence you have to show what you say is true.

Having a physical shutter is new for camera phones. I think the only announced phone that has one so far is the Nokia N86, I think.