Review Conditions

M1 Androd Shell from MMMOOO was installed on a Nokia E71, an S60 3rd edition FP1 device.

Installation

Installation is straightforward. M1 comes as a .sis file and the Nokia Application Installer can be used to install M1. When installing to S60 3rd phones, you may have to disable online certificate check: tools-> App.mgr.-> options-> settings: software installation(all), online certif.check(off). This will help you to solve the ‘certificate error’ pop-up.

First View

The developers of MyPhone, the iPhone shell for S60 have come up with a new Android shell for S60!

The Android shell, called M1 typically provides the UI of the HTC G1,that runs the Android OS by Google. The UI includes the Android’s desktop and icons. We have also reviewed MyPhone here at BestofSymbian.

Main Review

M1 functions as a normal S60 application and can be found in the task manager. Ideally it should start automatically at boot time and completely replace the S60 shell. Better yet, it should replace the Home Key functionality on my E71 such that when it is pressed, M1 opens. Alternatively, like Handy Shell, M1 could have provided the functionality to toggle M1, the menu and the Home Screen using the Red End Key.

The main M1 Desktop has 5 shortcuts and more could be added or removed by opening up the options menu using the left soft key. Just like the Android G1, three Desktops are available. Shortcuts can be added to anyone of the 3 Desktops. To add new shortcuts, just press the left or right soft key and a menu slides up.

I like the big analog clock on the idle screen. The screen lock is authentic Android and looks great.

M1 offers 29 icons in the pull up menu, which can also be added to M1’s Desktop. Unlike the MyPhone where the icons can be accessed using the keys on the keyboard, M1 only supports access using the D-Pad. And the icons in the pull up menu cannot be rearranged. The are arranged in alphabetical order and they can’t be moved around, for instance, to have the most useful applications on top of the heap. But one might argue that’s what the desktop is for, to keep shortcuts and have the pull up menu contain all icons in a standardized manner. I say, just give the flexibility. MyPhone allows moving icons around so I expect the same functionality in M1 too.

M1 also didn’t allow me to add icons for non native applications. So I couldn’t access new applications I installed via M1. I only have to exit M1 and go to the S60 navigation structure for accessing installed applications. MyPhone lets me add icons for new applications.

The dialer is eye candy but not efficient. Its designed for a touch screen and having the same design on a non-touch screen phone is not very usable.

The profile status is not displayed on M1′s Desktop. Similarly, missed calls, new emails, messages and notifications are not displayed on M1′s Desktop.

The Screenlock has the authentic G1 look. It actually disables the native auto lock feature in S60. Therefore unlock can be done just be pressing the OK key in the D-Pad. When I used Mr.Lock, an auto lock application, the keypad was locked in addition to the screen being locked by M1.

Handling

Transitions across screens, scrolling down the shortcut menu, etc was smooth. The overall experience of using M1 is very pleasant.  M1 also provides a help for reference.

Weaknesses

M1′s inability to add new icons for custom applications prevented me from adopting it as a full replacement for the native home screen. Also, easy toggling between the the native home screen and M1 should be available, instead of having to open it from the ‘Installations’ folder. Notifications are not displayed on the desktop, which means I have to exit the application and check out the native Home Screen for missed calls, messages, etc.

Conclusion

While M1 works ok on my E71, it is best suited for an S60 touch device. Someday I would like to play with it on a 5800 or N97 and discover how it functions. But the M1 Desktop is not ready yet to fully replace the Home Screen. Having said that, M1 is polished and shows promise. This is only the first version and I anticipate big updates in later versions. The first version is worth a look. Registration of the license for M1 is via the mobile. When the applications is purchased, the IMEI is recorded and M1 on the is activiated via the GPRS/3G/WiFi connection. whe Its available here for trial or purchase. I’ll give it 3 of 5.

Tagged as: M1, MyPhone, S60, Shell