S60 Open to new features

Way back in June 2007, we held one of our very first “Evening with S60″s in Chicago. The event was a huge success, and I helped myself to a swag bag at the end of the event. The bag contained a donation from the the Nseries team, a Nokia Wireless Audio Gateway. At the time I was really psyched…I pictured myself rushing home and setting up the device so that I could play music from my phone over my stereo.

Fast forward about 13 months. The Wireless Audio Gateway still sat on top of my stereo, fresh and clean, and in its packaging. I hadn’t even tried to set it up. Why? For one thing, I still have all my CDs in a 400 disc changer, and I didn’t really need to play songs from my phone on my stereo. But if I’m honest with myself, there was another, deeper– and far darker — reason: I was afraid the setup would be cumbersome, the manual would s*ck, and I would ulitimately would become frustrated and disillusioned.

So…last Friday I was out playing poker with some friends, and one of the guys in the group had a certain fruity smartphone device. He’d just bought a new app for it that allowed him to play songs over this stereo. I was interested in the technology and asked to try it. Seemed to work well enough. What floored me, though, was the reaction to the device from everyone around the table. You’d have thought this was the newest, greatest, cleanest, most cutting-edge technology to come around since the invention of the toaster. My friends simply could not get enough of this gadget. How cool! How slick! How does it work! Eventually they turned to me and asked “Does *Nokia* have a a phone that can do this?”. The tone was smug. They were sure Nokia could never have anything that could control your stereo from your phone. This was the USA, after all. Most of them probably wouldn’t even know Nokia made smartphones if they didn’t know me. I have to admit, the question irked me. Of COURSE WE HAVE A PHONE THAT DOES THIS! We’ve been able to do this for years! I felt like I was on tilt. I had to remind myself to calm down and play the hand that was dealt me. Not to overplay it, but to just take it easy and let the game unfold. I ended up losing for the night.

Needless to say, the next morning I finally opened up the packaging on my Nokia Wireless Audio Gateway. And I have to admit, I was initially dismayed to find that the manual really was hard to follow. So I took matters into my own hands and pressed a couple buttons on the top of the WAG. That was relatively easy, cuz there are only two of them. Within minutes — literally — the device was paired with my N95 8GB and I was playing music. It really was that easy. So, if and when I host those jerks (my friends) for poker, I’ll be ready to show them how my Nokia device controls my stereo.

Meanwhile…back at the office….
I came into the office today and noticed 5 more Gateways in the boxes behind my desk. Kristina reminded me that there are to be used as rewards for the most engaged “Widset Pet” Ambassadors. Well, I’m now eager to give these away. And then hear from the Ambys: How long will it take the average Ambassador to set this thing up?