Diaries of a Nokia Fan Boy

Alright, so Nokia 8800 is a series of phones which I would love to have but for their lacking of a smartphone OS, never will. Or at least that was the case up until now. Out comes the Nokia 8800 Erdos – the newest addition to 8800 line which includes the Sirocco, Arte, Sapphire Arte, Carbon Arte, and Golden Arte.

Up until this point, these phones have been functionally simplistic, outdated even, but designed with elegance and grace. This gave them a very high price and made them rather exclusive. Well I’ve always likened the phones with, for example, the Smart car – something interesting to look at, but I would never own one. And for me, the breaking point has always been the lack of a smartphone operating system since I need to connect to MS Exchange.

The 8800 line so far has seen little in the way of redesign – physically and functionally. But the Nokia 8800 Erdos comes with a completely new design and improved functionality:

• Symbian S60 (looks like 5th ed)
• 2.4″, 16M color, OLED, QVGA display
• Touch area on display
• GSM/WCDMA + WLAN
• Bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP)
• AGPS
• 5MP AF camera with Carl Zeiss optics + LED flash
• VGA @ 15fps video
• 8GB internal memory
• Slide and lift T9 keypad

While the overall specs are not that big of an improvement, the biggest, most important improvement is the operating system. Not only does this open the handset to a wider market, but it improves overall user experience. This is also the first 8800, or Nokia for that matter, to feature a touch area on the display (different from touch-screen), which could signal the introduction of gestures. The phone, like other 8800’s before, features a T9 keypad, however this one slides up when the phone opens, making it easier to type, and if the OS really is S60 5th, then it will be the first to match that keyboard type with the OS.

Anyway, enough out of me, take a look at the sleek and sexy design of the 8800 Erdos in the video below:

-Nokia FanBoy

via: CellPassion (read)

OK, so the N900 is finally, officially, released; and we didn’t even have to wait until September 2nd! Well looking at the specs, we see that this is quite a powerful machine, but that it is also far too big and heavy to use as a daily cellphone. Also, looking at the 3G frequencies, it appears as if the device will be coming out for T-Mobile’s network and the European networks. Shame that it won’t work on Rogers.

• WVGA: 848×480, 3.5″, 16M color screen
• Proximity sensor
• Accelerometer
• 32GB onboard memory
• microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• 256MB RAM
• ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz
• PowerVR SGX graphics
• Maemo 5
• 3G @ 900 / 1700 / 2100
• HSDPA 10MBps / HSUPA 2MBps
• WiFi 802.11 b/g
• Bluetooth v2.1 (w. A2DP)
• microUSB 2.0
• 5MP Carl Zeiss camera
• Dual LED flash
• WVGA (848×480) video @ 25fps
• TV-out (unknown resolution)
• GPS with A-GPS
• Digital Compass
• Stereo FM Radio with FM Transmitter
• 1320mAh battery (for unknown talk/standby time)
• Weight: 181g
• Dimensions: 110.9 x 59.8 x 18 mm, 113 cc
• Expected price: 500 Euro

So this little gem is indeed quite nice, however it also costs quite a bit. Its too big to use as a cell phone, but too expensive to use alongside a dedicated cell phone. It would, I suppose, work well as an in-car computer for music, navigation, etc. but there are some cheaper options out there (with larger screens I might add). But I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. It would have been nice to see the Rogers 3G frequencies on here, but I guess we’ll have to wait for a different version of the device.

-Nokia FanBoy

detailed specs on GSMArena
via: Engadget (read)

Well it looks like the seal on the Booklet 3G news is more leaky than a sieve! Some more info coming to us from NetbookNews and UMPC World. Lets leave the best for last and start with the specification update.

First of all, it looks like a safe bet that the CPU is an Atom Z530 (1.6GHz dual-core). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, its a pretty decent processor.

Second, the HDD is going to be 120GB. This implies that its going to be a disk drive, and not a solid state. Which is a shame because the solid state would have fared much better, as well as increased the battery life even further. To be perfectly honest, its a mystery how they’re getting 12 hours considering they have a dual-core processor and a disk drive :S

Third, and this is more of a speculation, the machine is likely to have 1GB RAM, and I am inferring this mostly from the CPU, the HDD and the fact that its a high-definition screen.

Fourth, it is quite likely that the battery isn’t going to be 12 hours, maybe closer to 6 hours with light usage, which is closer to the truth, and sounds like most other netbooks out there.

Since there are a lot more points mentioned I will just go on to the last one: the price. The Booklet is expected to have a price of $799, which, by any standards, is not acceptable for a netbook, even one as nicely outfitted as this. I believe that in order for this device to survive, it will have to be priced in the sub-$500 range, then it will have a fighting chance with the HP Mini’s, Acer One’s, and AI TouchBook’s of the world. Of course, the Booklet is meant to be subsidized by carriers, but the problem is, so are the other netbooks, and some are less than half the price! (the HP Mini 10.1″ is $350 at Costco across the street from me)

So in short, the specs are more disappointing than I would have hoped for, and if Nokia prices it at $799 the Booklet will die rather quickly. Especially considering its only differentiation is aluminum chassis, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, and HD (720p?) display with HDMI out. In today’s world that just isn’t enough for a netbook to be priced in that range.

-Nokia FanBoy

via: UMPC Portal (read)
and: Netbook News (read) – warning: non-english

Yet again we see Mobile-review with a copy of a device which not only hasn’t been released, but hasn’t even been announced yet! This time he got a hold of the Nokia N97 Mini. With this we see the confirmation of the device’s existence as well as a glimpse at the differences in the spec list:

• Smaller overall size
• No D-pad on slide-out keyboard
• Smaller keys on QWERTY keyboard
• Metal battery cover
• No camera slider
• 8GB internal memory (vs 32GB on N97)
• Approx. 100 Euro cheaper

The difference in the spec list isn’t exactly all that amazing. In fact, for a difference of only 100 Euro’s I wouldn’t consider this over the original N97, however it would be nice to see a comparison shot (M-R doesn’t provide one). My overall feeling about the device is quite similar to Eldar’s – the device isn’t all that impressive, and while the build quality is better than the N97, I would prefer the N97 still.

Read the review for more details.

N97 Mini vs 5730

N97 Mini vs N900

-Nokia FanBoy

via: Mobile-Review (read)

Ok, so we all know that Nokia was planning to enter the netbook/notebook market, and apparently it did so by creating a “Booklet”. The Nokia Booklet 3G is basically a slightly more powerful netbook (for an unknown price). Nokia’s Exec. VP for Devices, Kai Oistamo, had this to say about the Booklet 3G:

A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility. We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal.

I must admit, the device itself looks quite appealing, with a very understated yet elegant simplicity. Indeed the device does remind us of a somewhat older, more classic, Nokia design. The Booklet 3G has some fairly impressive specs to be competing with the netbooks of today:

Nokia Booklet 3G

• Atom CPU
• 10.1″ HD Display
• Built-in Webcam
• HDMI Out
• Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/3G/HSDPA
• Several USB ports, 3.5mm audio out
• SD card reader (SHDC? SDXC?)
• Integrated A-GPS with Ovi Maps!
• 12hr battery life
• 2cm thick
• 1.25kg
• unconfirmed: Windows 7

The specs look really promising, in fact this would be the perfect in-car computer, depending, of course, on what kind of hard-drive it has. For the complete spec list and price info we’ll have to wait until Nokia World 09.

I was just thinking about the target market for this, and I realised that the potential is quite large. Students that prefer to have an always-on internet connection or that require GPS in their laptop could definitely use this. Of course while most universities now offer campus-wide Wi-Fi, this would be great for completing projects on the bus. And just like for exchange-students that would be greatly helped by GPS when navigating strange cities, travelling Businessmen would also find this feature quite helpful. However for the businessmen the built-in 3G would be more helpful for accessing internet en-route to a client’s location or at the client’s location during, say, a presentation (basically same reason someone would get the USB 3G stick).

The battery life in this beast is also quite impressive, and even more so considering how light it is. However, I would be quite interested to find out just how HD the Booklet’s 10.1″ HD screen is.

As for now, we have a video and a gallery for you to peruse.

Nokia Booklet 3G Back	Nokia Booklet 3G Blue	Nokia Booklet 3G Camera
Nokia Booklet 3G Colours	Nokia Booklet 3G Group	Nokia Booklet 3G HDMI
	Nokia Booklet 3G Open

-Nokia FanBoy

via: Nokia Conversations (read)
and: Engadget (read)
and: Symbian-Freak (read)
and: GSMArena (read)