Has Nokia Raised the Smartphone Benchmark with its N95?

[Kris Kumar]

http://www.smartphonethoughts.com/images/Kris-apr2007-nokian75.jpg

The Internet is abuzz with the launch of the Nokia N95. (http://www.nseries.com/index.html#l=products,n95,demo) 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, (”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upnp”>UPnP,</a>) 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.

[Pinnacle]

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.

[SteveHoward999]

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!

[Kurt Usen]

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...

[LarryKeith]

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.

[SPPassion]

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:

[Mark Larson]

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.

[nosmohtac]

Now if only they had it in CDMA flavor. Looks great!!

[mobile]

... 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.

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.

[Jason Patterson]

The N95 has Wi-Fi and supports a network protocol called <a target=”_BLANK” href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upnp”>UPnP,</a> 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 (http://www.conduits.com/products/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.

[hondaguy]

i am a long time windows smartphone user who has tried a few s60 phones in the past. i currently have a s620 and i also have the N95. i have to say that as a personal preference, i prefer using wm5 (and the wm6 test rom) as i like the way it handles the calendar and email applications. that being said, the N95 is one slick device. i really like the slide mechanism, even though i dont use the music controls all that much, but i love answering the phone by sliding it open. the reception is great, which is what most people say nokias have, but in my experience with other high end nokias, they generally are not as good as my htc smartphones. the os is very fast and stable and the buttons on the front are easy to use. i have bought and sold a few nokias within a few days because of poor button placement already, so this phone seems much easier to use.

i bought it for the gps as i am on the road during the day and am directionally challenged. i also like to have a good camera and music player with me, and i also wanted something that would sync well with outlook. this phone does all of this, but it is not all roses. the gps can take some time to aquire the signal when you are in a car. once you have a signal, though, the nav software works well. the camera does take nice pics,but it takes a little too long between takes. this is something i am sure will be improved upon in software updates. it does sync with outlook, but i use a hosted exchange server and nokias free software for exchange servers will not let you open or send emails. my calendar and contacts sync great, but my emails show up on my device but i cannot open them. i can only see the sender info and the subject line. i have had to install roadsync as i want access to my exchange mail. i am hopeful that nokia updates their software before my 30 day trial ends.

i really like the TV out feature. you can view your pics, videos, etc, from your tv.

i am trying to see if i can live without a qwerty keyboard and the slimness of the dash. i do find myself missing my dash, but i have decided to give this device a fair shake and try to use it as my main device for the next few weeks. the nice thing about using the exchange account is that i can just switch the sim card to whichever phone i feel like using and they will update all my info within a few minutes without having to plug in.

[Kris Kumar]

Our Pocket Player (http://www.conduits.com/products/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.

That is cool. I wasn't aware of it. Not much of a music buff. But it is good to see UPnP being used. I should probably write another post on why Microsoft should have implemented UPnP as a core OS feature, like Bluetooth stack. It would have made the Windows Mobile platform a powerful platform for developers to work with an enhance. After all Microsoft was and is one of the most active members on the UPnP forum.

[Kris Kumar]

Folks, thanks for the response. I always was impressed with our readers, and now I am even more impressed. Wow, we have folks who really evaluate mobile gadgets regardless of the race, color, caste etc. :lol: I personally consider myself a Windows Mobile camp person. So it is good to see response from folks who tested multiple options.

I am also concerned that Nokia has taken the lead when it comes to smart phone OS. I am not talking about the market share, which Nokia always had when it comes to smart phones. But I am talking about the features and handset form-factors.

Microsoft and its partners have been slacking off. Microsoft has definitely lost the lead when it comes to software, not only from the WM Smartphone/Standard perspective but also from WM Pocket PC/Professional perspective. The browser, the user interface and the ability to package multiple applications as part of the core OS feature set.

Microsoft used to have the Exchange sync edge, but now that it has been licensed to Nokia. They no longer have the edge. I wouldn't be surprised if the N95 can handle Office 2007 documents even before Microsoft's WM 6 can.

[Kris Kumar]

i really like the TV out feature. you can view your pics, videos, etc, from your tv.

Nokia definitely put some thought into the N95. From a convergent device perspective, if you have a nice camera (I am not impressed with the samples on the Web, but the lens and resolution is impressive) then it is important to have the TV-out.

I wonder if you can watch Sling-Media via TV-out on a regular TV. ;-) Think about it, you are in a hotel during a business trip. Now you can watch the recordings on the hotel room TV instead of the small screen or laptop.

[Kris Kumar]

In case my Windows Mobile loyalist friends are worried that I am too impressed with N95 and planning to dump the WM world. No way. The N95 is bulky and has terrible battery life and also some email+software issues that Nokia needs to sort out before I can even think of getting one. ;-) By then I am hoping that the HTC Vox or Wings will be out. :-)

[hondaguy]

i forgot to mention one of the other things that i like is the pc suite that comes with the n95. i like being able to read and reply to sms messages from my pc while i am working on my pc. the suite comes with a backup feature as well and the home media server sets up in seconds. i too find the device to be a little bigger than i would have liked, but it does work well.

what really pisses me off about windows phones is that all of their info is leaked so far in advance of their release that i have finally gotten tired of waiting. i have wanted a device like the vox for as long as i have been using smartphones, as i use the phone quite a bit per day, and i also use the pim functions while on the go. i have been so anxious to get the vox for so long now and just as it is about to be released they leak info in the wings version. how can i feel good about my purchase when i know it is a matter of months before it is obsolete? and please dont speak to me about planned obsolensence, as i am a used car wholesaler and deal with it daily.

[alese]

N95 is really nice device, but I doubt it will make me switch to Symbian, I'm just too used to WM and the additional SW on the platform is just great, much better (in both quantity and quality) on average than on Symbian.
Now, about Nokia overtaking the Microsoft, that just silly. Microsoft was never in the lead compared to Nokia. Even in the "glory days" of PocketPC Nokia easily outsold WM devices.
The reality is that Microsoft is pretty much in the same position as it was when they were fighting Palm - the underdog trying to unset the market leader and given the number of new WM devices coming to the market I think eventually they will... It will take them few years, but eventually they will.
Also while N95 multimedia features are great, I for one would love to see Microsoft integrating Cisco VoIP client on their phones (SIP would be nice too) so that they would be able to compete in Corporate environment against Nokia - their phones have this integrated...

[Stinger]

I'm seriously tempted to upgrade to a N95. My N80 is getting a bit long in the tooth and I've heard that the N95 has much better battery life. It's not even that bulky, especially compared to my HTC Hermes. Just to annoy you North Americans, I thought that I'd point out that I can get one on a new contract for under $200 inc. tax. ;)

It's also tempting to wait for the Vox, but only T-Mobile offer decent data rates in the UK and they don't sell any modern WM Smartphones. :(

[dorelse]

I'm somewhat intrigued by the Nokia E61i. Seem to be a good second effort by Nokia.

I'm not very excited though about learning another OS...so a Dash maybe in my future...I just don't like that weird chrome piece on the front...so the HTC version might be better for me.