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Competing with iPhone: Nokia

Roland Tanglao has an interest post about a few ways Nokia could start thinking about competing with the iPhone:

Plan A:

  1. Make the existing phones work right. e.g. fix the memory problems with ShoZu and the N95 even if this requires throwing hardware at it e.g. by doubling the RAM.
  2. Bundle N95s with ShoZu (a version that allows unlimited size video uploads to YouTube, or blip.tv, the present 4MB limit is silly) and a flickr membership and market the N95 for the groundbreaking and cool device that it is (well that I think it is; I don’t have an N95 but other than the usual memory problems and the GPS antenna not being sensitive enough it looks like an awesome device)

Plan B:

  1. recast S60 around an open source core to make it more reliable and robust
  2. add touch and create a new user interface from the ground up to make the S60 user experience competitive with iPhone.

Hard to argue with Plan A, though I would add offering an upgrade / update to existing owners to fix the memory issues that plague us on the N95. The phone is $750, which as you know is MORE than the iPhone which according to the iPhone haters out there means you should be getting more for your money. I like the notion of a special version of Shozu. Assuming it actually works on your device – something that is a crap shoot apparently – it would be nice to actually be able to get media from the device up to your online service of choice. This only enhances the value of the device to the people most likely to be attracted to purchase.

Shozu should probably not be where things end either. Since there’s a bevy of applications available for the S60 platform, why not parter with the software companies for some bundling. Take better advantage of the Downloads service and offer more than people want and how they can get the most from their purchase. The devices are being sold unlocked — use that to your advantage as well… they can work out of the box anywhere you want on any carrier with little exception).

Nokia’s real issue though is marketing. They’ve had a massive head start in the market and have a few devices (UI aside) with much greater capabilities. The phones are more complex to use and have a definite learning curve if you are new to S60 which hurts adoption. That said, there’s an appeal with power users that needs to be properly exploited.

The Blogger Relations program of which I am a part helps – as illustrated by my readership as well as the reader of other participants, but Nokia needs to do more to SHOW what the devices are about, how they work and most importantly WHY you want one. I would suggest embracing the users more and sharing a deeper view from the base in a broader context — not just what readers see on the blogs, but in actual ads and a campaign site – make it mass! The iPhone broke through all the barriers and has become a pop culture icon in consumer electronics… use that momentum now that the people have awakened but steer them down your path. Apple’s excellent marketing simplicity has opened the door for opportunity.

BTW — my guess on the initial response to the iPhone in the US is that rumored 8GB N95 though I have a feeling we’ll see it working on US 3G bands.

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Yahoo’s Push … Mail

Using the iPhone with a few email accounts over the past few days has given me some insight into the nature of how things are getting done between Apple and Google and Yahoo. While Google has a lock on the maps, YouTube and as the initial search partner for Safari, Yahoo scored two widget home screen placements with Stocks and Weather and is also the only way to get a push mail experience.

POP Mail is horrible. I was an IMAP user for years and only switched to GMail fulltime (my domain’s IMAP forwards into Gmail) when I realized I could get a similar experience across my mobile phones and the Nokia Internet Tablet (full web Gmail). Now on the iPhone things are a different story. For starters, there’s no Gmail application. I guess I could use the web browser, but I’ve been spoiled by the speed of the application Google released and would either like that as my main option or even better an iPhone integrated Gmail mail service. This full integration is actually exactly what Yahoo has scored with their IMAP support. For starters – it’s instant! Exactly what you would have come to expect if you’ve used a blackberry or a Treo with Chattermail. The shortest interval you can get mail to check on the iPhone is 15 minutes – unless it’s a Yahoo Account and then it’s real-time.

It’s great to have Yahoo mail updating in real-time, but there’s no way to change how you appear in sent mail and Yahoo is not my preferred domain. Additionally it’s more than likely that any reply to a mailing list will be blocked as it’s not the address you’ve subscribed with. Push is not enough for me to switch to Yahoo, but I definitely want it when I can tap in from another email account. For now without a way to change my identity I’m still sticking it out with GMail. POP annoyances aside…

It will be interested to see how long this lock lasts for Yahoo as well as everything else. I can’t see Google allowing Yahoo’s exclusive on premium access to mail lasting longer than the terms of the initial deal.

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iPhone activation issues highlight the problems with locked phones …

I’ve used a lot of mobile devices. Its been a while since I’ve used, let alone chose to own a locked device of any kind and this weekend confirms just how messed up the current system is. If the device was unlocked those of us with problems would have simply been on our way enjoying the experience instead of banging our heads into the wall in frustration.

In my recent experience, I take the current SIM I’ve been using and place it in my new phone. I’ve done this about a dozen times over the past few years and never had an issue – the phones just work and my previous account settings are nicely transferred as well.

There are likely plans to do OTA stuff we don’t yet have information on, but until then it seems the iPhone aside from Visual Voicemail has no carrier specific requirements. I can’t think why Apple actually wanted to even get the iPhone mapped into a carrier. In fact, I’d bet that if the product was spread around multiple carriers they’d be selling even more than they already are. Granted Apple would have to have multiple SKUs to manage both CDMA and GSM varieties, but that seems easy enough for Palm and if they can manage you know Apple could.

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T-Mobile officially Launches UMA service

“Essentially, what the T-Mobile has done is delivered the first consumers UMA platform using the same phone to make calls over a cellular network outside of the home and leveraging consumers WiFi and Broadband connections at home. To that end, there are two hardware components to T-Mobile’s offering. First is a phone that can work off of T-Mobiles Cell network and is also WiFi enabled to use GSM of over WiFi and a T-Mobile branded optimized router that gives priority to voice packets. While you don’t need T-Mobile’s router to use the service, it’s the recommended solution. On the phone side, you’ll need one of two new handsets T-Mobile is introducing, one from Nokia and one from Samsung. Regular WiFi enables phones or PDAs won’t work.” [Michael Gartenberg]

A tough week to launch a new mobile anything but T-Mobile is going live (sort of) with their UMA service… The site looks the same as it originally did and there’s no mention of the Nokia phone Michael Gartenberg mentions. I wonder if would be possible to activate true UMA service (auto switching) with software – like TruPhone Plus ?

I’ve used VOIP services on all of my WiFi enabled Nokia phones and both TruPhone and Gizmo let me choose the Internet Call option instead of cellular when I am in range of my AP at home (or work) but neither service seemlessly auto switches an active call between networks which is the real advantage to UMA.

I’ve been testing the service here in the Digital Domain for the last few weeks and i must say, it works and it works well. Places where I could never get a cell signal (like my home office) now work fully. Out and about, I had no problems connecting at T-Mobile’s Hotspots, getting into the car while on the same call and then going from car to home WiFi network. The call just stayed connected seamlessly which is as it should.

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Facebook: The New AOL?

This morning Jeff Pulver asks whether Facebook has become the new AOL which led to a sudden (though brief) aha! for me.

Perhaps this is why I don’t get it as much as I think I should. There are many more non-techies here than in other groups in which I’ve participated – it’s definitely got more mass appeal.

There’s been such a recent rush lately it’s amazing, but the more I’ve used it the more I just don’t see the value for me. Sure I can find some interesting people on there, but they also exist elsewhere and in many other social groups. The apps seem like more of a timesuck or annoyance really with the number of invitations to add things you get. People’s profile pages are better offer better layout than MySpace for sure, but why do I want to spend time there?

  • I can aggregate some of my life stream – also doing that with a vastly greater degree of interactivity and discussion on Jaiku.

  • I can get in touch with people I’ve not spoken to in a long time? No – not finding it very helpful there.

  • I see my friends add themselves to groups that sound interesting and I join, but often there’s no actual discussion – just joiners. If I did not already share my videos and photos elsewhere it might be fun for that, but who doesn’t already have these other places.

  • I can message people I might want to network with? Perhaps, but I actually have plenty of other ways to get in touch.

Facebook seems more like a digital playground (schoolyard perhaps at recess) than something that provides value back. What am I missing here?

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Network-Hopping is the Norm, Welcome to the Mobile Social!

Probably not the most revealing information to anyone who spends time in the social networking environment, but a massive number of social networking users spend time on multiple services.

Carried out by Parks Associates, a market research and consulting firm focused on all product and service segments that are “digital” or provide connectivity within the home, the report confirmed that nearly 40% of MySpace users keep profiles on rival social networking sites such as Friendster and Facebook.

Nearly half of all social networkers, the report found, regularly use more than one site; one in six use three or more. The result is an increasingly interlinked environment tied together by links, widgets, and the users themselves.

“MySpace is a growing ecosystem and one that ironically now extends beyond MySpace itself,” Barrett explains.

Loyalty among smaller social networking sites is even lower than it is for the Big Three, with more than 50% of all users actively maintaining multiple profiles.

In Barrett’s view, this environment creates fertile ground for new social networking sites and application providers. “A handful of users are all it takes to connect new services to the MySpace-centered environment. From there it can begin to spread virally, assuming of course that it offers something people want.”
[SocialComputingMagazine.com]

Since there’s no clarifying detail here, I wonder how much of this is signed up and abandoned vs using them all. I’ve used Friendster, Six Degrees, Ryze and Upoc previously… all dead to me (and most of you) now.

I have profiles on Jaiku, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and MySpace. I don’t use MySpace but felt compelled a longtime ago to check it out and realized immediately it was not for me. I signed up for Facebook when it was first out as well though have been using it only recently. I spend a good amount of time on Jaiku (if you had not noticed) and considerably less on Twitter now. LinkedIn has a very specific professional networking purpose for me and I use it to find job listings as well as people who might provide assistance in my job search. Flickr is largely one way though I do participate in a few groups lightly and post the occasional comment on contacts images.

Social Networks are only valuable if you have “friends” there. I use quotes since the vast majority of my social network friends are not people I’ve met in person and most I’ve never even talked with on the phone. I have met and spoken to a few, but we are mainly friends through shared interests (not just what school or year in which I graduated) and that’s actually been very compelling for me. I guess that’s why I use Facebook less than I have Jaiku / Twitter. Though Facebook’s platformization has been received extremely well. It lets other social networking sites create apps so Facebook can become an aggregated hub. I have a bunch of my info passing into Facebook, but it’s not something I find very useful honestly. It seems that the people who get the most from it don’t actively blog or maintain some outward (since Facebook is behind a registration door) presence.

While users are moving through a variety of social networks, they are also actually moving around. Facebook gets that which is why they are trying to become a clearing house and also when it’s easy to stay connected through SMS and the mobile web. Jaiku and Twitter were clearly started with mobile in mind and is what is truly powerful about them — regardless of which you prefer.

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Apple is the King for Product Demos

This iPhone overview is the best product demo I’ve seen. Well worth the time whether you are looking to get one or not. Other companies should be paying attention to how solid this is… feature complete and dead simple.

Apple updated the site today as well with quite a bit of new info.

It’s (not so) hard to believe that everyone has been doing this just wrong essentially until now. Motorola, LG Sony Ericsson and Nokia it’s time to wake up!


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SimpleSpark – Explore and Share Web 2.0 Applications

Blog friend and Christian Gloddy has launched an amazingly comprehensive service called SimpleSpark. SimpleSpark provides a simple way for people to find and share information about Web 2.0 services and looks like a great site. His timing could not be better given the focus on Web 2.0 applications for iPhone and the rather high level of awareness for Web 2.0 as a result…

Once you start browsing the site, you’ll realize as I did that there are way more applications and services in this space than I was aware. Christian has done a really nice job with the design and made it simple to explore, breaking things into categories of interest. Once you sign up as a member you can review apps, edit the listing information and add apps you use to your profile. When you leave the site, you can still contribute by adding new services via bookmarklet and on your return you can scan through the pending listings and easily see what’s new.

Some highlights:

  • Explore over 3000 actively tracked and openly categorized web apps with screenshots, icons, feeds, reviews and concise summaries for easy browsing.
  • An intelligent search engine that understands the web app landscape. For example, flicker is flickr, delicious is del.icio.us, and thirty boxes is 30boxes.
  • Find apps by over 70 categories including Spreadsheets, Workspace & Wikis, Education, Fashion, Green Living and Family & Kids.
  • Share and save any of the apps with forty of the most popular bookmarking services including del.icio.us, digg, StumbleUpon, reddit, facebook, squidoo, and more.
  • Rate and review any web app in the catalog.
  • Track a competitive space with RSS feeds for individual categories, searches, as well as the newest additions to the catalog.
  • Submit new apps and edit the information on any existing app.

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AT&T selling live video-calling

At&T Video Share looks like a cool service (video call streaming finally!) though you have to have one of three phones that support the service… ah the walled garden. Too bad there’s no mention of either the iPhone (oh right no 3G!) or any of the Nokia N-Series – the N75 does support 3G with ATT and would seem capable enough. There’s no mention of which devices will be added, but that more are coming. You’ll be able to share to other screens which is a nice bonus and certainly makes sense from a family perspective. Sharing the kid’s experiences to grandparent etc…

I’m not crazy about either the monthly or ala cart pricing plans. This should just be part of someone’s unlimited data package since it is just data after all.

The service, called AT&T Video Share, will enable people to send live, one-way video feeds during phone conversations, the top U.S. phone company announced at the NXTcomm telecommunications conference in Chicago.

People can, for example, talk to a friend or a spouse while sending live video of something they are considering buying or an event they are attending.

The service is now available on AT&T’s 3G wireless service in Atlanta, Dallas and San Antonio, and will be expanded in late July throughout its next-generation network, the company said.

AT&T said this is another step toward combining communications tools. It will eventually offer video-sharing technology on various devices.

While AT&T has recently begun offering bundles with video, phone and Internet, such combinations have mostly been about sending customers a single bill rather than making the different services work together.

“Ultimately, services such as Video Share will be accessible over any of the three primary screens that customers use most frequently: the wireless device, the PC and the television,” the company said in a statement.

Video Share will cost $4.99 a month for 25 minutes of video share use, or $9.99 a month for 60 minutes, AT&T said. A “pay as you go” option will be priced at 35 cents a minute.

CNET News.com:

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T-Mobile, You used to be cool, what happened?

T-Mobile used to be cool. They were one of the first carriers in the US to offer the opportunity to use unlocked phones and they also were very early in WiFi deployments, tested Dual-Mode Services and even invested in VOIP company JahJah — Amazingly this coolness has been lost and while the left hand has been exploring the potential for advanced voice services, the right hand has begin smacking themselves back into the traditional and anti VOIP line.

If you’ve been an active follower of the working anywhere ethos, you’ve certainly used a TMO Hotspot here or overseas and probably used a VOIP service there as well… Today, though VOIP has become an issue for TMO in the UK and they are actually blocking it’s use on their networks – though cellular today, it could escalate to blocking VOIP over WiFi as well.

In case you missed the news recently TruPhone is rolling out a new version of their service. TruPhone offers a software download which enables users of WiFi enabled Nokia devices (N and E Series) to make VOIP calls over WiFi and now even 3G data. This is a great boon for the active traveller, caller and just someone looking to cut down on their monthly minute allocation. T-Mobiel has taken a remarkably active stance against Truphone and is blocking calls between their network and TruPhone, thus making themselves an island I would not want to be trapped on.

Here are some core FACTS worth noting:

  • T-Mobile has refused to interconnect with mobile VoIP provider Truphone: T-Mobile customers making a call to Truphone’s number range (07978 8xxxxx) will not be connected.
  • T-Mobile refuses to interconnect with operators offering VoIP as a matter of policy.
  • However T-Online Ventures, the venture capital arm of T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom, has just invested in VoIP provider Jajah; T-Mobile connects with BT Fusion, a VoIP service; and T-Mobile has also announced a trial of a VoIP service in USA and Germany.
  • T-Mobile is required to ‘make calls or otherwise transmit electronic communications to every normal telephone number’, which it has refused to do in the case of Truphone and other VoIP operators.
  • The other four UK major mobile network operators – 3, O2, Orange and Vodafone – all interconnect with Truphone, leaving T-Mobile isolated on this issue.
  • T-Mobile’s current adverts display the slogan “Setting the internet free”.
  • Currently a ‘beta’ service, Truphone’s is prevented from launching fully until the 07978 8xxxxx number range is fully interconnected. Beta service customers are presently unaffected by this issue.
  • Other mobile operators have employed different methods to prevent VoIP uptake. There has already been the well-publicized removal of internet telephony functionality from Nokia’s popular N95 handset by Vodafone and Orange, and new data tariffs published by Vodafone that mean customers using VoIP will be charged more than for web browsing or email.

The CEO of Truphone, James Tragg said “T-Mobile will argue that it is not ‘blocking’ Truphone but is merely negotiating on price. T-Mobile receives 35p per minute from its customers but is offering only 0.21p per minute to Truphone even when Truphone’s costs are 9p per minute to terminate the call.

While I recognize that T-Mobile is a global company with views that may vary a bit by country, this stance is sure to extend into other regions soon enough. My advice is to switch and let them know just how ridiculous this attitude really is. The users can be in control, rather than the networks. We are willing and able to purchase advanced devices and have the right to use them. In this case voice is being used as a data service and if you buy an unlimited data plan, we should be able to use it. The walled garden approach has held excitement and innovation back long enough.

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AJAX does not, an iPhone application make

get ready for iPhone

I like web apps as much as the next geek around here, but I find the decision (or lack therof) to make the iPhone DevKit the “Safari Engine.” Unless there’s some nifty way to make things work offline in cached mode, users are going to get frustrated quickly with the way things work. I know I’m saying all this before it’s even real, but in my experience with the various devices I’ve used (plenty… please feel free to search!) It’s much better not to have to rely on a net connection for getting things done.

Just think about the basic every day challenges of losing a connection in your browser while trying to do things like Gmail, RSS Reading, Calendaring any of the GTD web apps… and on and on. Dedicated apps can do far more often not just because they are not running in a browser (though that helps) but because the local filesystem can take full advantage of a device’s available resources. VOIP in-browser will be a no show though I’m sure that was part of the plan with ATT. No iChat for actual chat – so you are forced to use SMS. Google’s Gears which works on Webkit might make some of this better — but you need (currently) to remember to go offline first so that things sync. Otherwise, you’ll have nothing …

The latest bit is that there is limited to no flash support – perhaps the real reason behind the YouTube h.264 changes. I can’t see how running Safari in OSX will go on the majority of sites we all like to visit without Flash.

I find the iPhone very compelling, but I just keep bumping into rather annoying issues – No 3G, No iChat, only a 2MP camera, No MMS and now only web apps? $600 is a lot of cash for a device that you’ll be locked in on for 2 years when we will likely see a 2.0 release within 6 months. Apple stated they’d be looking to surprise and delight people … well there’s plenty of room for that.

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Sprite going Social

I get why Sprite wants to do what they are planning, but don’t understand the method… Rather than develop y our own social network, why not parter with exist companies that have massive communities and inertia. Being an active participant in these networks take time and time in Sprint Yard will be time away from MySpace, Facebook Bebo, Twitter and Jaiku… among probably at least a hundred other choices.

Sprite Yard, to be introduced in the United States this month, will look a lot like the social networking sites that have become popular on the Internet. Consumers will be able to set up personal profiles, share photos and chat online with friends, all using cellphones rather than computer screens.

People will type in codes from Sprite bottle caps to redeem original content, like ring tones and short video clips called mobisodes. Recently, one of the most redeemed prizes from Coca-Cola promotions has been virtual clothing and furniture to use in virtual online worlds, said Mark J. Greatrex, senior vice president for marketing communications and insights at Coca-Cola.

Sprite Yard was introduced in China last week, and Coca-Cola plans to extend it globally and perhaps to other soda brands over the next few years. For the time being, Sprite Yard will function only on cellphones — the medium that Sprite’s marketing team said was the most popular with teenagers.

“Being with them on their mobile phones is absolutely essential,” said Mr. Greatrex at a news conference yesterday. Sprite, he said, is “trying to establish an omnipresent, on-the-go, everywhere relationship with teens.” [New York Times]

I do like that it’s mobile only initially and actually think that will be part of the appeal. My suggestion would be to make it accessible over using both web and messaging services – perhaps even a mobile J2ME app. Again, I’d prefer to see this implemented over Facebook (for example) rather than as something new…

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Microsoft to buy Aquantive for $6 billion

In a word – Whoa!

In a bid to boost its presence in advertising, Microsoft announced Friday that it would acquire Aquantive, a digital marketing and services company, in a deal worth around $6 billion.

Microsoft said the deal would help it support more advanced advertising products and technologies across areas including media planning, video-on-demand and IPTV. Aquantive produces the Atlas Media Console and Drive PM tools for advertisers and publishers, and owns interactive ad agency Avenue A/Razorfish. [CNET News.com]

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No such thing as Free VOD

I’m sure that’s a bit of an overstatement, but in the case of this deal noted on Cnet with Cox and Disney, it’s very true.

Apparently Disney has offered some key prime-time shows to Cox for their on-demand service in exchange for Cox to deactivate the fast forward function on their cable boxes. Additionally, Cox and Disney will be testing some even newer technology to insert advertisements based on the user’s location. I was under the impression that since we have a cable box installed at home and it’s addressable by the head end, that the cable company (which are run regionally) already know where we are.

I’m all for free premium content in the on-demand environment, but the only thing this is going to do is get people to pony up the extra few bucks to upgrade to a DVR box instead of a standard cable box. From the article, Cox states they believe people will want this since it does not require an advanced planning action as you would have to do with a DVR. As we all know setting up a recording on a DVR is both time consuming and hard… not!

As I’ve thought about this further, I can only see consumer frustration brewing ahead. If you already know that your on-demand system supports fast forward, rewind and pause, and then suddenly it’s “broken” at the time an ad pops up, people will end up having a negative reaction and impression — of both Cox and the advertiser.

There’s an easy fix to this and it’s already been done on live network television… start and end a program with a paid sponsorship so that the advertiser enables the positive experience of watching a then commercial free show. The network has already made their money anyway. The number of people using this type of service will be value-add impressions anyway since there’s no way to guarantee viewers up front. If successful as a test, there’s always the next flight of programming to sell in special opportunities for sponsorship.

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Joost’s commercial

I’m not going to give a full critique on this one, but I have to say I think it’s pretty weak. I’m not sure if they had a cooler than you Creative Team working on this or perhaps it’s a European flavor I’m just not used to seeing. The sad thing is that WITHOUT ACTUALLY SEEING THE PRODUCT, most people still have no idea what it is or why they should care. It’s not interesting enough to be a full :60 and I’m surprised they’d choose to go that length at all. I recognize it’s running on YouTube and not NBC prime-time so media costs are nil. Maybe the point was to get people talking – but the group chatting about this was already aware, so I’m not sure how that’s really helping get new interest. And with that, here it is…

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Verizon Wireless Unlimited Data Plan Limitations

I was just reading up on Verizon Wirless’s plans in light of their pending test drive (EVDO is so tempting) and found this lovely note:

Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, GlobalAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine-to-machine connections or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.

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An Evening with S60…

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I had a great time at the S60 event last night at the Nokia Flagship store in NYC. Thanks to Phil from S60 for setting the whole thing up and to the warm hospitality of the Nokia store team!

It was great to geek out with Nokia staff and other enthusiasts! I really enjoyed meeting quite a few new people as well as actually speaking in person to a few familar bloggers: Darla Mack, Mark Guim and Stefan Constantinescu. The S60 brought out all the new and upcoming goodies so we got to really check out the 6110 Navigator, E61i, E65, N75, N76, E90, N93i and the N95 which seemed to captivate most people who were there.

I got a great overview of Feature Pack 2 (s60v3 fp2) which has some very slick animation transitions, awesome customization and of course media capabilities. I think Mikko finally resolved the issue for me with Feature Packs not being installed through firmware updates — A feature pack is an extension on the platform, that usually requires new hardware to run. The average lifespan of a device is about 2 years and the development path is tough to intersect — even for a total Nokia package (software and hardware). It’s quite a bit more difficult for S60 devices not manufactured by Nokia…

It’s clearly a business decision not to support things beyond the more “basic” updates which are generally to squash bugs or make smaller enhancements. We are actually lucky Nokia even supports that as it’s far from common for a handset manufacturer to enable end-user updates. While the hardware will be more powerful when FP2 ships, it will also be easier to use — meaning you’ll actually see in the UI that you can adjust a setting (obviously) and that multiple apps are running so that the capabilities are more easily understood. Now the audience last night was far from the average user and Nokia is making a move with FP2 to enable a broader suite of devices to become more capable rather than just relying on their ultra high end stuff…

I’m looking forward to the browser release which should arrive within the next 1 month. Apparently, the user voices have been heard and the browser will be pulled out from the FP updates so we’ll all be able to take advantage of the progress that’s been made without having to drop some serious dough on a new phone — just to take advantage of the browser…

Some pics I snapped are on flickr and include some GPS coordinates from my trip as well as a few shots inside the store. The flickr pool from last night has a bunch more. Phil also shot some video from last night which should eventually make it on YouTube…

Again – The night was a lot of fun and I hope we’ll have other opportunities to get together.

BTW — Congrats to the lucky winner of the N95 last night — I missed your name and stopped paying attention once I realized it was not me. 😉

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When it’s too easy to get online?

Hard to imagine easy online access being a bad thing — except when you have to pay as you go on a metered 3G service with a very misleading name… Metered plans are a good way to get you to pay extra. If you use the data services or will with a new device, that slight up-charge to unlimited (at least as I’ve seen in the US) will actually end up saving you money.

I have this 20-year old staying with us for a bit, so I handed her an Nokia N93i. I told her it had WiFi (which she understood, since all our computers at home have it), an amazing video camera (which she got excited about, in a YouTube way), and I told her that it could play her music in as good as any music player (and which 20-year old is not a music freak).

Well, first thing she goes off and do is download a bunch of songs from bands on MySpace, using the phone’s browser. It’s how she understands accessing stuff on the Web. Then she started taking some great videos of the bands she went into town to see (that’s another story).

I told her I was impressed that she was able to get online so easily. I didn’t think our devices made it that easy to use the WiFi (I later found out that the N93i has a neat WiFi sniffer).

A few days later, she was showing me something and I noticed that she was using the access point called ‘Internet’, which happens to be Sonera’s (her operator) 3G access point.

Ugh.

A quick check of her bill, via SMS, confirmed that she’d run up an incredibly high data bill.

It was too easy to get online. And the whole access point thing was new to her, so she didn’t think she wasn’t using WiFi.

Dammit, it said ‘Internet’. [Lifeblog]

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