NSeries Quick Thoughts

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So I haven't had time to learn everything about the new NSeries phones from Nokia yet, but I figured I throw some quick initial impressions out there:

In general, I'm so happy that Nokia finally has dropped the four number naming system, at least for these phones. I can't tell you what it's like trying to remember all the different numbers of models, even Nokia employees have a hard time. It's also nice to see that Nokia is innovating and getting models out there quickly. Two of the three are just updated versions of other models they've announced, but the N91 is definitely pretty amazing. Though Nokia says otherwise, we probably won't see these phones in shops for another 6 to 9 months (maybe by Christmas?) but it's nice to see they're trying. It's also nice to see that all these phones are based on Symbian Series 60 - it's a no-brainer to me, but some choice could've been made somewhere to based these phones on an RTOS instead. Stainless steel smudges easily, no?

About the phones themselves:

N91:

  • This is a pretty amazing phone - put it on the top of my wishlist.
  • 4G HD, regular audio jack, and USB 2.0 syncing! Nice.
  • It has WiFi?!?! Holy crap. I never thought that would happen.
  • It supports Microsoft's WMV. Whodathunk? Oh, that's right! Me.
  • Ummm. Where's the S60 menu button?
  • The phone itself is only half the story. Who's going to provide the Music Store?
  • Will there be any demand from the carriers? It's like the iTunes phone, but worse as it also has WiFi. Verizon is already crippling Bluetooth! A phone with WiFi? Come on!

N90:

  • My god that thing is HUUGE.
  • Wow. It's big.
  • Nice placement of the Menu button. Nokia should keep it there from now on. Like Motos and Samsungs all have the same spot for their menu keys.
  • Christian Lindholm called this phone a "transformer". I still think the jury is out as to whether people like using their phones in "modes" like this.
  • My god, it's massive.

N70:

  • Did I see a new home screen in one of those pics out there? Cool.
  • What's that extra button above the C key?
  • This should have come with SD support and a regular audio jack as well
  • Besides some keypad/OS tweaks, is this phone different from the 6680? I can't really tell.

That's all for now. Someone tell me if I'm missing something.

-Russ

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