Nokia N Series – Page 3

mobile blogging, part 2

Mobile blogging…as in blogging directly from the phone or another portable device other than notebooks. Why would someone want to blog from a phone?

Well, computers in the form of desktop personal computers or laptops are still expensive. Despite of relatively high initital costs, an uncertain power supply and restricted internet access not only in “underdeveloped” countries for conventional computers, interesting stories are often best caught through the use of mobile devices. Another very important reason is that many consumers today are using mobile phones as the mobile phone sector is a fast growing market. We do not necessarily need to have a look at the unstable political situation in a country like Burma/Myanmar to understand the importance of being able to directly post content to the internet through a mobile device – but it serves as a good example to illustrate what should be possible with todays technology.

Obviously, the process of mobile blogging may be split up into a) the creation of content/media and b) uploading everything to a website/database on the internet.

As mentioned in my previous post on this subject, I initially assumed that it would all depend on the right gadget.
An advanced smartphone with a dedicated QWERTY keyboard does of course add comfort to the process of entering longer text, but it isn’t necessary to use one in order to get your stuff online. Hence it comes down to the right software solution on both the phone and online.

Another interesting observation is that manufacturers of mobile phones have in the past often only put an emphasis on giving users the ability to pull content from internet to their phone. Apple’s iPhone is a very good example for this as it comes with a media player which plays YouTube videos and a flexible browser which even display the URL. But also other phone manufacturers like the big players Nokia and SonyEricsson implemented RSS-capable browsers into their phones that automatically pull the required content from the internet without any computer in between. Now compare that with other mobile multimedia devices such as an iPod or a Creative mp3 player, which in the past always required a computer in between to synchronize content. With todays mobile phones, you can directly pull content from the net via GPRS, EDGE, UMTS or WiFi. Sexy.

The internet, though, and especially the Web 2.0 approach online lives from user generated content. I think that the use of the internet through a mobile platform will become more and more important in future, especially since mobile phones have become the leading platform for IT in developing countries.

And this upcoming development where we’ll see global players like Google distributing a sound software solution which combines and contains all these different services (telephony, messaging, streaming of multimedia content and uploading it to a site online) is reason enough to believe that we’re just at the very beginning of mobile services. Especially those that are I) easy to use (~usability) and II) don’t cost anything extra to the user – because he’s the one who creates content. Mobile phone operators seem to have understood that so far, which is why everyone wants to jump on the train of providing the right platform for content generation.

Anyways, I promised to deliver a small – not complete – overview of decent phones that already add some comfort for compiling mobile blog post. If you think there’s any phone that should be part of this list, pls feel free to drop a comment below. Thank You!

Ok, let’s start with Nokia ‘s range of phones:

1. Nokia N95

nokia N95

Since I am using this phone, I can acknowledge that it’s a great phone with a good camera but lousy built quality (compared to other slider phones), a slow camera (autofocus), weak battery runtime, chronical shortages of RAM which limits true multitasking and a simple T9 keypad – which of course doesn’t offer the same comfort as a QWERTY keyboard. However, since it is one of Nokia’s flagships and just offers a wide range of services at once, I included it here in this list. The N95 also connects to Nokia’s SU-8W bluetooth keyboard:

SU-8W

The downside to this external solution? Relatively small keys, a bluetooth connection that will further drain the battery on your phone and a huge price of at least EUR 100,-. That’s a lot of mbeca just for a keyboard.

The new N95 8GB version (N95-3) as well as the improved version for the US-market (N95-2) come with an improved battery and more RAM and some other minor changes that don’t affect its blogging capabilities.

2. Nokia E90

E90

Woooohaaaa! Expensive, bulky and a little bit buggy, which is why Nokia took it from the market for some weeks. Since it’s also based on the Symbian S60 platform (as opposed to the previous “Communicator” models which were based on Symbian S80 platform), it also runs the same programs as other S60 3rd edition phones. Comes with a sweet QWERTY keyboard (as pictured above), 3,2mpix cam (which is ok), two displays (!) and average battery runtime.

3. Nokia E70

nokia e70 silber

Fellow blogger Kirima is using such a phone for surfing the inet from his rural home. I like this phone, even the previous models that came with a foldable keyboard like this one were nice (although they are known to be having some software issues…).

4. Nokia E61/61i/62

b146174

Sigh. The E61 (no camera, joystick instead of joypad) and the E61i/62 are very nice for mobile blogging. Especially the above pictured E61i which comes with an average 2mpix cam and a perfect QWERTY keyboard as well as the whole connection range of GPRS up to WiFi. VoIP included. Sweet!

5. Nokia E51
P200710221455597981427318

Best Nokia release imho. A small, brick-styled (candy bar) business smartphone with a 2mpix cam, the S60 platform and VoIP capabilities. This phone will sell quite well, I think, despite of its humble appearance. Comes with a T9 keypad.

6. Nokia N93/93i

nokia N93i

I played with the N93 and the N93i in a shop last weekend, and while N93 is still better than the N93i, both phones are actually only good at recording videos because of their stereo microphones (important fact) and extremely good lenses + optical zoom. No QWERTY keyboard although of course you can also connect the above mentioned bluetooth keyboard.

7. Apple’s iPhone

iphone bastel anleitung

…delivered to you as a printable cut&glue version (pdf), because that’s the best way to handle this design object. :-)

Seriously, the iPhone is a great innovation and comes with a VERY unique user interface. It lacks a few features that other phones have but has its own market and will therefore be just as good as other phones. I like the iPhone although I’ve figured out for me that it does not have what I need in a phone.

No exchangeabooool battery, no keypad or keyboard = no tactil feedback while pressing the virtual keys on the display, no MMS (not really needed if e-mail is used instead), lousy camera. I think the iPhone is good for WiFi environments – so if you’re in the USA and hopping from one Starbucks WiFi hotspot to the next – then this is your phone.

Have to ask fellow bloggers Christian and Erik on their mobile blogging experiences. And what about the iPhone that was on display @ Skunkworks Kenya earlier this week ?

8. SonyEricsson K800i

46654

SonyEricsson’s sweetest phone ever (except for the T39m, yes :-)!
Comes with a nasty little joystick that often tends to retire within the first three months, but satisfies its user with a very decent 3,2 mpix cam and the best T9 keypad from SE ever. Included in this list because I see many ppl using this phone as a camera and music player. Actually had plans of buying this as a substitute to my N95.
The K800i comes, like most other new SE phones, with a little program that enables direct uploads to blogger.com (= Google). More on this later (part 3) as Nokia also supports the “blogging” platforms offered by Yahoo!.

Hmmm….SonyEricsson => Google and Nokia = > Yahoo! ??

9. SonyEricsson P1i

sony ericsson p1i

The SE P9i comes with a full QWERTY keyboard, a 3,2 mpix cam, WiFi and a stylus similar to those found on Windows Mobile phones.

10. SonyEricsson M600i

sony ericsson m600i

Obviously, the M600i comes without a camera but with a QWERTY keyboard.

11. HTC phones….

This list will never be complete, and while I am just confused about which HTC phone I should add to this list (Aegeus, saidia mimi tafadhali…si i hear u r back online anyways :-), I will update this post during the next few days and even deliver a part 3 which will cover the other side of the game: the software solutions that make mobile blogging possible.

Pls stay tuned!

mobile blogging, part 1.5

As long as part 2 on mobile blogging is in the pipe (blogging…as in “publishing content online”), check out this story on the “Mobile Journalism Toolkit“.

An impressive setup with the right, self-made (!) add-ons to improve the N95’s performance. Now I only wish Nokia would improve the firmware on the N95-1 and even add some extras to the S60 browser.

(note to myself: i should become a journalist so that I can get my hands on fancy gadgets instead of saving my mbeca for these gimmicks..)

Naaaaaaarf!

My colleague has an iPhone.

Kiku’s Realm on an iPhone

Interesting fact: the iPhone will be officially available in Germany via T-Mobile (the only network in Germany that supports EDGE) from November 9th onwards. Rumour has it that it will at least cost a monthly fee of EUR 50,- which will include some free airtime and free sms. Plus the subsidized cost of the phone, of course, which I think will settle somewhere between EUR 299,- and 399,- [update: it will be EUR 399,-].

The other alternative is to import it from the US and hack it yourself – this is what my colleague did. Some of these phones are selling for at least EUR 400,- on eBay Germany (most of them for something around EUR 550,-), but he bought it in the US, had it sent to someone who just came over for a visit and hacked it last night. He just showed it to me during the lunch break and I have to admit: the iPhone scores exactly where my Nokia N95 has its downsides, namely the interface / usability, speed and and internet surfing experience.

Coming to an interim conclusion of my first hands-on impression: if you’re into surfing the net via Wi-Fi and if your network provider supports EDGE technology, if you’re not the MMS person and want to use e-mail instead, if you hardly ever use the phone’s camera and just want a great substitute for your E61(i) or Blackberry…then the iPhone is the right phone for you.
All others who need more multimedia functions may go for the N95, but frankly said: if I could swap the internal GPS on my N95 for a much better battery runtime, a much better browser (both browsers are based on Apple’s Safari core!) and a brick format (no movable parts = less problems), heck – i would immediately switch phones. Comparing the N95 with the iPhone isn’t fair, though. They just happen to compete on the same market but were made for completely different user groups, I think.

Oh, and the best thing about his deal: he just spent something like EUR 280,- on the phone due to the awesome exchange rate to the US-$. With EUR 280,-, I won’t even get a Nokia E61i… and THAT is sweet. An iPhone for EUR 280,- while the N95 currently retails for EUR 559,-!

@Mental: you may want to go for the iPhone…
@Mathias: kannst Du mir bitte ein iPhone mitbringen? :-)
@Bambi: *sigh*…please? prrrreeeezzzzee?
@CK: there you go…

[Update]: Ok ok ok…Bambi says NO! to the iPhone (NO! as in NO!), and since Bambi also is the Minister of Finances @ Kiku’s Realm, I’ll have to stick to this virtual (but nevertheless also neat) desktop iPhone realized through Adobe’s AIR tool:

[UPDATE 2]: CG just sent me a link to macnotes where it says that the tariffs will include a flatrate for EDGE and all T-Mobile hotspots. Hmmmmm… The iPhone lacking UMTS (3G) support may be ignored with a flatrate for T-Mobile hotspots, but still: all tariffs are just too expensive. And besides – even since the iPhone doesn’t support MMS – selling sms for 0,19 EUR is just sooo…1990s. T-Mobile and Vodafone both have great coverage and network speeds, but their approach to consumers is just an insult day after day.

Mobical & Nokia N95 “redesign”

I started using the free synchronisation services @ mobical.net and am pleasantly surprised at the ease with which I can now synchronize the address book on my mobile phone with an external website.

Mobical isn’t perfect, and I just use it to backup and edit my data more conveniently, but nevertheless it is a bit better than using MS Outlook (which, as an MS-Windows solution, isn’t free of charge) and best: it works. Hassle-free.

…which makes me WISH that my prefered webbased email provider should offer the possibility to actually synchronize a mobile phone’s telephone book as well as the SMS / MMS inbox, bookmarks, notes and, most importantly, the calendar with my email box. Just a neat all-in-one solution.

I wonder why in a world of wide networks and a huge repository of good, free and open software, some tasks like the exchange of data are still such an issue?! Just think of the various Character Separated Values, Comma Separated Values or Colon Separated Values (CSV) formats that exist as there’s no common standard on this. *sigh*

Which gets me to the next issue that has been bugging me for some time now: The Nokia N95 is a great telephone as it comes with lots of useful multimedia features which are still hard to find with other phones.

However, having switched from a Nokia 6230i that offered an ideal keypad to key in short messages and other text, i find the buttons on the N95 rather unuseful and also ugly. Especially the keypad just below the top screen is horrible. I wonder who passed this design from R&D to production?
Anyways, in short: i like the phone but think that it still comes in an ugly packaging. Especially the front cover could enjoy some redesign. This should actually be possible as it is only secured by four screws on the back.

the design issues i am having with the N95…

So what’s the task?

1. the keypad on the front cover (“S60 keypad assy”) is way too narrow and I understand it was already moved down and away from the screen to shorten the distance to the actual number keypad (Nokia calls this the “ITU keypad assy”).
While writing text (e.g. sms), I sometimes type in a wrong letter which needs to be corrected. Hitting the delete (“C”) button on the front panel sometimes – unfortunately – results in hitting the red phone button by mistake => the phone goes back to the standby screen. Argh. A redesign thus should include the delete button to have a bigger size. Also, the overall size of the keypad should make use of the whole space left on the front cover.

2. Other slider phones from Nokia such as the 6110 navigator or E65 come with a gently inclined front cover. While writing text on the N95 number keypad, my thumb often hits the edge of the front panel. This could be avoided or limited by removing this artifical border and reshaping the front cover so that the thumb may freely move between the (lower) number keypad and the keypad on the front cover.

3. The front video camera on the upper right corner looks like as if it has been put there at the last moment. Obviously, there should be a better way of moulding it into the front cover.

4. I “secured” the display on my N95 with some BRANDO display protector (foil) as it a) looks as if the screen actually is a bit sensitive to scratches and b) there’s a gap between the display and the frame = no seamless transition between the display and the frame as seen with other phones (= which shows that such an approach to a better design is possible).

my 5-minutes paintshoppro’d version on a change I’d like to see on the front cover keypad..

As these modifications only apply to the cover, and exchange covers are already available via ebay & co, such a redesign should actually be possible and isn’t too far fetched. Chinese manufacturers (since you’re masters of ~~copying~~ adopting designs anyways) – are you listening?

my 15 minutes review of the N95

Obviously, there’s no real substitute to a laptop computer.

There are those phones that come with a working QWERTY keyboard, and others that do not but offer the connectivity to a bluetooth keyboard instead (such as the SU-8W). Such a phone with a way too small key~~board~~pad is my Nokia N95. “It’s what computers have become”, as Nokia advertises it.

Only: you can get a full size laptop computer for the same amount you’d have to cough up for a Nokia N95. In other words: for an amount of around EUR 600,-, this phone has to be really good. But it isn’t.

It primarily is a phone, and as such it does it’s job quite well. The interesting, multi-tasking operating system Symbian S60, 3rd (feature pack1) does a remarkable job, and it is while working with this phone that you realize how this little gadget actually works. Much like an iPhone, I suppose, that also offers an interesting GUI which takes time to load – and sometimes hangs itself up due to a system-hiccup. A reboot as the interim solution, or the flashing of the internal firmware does the job. Frankly said, with banana software that ripes with the customer and short product cycles, I never expected anything else but exactly this behaviour. Another drawback besides of the ever draining battery (this has improved over the time now and I’ve managed to keep it running on one battery charge with normal usage for something like 48 hours – which would include lots of SMS and listening to music) is the narrow keypad, which makes entering text a pain in the…fingers (the multimedia buttons, actually, not so much the 0-9, *# keypad). The delete (“C”) button on the lower right of the front buttons is just next to the so-called “multimedia button”, meaning that I sometimes accidentally hit the multimedia button, and I have to switch back to the draft folder within the SMS menue where the started sms was – fortunately – saved automatically. Also, the other multimedia buttons on top when you slide down the front part are just useless. I hardly ever use them!

Now, those are the bad sides of the phone. And there have been numerous reviews on this phone during the past 2-3 months, a huge fan base around the world that diligently describes every new trouvaille, so nothing, really nothing is unmentioned. As for the Nokia N95 vs. the Apple iPhone – I am 100% d’accord with Steve Litchfield: the iPhone is 5 years ahead, but it lacks a LOT of features even average, mass-market phones such as the Nokia 6230i or the SonyEricsson W810i already have.

Which gets us to the hightligts. I initially decided for this phone coz I started using the mp3 player that came shipped with my previous Nokia 6230i. The phone had been “pimped” with a 2GB multimedia memory card (MMC) and thus had some “issues”: a) indexing took ages whenever the player was started afresh (after rebooting, as the index list wasn’t saved for whatever reasons) and b) it sometimes just rebooted out of the blue. So the idea was born that I would need to invest into a new phone. I wanted to get a phone with a working mp3 player, a decent internet browsing facility (~ screen size) and, most importantly, a good camera. The Nokia N95 has all this!

And this btw is also why I didn’t go for a Nokia E61i or the brand-new E90 communicator, both from Nokia (the E61i is very tempting indeed, only that it doesn’t have such a nice cam). The N95 DOES have a great cam (for a phone, that is!), it has EVERY possible communication interface there is: USB, IR, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA (UMTS 3), HSDPA (3.5G), a reliable mp3 player that remembers where I stopped the last time, even after rebooting the phone in between (nice) and the ability to record videos in near DVD quality (with a mono microphone though, which is kinda sad compared to the stereo mic on the N93).

So the point is: the N95 is a multimedia phone, and as such it does a great job.

And then of course there’s the e-mailing thing. I know there are other phones that do this job much better, even those with a push client etc (Blackberry & Co.), but for my private & “always-on-the-road”-needs, the internal e-mail client just works.

Heck, it even allows me to attach photos, video, audio files or other content!
Well…I guess some of these HTC PDAs running on Windows Mobile 5.x /6.x aren’t bad either (i hear you, Aegeus :-) and I should give them a try next time.

I switched back from using GMail to (the German freemail provider) Web.de which offers IMAP. This constellation is more reliable than GMail and even GoogleMail’s GMail dedicated java applet something hangs. For quicky checking my e-mail on the road, this is the quickest solution. Me I like… :-)

Oh, and btw: I didn’t pay anything for the phone so far, as I got it subsidized with two contracts – which are supposed to generate revenue for the network provider and pay up the subsidization. There’s a montly base fee, but apart from that, nothing else unless you use the two SIM cards. Well, I won’t.

p.s.: how could I forget to mention the awesome GPS inside the phone? You know what they are saying about men and how they never ask for any directions once they’re lost?… so this little add-on is just sweet! :-)

node-hopping

Just a side note: while reading Christian’s latest post on knowledge sharing within companies, I just came to realize that I had instinctively used the blogosphere for gathering useful informations on my new Nokia N95 telephone.

Interesting applications, utilities and widsets? User experiences, shortcuts on the menu or tips on how to optimize battery runtime? The international blogosphere +? multimedia platforms such as the popular poparchive? youtube or flickr deliver all you need – without even a single search through Google.

Hopping from one blogging “node” to the next, the need for simple googleing becomes almost obsolete, as others have already compiled interesting articles such as? a “TOP 10 must have N95 utilities” list.?
So instead of doing a Web 1.0 search through Google on keywords such as “Nokia N95 appz”, I instantly consulted del.icio.us for anything on “N95” and received a list of quality links that would give me quick results. Whereas I always needed to check out various Yahoo!Groups in the past for an interesting file here or there (those small java applets that run on Nokia’s S40 OS-platform)? or -? even worse – forums that only sometimes come with a? “sticky thread” where all interesting and important things? are gathered in? an FAQ-collection, the blogosphere? delivers much more useful info on a topic. Selected, tested, rated and – most importantly – communicated to others.

And here I am now, happily runing a few selected and tested (!) applications on? my new phone. This whole process of gathering informations on how to personalize my phone to my needs just took me a few hours of reading different blogs. Sweet :-)

direct access to multimedia content (N95)

I am yet to figure out how to actually improve the different services provided by my new Nokia N95, and since I am a? bit short in time these days, I try to limit my current N95 activities to small issues – discovering new stuff one by one.

What I eventually managed to run as a service is the streaming of video podcast. This service is just sweet as it enables me to download videocasts through a WLAN (@ home & @ work) or GPRS/UMTS (3G) directly from? the phone.

==> Whereas an iPod Video still requires some syncing with iTunes + the pysical connection to a host computer (dito the Zen Vision:M I had used for some time), the N95 directly accesses the net. This way, all you need is network coverage and some memory space on your phone (I just ordered a 2 GB microSD card).

My next task will be to figure out how to make screenshots from the phone…