Posted on

2D Barcodes – Keep it Simple, Get embedded!

atmaspheric | endeavors — QR Code

Silicon Alley Insider drew my attention to a new project at Google designed to embed 2D Barcodes into print ads. On the surface this seems like an interesting idea and I like the 2D/QR/Semacodes. They are pretty easy to deal with as a geek and in theory can provide shortcuts for text entry for URLs, text and phone numbers. I say in theory because I’ve become pretty damn fast with T9 on the N95 and it’s hard to beat QWERTY for entering URLs, the main thing you see 2D codes represent.

Google’s idea is not new if you consider the CueCat from early 2000 which as you might recall, sucked. It sucked (and boy did it ever) because the idea was that when you’d see a code in a magazine you would then get up from your couch and bring your magazine over to your computer where the CueCat was tethered. This is not exactly how people consider doing things. When you are already at the computer, why not just type the url directly in rather than go through a special process which takes more time?

This brings me back to QR Codes … We are still in the early days here and I’m guessing the only people who really care are the mobile geeks. It’s great that it’s “really big in Japan,” but they’ve been mobile focused for a long time — and this is an entirely new way to do things for Americans. My Nokia N-Series mobiles have had access to barcodes for a while and I’ve dabbled. You can hit that one at the top of the post to go right back to my site if you like – helpful I know.

The issue which could very easily kill adoption on arrival is that you have to load an application on your phone other than the camera in order to make this useful. A lot could be solved with some software engineering and I’d like to see that happen, but it’s likely to be a forward moving thing — and not really able to help those with current high end handsets.

Nokia is actively experimenting with additional functionalities through betalabs and location tagger is a good example of a small step towards embedding new functionality. While it’s an application you have to run, it can be set to run in the background on startup and is likely to find its way into the OS itself with a future (FP2?) release. I’m willing to bet that we’ll see embedded 2D codes and a reader in the imaging application within Android software stack when it arrives this year.

Software applications can show us how things work, but as a long term solution they run the risk of keeping QR codes outside of broader adoption. The gimmick of seeing the code on an ad is not enough to get this to fly … ease of use and convenience through embedded functionality is what we really need to see.

Technorati Tags:
, , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

Nokia – Why must DUN crash my N95?

Why must Dial up Networking (DUN) crash my N95-3? It happens so regularly I often think twice about using DUN when on the train for my daily commute. When I used an N73 or E61 with my Nokia 770 internet tablet and subsequently the N800, I never had any issues and in fact left things connected all the time. Since getting the US capable 3G N95, I’ve found it’s only a matter of time til I crash after initiating a connection. I had the same issues with the N810 when it was here as I’ve had with the N800 so I’m convinced it’s the phone rather than the tablet causing the issue.

If I had to guess on what’s causing crashes I’d have to point to when my connection shifts between EDGE and 3G/3.5G but I can’t be sure. Today as an example of not crashing my phone and N800 have been connected for much of the day in a non-moving location all the while connected by 3G. On the train however things seem to flicker between speeds as well as towers and I find my phone locked up. I usually have a bunch of things running on the phone, but have also just had a DUN connection working when the freezes have occurred… I’ve become remarkably quick at popping the back cover off and flipping the battery out, but that was not really a skill I was looking to hone.

The N73 + N800 combo was truly bullet proof. I never had any connection issues and rode the same train line (before 3G rolled out). I had the N800 set to switch over to DUN from Wifi because I knew it would just work. Now, as much as I hate writing this, I am much less sure and even reluctant to automatically connect to the N95. Instead I find I use my N95 more solo than in conjunction with the tablet … and that’s actually not my ideal way to go mobile.

Anyone else finding these issues? I’ve yet to see anything from Nokia in any formal communication regarding a bug. I’d be more than happy to test things and if you would prefer to contact me direct, Nokia, please do. I know you read this. My email is atmasphere atmasphere net.

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Posted on

Nokia N958GB DNLA Certified

Seeing some chatter on this today …

DLNA has certified the Nokia N95 8GB as a Mobile Digital Media Server, an acknowledgment that taps into the genius of this multimedia computer. The extensive connectivity and cutting-edge media capabilities of the Nokia N95 8GB are ideal for enjoying content, such as music, photos or videos, wirelessly on other devices in the home environment. [Nokia – ShowPressRelease ]

What’s amazing about this is that it’s just happening now. All of the wifi enabled N-Series devices (with the exception of the N91) have been capable of UPnP host streaming. As you may recall I showed this via the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and the N93 on November 12, 2006. You can see it in action at around 90% of this video…

Thing have advanced in the past year, and there are many more products like set top boxes that support UPnP. The advantage of this of course is wireless streaming / sharing of content from your mobile to a more shared environment like your TV. What would really make this special in my home network anyway would be support for UPnP within Apple’s iTunes / Bonjour protocols so I could stream content from my devices to my TV within the AppleTV environment. People don’t want too many devices connected to the TV …

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

A couple of days with the iPhone has me right back to the N95

In honor of Macworld this week, I put my SIM card back in the iPhone and charged it back up and after the keynote I was excited to to update all my Apple kit and I did as soon as I got home that night. Interestingly (or not) that’s when my interest sorta fell into whatever mode. The Quicktime, Itunes updates were nice and revealed the rental marketplace, but AppleTV is still two weeks away and the platform on which I’m most likely to use it. The iPhone updates while nice on the surface really don’t offer a whole heck of a lot. The biggest change being the enhancements to Google Maps, which are indeed quite nice.

Changing my home screen around and adding web shortcuts however is a total non-started for me at this point. I don’t find adding a bookmark to my home screen to be enabling any additional speed to the process – especially since I tend to keep a few tabs (the ones most likely to appear on my home screen) open at all times in Safari. Dropping back to EDGE only speeds and seeing the limits of the camera were also bummers and not having any legit applications like Jaiku, Gmail, Shozu among others … The addition of multi-address sms messages is something that should have been there from the start and is only worth mentioning that it’s there.

This morning after two days of straight iPhone use, I swapped the SIM back to my N95-3 and was immediately reminded why I love this device. It’s fast. Applications run quickly and in the background and I can multi-task like the power user I am. The addition of DUN let’s me fire up my N800 as well and take advantage of both devices to their respective limits. I tend to push things pretty hard (if you had not noticed) and the I reach the limits on the iPhone rather quickly.

One note of interest … while I previously thought the battery on the iPhone was amazing, I’m feeling considerably closer to reality now after two more days of full use. I have no problem reaching the 20% warning in a day and in fact if i don’t trickle charge during the day will run out of juice quite a bit more quickly. That said the battery is certainly more robust than the N95’s and I’m used to charging through the day, but don’t let anyone tell you the iPhone can handle the torture of intensive use without needing a refill before the day is over.

All of this is bringing me back to my initial conclusions on things. The iPhone is truly a mass market device that is designed to bring aspects of mobility many of us take for granted to a much wider audience. While certain aspects of the experience are undeniably wonderful (browsing, syncing and connection switching to name a few), they don’t outweigh the needs (HSDPA, DUN, Applications, image and video capture, and local storage) I have on which the iPhone falls very flat. I can’t help but think how nice that upcoming N958GB NAM device is going to be when it arrives … a larger screen is always a good thing for reading as much I do on the go.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

Single or Multiple Device?

I’m clearly in the two piece camp at this stage of my mobile life.  Andy talks about the Camps of One or Many today  and links to another post written by Alan Reiter on the same topic.  Today I use the N95 with the N800.  I recognize the benefits of each as well as the overlaps but choose to use one of the other to maximize my enjoyment or enhance the experience across the two.  I’ve tried all in one with the iPhone and lasted a few months … A few years ago, I was a heavy Treo user and pushed that to the limits as well.

While I really see the enhanced benefits of browsing, reading and viewing photos and video on a larger screen, I also use my devices so heavily that having a second thing ready to back me up when the battery in one fades is quite helpful.  As we see the release of MIDs with embedded WWAN like the WiMax units shown at CES or the alluded to but not yet seen WiMax N810 from Nokia things will get even more interesting.

My normal day works something like this:

  • Wake up with the N95 alarm, and then check email and Jaiku on the phone right out of bed.
  • On the one hourtrain into NYC, I fire of the N95’s music player and listen to music or podcasts (which I update over the air through the day)
  • The N800 usually then slides out of my pocket and I tether to the N95 to start diving into my feed reading.  I usually also fire up IM, Email and Mauku, a Jaiku client.
  • Depending on which device happens to be capturing my attention at the time, I check in with Jaiku, Gmail, Twitter and Google Reader.
  • During the day I swap the N800 for a work issued blackberry as the second device in my pocket but really only use it for email as it actually sucks (yes sucks) at most other things.
  • My return trip is pretty similar to the morning though I’ve watching a fair bit of video over the past few months instead of feed reading on the N800.  I do multi-task with the N95 and find myself staying connected with Jaiku and email.

I also sporadically snap photos, shoot video (which upload or stream as they are captured).  3G service (ATT) kicks in after about 20 minutes in my ride towards NYC and substantially enhances the overall online experience…

I could probably do all of this on the N95, though it is actually more convenient to have two, in the same way it’s more ideal to work on two monitors.

When I had the N810, I was actually writing posts on the go, not just consuming them and that’s purely a factor of having a built in keyboard and the availability of applications like Maemo WordPy which is offline blog editor for the tablet.

Maybe it’s that I miss my Nokia N810 (still waiting to get a release version swapped with the proto I tested) or maybe it’s the sheer lack of excitement from this year’s CES, but now I really want to get a MID.  The Intel booth showed off all kinds of cool devices and for me this really is a category of interest.  I know MIDs are not likely to become mainstream in the next year (or two) but for the power user, they really fill a beautiful spot in my mobile life.

Typically  a MID is pocketable vs. a UMPC which is something you need a bag to carry.  This distinction is something that makes the experience for a mobile power user like myself.  I can’t see going to a single device anytime soon.  I think the SDK and pending apps for the iPhone are a very interesting thing to watch here, but more interesting to me would actually be a slightly larger connected tablet from Apple …

Posted on

Full YouTube on the Nokia N95 8GB

Today’s firmware update for the N95 8GB includes Flash Lite 3, which as you can see in Ricky’s video enables full YouTube (desktop) playback.

The widgets runtime is also included which will be a great addition on your connected handset. I was not previously into single function web apps but I can definitely see the value in single purpose information or entertainment online apps.

I’m hoping we’ll see this update (including Demand Paging) within the N95-3 someday soon … it would be nice to be on par with the rest of the N95 family.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted on

Google Maps Send to TomTom confirms the need for a connected GPS

When I first read the news on the Google Maps TomTom integration I was pretty excited. While I use a variety of devices I have a TomTom 510 in my car and could definitely see sending myself details from my computer, phone or tablet on the go as new POI or places of interest. The excitement ended though when I realized how this actually works. It’s sync and go. Syncing, or even backing up my GPS is not even remotely close to something I do with any regularity. When new maps or features are announced I check them out, but usually the TomTom stays in my car.

I don’t understand why I can’t send directly through my phone’s data connection which is used for a variety of other services like traffic and weather. I can’t imagine that the location and name info is more than a few hundred kilobytes and could easily be bluetoothed or actually downloaded in a more active setting.

BMW actually uses their Drive Assist program to do exactly this:

While I realize this is not only model specific, but country (Germany only) specific as well. I’m not familiar with how Drive Assist works, but assume it’s a subscription like you find in other enhanced services within various cars. If there was a standard format to manage POI it would be pretty simple to “beam” a contact card or saved location from my N95 to the TomTom or even my Nokia Tablet’s GPS system, but sadly there is co compatibility with any of these devices except to get a data connection for updating traffic.

I see a near term future where Nokia’s recent acquisition of Navteq connects all of these dots. The device already knows where I am… The device can speak to the network to update additional info as needed and lastly if I am using more than one thing, the devices speak to each other Once we can nail down “the basics” in connected navigation we are likely to see other things like user contributed updates, enhanced services and of course advertising.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

ATT “Opens” their Network

ATT starts the morning with what seems like a fantastic announcement:

Starting immediately, AT&T (T) customers can ditch their AT&T phones and use any wireless phone, device and software application from any maker — think smartphones, e-mail and music downloading. And they don’t have to sign a contract.

“You can use any handset on our network you want,” says Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T’s wireless business. “We don’t prohibit it, or even police it.”

AT&T’s push to give consumers maximum control of their wireless worlds is being driven, in part, by Google. The tech giant is a monster in the Internet search business for personal computers, and is hoping to replicate that success in the wireless market.

Google (GOOG) recently announced plans to link arms with more than two dozen wireless companies, including Sprint (S), with the goal of developing an operating system that lets consumers use any application on mobile devices, much as they now do on PCs. Other partners include Japanese cellphone giant DoCoMo and handset maker Samsung.

Everything that Google has promised to bring to the wireless market a year from now AT&T is doing today, de la Vega says. “We are the most open wireless company in the industry.” [USATODAY.com]

As most power users know, it’s been possible to BYO device for years on the GSM networks. I’ve had many devices on both TMO and Cingular / ATT for the past few years alone and just swap the sim card as I go. It’s also no secret that I’ve been using my iPhone SIM with the N95-3 since it was released. I wonder if this announcement today provides any ammunition for my argument on unlocking the SIM card to get MMS working. Or perhaps a second SIM to use in rotation so I can have full access to the services my device supports when I decide to use a device for a particular purpose.

The key missing detail in this announcement is exactly how open the door might really be… Can I start a new account without contract / penalty and just use any device or is this a semantic PR deal that “lets” you change to any other device as an existing customer. I’m thinking the latter, but regardless it’s still a good move to the more mass consumer on what options exist.

Nokia has to be smiling this morning on this news as their entire messaging strategy around N-Series has been 100% Open.

Technorati Tags: , , , , ,

Posted on

Nokia Internet Radio

Nokia released an official Internet Radio application (today?) which I’ve been checking it out tonight and definitely like what I see and hear! I had last used streaming internet radio on the N91, but that open source application lacked some polish as well as integration with my device as is found in today’s release. I’m hoping we’ll see deeper system integration with both podcasting and streaming radio in future devices as well as firmware releases.

Screenshot0077 Screenshot0080

As you can see from the above screenshot, there are preferences for setting the quality of the stream based on your connection type which is a very well thought out feature. This way you can simply choose a stream and not worry about which bandwidth option you need – unless of course that’s the way you have bookmarked things.

On first glance the included directory seems pretty similar to that of the Nokia Internet Tablet’s Media Player, which would make sense since that’s a managed Nokia resource. I was having problems getting the right URL for a Soma.fm stream and Zach suggested I try loading shoutcast on the mobile browser to find a link. The Nokia Internet Radio application registers itself as the default player for .pls so any link you click from now on will automatically be played. Very cool!

Streaming on the phone (rather than just via the phone to my Tablet) was the one missing media opportunity in my all Nokia media move. I’m glad to have it on the N95 and will continue to test various connections while enjoying my favorite internet radio stations on the go!

Technorati Tags:
, , , , , ,

Posted on

Ultimate Mobile Charger?

Martin Geddes seeks the Ultimate Mobile Phone Charger… Here it is:

Proporta and N810

Proporta’s Mobile Device Charger is hands down the best accessory I’ve ever purchased for a mobile device. It’s a 3400mAH battery that charges over USB and offers a retractable cable (connecting over USB as well) to charge Nokia (large and small tip), Sony Ericsson, iPod / iPhone or any device that charges over USB. It also offers pass-through charging so while it’s charging you can also power-up one of your devices.

In my daily commute, I use it to power my N95 while tethering over bluetooth to the N810 or N800. This keeps the N95’s battery at 100% for when I need it during the day. The hour of (EDGE / 3.5G) DUN connectivity can really take a toll on the battery and this keeps things easily full. I can stream internet radio (again over DUN) from the tablet via the N95, maintain a live Mail For Exchange connection, upload at will to flickr via Shozu and stay current on my podcast subscriptions. In the car, I can use the Proporta to charge or maintain one device, while using my cigarette adapter on another for longer trips or on the way home from a full day of business travel. On a cross country flight I know I’ve got plenty of power to keep things charged without having to compromise my desired usage in any way.

It’s great to know that I can use the devices I want as hard as I want / need and always have plenty of juice to spare as the Proporta is like having two more full batteries in a single package. I love that this device is small enough to fit inside a jacket pocket if you need it and easily fits in a gadget bag or briefcase without adding any real weight.

If you are a power user like me, this is the ultimate accessory to keep things connected and powered up as long as your day might last! Jeremiah had initially shown me this device in LA and I ordered one soon after I returned. It’s an essential piece of kit. I can’t recommend it enough.

Technorati Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

Verizon opening their network…

Just caught this interesting snippet on the VZ…

Verizon “will provide customers the option to use, on its nationwide wireless network, wireless devices, software and applications not offered by the company.” This could be seen as a reaction to upcoming Android phones but probably won’t be accessible to the average hobbyist, as devices will need to be “tested and approved in a $20 million state-of-the-art testing lab” before being activated on the network. [CrunchGear ]

The CrunchGear post actually says it won’t be happening until the end of next year, but it’s still a very cool piece of news. Sprint was the first to announce this but it’s unfortunately for their Wimax network which may be DOA at this point. I hope more carriers get it that as we mature in our interests and use scenarios, we just want the network like we get broadband at home. Nokia does not have any interesting CDMA devices (currently anyway) which is a shame for S60 fans, but there are plenty of cool toys out there that take advantage of EVDO.

I’m willing to pay to play … but want my choice of what devices I get to have.

Posted on

All Nokia Media

I decided last week that I wanted to simplify my mobile media experience and ordered a 6GB microSD card so i could my N95-3 and N810 for evrything instead of also carrying my iPhone just for a few albums and podcasts. I’ve had an iPod since it was first released and have had my computer media experiece live inside iTunes. The full Apple ecosystem is strong and I’m a firm advocate of sync and go … Or at least I was.

For the most part the songs and albums stay the same on my ipod and it’s really podcasts that change with any real frequency – daily to weekly as things update. I thouht the 6GB card would be mainly in the tablet vs the phone as I started planning this but thus far (day 3) my plan has shifted a bit back to the phone. I’ve actually ordered a second 6GB card to use in the tablet so I don’t have to share and so each device can focus on some key pieces of the experience. A surprise arrived on Friday as well in the form of the Nokia N81 8GB which is designed to optimize the mobile music experience and I’ve been playing with that along with the N95.

Music and Video

Right now I have music on both phones and a limited amount of converted video on the tablet. The phones serve as really nice music players – quality seems solid on both. I have yet to do an A/B test as my recently updated iPhone (1.1.2) has not been reactivated… I’ve yet to swap its sim back from the N95 to complete the activation process!

The Nokia podcasting application does a great job importing my opml from iTunes and is able to update on a schedule or manually with a wifi connection or via cellular data. I’ve been manually switching things between wifi at home and cell on the go so I can get the latest stuff for my commute. Since I am unable to install anything on the work machine and do not have an itunes there’s no way to get an updated set of podcasts … Or even a quick download during the day on the iPhone. The Nokia phones however easily take care of business without the assistance of a computer which has really been quite awesome.

The N81 integrates podcasts directly into the music player which is something I’m hoping makes it back upstream to the N95 with a firmware update. In either case you can access podcasts as a genre and using the keypad you can live search through your collection of both music and podcasts. The Nokia Podcasting app also supports video which works nicely too though I’ve gone into the app to playback rather than use the music player which does not show video. When there’s an update to the Nokia Video Center application for the latest tablet OS2008, I will also subscribe there and predict my viewing preference will be the tablet’s larger screen.

Movies and TV shows are pretty easy to convert for the N810. Unfortunately video does have to be converted which takes time, but is relatively straight forward with the right tools. MediaConverter is probably the simplest to use and with the promise of making a file the tablet can play it’s hard to pass on it. Handbrake and (if you use Windows) Nokia’s new video conversion application also work well though if Hanbrake is your preference you might want to copy the settings from one of the other apps to make sure you get playable files.

Phone + Media Player

Like you would expect the Nokia phones pause and resume playback for phone calls much like the iPhone… So there’s no magic there, but it works relieably and well. The N81 has a dedicated music button next to the naviwheel and the N95’s multimedia key serves the same purpose. I discorvered today that a press and hold which brings up the music player on the N95, can also bring you right back to your previous application … A nice and I am sure not well known function.

The more I’ve used the phones as media players I can really see the potential benefit to an A2DP headset which would deliver stereo sound and also let me handle calls without switching things around my ear. My Shure E4C earphones are great but if I knew or needed the flexibility daily a wireless single unit would be killer.

What’s missing?

Amazingly the N81 is not supported by Nokia’s recently updated Multimedia Transfer application which would let me take advantage of playlist syncing as well as photos through iPhoto (though I use Aperture). While the N95 is supported, I’ve chosen to maintain a parallel experience and did a bulk copy (~4GB) using mass transfer mode on the N81 and a card reader for the N95. As it happens my mac mini media server crapped out at home so I had the external media drive on my desk and did a hunt and find to then drag over on both devices. This process took considerably longer than it would in iTunes to find what I first wanted and then actually to copy over. The Mac finder estimated over 2hours and after about 30 min I walked away. When I returned both were ready to roll. Sync is a really great thing to have and I hope that the Nokia Multimedia Transfer application (which has also been brutally slow for me) supports the N81 or that Nokia develops an actual plugin for itunes much like they did for iSync.

Copying video to the N810 was also done through a card reader and I will continue to do that as the video files I am using for my mobile needs are not really things I want clogging up iTunes.

Final thoughts

Outside of the initial bulk load, day to day use has been a pleasure. Music and podcasts are easy to access and update and video podcasts as well as converted video on the tablet all play well. Since I am already well converted as a two-piece mobile user, this plan works great for me though there’s no reason why the phone alone would not also do a lot of good. Of course you can’t playback any iTunes Store content as there is no Apple DRM access on anything other than their mobile devices, but that’s far from a deal breaker for me. Most of my content is from my own physical media collection and Amazon’s MP3 has an excellent DRM-free collection for “need it now” moments. I’ll probably dabble with the Nokia Music store when it eventually works in the US, but I’m less of a fan of Windows DRM.

Just as a sidenote, this entire post was written on the N810. That’s definitely not something I ever considered with the iPhone.

Technorati Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

Nokia SportsTracker Community

Nokia Sports Tracker Beta

There’s a pretty cool update from Nokia Beta Labs SportsTracker application which now also includes an online social service. You can make friends, share and download workouts and keep track of your progress all through the site and your phone.

I noticed in my quick scan that there are quite a few additional exercises from the main ones listed on the installed application and you can easily import your gpx file from either your phone or compatible GPS device which makes the SportsTracker Community open to anyone – even if it’s branded Nokia. This looks pretty similar to what Nike has done with their Nike Plus application for iPod, though there’s no playlist connection currently. Seems that would be a pretty easy thing to add given there’s a music player installed on all the phones already.

I’ll have to start tracking my commute walk, which is clearly not a workout, but (ahem is exercise and) will give me a good baseline on how this works initially.

Hat Tip to Eseries

Technorati Tags:
, , , , , , , , , ,

Posted on

Nokia N82 revealed through a Virtual Live Event!

This morning while on the train, I was able to join the Virtual live event for the Nokia N82 launch via my Nokia N810 tablet connected over DUN to the N95. A pretty cool way to experience something like this and I believe I’m the only one who even attempted this.

Nokia virtual event streaming via 3G to the N810!

The event has a pretty massive array of streaming content, downloads and a rather active chat. Initially I thought I’d be missing the actual experience as the page took quite a while to load – even once my 3G service activated while heading south to NYC. Anyway – a very cool way to enable a much broader audience to take part in something only a few would have been able to do otherwise.

Now, the N82 is one hot device! It’s basically everything you get from the N95, in a candybar form, like the N73 before it. You get GPS, Wifi with VOIP capabilities, 100MB of dynamic memory for as you need it power! The addition of the Xenon flash is also killer and sure to improve your image capture — and a real hero feature for the device. I hope this is standard for N-Series moving forward. Reading the spec sheet I see that Nokia is also going to pre-load maps for your region on a memory card which is a great way to enhance your out of the box experience. This is exactly what they are doing on the N810 – which matches the N82 very nicely by the way!

The only bummer on the N82 is that it’s not going to support US 3G which makes it impossible for me to consider for the time being. Regardless though, for the rest of the world, (and the vast majority of Nokia’s market share) this is a killer mobile!

Posted on

Nokia, I’m Connecting People

Tonight I gave my Brother-In-Law my Nokia N93 and my Sister-In-Law a Nokia N95-1 which they selected from my collection. To say they were not living on the edge of mobile tech would be an understatement… They were sharing a Nokia 6600 after my Lindsey’s BB Pearl was “washed” by their daughter. I’m not clear what happened to Henry’s phone, but it’s dead and gone.

When I was asked whether I might have any old phones, I did not really have to think for very long …

A Brief Phone History

While I don’t still have all of those devices sitting and waiting, they chose from an array of Palm, and Nokia devices to select their “new” phones. A quick reset and sim swap and they were on the air – thank you open phones!

Neither is a sophisticated user, but a quick demo on S60 and Lindsey and Henry seem to be on their way. Both seem very excited about the image capture options, music features and the ability to connect and share on a TV with the accessory cables.

Having Wifi is also an interesting twist to have since neither have real data plans currently with their carrier TMO… though I showed them how to connect here in the house so they could browse and check email. I even used the Nokia settings configurator to send Henry’s email settings OTA To the N93 so he did not have to tap it in via T9. It will be interesting to track their progress moving forward with much more advanced phones than they have been used to using. I’m hoping they have as positive an experience as I’ve had since making the move into S60.

Technorati Tags:
, , ,