Posted by Scott Laird
Mon, 06 Feb 2006 20:23:00 GMT
The FCC was polite enough to post the users manual for Nokia’s upcoming E70 phone on their web site, and it makes for fascinating reading. The manual doesn’t go into a lot of details about features, but there are a few fun tidbits hiding in there. First, the phone clearly supports SIP-based VoIP services. There’s a SIP configuration section in the setup menus. The manual explicitly states that the phone will attempt to make 911 calls via the cellular network whenever possible; I’m not sure what this implies about other calls–is there a way to explicitly choose which network is used for each call, or is it implicit somehow?
Surprisingly, the N80’s manual also lists a section for configuring SIP settings, but I didn’t see any details in the manual on actually making SIP calls.
Page 67 has another surprise: the phone includes an RSS reader of some sort. The manual explains how to subscribe to blog feeds.
There are a few more E70 documents on the FCC’s website, including internal and external pictures.
My current phone contract has expired, and I’m just waiting for the right phone to come along. I’ve been tempted to order a 6682 and be done with it, but the N80, N91, and E70 are all approved by the FCC now, and I’d be much happier with any of them then I’d be with the 6682, so I’m willing to wait another month or two. A couple shopping sites online claim that the N80 will ship at the end of February, but I don’t know how believable they are. No matter how you slice it, though, the US models of these three phones are getting closer, and Nokia is clearly making an effort to promote them in the US market.
Mind you, I doubt that T-Mobile or Cingular will actually be shipping any of these phones any time in the next month or two (or three, or four).
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokian80, nokian91, phones | 15 comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Wed, 12 Oct 2005 16:43:00 GMT
Nokia announced a new block of phones today: the E60, E61, and E70. Unlike the earlier (and still pending) N-series, these are aimed towards corporate users. All three run Series 60 3rd edition and include 802.11g and Bluetooth. They also come with a SIP client so they can interact with business VoIP systems. The low-end model, the E60 is yet another Series 60 candybar phone, like the 6682 and N70, but with WiFi. The E61 is a Blackberry-like model with a QWERTY keyboard and landscape display. Finally, the E70 is a “handlebar” style phone that flips open to reveal a keyboard, half on the left side of the display and half on the right.
After playing with the Nokia 6682 and 9300 yesterday, I’m starting to think that a keyboard would be really nice. I might actually be more interested in the E70 then the N91. Here’s how they compare:
Same:
- 802.11g, bluetooth, 3G
- Series 60, 3rd edition
- 2 MP camera
- Scheduled for 1Q 2006 release
- Similar sizes: (N91: 113.1x55.2x22, E70: 117x53x22)
N91’s favor:
- 4 GB hard drive
- 3.5mm headphone jack
E70’s favor:
- built-in SIP client (might be on N91 also)
- high-res display (352x416, 4x the pixel count)
- QWERTY keyboard
- miniSD slot (1 GB for $75, partially counters the HD on the N91)
- lighter (127g vs 160g)
I’m not sure if the E70 includes the video player that comes on the N91. It’s possible that it includes a 3.5mm headphone jack–the specs list a MP3/AAC player application. The pricing rumors that I’ve seen put the whole E-series around €500 or so, which means that they may actually be cheaper then the N91.
Of course, availability is the key. The N91 was announced months ago, while the E70 is new. However, the E70 isn’t quite as innovative as the N91, so there’s a chance that they’ll arrive on the market (in Europe at least) in a similar timeframe. I have no idea which one will make it through the FCC first. I’m not particularly concerned about US carriers carrying the phone, now that Nokia is selling directly to US consumers. With any luck, our local Nokia demo kiosk will have both and I’ll be able to compare them in person.
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokiaeseries, nokian91, phones | 7 comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Fri, 09 Sep 2005 23:49:00 GMT
Engadget thinks that the Nokia N91 might be delayed into the first quarter of 2006. The latest round of rumors suggested that the phone was going to ship in December of 2005, but that really just means that one lucky guy in Finland will have one; I’d be amazed if it shows up legally in the US before March or so, and it may be a few month after that before either of the GSM carriers pick it up.
On the other hand, Cingular has been doing a good job lately with high-end Nokia phones–they’re supposed to start shipping the Nokia 9300 soon, and there are rumors about them and the N90 as well. So we’ll see how this goes–there’s a chance that they’ll manage to surprise us.
Posted in Phones | Tags nokia, nokian91, phones | no comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Thu, 18 Aug 2005 14:07:19 GMT
There’s a rumor going around that Apple and Nokia are going to partner and produce a mobile iTunes application for the Nokia N91. Nokia is denying it, but the phone’s still months away from its launch, so there’s plenty of time for things to change.
As I see it, there are sort of three levels of iTunes integration for portable devices:
- The device syncs with iTunes and can play encrypted iTunes Music Store
.m4p files. Right now, this is pretty much just the iPod, although the long-rumored Motorola iTunes phone will join it once it’s released.
- The device syncs with iTunes and can play MP3s and maybe unencrypted AAC files. Before the iPod took off, most MP3 players fit into this category, but I don’t know if Apple has continued supporting their competition.
- The device and iTunes don’t know anything about each other, and the user is stuck looking for third-party tools.
I suspect that the N91 will fit into the second category–just plug it into your computer using a USB cable and iTunes will copy things over. It’s possible that we’ll need a bit of glue code, but that shouldn’t be too hard to write. Worst case, it should only take a few hours to write something that can read through iTune’s XML database and copy playlists to the N91.
Posted in Phones, Mac stuff | Tags apple, itunes, nokia, nokian91, rumors | no comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Tue, 16 Aug 2005 15:00:28 GMT
PhotographyBLOG says that the Nokia N90 has been named the European Phone of the Year.
This is obviously just marketing fluff, as the N90 has only been shipping for a week or so, but it looks like a cool phone, even if it is kind of huge. It’s pretty obvious that the N90 and N91 are Nokia’s current showpieces for what they’re going to be able to do with next-generation phones–the N90 has a huge screen and a decent camera, while the N91 has real multitasking, 802.11g, and a hard drive.
Posted in Phones | Tags nokia, nokian90, nokian91, phones | no comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Fri, 22 Jul 2005 13:28:10 GMT
Om says that the Nokia 6682 is now availably directly from Nokia’s website for $599. The 6682 is Nokia’s current high-end business phone–you can spend more on one of their communicator models or on a fashion phone, but if you’re looking for a regular phone with lots of features, the 6682’s about as good as you’re going to do in GSM-land.
The site that started this also mentions that the Nokia N90 is nearly available. The N90 is basically a specialized camera-phone, with a real lens and a formfactor that’s designed to make the camera more usable. It also has the highest-resolution screen that I’ve ever seen on a phone–352x416. If it had WiFi like the N91, then I’d probably be drooling over it. As it is, I’m waiting to see what’s available in February when my current Cingular plan runs out. If the N91 actually includes a SIP client (as has been rumored), then I’ll be very tempted.
Posted in Phones | Tags gsm, n90, n91, nokia, nokia6682, nokian90, nokian91, phone | no comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Fri, 08 Jul 2005 23:50:28 GMT
Darn it, I think I’ve fallen in love with another unreleased phone.
This week, it’s the Nokia N91. It was announced a couple months ago, and isn’t supposed to ship until late in 2005. It’s going to be marketed as a “music phone,” but I think the specs more or less speak for themselves:
- 4 GB hard drive
- 802.11g
- Bluetooth
- 2 MP still camera, 352x288 video capture
- Series 60 3.0 software
- Video player (MPEG4, Real, H.263)
- GSM/EDGE/WCDMA (3G) support
- FM radio receiver
- mini-USB jack (can act like USB mass storage device)
- phone keypad and music controls, but no keyboard
- battery life: 12 hours music playback, 3-4 hours talk time, 7-ish days standby time
You can get more details from Nokia’s own flashcrapular site.
It’s not a small phone by any stretch. It’s very slightly smaller then a Treo 650–4mm narrower, 1mm thinner, 16g lighter.
The thing that I find so fascinating about the N91 is that it can replace practically every device that I’ve been cramming into my pockets:
- phone
- iPod–the N91’s not as nice as the iPod photo, but for light use, it’ll probably be good enough.
- pocket camera–much better then my T616 (which is worthless as a camera). 1600x1200 is big enough for web photos and the occasional whiteboard photo at work. If the shots are anything like the N90 sample shots then I’ll be happy.
- organizer (it’ll sync with the Mac once Apple tweaks their list of supported Series 60 devices). It’s not quite as capable as the Clie that I’m still dragging around, but it’ll probably be good enough.
- USB flash drive (you’ll need a mini-USB to USB zip cable, but they’re small)
- video player (er, well, if you don’t mind watching on a 2” screen)
- photo album – if the iPod photo can do it, why can’t the N91? Their screens are basically the same resolution.
The other thing that fascinates me about the N91 is its SIP support. The specs list support for JSR-180, which is SIP for J2ME apps. There are rumors online that the demo N-series phones have native SIP support in the phone UI. That’d let me use the N91 as a cordless phone when I’m at home or at work, which is just one more thing to like about it.
Of course, there have to be downsides–the camera doesn’t look as good as the one that comes with the N90 (but the N90 doesn’t have 802.11 or the hard drive). It doesn’t have the N90’s video-conferencing camera, either (that’d be cool with SIP). It’s kind of big. It doesn’t have a keyboard (although external bluetooth ones will work). It won’t ship until the very end of 2005. The specs don’t list 850 MHz support, although they’re clearly marketing this to the US, so presumably there will be a US model with 850/1900 MHz support. Finally, the price: at least $700 US before subsidies, possibly closer to $900. So, frankly, it’s probably too expensive for me to buy, but I’m going to be really tempted. Since Palm is rumored to be saving the next Treo for Spring of 2006, the N91 may not even have any competition for “Cool Phone of the Year” in my mind.
Posted in Phones, Toys | Tags n91, nokia, nokian91, phone, series60, sip, voip | 26 comments
