Let’s just get this out of the way – Bluetooth headsets generally look kind of silly. The bigger, older models with their tacky blinking lights remind some of The Borg (personally, they make me think the Cybermen have infiltrated Torchwood One). They also don’t always have the best sound, can be uncomfortable, and give people momentary pause as to our sanity (“Is that guy on a Bluetooth or is he just nuts?”). While we can’t recommend anything to alleviate the latter, we can happily say there are more and more Bluetooth headsets out these days that don’t look silly, and people seem to finally be paying attention to comfort. Case in point: Sound ID. Founded by an actual Ear Doctor and focusing on how the ear works, Sound ID’s products are meant to be “all day wear”, with clear sound and noise reduction. (more…)
Here are some interesting things from DigitalLook, but not exactly interesting enough to be their own article (no offense to the vendors, who were all awesome)
Note that I do have photos, but I seems to be mangling the photo functions of the blog, so I will be holding off on adding them. (more…)
First of all, hi everyone. I’m glad to be blogging for MOpocket.
Now to the post at hand…Trade gatherings such as this past week’s 3GSM are a great opportunity for many things including attending parties, getting to know a new city and racking up those frequent flier miles, but for those of us playing along at home they’re a great opportunity to get a sense for the current state of the mobile industry. It’s especially important to look back and try to pick out and recognize the trends that were present throughout.
One such trend, in my opinion, is the OEM’s answer to Steve Jobs. One of the most valuable aspects of the iPhone announcement to me didn’t actually have anything to do with Apple. Throwing a curve ball like Apple did is one of the best ways to put the industry up to bat and see how they’re swinging these days.
So let me get to right to it… The pattern I’ve found has been a shift to the all-screen form factor with a little ambivalence showing here and there manifested by the side-sliding keyboard we’re seeing more and more of. I know, I know, we’ve been seeing a lot of that recently, but not like this at a conference like 3GSM. Not at the clip we saw. Not after a major hardware announcement such as Apple’s. Just take a look down Engadget Mobile. Here are some highlights:
These phones are mostly targeted at the shinny new RIM Pearl audience — that of course would be the space between the intersecting circles of the ~5% business phone users and the general consumer population — some of which are still clunky and for the aforementioned business users and others which are just plain spin-offs of the iPhone.
There are of course some very compelling new concepts. Take Samsung’s F700 for example. It’s a beautiful phone with a very competitive array of features including high speed connectivity and a 5 megapixel camera — none of which the iPhone has.
Next is the HTC Vox (S710). It’s even lighter and more run-of-the-mill than the Samsung, but it keeps to the same idea which is that people are looking for more functionality and therefore easier ways to interface with their device. It provides that in its slide out full QWERTY keypad.
The last one I’ll mention is Neonode’s N2. This is a device by a company I only became aware of recently that apparently decided to attempt to make the killer phone themselves instead of just waiting for it to come like the rest of us. They use some interesting (read: makeshift) technologies such as an optical touch sensitive display, but their idea is pretty intriguing. They’re offering
a decently solid piece of technology and releasing it on an open development platform along with some features such as mail, calendar and a media player. All I can say is that I wish them luck.
To recap, there are basically three types of phones coming through from this trend of larger screens and new input methods. There’s the big name, high-end, side-sliding QWERTY keyboard, probably going to stay mostly a business phone phones. The iPhone-ys (namely the LG KE850) . And, the iPhone-y open source models such as the Neonode
N2 and the OpenMoko. These phones are what the OEMs are introducing into the same market the iPhone will be in. How will they compete? Just fine.
As A New Yorker I am ashamed to have missed the opening of Nokia’s New York flagship store at 5 East 57th Street. But for those of you who, like me, would like to feel the experience of what it was like then just head on over to Darla Mack’s Blog and read her amazing post on the experience and review of the store (it even comes with a celebrity siting). Thanks Darla! Sorry I missed you there!
I will be visiting the Nokia store as soon as I get back to NY from CTIA.
I really enjoyed this review of Nokia’s N73 by Daniel Appelquist over at his self named Dan’s Blog. Dan is top notch guy over at Vodafone and I have always enjoyed his mobile musings. The review is a great and insightful discussion of the Nokia N70 and and the N73 which left me clutching my N70 and wanting more.
It’s not that it’s some huge revolution in usability and design. It isn’t. It’s a step up from the N70 (pictured at left) which I’ve been using for a few months. But what a step up! It is just a little bit better in almost every aspect of operation and use.
Much to suprise, and without warning I have recently been shipped Nokia’s new N Series Music Phone the N91. Perhaps it was because I was not anticipating it or perhaps it because I am not one who carries music around with me everywhere I go (I have a second generation iPod with about 4 gig of music stuck on it that never gets used) or perhaps because I was awaiting the N90 but upon opening the package I was excited to see that it was the much talked about N91 but did not feel the fanatic urge to dive into it and start playing. My brother is much more the musician and I figured I would just let him test drive it a little bit. But he uses Verizon, which is CDMA, so the option of him testing out this GSM phone (besides in my company) was pretty much out of the question.
For the last couple of days it sat in my travel bag, wiping it out from time to time showing it off to people I know would be awed. But the time was coming that I had to write a review. I set aside some time,took out the phone. Put in my SIM card and started to play. My opinion has since RADICALLY changed.
The N91 is a powerful phone. Actually, it more of a portable music player first and a phone second. If the phones very appearance (the dial pad is only exposed by sliding down the music keys which sit on top of the phone) does not convince you of that then its 4GB hard drive, 3.5 mm stereo headset jack, wireless LAN support (I sense future mobile LAN music stores), dedicated music keys, and easy PC synchronization with Windows Media Player should.
My one big complaint is that the back of the phone was VERRY VERRY difficult to slide open to access the battery and SIM Card holder. You really have to press the side button down and push down on the back of the phone hard to get that sucker to open. But, so far I am amazed at how well the battery holds up as it works in duel functionality as both a phone and an MP3 player throughout the day.
This is also my first time playing with a 3rd Edition Symbian device (N91 is Symbian OS v9.1 Symbian 60 3rd Edition). Maybe its the hard-drive or maybe its the Symbian but whatever it is the Symbian Operating system runs better than any Symbian phone I have ever used. It has zero, I mean zero lag.
I do, however, miss the flash from the N70.
Syncing With A Mac
My one, usual, complaint is that the phone came with all the syncing software you could possibly need… if you are a windows user… and being that I am still using an old IMB chip Apple Power Book G4 I immediately set to the task of finding a way to sync the N91 with iSync and thus get all my mac calendar and address info onto the phone. Luckily, thanks to Mac Hacks just like me I was able to get all the info I needed on how to do this here, here and especially here. I am syncing like a charm now, between my Nokia 6682, N70, Treo 650 and now Nokia N91.
As my attention turned to the Mac I then realized that since this is a music phone I should probably put some music on it. Only problem is all my music is on my apple computers iTunes. How do I sync the n91 to that. Well, while Nokia is not up to par on the iSync syncing (don’t get me wrong though, they are the fastest Mac compatible phone manufacturer out of any of them… but maybe thats Apple’s doing, anyways…) it appears that Nokia already thought of that one.
Nokia released some software called Nokia Music Manager for Mac thats lets 1) Import music from your CD collection to your Macintosh hard drive and 2) Transfer AAC and MP3 files from your Macintosh hard drive to your Nokia N91 and back again (2-way) as well as Select music automatically and manually Create playlists on your Mac or Nokia N91 Access track info such as albums, artists, genre, etc. (with Nokia Music Manager plug-in). You can also use iTunes on the Mac* to manage your music for the N91 Unfortunately, music purchased from the Apple iTunes Music Store cannot be played on the Nokia N91. Well, we cant have it all, can we Apple.
Anyways, I downloaded the Nokia Music Manager for Mac, synced a whole plethora of music onto the (and left a whole plethora of iTunes songs behind). Nevertheless, its enough to really leave my iPod behind for good as a phone / Mp3 player in one device is really all I need (if I where into that sort of thing).
It is on these grounds that I have been using the N91 as my primary phone for a couple of days now. I am surprised as to how well the battery life holds up as the phone gets duel usage as an Mp3 player and phone (both pretty heavily). And the transition between music playing and a call and back again was so obviously simple I did not notice it at first. While the phone is pretty big its duel purpose usage seems to make up for the clunk in your pocket.
SOME METAPHYSICAL THOUGHTS
But here is a little speculative thought I have been thinking about. I wonder what the “go through” rate is of how many people “go through” MP3 players versus mobile phones. What I mean by that is how many times do people get a new MP3 players and how many times do they get a new phone. I cant find the statistics anywhere but I would say that people hold onto MP3 players longer then they do their phones… at least here in the States you are given an incentive to get a new phone every year or two when your contract needs to be renewed. Mix this fact with the MP3 phone and DRM transfer laws and you may be looking at a problem.
I believe that a person will choose a new phone even if their current phone is acting as their MP3 player (they may choose another MP3 phone) but the thing is, with some of these DRM laws you only get so many “song transfers” from one device to another. So, say I get a new MP3 phone. Now I have transfer all my songs to the new phone which means I can only transfer songs from the latest Robbie Williams album 2 more times. After 2 more phones only four years down the line this will turn into a problem.
Or, the new phone I want is not an MP3 phone. Now I probably have to go out and and by an IPod or another Mp3 player and transfer all the songs onto that.
I wonder what the effect on the “go through” rate between MP3 players and mobile phones will have… any ideas?
My N70 arrived from Nokia and I have been using it as my main phone for the past couple of days now, replacing my Nokia 6682. What a phone the N-70 is! So far it has passed my “use in everyday life test” beautifully never freezing, stalling or needing to be rebooted (this has been my experience with several S60 phones).
The phone also draws a lot of attention. Whenever I whip it out, and yes sometimes I do it on purpose, people seem to immediately notice that I am holding a cool looking and great functioning phone. Have you seen my cool new European phone Doug? People who I have let play with it have all had positive reactions all commenting on its easy hardware and software user experience. The reaction most of the time is simply, “wow! this is a solid phone.” The phone even passed the parent test where my father spent a good deal of a family dinner playing with it and marveling over the Symbian S60 OS (a rarity here in the US). Trust me, that says a lot.
The phone has a different sized charger plug then the Nokia’s around today (much smaller). Because they only had European socket charges they had to send me a converter plug to use with a standard Nokia charger. I am sure a US version will come with a US plug but I can see this new plug size as annoying some people.
There still is a little lag time when moving from one option to another but it is a world of difference faster than the Nokia 6682. The email client is also more reliable and, while not perfect, actually usable.
I am also happy to say that the phone has survived falls from multiple stories and full water and windex submergence (just kidding Andy).
Now, I only wish that I could use some of the cool 3G functions that the phone has such as the Video Call and Radio features but you cant have everything, at least in the US.
So far what I have been using the phone mostly for, besides phone calls and SMS, is for picture taking which I immediately upload to my Flickr account via a software called Shozu. I have to be honest in that the picture taking and quality of the N70 took some time to get used to, at least from just after using the 6682. The flash lasts a little longer and the zooming is not as smooth (and is accompanied with an annoying beeping sound) as the 6682. The camera takes beautiful 2 megapixel shots in normal light (with great contrast in colors and detail) but it seems that with any variation of lighting or indoor dark shots like on a night out you pretty much point shoot and see. Subjects at a bar had to stand pretty close to get a decent shot.
For a while I thought that the 6682 was actually taking better pictures, even though the 6682 is only 1.3 megapixels. The flash on the 6682 seems to be a bit brighter (which is not always a good thing). But after closer examination I was dead dead wrong. The N70 photo’s do seem to have a bit of fuzziness to them though and that is what threw me off.
Have not played much with the mobile video yet but the little I have tested seem to play back smooth.
I don’t want to comment on reception because, as a European Phone, its on a 900/1800/1900 MHz. As my Cingular Network predominately relies on 850 and 1900Mhz I have a feeling that I am only picking up one of these bands (the 1900) and it has been noticeably so. My coverage has spotty in some areas where switching the Sim Card to my 6682 worked perfectly. I would imagine that an American version would have the 850 instead of 900. Damn American’s. Why do we have to be so different. Perhaps its a bad idea to use this phone as my main one?
The speakers, by the way, are incredible and have made choosing ringtones difficult as some of them are just to loud and some of them sound to good. The first day I brought the phone into work one of my colleagues said it sounded like a musical train was passing through every time my phone rang. I especially like to demonstrate the quality of the speakers with the built in “Stay That Way.acc” ring-tone, a short woman’s vocal pop ring tone. Amazing.
Anyways, my first impressions of the N70 is that this a serious phone with serious back-bone, literally. And for the first N series phone I have played with I am excited to see the rest.
Here is some more mobile porn for you.
My only fear is what they will do to tone down this phone so it can be released in the blah blah American market.
Since I will be using this phone for my day in and out operations there will be multiple reports on how it fares with other Symbian applications and other daily usages. Think of it as kind of a long term life action review. Stay tuned.
While the major study on ESPN Mobile is for sale Scott does highlight some pretty interesting aspects on his blog. SOme of the interesting things he points out are that the Mobile ESPN handset does include a web browser, but the primary interaction is instead through a series of applications that draw content from the web. This major difference allows a lot of embellishment of the interaction through visually rich information displays, spruced up menus and the addition of a “Sideline” element.
While these desktop like elements have a lot of potential aiding users manage the influx of information on a small screen problems in area of unfamiliar and shifting key mappings, poor indications of context, and interactive elements that were easily overlooked.
Nevertheless, Scott points out, despite the usability issues, the fresh UI design and the basic fact that Mobile ESPN is targeting a unique auidence unlike the typical, young and credit challenged group are steps in the right direction for mobile data services and we look forward to more changes of this ilk.
I do not need to have the last word on this post other than to say that I have sat down with Scott and reviewed his Usability Testing in other areas and other mobile devices and was blown away by the thoroughness of the reports. His studies really should be the go to reports for this type of information.
A couple of days ago I announced the release of Helio, the new Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) brought to by Earthlink founder and CEO Sky Dayton. Well, looks like the boys and girls over at Helio like to distribute some blog candy and sent me one of their new Kickflip phones (there other phone, which is a black slider is called the Hero). But as I said earlier in my report, I liked the Kickflip ever since I first got my hands on one at CTIA.
The Helio team really spared no expense, it looks like at first glance. The phone comes in a beautiful magnetic closing hard box. The phone itself is small, compact but feels the way a reliable machine should when its in the palm of your hand. I will get into more in-depth reviews of the phone as time goes on but for now let me just say that right from turning it on, the phone is very easy to use, navigate and understand. This is important. Whenever I make the transition from a Nokia to a Motorola phone, for example, it takes me a jolt or two to adjust to navigating around and understanding where and how I am supposed to do things. The Helio OS is a breeze… and like a breeze its fast! Whether its moving between web browsers or from the 2.0 mega pixel camera back to the Main Menu and then to mobile games, there is no lag time like with my Nokia 6682 Symbian S60 phone. The Ev-Do network is fast when browsing and surfing (NYC city does not have HSPDA for Cingular yet). However, so far I only tried to download one music video from the typical Ev-Do walled garden which seemed to take a little long, 45 seconds – 1 min. But once it downloaded it played beautifully on the 1.25 x 1.75 inch screen which, by the way, is way easy on the eyes. And the speakers… woah man! Excellent speaker quality, I could hear Blind Mellon’s No Rain playing clearly on the phone from the kitchen in my studio.
The two megapixel camera (with flash) takes great pictures!
I only played with Helio’s Helio On Top (H.O.T) application which streams relevant feeds directly on the phones desktop. It was not that easy and the directions on how to do so in manual were a little cryptic. Once I got it working I decided that it was to much to always have that info flashing at me on my phone all the time so I turned it off. Plus, I did not see a way to add any feeds that I liked beyond Yahoo info.
I played a little with the phones Mypace capabilities and logged into my My Myspace. It was really easy to move around and interact with! It even seemed to run faster then any experience I have ever had using Myspace online!
And as if the fuel for a Myspace addiction is not enough… the actual Hardware of the phone is, as EngadgetMobile has already sited, like tactile crack. Ever since I first flipped the phone open at CTIA I have been waiting to get my hands on my very own, just for the purposes of being able to flip it open yet again. And now that I have my own I found my self flipping the thing open and closed over and over again while watching television long after I was done playing with all the other things the phone has to offer.
The phone came with a cute Helio dangle that was almost impossible to put on! A Helio rep helped me out. Guide it with a paper clip. That is what he did.
By the way, if you sign up twelve of your friends to Helio you get the whole year free. You see, the phone also comes with little Helio friendship cards that tell you that if they give your number when signing up you a get a free month of membership. So sign up twelve friends and don’t pay all year
My overall first impression is that I am impressed but I will have to give it the life test before a good old fashioned wholesome review.
My one big complaint is that the sync software to sync the contacts from my computer to the phone is not available yet… and even if it were I could not use it anyways being that I have an now old-fashioned Mac (no Intel, no Bootcamp). I guess Dayton has a PC.
Anyways, its to bad that the phone wont week while I am in Helsinki this weekend for the Mobile Monday Global Summit, I want to play with it more. But I will bring it along with me for some mobile bling bling
First of all, hi everyone. I’m glad to be blogging for MOpocket.
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