PC Mag 6682 review I keep reading "GSM providers" in the US will carry this. I wonder if this will actually go to T-Mobile US as well as Cachingular at some point down the road, as T-Mo is starting to carry more and more 850 phones.  ¶ 1:58 PM 1 comments

  N90 Delayed until July Whoopsie. At least they aren't rushing a bug infested phone out the door to make some artificial deadline.  ¶ 11:58 AM 0 comments

  6630 navigation pack This is sort of interesting... but the separate GPS unit doesn't seem very appealing to me... who needs one more piece of junk.

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE June 20, 2005

The Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack - a complete mobile navigation solution


Espoo, Finland - Nokia and Wayfinder Systems today announced the availability of the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack, a compact smartphone-based package that enables people to find their way and explore locations while on the move. The navigation pack consists of a Nokia 6630 smartphone, a Nokia Wireless GPS Module and the Wayfinder Navigator(TM) application.

"Location based services are among the top consumer choices for new mobile applications," said Kirsi Kokko, Director, Smartphone and Business Solutions, Multimedia, Nokia. "With the Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack, we wanted to address this demand with a highly advanced, portable package combining the benefits of a smartphone and navigation. When not using navigation based services, people can enjoy the same device for productivity purposes, taking pictures or video, surfing the Internet or listening to music."
"The Wayfinder Navigator(TM) application on the Nokia 6630 brings the ultimate navigation solution to the consumer," said Jonas Sellergren, VP Product Management, Wayfinder Systems. "The Wayfinder Navigator(TM) in a Nokia smartphone delivers a complete navigation experience that previously has been found primarily built into cars. Wayfinder Navigator(TM) is the perfect travel companion, the ideal tool for people on the move."

The Nokia Navigation Pack puts the world into people's pockets: when connected to the Nokia Wireless GPS Module, users can directly from the Nokia 6630 smartphone see their position and the easiest route to their destination on a digital map, provided by Tele Atlas. Once installed with the automatic settings configuration tool, Wayfinder's extensive map selection - which currently covers Western Europe, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Greece* - is ready for use.

The application also guides users with turn-by-turn voice instructions, and allows searching for street addresses, restaurants and other points of interest. Furthermore, locations or points of interest can be shared by forwarding maps via MMS or email. The Nokia 6630 Navigation Pack does not require fixed installations, making it possible for people to use it whenever and wherever they like.

The Wayfinder Navigator(TM) application on the Nokia 6630 smartphone's Reduced Size MultiMediaCard (MMC) offers a 6-month period of navigation including automatic map updates. After the free period, users can extend the service directly from the Nokia 6630 smartphone or via www.MyWayfinder.com. In order to access the Internet and download routes, maps and information from the Wayfinder server, users need a GPRS** subscription.

In some markets, the navigation pack will also be available with the Nokia 6670 smartphone. The Nokia 6630 and 6670 Navigation Packs are available in Western Europe, with more areas to follow later on this year.


*Please check www.wayfinder.com for current map coverage.
**To check the availability and cost of the service, contact your network operator or service provider.  ¶ 2:13 PM 0 comments

  Enter to win a N90 (USA) The really interesting thing about this contest is that this phone will only be sold online in the US through Ritz Camera. I don't know if this means this triband phone will not be sold through T-Mobile retail stores either (T-Mobile is the only 1900 only national GSM carrier in the US), but I assume this will in fact be the case.

I have been befuddled that nokiausa.com has listed the N90 as coming soon, since T-Mobile US specializes in cheap, easy to use phones as part of its effort to go after the budget wireless demographic, and the N90 certainly is not part of that (expected to list retail around $900 US on release). This explains what they were up to.  ¶ 8:50 AM 0 comments

  Nokia design and mass marketing





I snapped this lighter in a gas station. It's fascinating to me how the design of Nokia phones become incorporated in consumer doo-dads and tschotckes in everything from kids toys to car air fresheners. I've read Frank Nuovo, Nokia's chief designer, talk about this before. It really got me thinking when I saw even the chubby 6600 is showing up in these kind of products.  ¶ 7:03 PM 1 comments

  6681 dropping like a stone -- $475 This is not an ad.

It's interesting how fast this phone has fallen in price from its debut around $550 to $475 in a month or so. Are people holding out for the N series, driving down the price of this slight upgrade from the 6630? I'd guess so.  ¶ 7:31 AM 0 comments

  Register -- N91 preview Andrew Orlowski generally likes the device, but finds bones to pick regarding the Series 60 user interface:

"It's always been a curious hybrid of old and new, but requires too many keypresses and some strange combinations to achieve simple tasks. Common operations are buried deep in folders. The hangup key returns you to the phone screen, but obviously this can't be used during a phone call." (Try using the exit button)

"The misleadingly named "Menu" key has been shunted out of sight on the right hand edge of the device, and is now called the "Applications" key." (Strange and probably a bad move given the importance of this function).

He adds: "Nokia can claim that far more many people use its Series 60 than own iPods: over 20 million have been sold, and it predicts 240 million will be in use in a couple of years time. But while it's a nerd's delight, the UI represents an obstacle to mass market adoption: it's time for some real innovation, or a new paradigm such as the wheel-assisted horizontal scrolling used in the iPod."

I wonder if this is true or just one man's opinion? I feel this way about Series 40, not Series 60, but that is just my opinion. I wonder how many S60 users (not geeks, but the real people who buy these phones) have problems with navigation. I'd love to read a Nokia usability study (I'm sure they exist) on this subject.  ¶ 10:01 AM 0 comments

  Convergence Looking at all the slick new Series 40 phones from my perspective as an S60 fan, I definitely have mixed emotions.

It's great that Nokia has upgraded the S40 os, opening up a whole new option of phone purchases for those of us who love Nokia but require smartphone power. Up until now, S40 was a clearly inferior os; I would often see a S40 phone that had the size and design I preferred, but never could stomach the unfriendly interface that had limited expandability. With its new user interface, ability to attach full-size jpegs to email, its now an option that I would seriously consider.

What does this mean for S60? I think there's probably plenty of room for the S60 platform, given the large number of current users who are growing attached to the wide variety of downloadable software and its usability. But many people, myself included, may end up buying "down" -- purchasing less expensive and powerful S40 phones that meet bare minimums - html browsing, email with attachments, pim functions w/sync, high-quality cam, and a grid ui. Not to mention an os that at least in its current incarnation is a lot more stable than S60.

It will be interesting how Nokia innovates the S60 platform to keep it ahead of its Nokian competitor.  ¶ 8:26 PM 0 comments

  New (Series 40 not 60) phones (right hand side of page) This may mark the first step in the convergence of the Series 40 and Series 60 platforms. Nokia has released several phones, including sliders that look a lot more like S60 than S40. The details on what the Series 40 3rd edition includes are a little hard to find, but I assume they move the os closer to S60.

Infosync talks about attachment support for the 6270, the new quad band edge slider.  ¶ 7:23 AM 0 comments

  Nokia taking a S60 safari Nokia to base new Series 60 browser on Safari


Great browsing
"In order to provide the superb Internet
user experience, Nokia will leverage
leading open source components for
smartphones in its future Series 60
browser. As announced in June 2005,
these will include the open source
components Apple has based their
Safari browser on."

Expect to see this on new phones in the first half of '06.

Full release here.  ¶ 7:16 AM 0 comments

  What's so great about a Series 60 smartphone? Russell Beattie answers the question with this mini-review of his 6680 + a rundown on what a Series 60 phone can do for you.

It got me tired reading it. If you ever wonder what you are missing if you don't have a symbian 60 phone, its quite an exhaustive list.  ¶ 4:54 PM 0 comments

  More N90 pics From Mobilemania, a Czech site. The screen is totally gorgeous; I can't wait to see this phone!  ¶ 8:53 AM 0 comments

  Side by side pictures -- N90 and Razr, MPx220 A Slovakian mobile site, Mobil SME, has some nice comparison photos in their review of the N90. Scroll down to the bottom to see them.

I take back what I say about the N90 being as big as a Jetta. It's really not that huge compared with the MPx.  ¶ 8:01 AM 0 comments

  Fried memory No, this isn't some Nancy Reagan anti-drug rant. The mmc memory card on my 6630 became corrupted and unusable... I couldn't even reformat it. The problem started a few days ago when I was having some problems with saving my messages on my phone and switched to the memory card. This was followed by a couple of freeze ups that required battery removal to get restarted.

Finally, I went to take a picture, and the phone froze up, again, requiring battery removal. Once I realized all was fine without the card in use, I popped it out, put it in my card reader, and tried to reformat in FAT 32 and plain FAT format... no dice. Dead as a doornail.

After some googling, it became clear this has happened in some shape or form with others. Some claim firmware, some claim bad cards and the problem disappears once the cards are replaced. As my phone is an Asian import and fairly early release model (I think it was made in March of this year), and that rs mmc dual voltage cards are fairly new, I'd guess it was a badly manufactured card. I'm going to replace it and see what happens. Edit: see this post -- indication it is in fact a card problem.

Unfortunately, this is the price you pay for being a grey-market phone fiend who is an early adopter. If I had bought it from T-Mobile, I could just run it back for a replacement. Oh, I forgot, their phones suck.

But seriously, can Nokia ever make a phone that doesn't have some issue -- crashing (6680,6680), loose battery doors (6600), dead pixels on screens (take your pick), size of Volkswagen Jettas (N90)? I actually don't blame the cellcos for waiting so long to come out with models so the quality control bugs can burden people other than their subscribers and customer service people. And techies wonder why people stick with their crappy old samsungs...  ¶ 7:04 AM 1 comments

  PC Magazine slideshow with N90/N91pics Not the nicest pictures of the phones, but its great to see real world shots that give you a better idea of what they look like. Also, comparison pictures of the photos from the N90/N91.  ¶ 12:22 PM 0 comments

  N90 mania Eldar isn't so hot on the preproduction model he reviews, but the side by side pictures of the N90 and 6680 screens really show how great the N90's display is.

Phonescoop and some postings on gsmarena indicate the phone will have a vibrate function, contrary to what Eldar says on Mobile-Review.  ¶ 7:12 PM 0 comments

  N90 User Manual Linked from the FCC site. I have such a hard time imagining T-Mobile will carry this phone, given its cost... I assume it will be sold direct on Nokiausa.com, but wtfk?  ¶ 6:43 PM 0 comments