Nokia serious about multimedia on cell phones
Nokia serious about multimedia on cell phones
Zatni Arbi, Contributor/zatni@cbn.net.id
Due to my hectic schedule, I didn't go to the Gran Melia Hotel on
Oct. 28 or Oct. 29, the two days Nokia Indonesia was launching
its new Communicator 9500. It was also not my top priority, as I
had had the chance to play around with it for a week and wrote my
review here before the event.
However, I was told later that, on those two days, people
stood in line for hours eager to buy a unit right then and there.
I was also told that even the tickets to enter the venue, which
had been freely distributed by the company, were offered for Rp
500,000 apiece by those who happened to have them. Detik.com
reported that people were willing to pay up to 50 percent higher
for this expensive gadget, and one Nokia distributor told me that
several people called him and urgently said "I want to buy seven
of them!"
No wonder that people in other countries say this is a unique
market." Painfully embarrassing, I should say, but so true.
Destination Nokia 2004
Right after the Communicator 9500 launch -- which was also the
first worldwide -- the company took a number of Indonesian
journalists, including myself, to its annual Destination Nokia
event in the fabulous city of Bangkok.
Now, do you still remember Nokia 7700, the first Nokia cell
phone to require a stylus for input? I wrote about it after
Destination Nokia 2003 on the Gold Coast, Australia. This model
never really took off. It was basically a trial product that
Nokia, the world's No. 1 cell phone maker, was using to test the
water. This time around, however, Nokia feels confident that
there will be a sizable market for this format, which falls into
a category that the company calls Series 90.
The revision, which is called Nokia 7710, was the highlight of
Destination Nokia 2004. It has a wider touch screen than the
original N7700, as you can see in the accompanying picture. The
Web-optimized display screen has 65K color capability and 640 x
320 pixel resolution. Like its predecessor, it does not have a
keypad and you need a stylus to operate it. One highly welcomed
improvement is the location of the speaker and the microphone,
which has been moved to the unit's face. So, unlike the N7700,
you will no longer have to awkwardly hold the device against the
side of your head when making voice calls.
If you look at the screen, you will see a ticker line at the
bottom. It is an e-mail ticker. Tap on it with the stylus, and
the push technology using Smartner solution will bring you the
latest news or inform you of the availability of a new ringtone
that you can download. Two other very interesting capabilities
are Mobile TV and video sharing. We shall discuss these two new
technologies in upcoming articles.
N7710 also has a handwriting recognition tool, but I did not
get the chance to test its effectiveness. Other notable features
include a megapixel digital and video camera with 2x digital
zoom, a built-in FM radio, Bluetooth, 24-chord polyphonic
ringtones and True Tones, RealPlayer and Sketch image editing
tool. Nokia promises that you will never get bored in the company
of an N7710. There is no built-in Wi-Fi capability, though.
Compared to the original model, the N7710 definitely has a
much more stylish design. Like the N7700, it is also meant to be
a multimedia smartphone. It adopts a number of office tools that
are the strengths of Communicator 9500, such as a word processor,
a spreadsheet and a presentation program that can all use
Microsoft Office files. It also comes with an Opera browser that
will let you view HTML as well as xHTML pages. It is the right
model if you want to download and play back music files, browse
the Internet and do some office work while on the go.
N7710 has a huge memory capacity. It has a built-in 90 MB
memory, and a 128 MB MultiMediaCard (MMC) is included in the box.
If you must use a keyboard and you choose the N7710 for your next
cell phone, Nokia has a wireless keyboard that works with any
Bluetooth-capable cell phone.
I was told during a group interview with Peter Ollikainen,
director, business line management, Nokia Mobile Phones,
Asia-Pacific, that the life cycle of a cell phone model is 18
months on average. That is obviously not the case with
Communicator 9500. Now, whether the N7710, which has no keypad,
will be as successful as the N9500 or the N-Gage gaming cell
phone --in Indonesia, I mean -- remains to be seen. Personally, I
would say that the lack of an integrated keypad will be the
N7710's Achilles' heel.
Two other models were launched during the event: The N6020 and
N3230. The N6020 is a camera phone that lets you communicate in
richer ways --including using Push to Talk -- while the N3230 is
a fun megapixel camera phone. What I like most about the N6020 is
its rather classic design, strong build and all the latest
technologies incorporated into it.
The N3230 is boxier and it reminds me of several models from
Sony-Ericsson. It comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, the best
that Nokia has put in their cell phones to date. One of the
interesting functions available in N3230 is the one to help you
update your blog entries using MoBlog via EDGE or GPRS. It is
also the second cell phone that supports Visual Radio.
The three new models seem to underline Nokia's effort to
maximize the use of EDGE, which is available in more places. None
of them is WCDMA-ready.
In addition to the three new cell phone models, Nokia also
introduced an upgrade to its N610 car kit. The new N616 can be
used with a broader range of Bluetooth equipped Nokia phones. A
much better-looking security camera was also highlighted at the
event. No price has been announced, as Nokia will not start
shipping these products until the first quarter of next year.
Life is getting more interesting, but does productivity mix
well with rich media entertainment? What do you think?