I was interviewed today by a PR firm that handles Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo, one of the largest and most technologically advanced network operators in the world, and one of the questions asked raised a very interesting point to me. NTT DoCoMo is rolling out two smartphones, a Blackberry and the HTC Z, and I was asked what impact this will make on the marketplace.
Going against initial assumptions that the very technology happy country that is Japan would jump on advanced devices like smartphones, previous releases, based mainly on Nokia’s S60 UI, have not done well at all. This is a trend that I imagine will continue, but I am really at a loss to explain why. The HTC Z is a very capable device - based on the Hermes reference design, it has all the specifications of a high-end non-smartphone - yet will most likely be outsold by a considerable amount by handsets with less organizational capabilities. This is certainly something that puzzles me, and I will be keeping a keen eye on what happens when these handsets are released to the market.
To answer the people that have been pumping me for info on the new Sidekick 3 - I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you any specifics. Two things I will tell you though, is you will know all before the end of the month, and MobileBurn will be the first with a review of the device.
The new LG KG800 ‘Chocolate’ phone showed up today, and while I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet, I thought I would take some pictures of the incredible unboxing experience LG has provided. The black box with the pattern is made of very hard cardboard, and fastens shut with magnets. It is all very Apple like, and really makes you feel like you have something special on your hands.
The LG KG800 ships with a charger, USB cable, stereo headset with in-line music remote, a lanyard, software CD, and two batteries (standard and extended capacity) in the box.
All the photos after the jump. If anyone has any questions about the device, don’t be afraid to ask.
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As requested by several people, here are some Nokia E61 comparison photos to help you get an idea of its size. Click the thumbnails for a larger version.
Edit: I should mention that I’m not getting a kick-back from Orb or affiliated with them in any way, this is just personal experience.
After we did the video demo of the Sling Media mobile beta running on a Motorola Q for MobileBurn, it got me thinking about place shifting. Things like the SlingBox aren’t available in Australia at the moment, so I didn’t really give it much more thought. Until I was contacted by the PR guy for Orb, that is.
Orb is a free (!) application for Windows boxes that will stream media over the Internet to pretty much any device you can think of. It supports WMV, Real, WinAmp, and 3GP formats, and runs though a personalized web page that works great even on small (read: mobile device) screens.
Having just received the Nokia E61, I thought I would check all this out. I loaded Orb onto my Windows Media Center box, and after a few configuration jitters, I was streaming both live TV and recorded TV to my Nokia. Orb plugs into Media Center perfectly, showing guide listings, program descriptions, everything. It also handles music and photos just as well.
If you are into place shifting, check it out, and kudos to Orb for making such a cool free application.
One handset that I have been very eager to get my grubby mitts on is the Nokia E61. This is Nokia’s first bar-style handset with a QWERTY keypad, and has a spec sheet that certainly aims to impress. Lucky me, the UPS man showed up on my doorstep this morning with a package containing a shiny new E61, click on to read my initial impressions/review, and post any questions you may have in the comments.
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I made a visit to CeBIT in Sydney today, and despite the small size of the show, it was rather entertaining. For those in Australia that care about such matters, the Sony Ericsson P990 and Nokia E61 smartphones will be available on Vodafone very soon. Sagem also had a nice showing, which is great, as I have not seen much from them in a while.
You can check out my Flickr set of photos from the show floor right here, including hands on photos with the E61 and other handsets.
Next up for me is Communicasia in Singapore next month. If there are any MobileBurn readers that want to meet up while I’m in the country, drop me an email.
I received an email from Daniel Holth this morning, pointing me to this page on Halfbakery. It seems as though he described almost the same device as the Motorola shock alert system for mobile phones that was patented a couple of days ago, back in July 2004. See my article on MobileBurn about the patent here.
I wonder if something like this can be used as prior art?
Having not seen the Motorola announcements before they happened at CTIA, I still held a glimmer of hope that the manufacturer would release something decent from the show, after a string of nothing but new colors, and missing 3GSM totally. What did I get?
New colors.
The only announcements from Motorola were three new colors for the RAZR V3i, the V3m (which is just a V3c with a memory card slot), and a new low-end handset that takes queues from the PEBL.
I’m sick of Motorola.
The handset business of Motorola is getting by on the success of the RAZR, so the company is getting lazy. There is a lack of innovation coming from the manufacturer, and eventually the RAZR is going to fade away - if the company wants to keep its position in the market, it is going to have to show some interesting devices, or it will be caught with its pants down.
We can’t go on forever waiting for the Q.
A few days ago, I was sent a Nokia 6280, and since then I have been using it as my full-time handset - setting aside my N90 for a while. The best thing I could say about this device is that I have mixed emotions. Read my mini-review after the jump.
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