Oh dear. This blog is looking a little unloved, isn't it?
A blog about mobile phones that barely mentions that... what's it called... iPhone is it? Something like that.
Just look at it! Excitement about forthcoming Nokia handsets. Who remembers that feeling? Just a couple of centimetres down this page, you will find an excited preview of the Nokia N97. It wasn't exactly the game changer we were anticipating, and that's putting it mildly.
Oh, how the world has changed. Walled gardens and apples (how biblical), androids and lawsuits. HTCs and Sammys and jailbreaking. Oh for the days of pixelated snakes munching cubes (were they birds eggs? guess so).
I've always had a bit of a thing for ludicrousluxuryhandsets, and it has been the most ludicrous of the lot that has stirred this blog back into life. Ladies and gentlemen, I present the TAG Heuer Link.
At almost €5000 it ain't cheap, and that's just the starting price.
But additional extras include calfskin, alligator or lizard hide backing. Or perhaps you would like some embedded diamonds?
It's somehow reassuring to know that while London is burning, the economic markets are in crisis and over 2 million people in Britain are unemployed, there are still people out there who can afford to splash the cash on something that will be obsolete in 2 years whatever happens.
Nokia have announced their first ever Linux-based mobile phone.
See the video below for more details.
This looks like it's going to be a step forward for mobile handsets. While Apple's irritating adverts claim such great advances as mobile internet, GPS, text messaging (well, maybe not text messaging) etc, Nokia's new device looks like it's going to blow rivals away.
What's really impressive about this phone is the spec: a 600mhz processor, 256mb of onboard RAM and 768mb of virtual memory.
You will be able to update the phone directly via OTA upgrading, meaning less reliance on the still irritating Nokia PC Suite. Battery life is likely to be comparable to the Blackberry Storm.
This looks like it will be an awesome handset for business users and people who don't want to lug around an eee or equivalent.
You may notice that this blog tends to lean towards the more "blinging" phones that make it onto the market, like the LG Prada collaboration a couple of years ago and the more exclusive Nokias.
Personally, I like my handsets functional rather than flashy (hence the monolithic black N95 that I'm still using) but have always had a magpie's taste for the gaudy. This new Samsung has got to be the gaudiest handset on the market, unless anyone out there can suggest anything less conspicuous!
It rather reminds me of my time working for American Express.
American Express launched their black card after years of unfounded rumours that they offered a secret, invite-only card for superwealthy Krug-swilling plutocrats. They cashed in on the speculation and created the Centurion; the most horribly aspirational piece of plastic this side of Victoria Beckham's breasts.
One day, we recieved a memo promoting a new, super-super-luxurious version of their Centurion credit card, known only as "titanium". The gimmick was that the card is made of... titanium. And why hasn't titanium been used to make credit cards in the past? Because it interferes with card readers. And sets off metal detectors. Which makes the Amex Titanium Centurion card less useful than any other Amex card. And who accepts Amex anyway?
The Samsung Night Effect is aiming at the Titanium card users out there - those who take pleasure in pulling out their metallic phallus in front of a large queue at airport security while loudly braying to their equally loathesome, marni-clad friend about how "rad/fab/expensive" their last holiday was.
The phone's USP is that it lights up like Pacha at 4am when it rings.
Seems like the world economic crisis hasn't quite gone far enough yet...
Nokia recently announced the N97, which is the latest in a long line of business phones from the Finns. The most notable thing about the handset is the great touch screen (which Nokia finally appear to have "got right") and the raft of features that put the handset up there with most mobile internet PCs like the Eee and its raft of imitators.
Nokia Maps has had an upgrade. This was perhaps inevitable, for two reasons. Firstly, people love the GPS functionality. Personally, I use Nokia maps regularly, especially when stumbling around a big city like London, or when sitting on a train and curious. The second reason for stronger GPS functionality on phones is probably more significant.
Location based mobile marketing is being touted as the "next big thing" in advertising/marketing - just ask NMA magazine (not to be confused with the rather less rock 'n roll NME). It has, of course, been touted as such for about five years but the technology is finally reaching a point where people are regularly consulting their handsets for directions. "Wow" say the marketers, "if people are looking for directions, what better time could there be to shove advertising down their throats? GO TO CAFE NERO. GO TO CAFE NERO". This is, of course, a dramatisation, but the techology is becoming more and more popular and mobile marketers are pushing clients hard to go down this route.
Back to the handset. Good camera (same as the N95), good keyboard (nicely spaced), useful tilty screen (to help with glare), good MP3 and video compatibility and 32gb of internal memory make this an attractive proposition. The digital compass is a nice touch too.
Yesterday evening I updated the Firmware on my N95 8GB. This was something of a pain in the ass, largely because it took around 10 minutes to shift Spiderman 3 from the handset to the laptop on which I was backing up the phone.
Spiderman 3 came loaded for free on a number of N95 8GB mobile phones. The only drawback was that you had to sign in to a website to validate it... or something like that... and I really couldn't be bothered. And frankly, who could? Spiderman 3? On a two inch screen? Meh.
Anyway, once Spiderman had squeezed its way through the USB cable, data transfer was quick and painless, which is a big step forward for Nokia PC Suite; one of the most loathsome programs ever conceived.
So, on with the installation.
I got an early indication of how it feels to be out of touch with "the young people today" when PC Suite told me that I was on Firmware version 15 and the new install would be version 20something. Horrible.
Anyway, the upshot is that I can finally use the GPS on my phone after months of angling it on a windowsill, waiting 20 mins and then occasionally connecting to a satellite. And, what's more, it's actually fully integrated with Google maps so you can get lovely images as an option. Which is great.
This is going to make navigation of London streets much easier, although at a cost... Vodafone data transfer is not cheap and Google maps is very data intensive. They do offer an add on at £7.50 per month which allows up to 120mb of data transfer, but I'm not sure that I will use that much data.
All in all... the update is a very good thing indeed. I am now tempted to go for a long walk just to use the GPS. Maybe I'll find a nice park bench, take a seat and watch Spiderman 3.
While the photo makes it look like the new Nokia N97 has fallen off the back of a lorry, this is arguably the most stylish N Series handset the Finns have ever made.
Supposedly a step down from the two way sliders, the N79 is a fine slab of technology WITHOUT the sharp edges that many people find offensive about the more angular N Series phones.
It is also as feature laden as any of the bulkier N Series handsets, such as the N95 8gb. The onboard camera is of the same standard as the chunkier handsets and has the added advantage of a lens cover (which is sadly missing from the N95 8gb). The megapixel count is high (five) but, as ever with these Nokia cameras, what is really impressive is the quality of the images produced.
I guess the only area where this handset falls down a little is in the size of the display, which is significantly smaller than the top end N Series phones. But then did anyone actually watch Spiderman 3 on their handsets anyway? I doubt it.
All in all, a great new addition to the Nokia range and well worth considering if you are looking for a practical compromise between form and function.
