Sleek new 3G phones hit market

Sleek new 3G phones hit market

Zatni Arbi, Contributor, zatni@cbn.net.id

Within our telecom industry, there is a strong belief that
Indonesia will have 3G Wideband CDMA services late this year or
early next year. However, none of the infrastructure suppliers
are willing to be totally open as to who they think will
eventually provide the services. The licensing issue is certainly
one of the reasons why no one has really announced more specific
plans, including the launch dates.

However, handset makers are already relentlessly introducing
their new, 3G-capable cell phone models to the local market. And,
who else other than Nokia would bombard the market with new
models?

Late last month, Nokia gathered groups of journalists and
analysts from countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore,
Indonesia and Australia in Kuala Lumpur. The highlights were
three new premium models for the 3G WCDMA. There are a couple of
new things that I learned during the event.

One thing to keep in mind is that all the 3G WCDMA cellular
phones -- not only from Nokia but also from the other vendors
such as Motorola and Sony-Ericsson -- are also GSM cell phones.
It means that these cell phones can still be used in areas where
the GSM service is available.

It also means that you will have no problem using your 3G
WCDMA cell phone to call someone who still uses a GSM cell phone,
but you cannot make a video call or start a video-sharing
session.

Video calling and video sharing are two things that we need to
learn to distinguish, too. As a 3G WCDMA user, you can choose
whether to initiate a video call or a voice call when calling
your friend, provided he is also using a WCDMA cell phone. If you
make a video call, the connection will continue as long as both
of you are within the WCDMA network coverage and as long as you
do not hang up.

Or, if you prefer, you can also initiate a voice call. Now,
while talking to your friend, you may see something and you want
your friend to see it, too. It may be a gorgeous new SUV, a new
cafe or a house for sale. You can then initiate a video-sharing
session. You basically let your friend see what you see through
the digital camera on your cell phone.

While you are sharing the video clip as it is captured by your
camera, you can continue your voice call. The main difference is
that the video sharing works only one-way, while a video call
works both ways. When you close your video-sharing session, you
will stay connected via the voice call.

What are the new features?

At the event, Nokia announced a new series of cell phones
called the Nseries. Again another potentially confusing naming
rule by Nokia, but by now I guess we have gotten accustomed to it
all and it does not matter much anymore.

The first three models from the Nseries are the N70, N90 and
N91. The higher the number, the more sophisticated the model.

At a glance, the N70 looks similar to the sleek Nokia 6680,
which I reviewed briefly quite recently. The N70 is smaller than
the Nokia 6680, though. It is Nokia's smallest 3G cell phone. It
also boasts two digital cameras, a 2 megapixel at the back and a
VGA in front.

The N90 is a flip model with multiple hinges. You can rotate
the LCD portion and turn it into a viewfinder. To take your own
picture, you can rotate the camera housing so that the lens will
be directed toward yourself.

Obviously the most important feature of the N90 is the use of
the Carl Zeiss lens. The camera is also a few steps higher than
previous models, as it is also a 2 megapixel camera. It also has
an integrated LED flash, which will help a little if you want to
take a picture of your date at your first candlelight dinner.

The N91 is geared more toward music lovers, and I guess it
will be a very exciting model, too. I was told that it would be
the first cell phone model from Nokia to finally use a hard disk.
In fact, I am not aware of any other cell phone that uses this
type of storage device.

With storage capacity expected to reach 4GB, the N91 will be
able to hold up to 3,000 songs. This model reminds me very much
of my favorite Nokia 7650. It has a sliding keypad cover with all
the necessary controls for playing music on it. Pull the cover
down, and the keypad will be revealed.

As a high-end product, the N91 does not skimp on features. It
supports Bluetooth as well as the Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g wireless
standard. It also has a 2-megapixel camera.

These models are expected to hit the market this year, and I
just hope I will have the chance to test at least two of them --
the N90 and N91. The prices have not been announced yet, but I
guess they won't be within the "affordable" range.

One preliminary comment, however, is that Nokia should add a
separate button for Video call so that choosing between a voice
call and a video call will be a matter of pressing one button or
the other. As it is implemented in this series, we still have to
choose from the Option menu to make a video call or a voice call.

Another concern is the battery life. Nokia told me that they
would do their best to keep the battery life as good as possible,
and that we will have 12.5 hours of music listening or four hours
of talk time. With all these features thrown into a cell phone,
it will be quite a challenge, so let's see what the results of
our test will be.