Mobile Phones Blog

Ever since the iPhone was released, every handset maker and their dog was quick to bust out a touchscreen phone with specs that were slightly better than those found on the iPhone. All and sundry were quick to claim Phone X as being the next ‘iPhone killer’. Months later, the iPhone 3G comes out, does pretty well for itself and Apple, and pics of what could be the next iPhone, leaked to the web days before the 2009’s Mobile World Congress, sends half the internet into apoplexy. However, development of what could be the first real iPhone killer - or iTunes killer at least - has come from a somewhat unexpected quarter.

Spotify has really taken off here in the UK. Today sees music writer Neil McCormick singing Spotify’s praises to the high heavens in the pages of The Telegraph, going so far as calling the cloud based music streaming service “the future of the music business,” harkening to the development of Spotify “or something very like it” for mobile devices as the final death knell of CDs, vinyls, and even iTunes.

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Having already announced and released their 5800 XpressMusic, a phone which has already shifted over a million units across the globe, and already unveiled their forthcoming N97 ‘mobile computer’ this year’s Mobile World Congress has been something of a sleepy affair for Nokia.

And with everyone either picking up their dropped jaws or scratching their heads over the 12 Megapixel beasts being primed by Samsung and Sony Ericsson, news of a leading mobile manufacturer releasing an 8 Megapixel smartphone might understandably grab as much press attention.

However, this is Nokia, and the smartphone in question in an NSeries phone, the N86 which is the spiritual successor to the successful N85. The N86 - or N86 8MP, to use its full name - weighs in with a weighty 8GB of internal memory, and like the N85 comes with an ultra vibrant 2.6″ OLED 16 million colour screen.

The aforementioned 8 Megapixel camera, like all of those featured on the recent NSeries Nokia phones, comes with a dual-LED flash, autofocus and Carl Zeiss optics. Pictures taken on the N86 can be geotagged due to the built-in GPS, and the fast mechanical shutter should help reduce motion blur and other distortion effects.

The dual slider format popularised by the Nokia N95 returns, with a standard numeric keypad on the bottom half, and four dedicated media keys at the top. The four media keys hidden at the top of the phone now coming with what appears to be some secondary functions designed for web browsing. As you can see in the pic attached, the two Skip Forwards and Back keys appear to have shift functions for zooming in and out of pictures, and the Play/Pause and Stop buttons being used for Stop and Refresh, or perhaps Refresh and Home, or something.

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We’ve seen more than a few news stories and posts on blogs this week about the findings of a trans-Atlantic survey which has found that many of us find that getting the most out of our mobile phones is something of a Herculean task, due to the perceived complexity of user interfaces and layouts.

Of the 4,000 people canvassed here in the UK and in the States, 85% of users said they were frustrated by the difficulty of getting a new phone up and working and 61% said setting up a new handset was comparable to changing bank accounts in terms of hassle and stress.

Compiled by mobile firm Mformation, the survey also showed that 95% said they would try more new services if phones were easier to set up and get going.

Here at Mobile Phones, we’ve certainly had our fair share of frustrating set up experiences with new handsets. It took one of our reviewers a frustrating 20 minutes to just to get the interface of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 up and running (this is before you are taken through a brief demo of the phone’s diary entry system which you can’t skip) and we remember well what a pain it was switching networks before the PAC codes and porting regulations were brought in.

Obviously people primarily buy mobile phones to talk and send texts to people, and for a good majority of mobile customers, that’s enough. My mum has had the Nokia 5310 for ages now, and it was only recently, around Christmas time, that I showed her how to Bluetooth ringtones and the like to other phones.

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The recently announced Nintendo DSi comes with a lot of spec and features that don’t sound at all out of place on any of the just released smartphones; 3.25″ touchscreen, Wi-Fi support, built in web browser, music player, camera, and the ability to download games; it’s only the lack of any calling or texting features which stop it from being sold on contract in the local Carphone Warehouse or something.

The new handset, which goes on sale in its native Japan on the 1^st of November (followed by an early 2009 worldwide release), follows on from the DS Lite, and incorporates two VGA cameras, which will be integral to some game titles, and can be used to take pics of mates’ faces and the like.

As the pictures here show, the DSi also comes with a microSD card slot, yet another feature synonymous with mobile phones. Naturally, the entire internet has been busy pondering about when or even if Nintendo will (hopefully) follow this leap forward with a DS phone.

It would make sense, seeing as the iPhone can handle titles such as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Sony (apparently) will be releasing a PSP Phone, Nokia are still surging ahead with their N-Gage series, and, well, who knows what might crop up on the G1 and future Android handsets?

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The autumn traditionally sees the smartphone makers going on a marketing blitz ahead of the holiday buying season, but this year there is the hint of desperation, as vendors unleash their most sophisticated devices yet, but to a market that is likely to be significantly tougher than they envisaged during the development stage. Hard on the heels of Nokia Tube, Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 and HTC/T-Mobile G1 comes LG’s latest effort, the Renoir, and like many of the Korean supplier's high end products, it blows away most of the competition in its features and innovations, but will still have to struggle to make as much noise as Apple, Google or Nokia.

The Renoir, more officially known as the KC910, will debut in the UK and other European countries this month through multiple operators. It is a slim (under 14mm) touchscreen handset that matches the much vaunted eight megapixel camera in Samsung’s recently launched i850. The camera, and therefore imaging and video applications, are the key focus on the Renoir (the name chosen because of the famous painter's skill with light). Like Nokia with the N95/96, LG is surrounding its megapixels with fine photo features, putting clear water between its handset and the iPhone, which has only managed a mediocre camera. The Renoir will sport Schneider-Kreuznach certified optics, a Xenon flash, auto and manual focus, sensitivity up to ISO 1600 and geotagging. It also boasts a first in phones, the Touch Shot feature, which allows the user to focus on any object simply by touching it on the screen, with the shutter firing automatically once the finger is removed, reducing shake.

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Sony Ericsson has cut a deal with UK company Mobile Commerce to get itself into the mapping business in the UK, joining in with its “Near Me” program for finding businesses which are near GPS enabled phones. It plans to bring the service to market based on its new 8.1 megapixel Cyber-shot C905 and also make it available to download onto its GPS enabled C702 Cyber-shot and W760 Walkman handsets.

Unlike Nokia which has acquired Navteq, and Google with its Maps services, Sony Ericsson does not have a global provider for local attractions and has decided that this is making a different here in the UK.

In the past Mobile Commerce has provided mobile local search systems relating to specific UK locations through strategic partnerships with Thomson, Multimap, The Press Association and The AA.

The “Near Me” service is implemented through a simple Java download, which will be factory installed on the C905 and provides users with detailed information on local businesses, amenities, venues and events, all based on the handset owners current location using GPS.

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Mobile phone companies are joining with chipset and laptop manufacturers to promote integrated mobile broadband support on laptop computers.

The united front of industry giants will build wireless modules into laptops designed to provide fast access to mobile broadband. A “Mobile Broadband” logo (see image) will mark out computers that will accelerate current third generation speeds and are compatible with future fourth generation technology. It is expected that the new laptops will be on the market in 91 different nations before Christmas.

Companies that have joined the alliance include laptop manufacturers Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo as well as 3, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Ericsson, Orange, Qualcomm and Vodafone. The coalition of companies has said it will spend about £554m ($1bn) altogether on promoting the logo and informing customers about laptops fitted with the new technology. The agreement to produce the modules, build them in to laptops and to campaign around the Mobile Broadband logo has been brokered by the GSM Association (GSMA) - a trade body that represents 80% of the world's mobile phone companies.

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Last month, Sony Ericsson was vocally denying reports that its flagship launch this year, the Xperia X1 Windows handset, was delayed. Now, however, it admits that the product will be released as promised on September 30, but only through restricted channels in key markets like the UK. Nonetheless, the phonemaker is planning a major marketing initiative around the smartphone, as it fights for attention in the pre-Christmas buying period among other high profile new arrivals like the Nokia N96 and Samsung i850 Innov8 - even if some of its tactics look like copycats of Nokia’s N96 drive.

In the UK, O2 and Vodafone will offer the Xperia X1, which has been hotly anticipated since it was unveiled back in February, from the end of this month. Orange will also have the phone, but only through indirect channels, mainly Phones4U. T-Mobile and 3 will not have the product in Q4. Dave Hilton, marketing director for SE in the UK and Ireland, said in an interview: “As part of a plan to launch the Xperia X1 this year we had to limit the release. Come Q1, there will be resources to range it elsewhere. As it was a fairly late project, only limited networks could be involved, but it will be available to the large retailers and a small amount will go through distribution for other retailers.”

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Having lived through the PC religious wars in the 80s, when Windows suddenly came to power in one of the most aggressive pieces of marketing ever seen, we are constantly alert to similar moves that might put the handset world in the same kind of icy grip.

As much as anyone loves Google and its Android initiative, surely no-one wants to see Windows happen all over again, a move which ended up deifying a single individual (Bill Gates) and producing the richest man in the world, while simultaneously destroying most of the companies that gave us the PC revolution and stultifying initiative and innovation on the PC.

What if a single company had ending up controlling the development of the Internet in the same way? It would have been a disaster of biblical proportions. The only alternative to a de facto standard and monopoly is the rise of an open source foundation that controls standards. In the case of the Internet it was the IETF and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and that's the model and role that Symbian is chasing, but in order to be successful it needs virtually everyone behind it.

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The Sony Ericsson Windows mobile smartphone that everyone has been waiting for, the Xperia X1, is still not with us, but its SDK is, the software development kit, delivered this week to developers for free. The device is supposed to be the answer to both the iPhone and the Blackberry, but who is going to develop for a device before it arrives, especially with the amount of uncertainty there has been around the Sony Ericsson joint venture and its current ability to deliver. The Xperia is delayed, and there is talk of Sony buying out Ericsson from their joint venture and friction between the two over recent losses.

But the device continues to look sumptuous in photos with its 9 panel touch screen (a bit like the Apple iPhone’s 4 touch buttons across the screen) where each panel can be user configured to a particular application. But it is tough to work out exactly what the X1 is for, and there is the nagging feeling that putting an interface like the iPhone on Windows is just easier to do than putting it on other operating systems, not better.

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