S60 Open to new features

The N82 has recently been awarded the Best Mobile Imaging Device for 2008 by the Technical Image Press Association (the largest photo and imaging press association in Europe).

I recall that the N95 was also given the same honour last year, and just found out that the N80 was in fact the winner of the same award in 2006!

A pretty neat and impressive hat-trick by Nokia and S60. Let's look forward to bagging the next three, or perhaps a hat-trick of hat-tricks?

But more importantly than the awards is to discover and appreciate what our devices are capable of. For the past several months, I have been enjoying the spectacular winning entries from the Nokia Creative N95 Photo Awards at James Burland's Nokia Creative Blog. I'm eagerly awaiting the results from the new series of Nokia N82 Photo Awards.

Congratulations to my co-author Kevin and the N82 product team! (Now, where can I get my hands on one of these fantastic imaging devices? ;))

- Carol.

All about symbian has compiled a list of the Top 10 Classic Smartphones. They compiled the list by looking at what new cutting edge features were introduced in those devices at the time of their release. Of the chosen devices, half of them run various versions of S60! I am especially honored at the Number 1 choice of top most ground breaking Classic Smartphone because it was the first device that I worked on when I started working at Nokia.

Dotsisx over on Symbian-Guru posted that she expected to see devices such as: N82, N91, and the Nokia 6600 on the Top 10.

Mobile devices are advancing so quickly, just look at some of the technology added in devices over the last couple of years makes me stop and think about how far these devices have come. Wifi, VGA resolution video recording and playback, GPS chips built-in, High Resolution Cameras, TV-Out display, native MP3/AAC and other audio codec playback, large internal flash storage, large memory card support, Web browsers with capability to render real webpages not just mobile ones, etc. etc. the list goes on. These things have become standard in current S60 devices but just a few short years ago we could only dream of using them in our mobile devices.

My question to you readers is: What are your Top S60 devices that you think were groundbreaking when they were released and why? Also what new features are you looking forward to trying out on future S60 devices: S60 Widgets, Flash Lite 3, Touch UI, something else?

As many of you have heard the Nokia N82 has Automatic Screen Rotation using the accelerometer. Here is a video that I recorded to show how the Automatic Screen Rotation works with different applications. Sorry the camera isn't focussed very well on the N82's screen but you can still see the applications fairly well.

N82 Automatic Screen Rotation on Vimeo.

Music Credit: The song playing on the N82 is Drive Away by Matthew Ebel, if you like the song check out Matthew Ebel's site to listen to more of his music.
Video was recorded with the Nokia N93i.

The Automatic Screen Rotation works with most applications, including 3rd party applications, on the N82. However some applications were designed to work in a certain screen orientation, such as Camera related applications designed to work in Landscape, Automatic Screen Rotation will not work with these applications. For those of you that are wondering what features and applications don't support Automatic Screen Rotation, I've compiled a list.

Below is the list of applications that do not support Automatic Screen Rotation:
- Screensaver
- Idle Screen
- Main Camera (5 Megapixel camera) and Front Camera
- Video Call
- N-gage Games
- Barcode Reader
- Snake game
- Phone calls
- Video Center

If I missed any please let me know in the comments.

Also if you decide you want to turn off the Automatic Screen Rotation you can do so in General Settings. The setting is available in Settings -> General -> Personalisation -> Display -> Rotate screen, change it from Automatic to Off and the screen will no longer rotate.

For the longest time, when family and friends ask me where they can get the "cool Nokia phones" that I work with in the United States, I have to tell them to do a search on Ebay, or try online stores based in Europe and Asia. It was frustrating that there were no local stores (whether online or brick-and-mortar) that carried the latest and greatest of what Nokia has to offer.

With the introduction of the Nokia Flagship Stores, things are moving in the right direction. However, so far there are only two (in Chicago and New York respectively), and so it is still limited. I haven't even had the chance to visit either of the stores! Some devices are also available on the Nokia USA site, but perhaps because it's not widely viewed as an ecommerce site, I doubt the sales volume there is much to write home about. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Last month, Symbian Guru Ricky posted some information about a potential partnership between Nokia and Dell/Gateway. That was an exciting piece of news. And now we have confirmation from IntoMobile's Stefan that the devices are alive and kicking on Dell's retail site! Let's have a look what's available:

• Nokia E61 for $383.40
• Nokia E61i for $423.77
• Nokia N80 Internet Edition for $447.78
• Nokia N95 for $736.53

I checked out Gateway's website and found only this, hopefully more will be added soon:

• Nokia N80 Internet Edition for $499.99

Besides these high-end S60 devices, both sites also have the Nokia N800 Internet Tablet, as well as a wide selection of accessories for sale.

It is important to note that all these devices are unlocked, so you are not bound by any contracts nor restricted to a specific service provider. For example when you travel abroad, you can pop out your T-Mobile / AT&T / Cingular SIM and get a prepaid SIM at your destination to avoid paying exorbitant roaming charges. You wouldn't be able to do that with a locked phone.

Last but definitely not least, I hope this bodes well for dealing with warranty issues in the United States!

- Carol.

From Boo Hoo For You, we move to a very different part of the world, with what I can only imagine as starkly contrasting mobile lifestyle and usage.

According to Daily Monitor, some of the latest Nokia multimedia handsets are now available in the Ugandan market. These include the N93i, N95 and N76.

"I can confirm that these state of the art phones are here at very competitive prices for the Ugandan population," said Mr Akashar Kumar the General Manager for Midcom, the authorised Nokia dealer.

I remember reading a while back about the Village Phone initiative in Uganda, presented by Jan Chipchase.

The Village Phone extends regular base station cellular coverage from around 15 kilometers to around 30 kilometers through the use of a village phone kit - an antenna and ten meter cable and a coupler connected to a regular Nokia 1100 mobile phone plus of course, a micro-finance loan. The net result? In a number of cases it provides the first convenient, reliable and affordable connectivity to the outside world for many rural communities as well as providing a stable income for the local entrepreneur that takes out the loan.

While it might not be profitable for the entrepreneurs, I wonder what kind of impact it would have on the rural communities if the Nseries devices are introduced as their "Village Phones". For most, the multimedia phone would also be their first digital camera, first media player, first camcorder, and first internet browser. But their introduction to this multimedia experience would likely be as a community, around a shared device; rather than individually with a personal device.

"What happens when people share an object that is inherently designed for personal use?" Jan and colleague Indri Tulusan delve into this question and more in the essay: Shared Phone Use. Still a compelling read for me the second time around. The same device, say an N95, will be so different in terms of meaning, usage and experience in a different pair of hands.

Sometimes, it's not just about what technology can do, but also the human reaction and behaviour towards the technology. What does your Nokia (Multimedia) device mean to you? A necessity, a status symbol, or perhaps both? and more?

- Carol.

Update: Shortly after posting this entry, I came across a 2-day old article by BBC News - Designing mobiles for the world - where they interviewed Jan Chipchase. He examines how people use mobile phones in their daily lives, and it is with the understanding of human behaviour in various context of culture and landscape that can influence the direction of future designs.

The Nokia N95 is capable of capturing videos with fairly high quality: VGA resolution at some 30fps with AAC audio sampled at 48kHz. There are of course many stand-alone camcorders that can produce better quality videos, but none of them can beat the N95 in terms of portability. I was never one who took a lot of videos, however with devices like the N93 and N95, I find myself doing that more often.

There are times -- for example recording a long video clip (for me anything more than 3 minutes is long... I have a short attention span), or if you want to get in the action yourself -- when we need to keep the N95 still in a fixed position. A tripod is best at such a task. Mark Guim got his hands on a Nokia DT-22 Universal Tripod and has posted a great review on it. But what if you don't have a tripod, or own one but don't have it handy when you need it?

Some have already discovered that you can stand the N95 up vertically without supporting it. However, the videos captured in this orientation will be sideways, such as this one (of a widgets demo) by Stefan Constantinescu at the S60 Summit 2007. Wouldn't it be great if the N95 stands by itself horizontally? I tried that, it didn't work, until I found a trick:

Yes, in the slide-out position (is that what it's called?), the N95 is more than happy to keep still and steady for as long as you need it to! (Well, ok, you'll also need a flat surface and no sudden gusts of wind... that's why tripods will always have their place.)

This only applies to the N95. It doesn't work for the similarly video-capable N93. What about other S60 video devices? Do you have related tricks you've discovered with your S60 "cameras/camcorders" to share?

- Carol.

Addendum: I uploaded the above video (which was taken by an N93) to YouTube yesterday. Before I've had a chance to compose this entry today, Mark has already posted a video response as well as a blog entry about it! He was able to make his N95 stand on its side without sliding the slider out. Click away to see how he did that!

While this is not really related to S60 Multimedia, I couldn't resist posting it:

This is in fact part of a marketing site by Symbian, called "Boo Hoo for You!", focusing on Symbian smartphones in Japan, shaming us "Western" smartphone users (thus the "boo hoo"... if you didn't watch the video).

I don't think it is so much about how more advanced some of the technology is in Japan, as it is about how integrated all these technology is in their daily lives. Here we are talking about advanced PIM and Multimedia features in our phones decent enough to replace stand-alone PDAs, cameras and MP3 players etc. But for the Japanese, their cellphones are literally replacing their wallets and keys.

When you're running late and rushing out the door, do you reach for and grab your camera or your keys?

Then again I wonder about security of these devices. The biometrics feature will prevent someone who steals your phone from using it, but it doesn't prevent the phone from actually being stolen (or lost, or misplaced... as some of us scatterbrains are prone to do.) And what about battery life? When you use a device for everything from shopping to transport throughout the day, what happens when you reach home late at night and the phone is out of juice and you can't unlock the door?

Kevin (Korpi), would you care to comment? I'm interested in your viewpoint since you actually live in Japan and I've only spent a few hours in Narita Airport.

Back on the Boo Hoo site, you can check out the Japanese smartphone features, download the Boo-Hoo ring tone, watch the BHFY clip (which I've already embedded above), and even win a Symbian smartphone! (But I'm guessing it will be a Japanese one based on the FOMA platform rather than S60, and will only work in Japan...)

(Special thanks to Kevin Scott for the forward!)

- Carol.

Good news for S60 fans in US!

Check it out:
http://www.cingular.com/cell-phone-service/get-started/index.jsp?q_returnUrl=/cell-phone-service/cell-phone-details/%3Fq_list%3Dtrue%26q_phoneName%3DNokia%2BN75%26q_sku%3Dsku950091

-Jukka

Wohoo!!

Which one do you prefer, red or black?

-Jukka

Source: http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1121807

In a surprising but very cool move Forum Nokia has added the actual CPU specifications for many of the Nokia S60 devices into their pages.

Some picks, here Nokia N95:

Dual CPU
CPU Type: ARM 11
CPU Clock Rate: 332 MHz
3D Graphics HW Accelerator