Nokia. If you can’t beat ’em …

Clone them.

The Nokia N1 is a pretty gorgeous looking Android version of the iPad mini and something Nokia should have done a while back – both as a tablet and as a phone. Android is something that could have easily enabled Nokia to extend themselves well into Apple led smartphone universe of today. But that friends, is water under the bridge.

Of note here are the new USB type-C connector which works in both directions (like lightning) and that manufacturing resides with Foxconn. Could this be a new more nimble Nokia?

Should be interesting to see what happens when this launches in China in February. I’d probably choose this over the Nexus 9 if I was looking at Android tablets …

via The Verge

Aiming for third

3

Lt. Aldo Raine: Well, I speak the most Italian, so I’ll be your escort. Donowitz speaks the second most, so he’ll be your Italian cameraman. Omar speaks third most, so he’ll be Donny’s assistant.
Pfc. Omar Ulmer: I don’t speak Italian.
Lt. Aldo Raine: Like I said, third best. Just keep your f*ckin’ mouth shut. In fact, why don’t you start practicing, right now!

via IMDB

Being 3rd can only be seen as a concession.  It’s never an actual goal.  If you’ve competed in sports you know getting third is because you weren’t the best or even the next best.  It’s certainly an achievement particularly in things like the Olympics, but if you are going into a big tournament thinking you’ll only get 3rd place, it’s because you aren’t mentally or physically able to compete for the title.  In mobile it looks a little different … no one is even trying for second.

It all seems to have started with this …

Such technology platforms are often called ecosystems, and Mr. Elop described Nokia’s strategy in those terms. Mobile network operators, likeAT&T and Verizon, would welcome more smartphone competition. “They want a third ecosystem,” Mr. Elop said.

Nokia competes with other handset makers, like Samsung, HTC and LG. But Mr. Elop made it clear that was not his greatest concern.

“The highest priority for us is to beat Android and Apple,” he said. “This is an ecosystem to ecosystem battle.” [NYT NOVEMBER 8, 2011]

An interesting perspective and clearly now, over a year later there’s still a rather MASSIVE road ahead to even come close. However an interesting thing happened along the way …First in January:

BlackBerry, formerly Research in Motion, has made no secret that it’s got its eye on the bronze medal of the smartphone market, behind Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Taking on either of the big two would be an impossible, demoralizing goal for the once-dominant Canadian smartphone maker, but holding on as a solid third choice is an achievable goal. [Washington Post Feb 7,2013]

And now in March:

Sony Corp said it aims to win third place in smartphone markets around the world behind Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, pitting it against Chinese companies Huawei Technology and and ZTE that are looking to become the third big player in mobile devices. [Reuters March 4, 2013]

Granted Sony and Blackberry are talking about the exact same thing since Blackberry believes it’s really selling an ecosystem and they are vs Sony which is offering an Android powered smartphone.

So who has the likeliest chance of success? All bets are off once Huawei takes the crown for first of course.

 

Nokia on the rise?

Nokia shipped 4.4 million Lumia devices in the fourth quarter of 2012, bringing its total smartphone shipments to 6.6 million devices, the first increase in smartphone shipment numbers in a year.

But the Finnish handset maker still expects its main devices and services unit to record a fall in net sales in the fourth quarter of 2012, to €3.9 billion ($5.10 billion) from €6 billion a year earlier, with total device shipments projected at 86.3 million units, down from 113.5 million. Nokia is due to report its full fourth-quarter earnings on Jan. 24

via Nokia Boosted by Brisk Lumia Sales – WSJ.com.

very quick camera test: iPhone 4S vs Nokia Lumia 820

Here’s a very quick outside shot sample test between the iPhone and Lumia.  These are straight shots with no adjustment or change in settings.

Looking out at the deer path leaving our backyard …

WP_20121222_003Lumia 820 iphone_4siPhone 4S

To my eye the Lumia is delivering a richer shot. Color is better – the sky shows more blue, leaves pop more and the grass is greener.  The iPhone (3264 × 2448 pixels) uses many more pixels here as well compared to the Lumia (1278 × 720).

Nokia Lumia 900

Nokia Lumia 900 - Press Shots

I have almost no interest in Windows Phone but really want to play with the Nokia Lumia 900. It’s amazing to see Nokia back in action, though also sad knowing that they couldn’t pull it all together themselves (Meego).

Change is good though and the Lumia 900 looks like a solid piece! Gorgeous …

Image courtesy of The Verge

Nokia the OEM

I’ve been tracking all the Nokia news the past days and while it’s impossible to argue that change was required, it seems that Nokia has actually folded considerably more than we’d all expected.  In exchange for access to Microsoft Windows Phone, Nokia is essentially closing up shop outside of manufacturing and some bits of maps.  Near term Symbian will be supported, but that has a pretty clear path to death.

If you read the open letter, everything is spelled out in plain English. My thoughts in italics …

• Nokia will adopt Windows Phone as its primary smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader. (symbian and meego are done)

• Nokia will help drive and define the future of Windows Phone. Nokia will contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies. (Nokia gets a say for some features, probably driven by hardware opportunities)

• Nokia and Microsoft will closely collaborate on development, joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products. (Nokia earns the right to co-marketing and will probably have some devices featured as core Windows Phone products in direct MS marketing)

• Bing will power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter will provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services. (Bing and you’re done, just like Nokia’s ad business)

• Nokia Maps will be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience. (Fortunately for MS, Nokia paid Billions for Navteq and we’ll put that to good use in our core products)

• Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements will make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low. (Nokia will help MS get operator billing in place for Windows Phone which will potentially help global reach for MS.  Probably does nothing for the US Smartphone market opp)

• Microsoft development tools will be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach. (QT is dead.  An excellent acquisition for Nokia)

• Microsoft will continue to invest in the development of Windows Phone and cloud services so customers can do more with their phone, across their work and personal lives. (More MS for Nokia owners running Windows Phone)

• Nokia’s content and application store will be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience. (Ovi is dead)

The best post that sums this up described the transition as a coup and frankly that’s not too far off. Microsoft has a new leader in place at Nokia who owns a massive amount of stock and naturally wants things to work out … for Microsoft.    Microsoft gets a new hero manufacturer to abuse.  If Nokia enables Windows Phone sales he wins – on both sides of the equation. Nokia as a company and brand has some major issues to resolve.

The real issues facing Nokia are remain the same. They still need to attract developers and require some major assistance still in the US, the largest smartphone market. Microsoft has barely made a dent and it seems their sales are in the channel rather than end user. Windows Phone is a fresh start in a race that’s been active for years. Android while more competitive for Nokia as an OEM would have been an easy option for developers to work with given the stratospheric growth and sales of Android products over the past two years.   Windows Phone is certainly nice, but that’s all it is.  There are no standout applications yet even though the growth has been reasonable.  Time will tell, but I’m not feeling this at all.

Nokia, Why are things still this hard?

I’ve been dabbling with the N8 for about two weeks now and it’s a mixed bag. At first, it took a bit to get my Nokia muscle memory back in shape. The process of coming back to Nokia and Symbian is kinda like getting back together with that girlfriend you broke up with … She looks great (as usual) but once back together you remember exactly why you broke up in the first place.

I’m not going to do a full review but instead highlight a few key issues I have right from the start that are sadly baked in from the old days …

By default, the time does not get set from the network. This is a minor gripe, but it meant that the pictures and video I shot that first day all have the wrong timestamp baked in. I put the sim card in while in a taxi on my way to an after work event so i can take a bit of blame for not really paying attention, but why should i even have to?

The Nokia Social client which is featured on the first home screen is a fail. I’ve had to re-inout my password at least a dozen times and at this point I’m done. If you know the software sucks, call it beta and ask me to download it instead of including it as part of the base system.

Speaking of having to install … Why is the Ovi Store app NOT pre-installed? Including the stub to force the download is ridiculous. It’s not like you weren’t sure the store would launch in time … Once installed the client seems to be something of a digital island. It has no ability to see what I have installed to make recommendations. This missing ability means we all see the same stuff, regardless of whether you’ve already tried it or how you may have rated the app. Sigh.  Apparently this is being worked on …

Nokia Messaging … Whoa. Exchange is my default sync method and i have two rather critical issues here. First after all these years, I can’t believe that sync still need to be restarted at least once a day. Second the ability to accept appointments simple does not exist. This is a total fail.

As usual, the hardware is lovely and the camera is excellent. Think that about sums it up.

What exactly is Nokia’s problem?

What the hell is happening at Nokia?

They have been in a real decline with no sign of change which is just ridiculous considering their global share of mobile. I’m glad I’m not a shareholder, but if I was I would be freaking out and calling for change … Instead i will just use my iPad.

When Nokia forced the N97 out of the gate early it was, in my opinion, a move made of ignorance. While it is typical for them to release a hardware product that requires firmware to smooth things out, consumer experience had substantially changed since that proactive started. The initial N95 was the same actually. It took a big software update to deliver on the multitasking promise as it shipped without the ability to page memory and therefore needed to close apps constantly as you moved through the device. The N97 continued that tradition and actually shipped with crappy hardware hardware as well. It was barely tolerable with the N97 but people were far more aware of their options (iPhone, Android etc) when the N97 arrived. As a result sales suffered and consumer demand is low … Outside of course of the carrier based low cost phone channel. A place all flagship devices seek …

Now the N8, next flagship is due to arrive and according to aEldar’s review at Mobile Review is yet another disappointment. I’m sure Nokia will make it up by only charging $600 instead of $700 as with the N97.

Nokia’s device strategy is allegedly based on solutions, but their goal of integrating software through Ovi remains another empty promise. The lack of a core suite of reliable services is ridiculous given the amount of time that has passed. I’m not saying this is easy to do, but the company line has been “it’s coming” for far too long … As in years.

Perhaps you think Maemo, oh I mean Meego is the solution? Let’s just look at the stellar track record there. The N900 is the 4th device on the 4th version of the maemo platform. Maemo 6 is DOA and instead Meego will replace. Let’s see how that goes … I won’t be holding my breath. Even if Nokia and Intel pull off a reasonable UX, the services won’t be in place, nor will the apps. Maemo haas been the red headed stepchild within Nokia through each phase it has existed. Instead of creating a dual OS strategy and giving Maemo some real resources, Nokia instead has played it coy and left a lot of the work on the community, which while enthusiastic, remains more hobbyist than anything else. Instead the “effort” has gone towards S60 and Symbian.

I’ve used countless Nokia devices since the launch of Nseries back in 2005. I have loved and actively promoted the brand. I’ve even worked for Nokia in that time through the digital agency I still work for today. Through all that time Nokia has made many broken promises but because they have also stuck to the old game no one else is playing they are losing and badly. It’s great that manufacturing excellence leads to global efficiencies and reduced costs for emerging markets, but where’s the innovation?? Where’s the passion for mobile?

It’s time for a real change.

Nokia offers Free Navigation to everyone

Nokia free navigation

Today Nokia announced Maps with free navigation for everyone which is a very big deal.  Previously the only way to get turn by turn navigation was to buy a Navigator device. Nokia had offered free trials of the navigation service on most newer mid to higher end devices but to put it all out there is a very powerful offer.

The goes beyond just the turn by turn piece and includes all the premium content within Maps – again a very cool and substantial detail. You now have full access to all the premium content:

  • Free Drive navigation
  • Free Walk navigation
  • Free maps and map updates
  • Free Events guides
  • Free Lonely Planet guides
  • Free Michelin guides

When Google first announced Android 2.0 would include free navigation it was a bold move, and became an instant black eye for everyone else.  Nokia’s initial response with the 5800 Navigation Edition was pretty limited by comparison while today’s play is substantially more bold!  I’m sure this was not an easy pill for management to swallow given Navigation is one of the larger revenue generating services.

Nokia’s reach and share is still larger than anyone else’s and I expect others to follow suit as a result.  Consumers are now going to expect navigation as a standard feature of a smartphone – in the same way maps previously was.

How do you define an active user?

mocoNews reports today on Nokia’s positive growth in “active” Services users, yet also reveals a dirty little secret about about how companies claim to count who’s active.

But this is only a small silver lining to a bigger cloud: the company counts as active users every consumer who has used a service just once over the last six months. And considering that there are an estimated 1.1 billion Nokia (NYSE: NOK) users worldwide today, this is a far cry from critical mass.

Nokia is far from alone in how they report numbers like this. It’s obvious why companies do this – it makes things look better. But it’s total BS.  There’s likely to be a considerably amount of float in this calculation for users who trial and never return … consider the services bundled with new devices as an easy example.  Try Maps with Navigation for that 7-10 day trial but then never use it again.  For at least half the year that batch of new sales considerably bumps the base figure and if you continue to push out bundled “solutions” you can game the services figures.  I doubt that’s really the intent and I’m not trying to be completely harsh, but come on this is just BS!

I can’t imagine building a relationship with people who use your product an average of  twice a year.  Good luck with that retention plan …

Nokia suggests waiting just one more year

I missed this piece while writing my last post. It doesn’t say anything too specific about the higher end market (like nothing) but does indicate we’ll keep on waiting to see what Nokia has in store … I’m looking forward to seeing how the service integration evolves is revealed.

(Nokia’s executive vice-president and head of the mobile phones, Rick Simonson) I can even make a prediction for 2010: In Latin America, we will grow faster than them. By 2011, our efforts will start producing results, as we will be at par with Apple and RIM in smartphones. Not only we draw level with them, we will also win the war because, in addition to email, we will be adding content, chat, music, entertainment and several other features, which will soon become very critical for success of any company in this space.

Another crucial factor that will play a large role in our success is that we have the power of open operating system coupled with the open distribution model that is not restricted by geographical or technology boundaries. Look at our targets for any segment of our devices for 2010 — they are all 2-10 times that of any of our competitors. via The Economic Times.

Symbian Foundation confirms Nokia’s focus

I just caught a very interesting and revealing post over on the Symbian Foundation’s Blog … The key quote for me was the following:

Nokia’s endorsement of Symbian specifically marks out our future as a mobile computing and communications platform for the masses, globally marketed in smartphones costing $150 and under, and being an essential ingredient for helping others embrace the power of new types of communication.

Symbian will maintain it’s role as the smartphone for the masses which is where such a powerful, flexible platform belongs. An exciting aspect of this is that it also means that the offering will continue to have a huge impact on the lifestyles of people around the world.

This essentially confirms Nokia is done with the high end market for Symbian and I don’t care what the public talking heads keep saying about Symbian being their core smartphone OS.  The cues have all been there, but now stated publicaly, we see that Nokia’s smartphone for the masses truly does indicate a focus on mid-tier products given the price points and certainly retains Nokia’s focus on emerging markets as well.

It’s great to see that what we currently define as smartphones will be moving downstream to offer more capabilities to more people.  It’s also quite sad though that Nokia has yet to make a real move on the upper end to attract and retain interest in both developer and prosumer markets.

Before anyone jumps all over me for not bringing up Maemo

The N900 is a nice device, but it’s still way to hyper focused on the geek, and not ready for a mass market audience.  I’m sure there are more steps in the master plan for how Maemo will evolve, but they have yet to be revealed on any level  and whatever rumors have trickled out have yet to be stated boldly enough to instill confidence.  Nokia did not even have the courage to market it against the N97 (a vastly inferior S60 product) last year.  All the current efforts for Maemo are still largely based in WOM … no real push upstream to a broader market.

What a difference a year makes!  Last year, I carried two Symbian devices, had my N810 in my travel bag and regularly rotated through devices as the situation warranted.  I probably had between 3-5 additional Nokia devices within an arm’s reach.  Today, I am not carrying any Symbian devices and there is no Nokia gear in my bag either.  I’ve got an iPhone 3GS and a Blackberry Bold 9700.  I don’t feel like I’m missing anything … in fact just the opposite.  While I was so hyper focused on supporting Nokia, I failed to notice how quickly the Blackberry platform had evolved and though I tried to ignore it, was all to aware of what was happening with the iPhone.

Nokia has yet to actually change their game though we all know the rules changed a few years ago.  Perhaps there’s still a surprise waiting, though it looks like the same show has simply traveled to a new town.

Apple’s cooking their own Social Location

Not too surprising to see, and frankly not real yet … 9to5Mac reports on a patent that covers a pending piece of Apple tech to match and enhance the capabilities currently found in Latitude – at least on the surface.  The goodies within the patent seem to indicate that geo-data will be able to extend to both sms and instant messages making it more of a system wide feature.

I’m hoping this leads to a more standard way to handle location data.  Apple seems “good enough” to start as a source for handling this … I just hope it’s not restricted to Apple only things.  That would be a very Nokia-like approach (Friendview anyone?) and one that while successful within it’s own world, would severely limit the opportunity.  On second thought it does actually sound a lot like what’s baked into Nokia Chat Ovi Contacts.

The difference between Google and Nokia

While this is hardly a definitive view, I think it’s an excellent example which highlights a key difference  in how Nokia and Google have gone to market with very similar ideas.

Ovi Prime Place and Google’s Favorite Places both seek to link physical businesses with mobile maps.  The main difference and it’s likely to be critical here is that Google has proactively seeded 100K businesses with QR code stickers and listings while The Nokia Ovi team has decided to leave the map blank and invited businesses in to create their listings …   without any marketing.

Which do you think will grow more quickly and succeed?

BlackBerry Bold 9700 initial thoughts

I’ve been using the new BlackBerry 9700 for a bit over a week and it’s an impressive device. The last BB I used was a curve from about two years ago and it is immediately clear that the platform has matured to accommodate applications and multitasking.

In the past my experience aside from email and ota sync of exchange, was pretty negative. The curve was a very underwhelming device once you started to consider it a smartphone. Multitasking brought it to its knees and made anything in addition to email rather unpleasant.

The new Bold 9700 is a refreshing change. I really find the experience to be solid. The 9700 truly excels as a communicator which clearly remains the core blackberry sweet spot. The unified inbox is a very smart idea and let’s you focus a great deal of attention in a single streamlined place. Multiple email inboxes, gtalk chats, facebook notices (which open contextually in the app!) blackberry messenger chats and sms messages all in one place really rock. I still like to move between the various comms modes but staying connected cross channel in one place is awesome.

While the 9700 is my main work device I am still exploring apps and getting a rich feel for the platform and app ecosystem. I have yet to purchase any apps, but have spent a fair bit of time with BB App World. Its easy to see where it is heading and the initial roll out is admirable but there are quite a few issues … To name a few:

Even after sharing my imei and specific device on the web I still get apps that are not compatible. Fail.

App World is a bit tedious. Its nice that you can download multiple things but navigation requires too many steps. If you find an app online either from the desktop or mobile you often find a page that gives you a choice of downloading within app world or actually downloading app world itself. Why wasn’t the store even on my brand new flagship by default??

Back to the device itself…

The keyboard takes a bit of getting used to but once you have a feel its super to type on. I can type much faster than I ever did on either the Nokia E71 or E75. No contest really.

The speed at which you can process incoming messages as well as crank out what you need on the go is outstanding. Mobile productivity is way up compared to both Symbian and iPhone usage. Exchange integration is amazing with BES. I realize that’s quite a premium compared to the more standard consumer facing BIS but it truly is a robust solution. I know Nokia is trying to compete with this via Mail For Exchange but in the past few years I have experienced far too many halted syncs and errors to believe that’s really an appropriate enterprise solution. On the consumer side perhaps there is more tolerance but I’ve lost some faith after so many hiccups.

I’ve started to use BB Messenger with some teammates and see that really in the same way that Nextel offered Direct Connect (sans voice). It’s a solid choice for chatting in either one to one or groups on the go and is an sms beater (with threads!) If everyone is on the platform.

The browser has improved and is tolerable. At best it gives S60 a run for the money but has nothing on the webkit offerings from Android and iphone. For me it gets the job done as needed but it is not my goto browser. I do really like the use of keyboard shortcuts and how easy it is to initiate a new page or search. Tabs would be excellent and I am unsure why this was omitted …

Call quality, camera (with geotagging) and memory usage are all solid. It seems impossible to understand what apps are currently running vs recently run in the task switcher but as I have yet to run out of RAM this seems like a minor point.

I will probably have some additional points soon but thus far the current Blackberry system is quite solid and something I would definitely recommend.

Btw – I wrote this post on the 9700 while on the train home. Pandora was streaming nicely in the background the whole time.

A day late and a dollar short?

With all the noise yesterday about Android 2.0 and Google’s new free navigation service, this release just feels a bit … Meh.

Navigation market leader, Telmap, has used its unique navigation technology and NAVTEQ’s superior global map data, to bring a comprehensive mobile search, mapping and navigation solution for the iPhone, thus enabling mass adoption of mobile navigation. via Realwire

Since Nokia owns Navteq is does also immediately bring back my first thought on Ovi Maps…. How much longer can Nokia even consider charging for navigation services? nbsp;The PND category took a huge hit yesterday … Garmin alone lost 1.2 Billion off their market cap.

Once again the rules have changed. Will Nokia continue to play the same hand?


Hoping Nokia Listens and Takes Action

Thanks to IntoMobile, I’ve discovered this video which captures so many excellent critical points about the N97 …

The N97 represents so many things that are just plain wrong with how Nokia typically brings a product to market.  Instead of waiting until the all pieces are in place they ship and expect that customers will be fine with a firmware update (or three) until the dust settles and you finally have the product you thought you bought in the first place.

What Nokia seems to have failed to recognize is that the market has shifted and consumer expectations are considerably greater thanks to the competitive spirit driven by the iPhone and quickly followed by Android, Blackberry and Palm.   You can’t keep pretending to get it right and then fix it later.  There are simply too many other products available that suit the needs of quite a few customer segments.  As you might notice from this helpful chart Apple is quickly working it’s way into the business set as well …

SAI chart_of_the day

Things have to change at Nokia and in a substantial way or sadly we’ll just continue to see the market share numbers drop … complacency is not the answer. As a long time loyal user and fan, I find it frustrating that so little has changed since the arrival of the iPhone – which is clearly the marker by which the shift in consumer understanding and usage changed considerably. It seems so clear to everyone, yet Nokia continues to do it all over and over again.

Don’t even get me started on services …

Nokia Booklet 3G – Coming Soon to the US for $299

IMG_1298

Today Nokia confirmed pricing on their upcoming netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G. Initially, you’ll be able to scoop one up at Best Buy for a subsidized price of $299. There will also be an contract free option which will be offered for $599.

$600 bucks is a lot for a netbook, but the Booklet 3G brings quite a bit to the table. It’s clear that Nokia has really developed something considerably more premium than the typical $300 machine. The aluminum construction is very solid and feels quite like a micro macbook. I’m sure this feel as well as the actual design was no accident and think a lot of people are going to really like how this notebook looks. The 10″ display offers a 720p ready resolution which is higher than standard, but also not too high. I was unable to confirm what the HDMI port can drive on an external display, only that it’s higher than the standard screen. This will be great for users looking to dock at home, though I could see using this in full laptop mode all the time.

Of course the real appeal of the Booklet 3G is the always-on connectivity combined with an impressive 12 hours of battery life. During the press Q&A it was unclear whether this battery life was with or without wireless and clearly using the device intensely will impact things a fair bit. That said, I would be surprised if you did not see over 8 hours of battery usage which certainly classifies itself as an all day machine in my book. Windows 7 will be the standard OS which is excellent. In my own netbook tests, Windows 7 has been an excellent performer and I would expect the same for the Booklet as well. I would expect the home edition as the standard install …

Best Buy will be the exclusive retailer when the Booklet 3G becomes available in time for holiday shopping while AT&T will be the exclusive launch operator for those looking to buy with a plan. The standard $60/5G/mo plan will be standard, though AT&T alluded to some lower priced price options coming as well.

In general, the Nokia Booklet 3G looks like a very compelling mobile computer. I could definitely see using this as my work computer. For my daily tasks managing email, web and social streams it would be perfect and the addition of always on connectivity along with stellar battery performance make it a just about a slam dunk. I’m looking forward to getting a real test machine to confirm my assumptions, but am very excited by what Nokia has done here.

A Mobile Challenge!

Calling all mobile device manufacturer’s, carriers and anyone else who wants to play!

This is your chance to prove just how reliable your high end devices are!  I’m tired of seeing low battery warnings on my mobile devices before the end of a business day and am looking to you to prove me wrong — that there is actually at least one power device that can handle this seemingly simple task.  My normal usage is probably more aggressive than the average consumer and I’m looking to find the most robust smartphone on the market.

Here’s what you can expect your devices to have to survive …

  • I wake each day around 5am using the phone as an alarm.  It is then, that I unplug and really begin my day on battery.  I’ll check email from multiple accounts, take a peak at the weather, twitter and facebook.
  • I typically then work out and use my mobile for music.  I’m open to tracking the workout as well via whatever app you recommend, but typically use my Garmin to capture sports telemetry.  Post workout it’s back to check in with my various feeds as above and then off to the train …
  • On the train is where your device is going to experience some heavy usage and my commute is 90 minutes total in both directions.  The train itself is an hour and during that time, you expect the following type of usage: email (mulitiple accounts), twitter, facebook, extensive web usage (mainly google reader), ebooks and multimedia (music mainly).  I’ll probably check in on foursquare at both ends as well … I’m usually at the office by 9 though sometimes later like today.
  • During  the course of my business day I make a few calls, stay on track of upcoming meetings (exchange sync), and check-in occasionally with Foursquare (lunch), twitter, facebook and google reader.  Much of my information flow switches to the desktop during the day, but as I move between meetings mobile usage does come into play.
  • I’ll probably snap some pictures and upload them to various services as well … just part of a normal day.
  • The return commute is much like the morning.  I tend to take a train anytime between 6 and 8pm so your device needs to be able to last until 9pm.

In my experience the only device that has come close is the Nokia E71.  The iPhone 3GS ranks among the worst performers … requiring multiple top-ups throughout the day.  Other failed devices are the Nokia N80 and T-Mobile G1.

Here are the basic rules:

  • I’m happy to use my SIM card, but only have a personal account on AT&T so if you want to submit a device to this test, I’m requesting that you cover the data and call plan during the trial.
  • All devices must have 3G service in NYC.
  • All devices must fit into the “smartphone” category.
  • I’d like to test all devices submitted over a few days to understand what’s normal and to make sure they all get a fair shake.
  • All devices will be loaner.  I’m not looking to take your phones … just test them.
  • There’s no prize other than bragging rights.  I’m an individual not a company and can’t offer anything other than that.

If you are interested in participating, please leave a comment with an email in the contact field so I can reach out with an address to send things.  If you have any questions, please also leave a comment so others can benefit from the shared knowledge.

I’d like to test a good range of products, but what gets put into the ring will be up to you … I expect this to take a few weeks if all goes as planned and hope it’s fun for everyone.

Let’s get it on!