Nokia - New releases for Eseries and Nseries

The year is beginning to have a bright outlook for Nokia. In Barcelona recently, there were a few key updates which promises to take the world by storm yet again. Not surprising really, considering they were not very-well-kept secrets.

We've all known and loved each of their Eseries models from popular best sellers like the E61's to E61i's to E51's to E90's and especially the current E71's that have flooded out markets, Nokia's hold on the business segment continues to remain strong.

Let me introduce to you.... the Nokia E55, Nokia E75 and the Nokia N86.

Nokia E55

Specs for the E55

• Touted to be the upgrade for the ever-popular E51
  
• Most prominent feature, the QW-ER-TY keyboard (very reminiscent of the Sony Ericsson P1)
• Quad band GSM/GPRS./EDGE with (tri-band) HSDPA 10.2Mbps speeds
• Very stable and well known S60 3rd edition OS with FP2
• 2.4" QVGA TFT 16M display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution.
• 60MB onboard storage with a shipped 2Gb micro SD card inbox.
• Available in Black and white aluminium
• Some sites report a one month standby time (???!!!)(I've yet to believe that)
  

Nokia E75
Specs for the E75

• Expected to be the forefront for the Eseries range
• Full slide out QWERTY keyboard and a regular alphanumeric keypad (Both existing E71 AND E51 would probably find this appealing)
• Most complete Messaging device to date from Nokia.
  
• Connectivity features - Wifi 802.11 b/g, A-GPS support with Nokia Maps
• 3.2megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash
• Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE with tr-band HSDPA (3.6Mbps)
• Very stable and well known S60 3rd edition OS with FP2
• 2.4" QVGA TFT 16M display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution.
• 50MB onboard storage with a shipped 4Gb micro SD card inbox.
• Available in Silver Black, Red and Copper Yellow colours.
  

Nokia N86

Specs for the N86

• Very similar to what the existing N85 already offers
• Most outstanding feature - the first 8 megapixel camera which possesses shutter speeds of up to 1/1000 of a second, f-stop range of 2.4-4.8 and a 28mm wide-angle lens that Nokia claims is equal to that of a wide-angle 35mm SLR! It also sports a 3rd generation dual LED flash which should work at distances of up to 3.5m. (Shutterbugs might drool at this)
• Quad-band GSM and tri-band HSDPA support
• Very stable and well known S60 3rd edition OS with FP2
• 2.6" AMOLED QVGA display (also present in the N85)
  
• 8GB internal storage
• A 3.5mm audio jack and TV out
• Available in black and white
  

All 3 phones should start shipping by 2Q09.

So, if any of you are keen for an upgrade (even for those who own E71's), these new releases could very well stroke your interest.

'Does not crack under pressure"

Here's an interesting piece of news. I'm sure everyone is familiar with this logo.

Its usually associated with watches, F1, (now) sunglasses too.... but a phone?

TAG HEUER has just announced the release of a phone under their product line, "tagged" as the TAG HEUER MERIDIIST. Click here.


Specs:

• Made of stainless steel
  
• Swiss engineered and hand assembled from 430 components (!)
• Has an unscratchable 60.5 carats sapphire crystal
  
• 7 hours talk time
• 28 DAYS of standby time
• 2 megapixel camera
• Two display screens; a 1.9" display with QVGA resolution and a display at the top indepently showing the time (but of course!)
• Available Sept 2008
• Price: Estimate 3400-3900EUR
  

I'm an avid supporter of TAG HEUER watches, and loyally believe in their principles and "swiss-precision" watch expertise, but to own a Meridiist, I think I'll just stand by and watch only.

Background music

Just earlier on, I was watching the usual sunday-night CSI:NY, winding down my weekend, that always seem to just fly by every week. (Incidentally, CSI has featured the Treo in some of their episodes earlier. Y'see, even they know a quality product when they see one). And as usual, with Astro owning the (most irritating) ability to throw in advertisements oh-every-so-often throughout any show, there was one advert that caught my attention. (But then, all phone adverts do)

It starts out with a guy holding a phone in his room. He decides to walk out of his room and roam around the house. Oddly, wherever he walks in his house, a variety of artists (ranging from 50-cent, Michael Jackson, Black Eyed Peas, Avril Lavigne to name a few) all appear and seemingly try to get his attention, to no avail. (Of course, they're not the REAL artistes, just impersonators) Then finally he sits on his couch in the living room, and you see a whole CROWD of artistes just surrounding him, whilst he's still totally oblivious to their presences. He thinks hard while going through a list of artistes in his phone library .... *the suspense is intense by now* Then, he makes his selection......... ELVIS PRESLEY.

Suddenly, the whole crowd MOANS with disappointment and the attention focuses to the back of the room, and "ELVIS" suddenly jumps in joy and makes his way towards the guy on the couch. Immediately, he starts crooning his hit "Love me tender" while the guy talks on the phone to his girlfriend on the other side. The rest, just stand there watching. So Hilarious.

Ok, where am I going with this .... Then the punchline. This is (Malaysia) MAXIS HOTLINK's advert for a new feature they've launched..... BACKGROUND MUSIC! See here.

I was awed! Now you can select music to play in the background while you talk to your loved one????? DANG! Technology has really come so far!!!

Made me think back to my dating days (not THAT far back mind you). IF I wanted to have background music, I'd have to physically switch on my cd player, think of what song to play, tune it to the right volume, THEN settle down on the couch and make my call....
(I emphasize, this wasn't something I did on a regular basis ok?)(Honest...)

It just blew me away! I didn't even think it was even possible! Well, its here now, albeit in Malaysia!

Ok, in Brunei however, obviously this technology has not come to our shores yet (DST? B-mobile? Hello?), but I am willing to bet that it would be quite popular. For a while at least, like everything else. Especially now, with the Valentine's day season just around the corner. Imagine, you could call your girlfriend/boyfriend, with Michael Buble's "Come fly with me" playing in the background. (Then your conversation is sure to get all soppy and mushy... whispering sweet nothings etc etc etc)
(Hey, Jazz music brings out the romance in people ok?!. Don't believe me? Try it)

But just imagine though, it also means young teeny boppers could have their fav song playing in the background while chatting to their best friends (for hours)...... I doubt it'd benefit anyone else though. Seriously, you think anyone's gonna use it to talk to their parents, colleagues or even bosses??? I think not.

But anyways, try catch the advert if you can, and you'll see what I mean.

User breakdown

Since I started this blog, strangely I've developed a keen awareness of the phones that people use around me, friends or strangers. Whether I'm at work, out for lunch, out at the Mall walking around or having tea at a cafe, I would instinctly notice the phones people use. (I can't help it ok?!)

You may not believe it, but phones are usually indicative of the type of user the owner is.

For example, if I see a person with the ever popular Nokia 3310 (yes, they're still around today believe it or not) or a Nokia 1112 (pictured), then it tells me that the owner's probably a simple user, or a simple person, with absolutely no care about phones and that they just use it mainly for calls and sms-ing.

If I see a person using a Sony Ericsson k750i (pictured) or Samsung (hey, all Samsungs have cameras), or any Nokia Nseries phones, then it tells me that the owner, is an image user. Sometime in his / her daily life, he / she appreciates taking the odd snaps here and there. (Although, having said that, these days almost all phones have cameras.) But still, the more serious users are noticable too, they sport SE w810's, SE w900i's, SE k800i's, Nokia N80's, Nokia N73's, N93's and so on.


On the other hand, if I spot a person using the Sony Ericsson w800i, SE w550i, Nokia N91, Nokia 5300 (pictured) and so on, then it means that the owners are music users. Everywhere they go, they need to have music plugged in, at work, out walking, at the gym, in the car, at school. Music is their life. Heck, I know people who can't work or study without some sort of music in the background! (I personally can't) But, there are alot out there.


Then, there are the multimedia users. They NEED their phones to have E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Cameras (high mega pixel-ed ones at that too!), mp3 players, wifi (which they probably end up not using much), video capabilities, games, email, 3G... Sort of like the Sony Ericsson p990i (pictured) or even the Nokia N80. Usually, these users won't even use half the features they have on their phones. It always ends up being "nice to have".

And then lastly comes, the business users. They're easy to spot. Usually yuppies, bosses or IT-savvy people. Smartphones, as they're known as now, like these are growing in use in the market now. HP 6965 (pictured), Nokia E61, Nokia 9500, the whole Treo range, the whole O2 range, the whole Dopod ranges and even the SE p990i can be considered one. The users of these ranges usually have "requirements" for their phones. QWERTY Keyboards (or not), wifi (or not), cameras (or not), mp3 players, connectivity capabilities, Emails, tweakable softwares and probably the most important features, fully integrated Calendars and Office functions. Their devices basically run their life, their whole schedules, their budgets, their expenses, their reports, powerpoint presentations. Users like these will not tolerate the simple, the image, the music or multimedia users. They don't care about those features. All they care about is the business of making $$$. And they should too, smartphones don't come cheap.

I've not mentioned the other users like fashionistas and gamers. Fashionistas use (useless) phones like the Motorola v3's (all colours), v3i's, v3x's, KRZR's, LG Chocolates, Samsung x820 (pictured), Nokia 8series, Vertu's (though expensive, they suck functionwise) and so on. Not to offend anyone, but these phones don't do anything to improve your life other than make you look good. (I should know, I owned a Nokia 8800 once) Gamers, on the other hand, are those who use N-gage series mainly. Another useless range. Wanna play games? Get a PSP or Nintendo DS Lite.

In the end, I'm pretty sure everyone falls under one of these categories. If you think you don't, it means you probably don't own a phone. You're a rare breed too if that were the case. For myself personally, I liken myself to be a business user now. I didn't start out as one though. I started as a simple user back in the day. Then I progressed onto multimedia and now, to business. Nothing matters more to me now then having my one device to handle it all. "Everything else is just a toy" really.

Seeing all the phones that are out now, its become a jungle out there. Buyers have just TOO many choices! Its become such a big market, this business of phones. Too many brands out there. What happened right? What happened to just using phones to make calls? What happened to phones to just be "contactable"? Well, I don't know about you, but I sure ain't complaining! All you need to decide on, is what kind of user you are. Easy.

You think you're fast?

Reading the papers today, I came across an article titled "Which is the most SMS-friendly phone?".

It was an article based on a research done in Singapore. Using models from the top 5 market leaders, (not in order of ranking mind you) Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Motorola and LG, a panel of 5 testers were used, each familiar with the text messaging interface of one phone brand. (Which is fair). They had to type in a message used from the recent new Guiness World record (incidentally, won by a 16 yr old Singaporean chap), "The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human." Given 15 mins to "practice", the first with predictive text on, then another off, none of them came even close to the world record of 41.52 seconds. (Other factors that make SMS-ing a pleasure like softness of the keypad etc, was also noted)

Here are the models:

1. Nokia 6288.
Text time: T9 off: 1 min 59 secs. T9 on: 1 min 19 secs.









2. Motorola KRZR K1
Text time: T9 off: 2 mins 33 secs. T9 on: 2 mins 44 secs










3. Sony Ericsson k610i
Text time: T9 off: 2 mins 54 secs. T9 on: 1 min 9 secs










4. LG KG810
Text time: T9 off: 3 mins 2 secs. T9 on: 2 mins 25 secs.







5. Samsung SGH D900
Text time: T9 off: 2 mins 26 secs. T9 on: 1 min 8 secs.








There were other details included in the article which I won't mention like what's good about their respective predictive text "systems" like T9 in Nokia, iTap in Motorola etc. But its clear here who the real winner is, the Nokia 6288.

Just for fun though, I thought to myself, I wonder what my time would be if I were to test my Treo 750v against this challenge.

So, here's what I did: -
- I gave myself time to familiarise myself with the sentence. (C'mon, its not exactly language you'd use in your daily vocabulary right?!) I didn't need 15 mins though, probably 2-3 mins?
- With my prepared stop watch in front of me, I gave myself 3 tries to see what my average / best time would be.
- The results - 1st try: 45 secs, 2nd try: 44 secs and 3rd try: 43 secs.

Yup, I arrived at a conclusion that if I had more tries, I would eventually lower my time, but still, it wouldn't be enough to beat the 16 yr old with his 41.52 secs record. But then again, HE wasn't using a QWERTY keyboard was he? That sure earns my respect though.

Update 1.03

"d3x second chances" updated!

Check it out!