MobileDan’s Weblog

So, when I decided to write my last post on emoze I had to break out the only phone I have for now, being Jonathan Greene’s N78 that I still need to get back to him, AND think of an appropriate gift, seeing as I’ve been borrowing it for… oh… 6 months! (Please leave ideas for things if you have any)

BACK to the story!

So, emoze is in the process of releasing a version for the 5800, but for now, I don’t have one, so I had to fire up the N78…

Buttons… Wow…

I don’t think I was really expecting to like the Nokia 5800, I was kinda iffy on the whole touch screen thing, being that I drive and text so much, but I had already known that I HATED QWERTY, although I did kinda like the E71, It was QWERTY and that was a deal breaker for me… (that, and the pink hue on the photos…)

So, Yeah, I LOVE this phone… I am reassured every time I pick up the iPhone, every time I have to show my father how to do something on his N75, and every time that I use any other phone…

But the funny thing was that using the N78, which is a SOLID device I must add… I really felt like using a rotary dial phone… after using Touch tone for so long…

That’s how archaic it felt to my hands…

Sitting here at my computer, phone on lap, I just touch the screen on the 5800 to wake it up to see if I missed anything… I did it 3 times to the N78, after catching myself doing it the first time, calling myself stupid, I still managed to do it 2 more times!

It’s just that smooth!

One beautiful, solid phone this 5800 is!  AND it’s just the basic model!

The N97 is going to have so much more in the way of social networking, and after just seeing this phone, I know it’s going to be AMAZING!

As I wrap up my visit from the Nokia 5800, I am again comforted in the fact that Nokia is producing quality products, with the user in mind, never really outdating a model with a newer or flashier one before the last model has seen it’s glory.  Which I must add is my #1 pet peeve with one specific company for releasing a newer version of phone or music player a step up for the same price as the last model, JUST after I have purchased mine…

Thanks…

My N73 which is a few years old can still hold its own in the wild, as well as the N78, and any other model released…

Even the N95 which was the flagship phone for many years, is still very competitive, even with the release of the N96 and the up coming release of the N97.

So, back to rotary dial for me… buttons, buttons and buttons… until I get the N97!  my only problem, and I’m sure it’s across the board, is the pricetag… but for what it’s worth, my feelings on the economy and such, is that instead of purchasing a flashy camera AND phone… get your moneys worth, Function over Form!  look into the Nokia devices, I’m sure there’s something that can fit your budget… the lowest camera resolution of 3.2 usually comes with Carl Zeiss optics which alone makes it a great camera, mixed with all the features of S60 and a solid build, and the fact that firmware updates are always coming out to help your phone keep up with the times… Nokia = sound investment

Until next time…

MD

I am not a market analyst, I am not a tech guru, I am not even much of a consumer, but what I am is an end user… I think that this means a lot.  It does to me… I matter a lot to me, and what I choose to spend my money on is a well thought out process of want vs. need (sometimes )

Tonight I had a discussion with my friend Serko from MobileDivide (please excuse the cursing, it was a private conversation that he has allowed me to share parts of)

SERKO: hope we get to play with the N97 on Tuesday!

Me:  That would be nice!

SERKO: I’m beginning to lose faith in Nokia too much rehashed BS

Me:  I hear you. But I don’t need a new phone, I need dependable

SERKO: definitely!

Me:  And, if the 95 is tried and true after all these years, so be it

Me:  That’s why I bought the 78

SERKO: Yeah I want an N85 in all Black with a Xenon flash

Me:  It’s exciting to see new, but I’m broke, and I can’t sell my parents, brothers or friends on something that’s not ready… Something that needs Fw updates and whatnot

SERKO: sure man totally understand

Me:  I can’t buy new yet, not patient enough. I’ve gone thru hell with this 96… So many freezes

SERKO: I want ATT to release a NAM 5800 for $99

Me:  Na, They raped the 75, I want them to NOT fu*% anything I want up

SERKO: well I flashed my mom’s N75 awhile back with an unbranded firmware build and it’s unlocked officially

Me:  Until they realize they can’t stick their d!*% in everything before they pass it out, I’ll pass

SERKO: lol OUCH!

ME: I sent 4 of them back until I got an old fw… That didn’t have their tabbed home screen. F*%k them, I’ll pay the money (for unlocked)… I think the tube will be under 300 Then practically give them away unlocked.. Without contract… If they (Nokia) can take that hit, it’ll attract a lot of people. But it had better be road ready! Don’t race to just sell it… Get the download store ready for it… Apps that work properly with it. Get everything symbian signed and verify it works with the tube

SERKO: sure man I agree, though I kinda feel weird going backwards in terms of Camera MP

Me:  I’m happy here at 3.2… Xenon is a big jump forward too!

SERKO: If they can get the 5800 to $249 on Amazon I think they’ll have a field day!

Me:  Not on Amazon! At the Nokia store

Take away any chance for people to sell for a profit

Draw people to the store… get people to see everything that Nokia has to offer… It’ll be in time for the 4th generation iPhone… (insert laugh) They can catch all the late adopters.

This started a fire that I let dwindle… A few months ago I spoke about my rant on Nokia’s attempt (or lack of one) in the US market. Amongst other things that I spoke of in that blog, I commented on my ideas on how to win over this finicky market…

The US market was lost by Nokia on so many fronts, but mostly the thing that I think did it in was the iPhone… I see too many people using it, and while I think it’s a great invention, It’s got nothing new, but things that I have seen and not marketed within S60.

Nokia is now fighting a multi-theatre war, one in trying to win consumers over with Nokia phones, and the other with trying to sell manufacturers and consumers on Symbian S60…

I get confused sometimes… I would really love to get my hands on the Samsung INNOV8 so that I could compare what Nokia and Samsung do with the same OS.

But, for now, I am a Nokia Fan-boy I guess…  I just see how the US consumer is inundated by a new phone ad daily, and it’s flash and shine… whereas I have convinced my family on how with the economy it’s less about form and more about function!  (Not that I don’t like the form of Nokia phones! they’re just not marketed as “sexy”)  My 67 year old father is using OVI to sync his calendar, contacts and photos that he was taking with my old N73, he seems to be getting by fine, and once he gets into his own routine I think he’ll figure out how much more is possible with it!

I think that the problems that I’ve had with demoing new phones is that the hardware is there, it’s flawless!  The problem is that the firmware needs to catch up, and most consumers aren’t willing to have to go through the trouble of having to do this weekly or monthly if and when there is an update…

I’m in the market for a new phone, and I want something that I don’t have to complain about, something that when I’m showing it off to people it isn’t freezing up or worse yet, restarting mid load of an app!  I think that Nokia is in a good position to release the 5800 tube, if they can get everything to work seamlessly, under normal use or under strain by a power-user! Something that shows what the download store is meant to do, show that it works great out of the box, and show that It’s possible to replace so many things that you’ve taken for granted in Nokia.  And with OTA updates, your phone will soon be able to learn to do so many more things!

Nokia: Take a price cut, and offer it without a contract for a competing price as the iPhone is with a contract!  it’s a base model, it’s NOT an Nseries, let it pave the way for the N97!

I don’t think that anyone knows how to conquer the US market, you hold your ground until something else flashy catches these consumers eyes… Grab their attention and hold it, and release something new and different, don’t release an updated version months down the road… Nokia to me hasn’t been like that, I love that my 2.5 year old N73 is still much better then most everything non Nokia, and that’s not just because of the 3.2MP camera!

The average consumer doesn’t care about their network so much as that it works!  I think that because the frequencies are so different in the different markets, it’s gonna take until we get to something like  5G (insert laugh here…) for all of the frequencies to match up, which I think is another problem, not only do manufacturers have to make one product for one market, they also now have to adapt that product to work within the US frequencies which are trying to catch up with the  GSM community…

One key reference website that I use is GSM Arena it lets me choose by manufacturer and sort results by frequencies.  AT&T for instance is 850 and 1900 GSM and 850 and 1900 UMTS… as explained here 2G is GSM and 3G is UMTS also called WCDMA and HSDPA I don’t know much about any of this but I know that I am seeing 3.5G on my screen and am happy to be able to use data and voice simultaneously! AT&T works great for me, I had problems with T-Mobile in my area and don’t foresee myself going back, but, I only use AT&T for service with voice, data and text, any other features they offer I am currently able to get through other services.  I still think that the providers should find a way and offer Spinvox, as I’ve been using it and loving it!

What I’m getting at in my last is that I understand that we are a hard market to please, and with that, it’s a gamble to make a product version for us that may or not sell as it does across the pond… once that is settled I think it’ll be easier for the companies, but for now, we need something on the high and low end to WOW us, to make us jump up and stand in line, and once we’re in line, and have the product, we don’t want a slap in the face when the same thing is re-packaged with more features and re-sold… just upgrade the firmware!

I will revisit this blog in the near future I am sure…

So, I’ve been playing with the new N96-3 NAM for a little over 2 weeks now, and I have been noticing a lot of things that I really like.

First off, the shell is beautiful, an improvement on the N95-2/4 which I don’t think was so necessary, but is still very nice… rounded and less clunky.

The TV out is beautiful, not only have I used it on a huge 60″ TV but, also as a passenger in my boss’ car. My job in the mornings is to navigate traffic, so on our way into the city, I use the video input on his 6″ touch screen car stereo, this lets us both see live traffic (or as live as Google maps updates…) so that we can take the appropriate actions for other routes to clients’ houses.

Another improvement is storage, 16gig is a definite improvement from 8gig any day of the week, but with the option to utilize the expandable SD Micro card slot, that brings the total to a whooping 24gig! Way to go guys!

The screen seems clear as day, I really liked viewing videos and such, even with “power saving mode” activated which tended to dim things.

The camera takes amazing photos, but I cannot readily compare them to any of the other 5MP Carl Zeiss camera photos I’ve shot, but they still look great.

Music player / media button. while I really liked the placement of the old media key, I think that it’s proper placement on the front is really smart, but I fear that people with bigger fingers would have a bit of a problem, this was not the case for me though, even while driving…

Speakers, even with the 3.5mm out, on the top which let me use it easier while driving, the speakers by themselves sounded crisp and clear with most of my music, I did however have to tweak the audio and Eq for loudness and such.

All in all I think the hardware for the N96 is spectacular, I liked it a lot…

But remember, there are a lot of negatives and most of them revolve around the Firmware…

First off was the noticeable battery. the N96 comes with the BL-5F battery which is a 950mAh battery while the N78 that I have been borrowing from Jonathan Greene comes with the BL-6F battery which is a 1200mAh battery.  That left a big humph as I sighed and placed it in the device…  The usage out of the smaller battery was noticeable, especially when trying to power this much bigger device.  When I used the BL-6F battery, which I read about on The Symbian Blog I managed to get a bit more out of it, but, as I’m always out and about, I’m using either Sports Tracker and or NokiaviNe which is constantly using both the Internet and the GPS.  I am also using Fring for instant messaging and Jaiku as well as running Nokia Email.  I think that with everything that I am running, and others might be running more or less, a decision to keep the battery smaller is unacceptable, I wouldn’t dare leave the house without my AC-5U travel charger.  = FAIL

Creaky keys… I get a lot of creaky noises, while I wouldn’t award this a FAIL it’s kinda loud when I’m trying to type on it and someone else is trying to watch TV or something…

Freezing…  This is the bane of my frustration… I have been using this phone for 18 days, for a total of data sent and received being 130MB and total talk time of over 12 hours… I don’t know if this constitutes “power user” but I think i expect more out of my devices then most others!  I use different apps at different times, and I have a few that I like to run all the time… take Jaiku, Fring, and Nokia Email for instance… they are running all day long… There was a noticeable “lag” from hitting keys to getting a response, but I dealt with it… Once I decide to  open something like SportsTracker, I open the program, start tracking my trip and I go to look at the phone, and it’s restarted… so, my whole “workout” or “vine” when I’m using NokiaviNe is lost, ruined, and thus, not complete!  ARGH!!!  FAIL FAIL FAIL

“Activate Power Saving”? WTF?  This is a no no… does anyone pick up their phone in the morning and say, gosh, i want it to run full power and be dead in no time? FAIL!  It should be able to handle anything that users throw at it, with whatever power source it was designed to carry… and it should of course be able to at least last more then half the day…

Buttons 1, 2 and 3 please stand up… You’re fired!  Why do you think that hiding up so damn far is a good idea? I’m not a big guy, by any stretch of the imagination.  My hands aren’t huge and neither are my thumbs, but i still have problems with those damn keys… who texts with their pinkies? FAIL!

Battery cover, you FAIL… You can’t take a slip from my ottoman, 8″ up without losing your insides? Humpty Dumpty looks like a rubber ball compared to you!

Did I mention the s….l…o…w…  L…a…g…? FAIL!

I want to love this phone, I really do, but for now I’d advice people that get frustrated easily to go and purchase an N95-4 NAM

I think that most of the problems can and will be addressed in upcoming FW updates, I was using 11.018 for the N96-3 NAM

Freezing and lag time, one would hope would be addressed in newer firmware updates… As well as the power saving… make that in a FW that it’s ALWAYS in Power Saving Mode… don’t give the option as power saving, default to regular and offer something like battery waste mode as an option, but don’t default to power hog!

How I would suggest fixing some of the non FW issues would be recalling the BA-5F battery or, offer a coupon for users to upgrade to the BL-6F AND Make a back plate that can accommodate it, without falling off as easily as it does with the proper battery in it!

Creaky keys, we have to live with it, but it should be addressed… as well as 1, 2 and 3…

I think as a flagship, it would be nice for the Xenon flash,  but just typing that out made the back of my neck tighten thinking of the battery issue…

I know that this device will get better, it will take a little bit of time, but once it does it’ll be nice to see this phone in all it’s glory… but oh, wait… there is already going to be a lot of hoopla about the N-97 I just hope it doesn’t get thrown by the wayside… Nokia needs to stay strong with NON TOUCH SCREENS as well!

Hello again, I’ve been keeping up with adding content to my site, and just in time!

The friendly gang at WOM World/Nokia have sent me yet another device to put through the paces…  It’s the New Nokia N96-3! for US3G!

 

 

 

 

Opening the box, I found, of course, a beautiful device, neatly framed in it’s all black package.

 

 

 

Upon lifting the cover I read Nokia’s “we recycle” statement.

 

 

I never thought of it before, (I hope this doesn’t make me a bad person) but, acording to Nokia, Up to 80% of your old phone can have a second life… They go on to state that there are over 1 Billion Nokia users, and how we can all make a difference… Please check this Nokia website to locate a take back program in your country! Also, they urge the consumer to recycle the entire package as well! All of the plastic bags that I saw in the package wrapping the wires and whatnot all have the easily recognisable recycle triangles on them!

 

 

 

 

Peeling open the upper cover, I noticed the device flanked by a set of HS-45 ear buds on one side and the media controller on the other side… This is the layer of what you need on the go to listen to your tunes which can be stored in the 16 Gb of internal memory or or on your own Micro SD card, up to 8Gb!

 

 

 

 

On the lower level you find the CA 75U A/Vconnector, for connecting the N96 to a TV to take full ability of the 40 hours of movies and video you can store on the device!(or on your Micro SD card ) Also below is the CA-101 Micro USB connector used to connect the device to your computer to take advantage of the different suites Nokia has to offer, for backup and data transfering. 

 

 

Also in the bottom of the box is the paperwork.  While looking through the paperwork I noticed the all usual documentation, warantee information, the getting started introduction manual, a disk with information on the new device, and the user guide.

 

 

I couldn’t help but be surprised at how much smaller the user guide was compared to any other previous device that I remember. It seemed to be shorter in it’s wording, more direct and to the point, saving words, saving paper saving trees… And, also saving the reader from boredom!  I even saw instructions on using widgets, tiny web based applications

 

 

 

Last but not least, included in the paperwork, there were 2 last items that really caught my attention… Well…  Actually there were three…

The first is a guide to Ovi.com, describing Maps, N-Gage, and Multimedia and how to access these features on the device.  I’ve recently started using Ovi.com as well as the Ovi suite instead of just using PC Suite by itself.  I have grown to like the way that it handles, and look forward to more features being rolled out

The second pampllet was a more straight forward instruction guide telling the reader to “Get Out And Play”. Explaining how to access N-Gage and start playing!

The third item hidden under the paperwork was a DC-4 mobile charger for the device.  

 

I’d like to think that this was something that they folks at WOM World put in there especially for me… You know, Cause I’m MobileDan and all… 

 

 

Expect more on my review of the N96-3 in the near future…

The ups AND the downs that I’ve experienced in the last 2 days…

It could be pretty, or it could get nasty…  So keep your eyes peeled here to find out!

So… I’ve managed to make it this far without ever using a Qwerty device… Sure I’ve held a blackberry and moved the Nav-Ball around, but nothing on the menu caught my attention…

So… the Nokia E-71 comes out in a European and a NAM edition… And everyone everywhere is talking about how wonderful this phone is…

Everyone seems to now own one, AND LOVE IT… Every other post on Jaiku has been E-71 this… or E-71 that…

I HAD TO GET ONE!

I had to at least try one…

The price seems too good to be true… Rumors going around on Jaiku of $399 on Buy.com

I’ve been going to NYC a bit lately, but mostly staying up north of Harlem, and getting a good parking spot on 57th for the Flagship Store is near impossible…

WOM World/Nokia to the rescue!

I am not going to bore you with crappy pictures or video taken with my N73, of me, unboxing anything if I can help it… You’ve seen the E71 online or in person… you’ve seen enough unboxings…

It’s a box…

It holds something,

usually what is depected on the outside of the box…

What you do next is up to you…

You come to a box, you open the box… There’s something inside, do you:

a. Close the box?

b. Drop the box?

c. Eat the contents?

d. Take the phone out and insert the battery and plug it into the wall.

Ok…

yada yada, sync from my phone… pause… switch sim’s… turn on and go…

go to google.com get mail, maps, and search…

(Search is another issue… every time I attempt to open search, i get a freeze, then a restart…I’ll talk more about that Later…)

palringo is necessary, as is jaiku… So I download both…

I am happy…

I tried out mobbler, just for a short bit… Seems cool… I’m happy!

i will play more when not so exhausted!

So my main concerns, getting used to the qwerty keyboard…

Seems ok thus far…I’ve got typing down…

Innitial thoughts on looks: Sexy, slim, like really really slim…makes the iPhone look fat!

nice sized screen, raised, rounded buttons, very easy to use D-Pad…

practicality: for me? none,

I am a T9 user… I like the qwerty, but I’m still T9, I just had to see what the fuss was… I can’t wait to show it off to my blackberry friends!

Headphone jack being 2.5mm… Not cool i don’t like using their headphones, but I’m forced to now… since the standard is 3.5mm

I don’t hate it, I’m just not converted on the first day… We’ll see…

but this is only day 1

I look forward to putting this phone through the paces… I’ve had one restart earlier when scrolling through my phone book, and 3after that trying to open Google Search… More to follow…