October 11, 2001

3:51 AM

Looks weird. Sounds Great.Nokia's latest mobile phone seems to be a rather weird symbiosis of phone, keyboard device, pda, and mp3 player. I guess it will take a while before it hits the USA. But me, being in Europe, I think I'd like to check it out closely.
posted by HeikoH (24 comments total)

why, it's like gameboy advance.
posted by elle at 4:15 AM on October 11, 2001

Looks good - if the price is right, and it works with a mac, I'll be getting one
posted by twistedonion at 4:19 AM on October 11, 2001

doesn't work with a mac - oh well...
posted by twistedonion at 4:25 AM on October 11, 2001

Wow, Nokia has finally produced a phone that may not be rendered useless by their featureless and cumbersome UI. Really, only the Japanese have figured out how to make advanced phones that users can actually navigate. A keyboard might change that.
posted by shagoth at 4:37 AM on October 11, 2001

Huh? I get along great with my nokia phone - what's the problem with the user interface meant to be?
posted by jill at 5:12 AM on October 11, 2001

And the price is?
posted by mmarcos at 6:07 AM on October 11, 2001

Yeah, me too jill. I love my Nokia. The UI is fine.
posted by Summer at 6:24 AM on October 11, 2001

(Well, people also loved Windows 95 ;) Not that I remember what the Nokia UI looks like, but still -- everyone has different tastes)

What I find odd is that their marketing dept actually approved "Looks strange. Sounds great".
posted by jragon at 6:36 AM on October 11, 2001

I agree on Nokia's UI.
Compared to its competitors, it stands out by far.

But I suppose its a matter of getting/being used to it though.
Thats why I can appreciate nokia so much, ever since the introduction of that navi-key, they haven't changed it a bit.

**

Site says: in europe, the price will vary around 399 euro.
posted by sans at 7:09 AM on October 11, 2001

I find it more amazing that the marketing dept (or indeed the legal dept) approved of calling the maskot "mongo". At least here, "mongo" is a slur for "retard". Which again, of course, is a slur for ... what's the PC term right now... intellectually decapacitated?
posted by frednorman at 7:13 AM on October 11, 2001

Shagoth: Which phone do you normally use?

I've used a variety of cell phones as well, and I prefer the UI on my Nokia 8260 over everything else that I've tried. The screen is large enough to see, the menus make sense, and there's a great shortcut system that makes my life easier.
posted by bshort at 7:23 AM on October 11, 2001

how many euros to the pound?
posted by Mossy at 7:46 AM on October 11, 2001

about 1.6, or somewhere about there
posted by twistedonion at 7:54 AM on October 11, 2001

I've had my Nokia 5110 for almost two years now, and I don't see any reason to switch, unless it conks out all of a sudden.

BTW: When, oh when, will GSM telecom tech in the US catch up with the rest of the world? While we here in Manila go text-crazy along with Europe and China and South Africa, I still see people in the USA using analog phones! Can't someone start a GSM network yet, so you can start taking advantage of cool digital phones like this one?

(Or is that what this mysterious PCS is about?)
posted by brownpau at 8:18 AM on October 11, 2001

I want a nice simple bluetooth phone

(better yet a nice simple bluetooth enabled PDA with wireless capibility that transmits wireless to an ear-piece thank you)
posted by KnitWit at 8:18 AM on October 11, 2001

I don't really understand the demand for a keyboard like that. As far as I've seen, text messaging is hugely popular in Europe and Japan (less so in the US, because our whole mobile phone system is bass-ackwards) and it seems to work fine with the regular phone keypad. At least, I don't have any problems tapping out quick messages. That Nokia thing is a strange beast. I don't want to hold a keyboard up to my face.

Hi TwistedOnion: I bet there will be Mac drivers available immediately, though not from Nokia. I have yet to find a mobile phone that doesn't have a nice little hacked-up driver for use with a Mac. Somebody'll reverse engineer it, I'm sure.
posted by bcwinters at 9:01 AM on October 11, 2001

Until 3G comes along then you can't really do much better than a cheapo Nokia like the 3120. As long as I can program 'Can't Get You Out of my Head' into it I'm happy.
posted by Summer at 9:24 AM on October 11, 2001

Nokia's UI is far and away the Gold Standard in Cellular phones. No other phone can hold a candle to it as far as I'm concerned.
posted by cell divide at 9:46 AM on October 11, 2001

v-2.org on i-mode phones.

shagoth - have you actually used an i-mode phone? I haven't, and I'd be interested to hear from someone who has. I've heard conflicting repots that a) they suck and are about as useful as WAP, and b) they're awesome and are going to revolutionize the way humans communicate.
posted by chrisege at 11:10 AM on October 11, 2001

I don't think it's the interface people have problems with as much as typing messages into the phone using only numbers. The "auto word guess" feature works okay, but I'd be interested in trying out that keyboard. Especially if I could get a service that's compatible with AIM.
posted by kevspace at 12:55 PM on October 11, 2001

brownpau, there are GSM networks in the US. I moved from NYC where I used VoiceStream. PacBell also has a GSM network. It's there; the problem is there's strong competition from non-GSM vendors. Someday...
posted by mmarcos at 1:02 PM on October 11, 2001

T9 predictive messaging makes SMS on a 10-figure keypad possible. It's the one thing I wish my 6150 had. But heh, Nokia's come up with a Cybiko lookalike, nasty rubber keyboard and all. (Actually, it's learning from the success of Blackberry/RIM in the US: a phenomenon that generally confuses us mobilised Europeans.)
posted by holgate at 2:30 PM on October 11, 2001

It looks way too big for me. I just got rid of the Motorolla V100 email/internet/phone. Now that has a bad interface and it's way too slow. I just got the tiny Nokia 8290 which comes with a built in IR modem to link up laptops or palms. It's the BOMB like orange chicken!
posted by roboto at 4:45 PM on October 11, 2001

Can't someone start a GSM network yet, so you can start taking advantage of cool digital phones like this one?

cingular (owned by sbc global network) is gsm.
posted by elle at 6:37 PM on October 11, 2001