New Nokia Phone 248
John writes: "infoSync has posted the official information about the two new Nokia phones which is going to be unveiled today. Quote: 'The Nokia 7650 will be the world's first 2.5G Symbian OS mobile phone with advanced messaging and imaging capabilities ...' It looks like ICQ on the mobile phone is closer than ever!" Includes a built-in camera and various comments about this not coming to North America anytime soon.
Drat, no 1900MHz support (Score:4, Interesting)
Btw, I have a theory about the existence of the Nokia 8890. Nokia realized their non-USA customers probably wanted to travel to the USA, not that they wanted to deliver the USA a cool phone. That's probably the only reason we have it.
Anxiously awaiting the 9290 [nokia.com].
one more step towards total integration (Score:3, Interesting)
Just 7 years ago very few people had a moblie phone, they were huge bricks with a battery life of 20 minutes. The digital camera was unheard of, the internet was just entering the mainstream (everyone said it would never catch on), and nobody had a CD writer.
Now we all have our digicam-watches, TiVos, DVD/TV/sound system players/recorders, Internet fridges (order food online as you use it), and miblie phones that can do pretty much enything you want except act as a sextoy [watch this space!].
The boundries between different technologies are becoming nonexistent. Different technologies are more cross-compatible. We are rapidly acheiving a situation where everything can talk to everything else.
As this trend increases, the total personal device (phone/pc/watch/camera/whatever) will evolve. It will do everything, go everywhere with you. It will interact with all the other devices in your life, making things easier and more personal. The electronic walls will change shade as you go into a public buliding, billboards will only advertise things you want. It'll be a better world.
These phones are a step in that direction. Which is, IMHO, very cool.
Java and next gen (Score:3, Interesting)
The 9210 communicator, runs the Symbian OS, Java and is generally absolutely brilliant. The only issue with it is size, which this phone addresses.
These next generation mobile devices are based around common standards and architectures, SymbianOS , Java & GSM. No Redmond anywhere to be found. Symbian is a solid proper RTOS unlike the PalmOS or WinCE. Consumer devices need to be reliable, robust and pre-emptible.
Re:Java and next gen (Score:1, Interesting)
Didn't you read.. (Score:2, Interesting)
I guess it'd be pretty easy to port a native Jabber client to symbian OS too...
that said, I don't really see the benefit in IM on a GSM phone - how does it differ from SMS exactly?
Re: Better mobile device than stuck with PC (Score:2, Interesting)
Think about it. The people designing these phones a few years ago couldn't anticipate the SMS craze.
But people actually want it so much they're ready to tap text messages on the hugely uncomfortable numeric keypad - not bleeding edge early adopters, but even grandmas and grandpas. It's a billion business here, and the threshold is soooo much lower than 1) get PC, 2) get ICQ, 3) sit around PC waiting for something to happen.
So there must be something to it. Messaging is closer to email in form, than telephony.
I believe the cultures of email and messaging will merge, become mobile and omnipresent, and just like cell phones, perfectly culturally acceptable to keep turned off when you prefer some privacy. (Busy, away, leave a message... same thing.)
J
Re:Very slick (Score:2, Interesting)
Somehow I couldn't imagine GSM masts all through North Dakota and Montana.
Re:one more step towards total integration (Score:2, Interesting)
When I went travelling in Europe earlier this year, the mobile phone was the number one item to bring. As long as I had a credit card and my phone, nothing was a problem.
If I got lost, no problem, called my hotel or a friend, asked them to help. If I had to meet people, no problem, get their number, call them when I arrive.
My mother loved it because she could call me any time, day or night, anywhere I was. I never had to tell anyone where I was going or what I was doing or how to contact me. I just gave them one number and said to call if they wanted me.
I have been travelling in the USA many times too, and it is always a problem that mobiles are less common and accepted there (and that mine doesn't work there). You have to ask people to meet you in the hotel lobby and get them to call you in your room. You have to wait for hours for people who are running late because they cannot contact you if you are not both near a land-line. Often arrangements fall through because you cannot call people. Even if people have phones they rarely turn them on. Generally this meant that when I was in America I would do less things, and I would visit less people. I also spent a great deal of my time organizing things with people, or waiting for people to arrive.
I didn't take my phone to India, and regretted it just for the convenience of being able to use a phone without looking for coins. Being able to call ahead to hotels while in a taxi or on a train station would have been very useful. Next time I will bring it, I was quite amazed at how good the coverage seemed to be in India, and it is still improving.
I also find it useful at home, when not travelling, to be able to take calls from people to arrange Friday and Saturday nights in a completely spontaneous manner. Due to the noise of most night-spots, SMS is a great way to tell people where you are, ask them quick questions, etc. And if you meet someone interesting, put their number into your phone right there and then.
(I do the same with notes -- names of interesting places to go or eat).