We recently had a meeting with everyone working on the S60 blogs in the Americas. As the meeting was early in the morning--during a time where I need to make sure my son gets ready for school--it meant being outside my home office. Fortunately, I have a work laptop and, of course, my mobile phone--a Nokia N95. The laptop was to view the presentation given remotely, the phone was to listen and participate.

This got me thinking. Is it possible to do all of this with a mobile device? Could it be possible for me to view a remote presentation and be on a conference call? Here are some of the challenges today:

1. Screen Size: I was having difficulty viewing the slides on a 1024x768 screen on my laptop. How would slides look on a smaller screen?
2. Dual Mode Connectivity: Certainly, 3G handsets with a 3G network support being connected with data and voice at the same time. The same can be said for WiFi-enabled handsets as well.
3. Battery Life: Being connected to voice and data simultaneously can be quite a drain on the battery.
4. Enterprise Connectivity: Since this presentation was being shared inside the firewall, the handset would need to be able to connect into the corporate network in order to view the presentation. Nokia has a solution for this problem, fortunately, but I do not have it installed on this handset.
5. Cross-Platform Screen Sharing With S60 Support: Do any of the common methods for sharing screens and presentations include S60 support?

Is it even possible to do this today, even if the experience is sub-optimal? Do you want this kind of functionality? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

I was listening to Episode 127 of Mobile Tech Roundup on my Nokia N95 today and they were discussing a device that has some interesting applications. The device in question essentially provides a full-sized screen and keyboard for your mobile phone. Suddenly, your entire computing environment can reside on your mobile phone. When you need the big screen and keyboard, just hook it to your phone.

Over the years, I've heard one of the "dreams" of network computing is that you can sit down and work at one location and easily pick up right where you left off at a different computer without skipping a beat. This can be accomplished with tools like VNC or Windows Remote Desktop.

If you can carry the "brains" of your computing environment in your pocket, why would you mess around with things like VNC or Remote Desktop? Plug your phone into your large screen and keyboard, do your work, unplug your mobile phone, take it somewhere else. Plug it into a different screen and keyboard, and you have your full environment right there. And, of course, you can also interact with it from the mobile handset itself!

For the most part, I already do a fair amount of computing from my S60 device. Lack of a full-sized screen and keyboard are certainly factors that limit my ability to do more. There's a lot of issues to work out with this idea, but it has quite a lot of appeal to me.

What do the rest of you think?

When I first started playing with Share Online 3.0 last week, I picked up on something that I felt was important--something I didn't see emphasized all that much. Quoting myself:

Now instead of simply uploading photos, you now have the ability to participate in the social aspects surrounding those photos. It, in a sense, extends the “social” aspects of Share on Ovi and Flickr directly to your mobile handset in a way that I find compelling.

Whether you realize it or not, there is a kind of "social network" around Flickr and Share on Ovi (previously Twango). People see cool media on these services and comment on them. You could always do that from a mobile before, but now you have a much nicer way to do it with Share Online 3.0. It's more integrated. The feeds can automatically update. You get notification of new pictures and comments on the standby screen.

Now you might say that "easy access to comments" is not a big deal. My question is: how is this any different from Jaiku or Twitter, really? If people are posting pictures throughout the day, getting periodic updates, and sending comments back and forth, isn't this similar to the microbloging services?

I get the sense that much, much more is coming with Share Online and Shae on Ovi. I don't have any inside knowledge here, so this is just my guess. What do you think?

While I was fairly silent here on the introduction of a certain phone by a certain company based in Cupertino, California, I will comment on the news that a certain GPS manufacturer is incorporating mobile phone functionality into their GPS units. The end result: the nüvifone, which initiallysome compared to that other phone.

There are still lots of unanswered questions about this device. For the purposes of this discussion, my main question is: where will the device be sold? Will it be sold along side conventional GPSes with an unlocked GSM radio, or will it be sold with the mobile phones? Maybe both?

No matter how it's sold, I view it as validation of Nokia's strategy to build GPS functionality into mobile phones. A strategy taken a step further by the introduction of four different GPS-enabled phones at Mobile World Congress and the introduction of Nokia Maps 2.0.

A connected GPS is more valuable than one that is not. A GPS that is with you is more valuable than one that might only be in the car. By giving the GPS a connection to the mobile network (and WiFi), you now have the ability to augment it with real time information, such as traffic data, road closures, or even newer maps.

That's just the stuff we can think of today. Put a GPS into a device with an open platform like S60, and who knows what we'll end up with in the not-to-distant future.

Andy Abramson over at VoIP Watch points to an interesting piece about how there is some value in diverged devices, i.e. a device that's good at fewer things rather than adequate at many. Which is right? I think they both are.

In a sense, even the most basic mobile phone Nokia sells is a converged device. Since I don't have any of our current low-end phones, I'll reach back into the back of my phone drawer and pull out my Cingular (now AT&T)-branded Nokia 3120, a small candybar phone from about 4 years ago. The phone was fairly cheap or even free with a two year contract. Even this phone includes many features:

• An address book (beyond just names and phone numbers)
• An alarm clock
• A (very basic) Internet browser
• A calendar (complete with reminders)
• A (basic) game machine. This particular phone has bowling, darts, Football (the American type), and a driving game.
• A 4-function calculator
• Stopwatch/Timer
• Voice recorder
• Instant Messaging

Of course, it's primary function is as a phone, and it works well as that. But it has way more functionality than, say, my cordless phone at home, which is truly just a phone, except that it has a way to record speed dials.

Even a "converged" device that has a primary function, and it had better do that well. Therefore, I expect my Nokia N95 to function well as a phone. I think what separates, say, a Nokia N95 from a Nokia 3120 or similar phones is that the secondary function(s) are compelling, easy to use, and approaching the quality of a similar "unconverged" device that performs the same function.

Using the Nokia N95 as an example, the camera and the music player--two of the "secondary" functions of the N95 I use daily--aren't as good in some ways as a standalone digital snapshot camera and a digital media player respectively, but they are good enough for my everyday use and they are always with me.

Because of this convergence, I don't have to mess with multiple devices at places like the YMCA. I notice that other people are carrying about both a cell phone and their portable media player. Meanwhile, I have my Nokia N95 with me, which serves as both. My music player stops when an incoming call comes in. I don't have to pick up another device, my headphones are in, and I can easily take a call without skipping a beat or missing a stride on the elliptical.

While I can talk about how great convergence is for me, or how great it might be for you, at the end of the day, it's a matter of personal choice. Do you want to carry one device or many? What do you carry? Let me know in the comments!

I have to highlight this fantastic post that Rita El Khoury (a.k.a. Dotsisx) put together that shows what things a Nokia N95 8GB replaces in her life. The pictures she posts really tells the story. Kind of reminds me of the Great Pockets campaign we did.

What things does your S60 device replace? Does your S60 device replace more things than it does for Dotsisx? I'd love to see those pictures!

I got a comment on a recent post here that I've been thinking about how I want to respond to. Specifically, it was this one from akBoom:

Is this the ideal way to live life; having to manage 10 tasks at once, that too out of work hours? What happened to quality time with the family, the simple pleasures in life like taking kids to school, chatting with them on the drive there.

Thank you sir but this convergence and available 24/7 business has gotten too far.

Remember that being available 24/7 cuts both ways: not only can your boss reach you, but so can your spouse or your kids. Because I can do anything from anywhere, perhaps I can take an hour or two off and go to the gym or spend some quality time with my kids during the traditional work day? Or maybe if I take five minutes to peck out a response to an urgent email, I can save myself from having to deal with an multi-hour phone call later?

Nokia S60 devices enable you to be always connected to the things and people that matter most to you. If, how, and when you use that connection is up to you, the user. Just because your phone rings or an email comes into your mobile phone, it doesn't mean you have to respond to it. Just because you have one of these devices in your pocket doesn't mean you pull it out at the dinner table during mealtime or when you're sharing a special moment with your kid. Or maybe you do pull it out because you want to capture that special moment and share it with the world.

What do you think about this? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

I've seen articles that diss the whole idea that camera phones will replace dedicated cameras. While I don't think that will ever completely happen, much like television never replaced radio or mobile phones haven't replaced landlines, I do believe they will eventually become dominant for one simple reason: it's the camera you'll have most and, in some cases, it's already good enough.

My wife has a Nikon D50. It takes fantastic pictures. It's not something that gets used day-to-day because it's a big camera. It's impractical to bring it on your daily travels unless you know you're going to use it.

Certainly there are smaller cameras you can slip into your pocket, but let's face it: how many people outside of us geeks like the idea of carrying around more than one electronic gadget in your pocket or purse?

Mobile phones are the one thing that people tend to carry--if they have them. They are usually compact and fit into a pocket or purse very easily. It's almost always within earshot, making it easy to get to. If it can take decent pictures, it's easy to use, and easy to share, will consumers use it? You bet!

If you have a Nokia N95 in one of it's many variations, you already know what it means to have a great, easy-to-use camera on your mobile phone that can share photos with your friends in near real-time, available data connection permitting. Heck, there's services out there that let you stream video in real-time from your device!

I know that my colleagues at Nokia are working on improving the cameras that go into not only flagship devices like the N95, but all of the camera-equipped phones Nokia will sell in the future. That means the camera you have--your mobile phone--will be that much better. It may never be as a good as a standalone camera in some respects, but it will be in the most important respect: it's with you.

It's funny, I've heard the marketing stories about how our products give you access to the right information at the right time so you can act right now. I have three recent examples of that from my own life I'd like to share that illustrate this.

A week ago, my wife was traveling into the U-district in Seattle. She ended up on the Express Lanes on I5 and the exit she needed was closed. She ended up taking the next exit and had no idea where she was. She called me, asking if I could pull up a map from my phone and guide her to where she needed to go. Unfortunately, I didn't hear the phone ring when she called. Fortunately, she remembered enough streets to get where she needed.

On the way back home, she had to deal with a major traffic event: an explosion at the Atlas Foundry in Tacoma shut down the I5/SR16 interchange. It is, of course, possible to drive around this on surface streets, but without a map, if you don't know where you're going, it's tough. Fortunately, her friend's husband knew the way around that traffic mess.

In these first two examples, my wife was lucky. She had other people around that could help. Having that information at her fingertips would have saved her time and money, or at least given her some piece of mind. Even if she didn't have the information, she was aware that I did, no matter where I was. That's a powerful thing.

Now for the business example. I was making breakfast for my son this morning and reading email on my Nokia E61i. I noticed an email had come in related to a customer I am responsible for supporting. I needed to contact the Sales Engineer for the customer, but I did not have his number handy. Normally, it'd be the wrong time of day to call him, but I had also read from the email he was in Europe. Perfect timing.

I looked him up in the corporate phone book--from my handset--and added him into my mobile phone book. I sent him a quick SMS saying to call me regarding this issue. A few minutes later, I received a call from him and discussed the issue. Problem solved.

Of course, because I work in a support organization, I have to update our CRM system with that information. Since the CRM system generally requires using Internet Explorer on a desktop computer, and I was in the middle of trying to get my son out the door for school, I didn't have the time to go through all the steps necessary to do that.

I instead called our Technical Assistance Center. While I was on the phone with TAC, I read them the ticket number in question. While on the phone, I switched over to the email application. I read the ticket number directly from my handset. I gave them the other information they needed to update the ticket on my behalf. And my son managed to get out the door for school on time.

This entire exercise was enabled an executed using devices and services by Nokia. I got the information I needed right when I needed to. I was able to take action--right away. And while I was at home trying to get my kids to school in the process, I could have been anywhere with GSM coverage and done the same thing.

Having these "converged" devices with everything in your pocket is a game changer. It's truly information at your fingertips. Not only can you get information others have generated, you can easily capture or create your own. When you're ready to act on that information, you can do it--right now. Right from your mobile device.

How has Nokia products and services enabled you to get access to the information you need right now? Leave your feedback in the comments.

While I don't work for S60 Marketing, I have obviously been "helping" in that area promoting Nokia and S60 through this blog as well as my own blogs. Unfortunately, I've been unable to attend any of these cool S60 parties.

However, the upcoming event in San Francisco couldn't have happened at a better time. I'm way overdue for a visit to the home office in Mountain View--just down the 101 from San Francisco--and it's a great fit into my personal schedule.

I am very excited that I can make this work. I wouldn't miss this party. If you're in the San Francisco Bay Area or can make it there on the 23rd of October, get on the guest list now! I look forward to meeting all you S60 fans in the Bay Area.

I do wonder, though, when we'll see an Evening with S60 event up here in Seattle?