Has Nokia Raised the Smartphone Benchmark with its N95?
The Internet is abuzz with the launch of the Nokia N95. It is being touted as the "super phone." Has Nokia really created a new category? It definitely has a whole bunch of features that I wish were available in my Windows Mobile smart phone. For starters it has GPS sensor. How long do we have to wait to see that as a standard Windows Mobile smart phone feature. The N95 has a generous 2.6” screen. It has a 5 Mega-pixel, yes a 5 Mega-pixel camera. The amazing thing about the camera is that it features Carl Zeiss lens with auto-focus. It has TV-out capability to play back the videos directly from the device.
The N95 has Wi-Fi and supports a network protocol called Mini Map, a feature which is standard on a bunch of Nokia phones already, but is only available as a Beta in the Windows Mobile world. While many people feel that Apple’s iPhone will offer a big threat to the Windows Mobile world, I feel that it is Nokia that can derail Microsoft’s Windows Mobile. It has the momentum and the ability to innovate. What do you think? Share your thoughts with us.
The two glaring things holding this phone back from mass consumption right now, in my view:
1. Price. Until it's offered by US carriers for a reasonable subsidized price, not many are willing to purchase a phone in the $750-1,000 range. When you can get a Dash or Blackjack for less than $100 typically, the N95 stays way too far in the niche category to be a real threat.
2. You have to like the S60 operating system. This may not be as bad of an option for many as the price, though, since there is huge 3rd party app support here.
I have a Nokia E62. The Symbian OS is fine. quirky, compared to PocketPC ... but then different OSs are supposed to be different, otherwise they'd be the same ;-)
I'm very happy with the E62, although it is not perfect. It gives me everything I am used to in a PocketPC. Since I got it, I've formed the opinion that Nokia is close to overtaking PocketPC. I see nothing in the N95 that is not available on PocketPC (aside from the 5Mpx camera), but I also see that Nokia makes incremental changes with each new device, and regular improvements to the OS. They are in total control and have much more momentum than PocketPC right now!
2. You have to like the S60 operating system. This may not be as bad of an option for many as the price, though, since there is huge 3rd party app support here.
OS is Symbian 9.2; S60 - UI. Maybe this forum is a wrong place to say so but I thing S60 is far better than Windows Smartphone...
I'll admit that this is a phone that could pull me away from Windows Mobile. I have been looking at it since it was first announced. Not that it's available, $700 is a little out of my price range. Otherwise, I'd probably have it already.
I have been a long user of Contax cameras with Carl Zeiss lens. I can assure you that the lens/camera combo in Nokia N95 itself is worth the price of the whole phone price tag(try checking the price of ANY lens with Carl Zeiss optics) Add GPS functionality to it and its a true convergent device. Just like Contax/Leica cameras are not for everyone, same goes for Nokia N95. Can I afford it right now, NO
But as soon as I can, I'll be buying one UNLESS I read a lot of issues with the OS itself. I have tried 9.2/S60 OS for a day, its different than WM5 but I am willing to learn it. I have to say Nokia raises the bar with each N series release. Although nothing earth shaking but all the stuff we "wish" in one smartphone (for example, model x has wifi but no 850 freq, model Y is quad band but no wifi, model z has both but no gps, or no decent camera). Sorry for the rambling :wink:
Since Microsoft is more interested in removing functionality with each iteration of Windows Mobile and Activesync (did you know that with Money 2007 you can no longer sync your expenses with your Pocket PC?) it seems that it would be a trivial task to overtake the Professional/Standard market.
MS is clearly interested in maintaining a heirarchy in the WM world - thus Smartphone always has to come below Professional in terms of features to avoid eating up its big brother's market share, but if you don't cannibalize your own sales, your competition will.
... I've formed the opinion that Nokia is close to overtaking PocketPC. ... They are in total control and have much more momentum than PocketPC right now!
Well, that's definitely true. Last time I looked at smartphone statistics, more than 70% of sold smartphones are Symbian OS based. Well over 40% of the world market for smartphones is owned by Nokia. Windows Mobile has less than 10% of the overall market in most statistics ... and that's being generous.
Quote:
Now if only they had it in CDMA flavor. Looks great!!
As for the CDMA flavor, the CDMA branch of 3G only makes up about 20% of all mobile sales in the world, with the bulk of the CDMA market in the U.S. and Korea. It simply doesn't make sense for Nokia, and other GSM-camp players, to spend a lot of money on developing CDMA products. So, I guess what I'm saying is don't hold your breath.
Lastly, as for the price, I agree, it's very expensive. However, as SPPassion pointed out, the bill of materials in the phone and the cost of buying separate devices that can do all the things the N95 can do in one package definitely makes the N95 worth that much money. That said, a lot of people won't be able to afford it, and especially not unsubsidized. Also, a lot of people don't like having everything packed into one device.
Re: Has Nokia Raised the Smartphone Benchmark with its N95?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris Kumar
The N95 has Wi-Fi and supports a network protocol called UPnP, which enables the N95 to interact with a whole bunch of devices at home and work. Wish the reviews provided more details on the use of UPnP, but I can see it being used to implement Zune like media sharing system; not just with other N95s but also share media with home entertainment systems. Not to mention the N95 can possibly interact with home automation systems. That’s not the end of the feature list on this super phone.
Our Pocket Player product supports UPnP too; you can stream from any UPnP server on your LAN, stream to any UPnP players, and stream device-to-device.
Has Nokia Raised the Smartphone Benchmark with its N95?
Linear Mode
