Nokia 7900, the Wii of the Mobile Industry?
I don’t normally cover S40 devices here, frankly, cause they’re not Symbian, so I don’t feel that they fit. However, I am going to mention the newly announced Nokia Prism 7900. Why? Cause it innovates in ways that I think the industry is going to have to go, and soon.
The 7900 is a candybar S40 device, with a lowly 2MP cam and nothing really fancy. Except the OLED display, "living backgrounds", and user-changable backlights (which you can get a demo of here). The backlights are something I’ve asked for before, and finally someone at Nokia decided it would be a cool idea, as well. Why? Cause it’s cheap to implement, and makes the phone that much more "mine", without alot of hassle. And frankly, this is an area which I think that all device manufacturers should look at.
I think that it’s easy, as a manufacturer, to get caught up in the
processor race, just like Sony and Microsoft have done with the PS3 and
Xbox 360, respectively. The whole processor race just gets ridiculous,
and to the point where there’s not as big of a difference from the
previous. I can’t find the link, but I remember when the PS3 was soon
to come out, someone posted screenshots of video game generations
through the years. At the beginning, there was a significant difference
in the image quality between generations, but that difference dwindled
as you came closer to the present.
Enter the Wii. It uses last generation’s hardware (being built on the
Gamecube), but tweaks it a little, going back to rethink the smaller
aspects such as how to make it more fun, and how to better engage the
audience. And it’s been wildly successful, opening up a whole new
market segment of gamers that didn’t used to be gamers.
That’s where I think the Nokia Prism 7900 comes in. And I hope there’s
more. Instead of trying to cram more megapixels in, I think it’s cool
that Nokia is going back and offering some smaller, but still really
really exciting innovations.
The OLED screen isn’t anything new, but how many manufacturers are
using it? I remember when the technology was developed, everyone was so
excited cause it’s supposed to use less battery and produce more vivid
colors, yet no one is really using it. Same for the "living"
background. It’s nothing incredible, technologically speaking. But it’s
neat and adds to the coolness factor. The keypad backlights being
user-changeable from 40+ different colors could not have cost too much
extra to implement, and yet it’s a way to make the device more "yours",
which will really be a plus to consumers.
I’m not saying that all manufacturers should stop hardware innovation
and research and start adding flashing lights to all their devices.
What I am saying is that I don’t think it would hurt if these cool
little things made it into more devices.
What do you think? Do you agree, or would you much rather have a 10MP camera phone?
I think Nokia rocks because it offers you that choice. You can’t be successful if you offer just fashion phones and likewise you will not dominate if you only sell high end devices.
I really didn’t like the way either of these phones looked when I first saw them, but I think they’re growing on me.
The backlight is cool and the living wallpaper on the 7900 sounds interesting.
However, did you happen to see the multimedia specs for the 7500 phone?
http://myskitch.com/jezlyn/prism_collection-20070807-222837/
Optical zoom and DVD-quality video? Is this a typo, or is it true? It would be pretty amazing if it were true.
Yeah, you could say it’s
the wii of the mobile
world and it’s a good
time for nokia to stop
and think about the
small details and usrr
experience. Also i would
love something like the
prism 7900 but in the
Nseries.
Actually I don’t like too fancy phones but with a S40 OS. But I love this one, especially the changeable backlight! Its cool..
& also, about the specs, the 8x optical zoom doesnt make sense..I mean for that phone.
i think optical zoom is nothing but a typo…
I agree.
I think it would be totally awesome if such features were in S60 phones!
It would make S60 smart AND fun.
Think about it, my E61 had all that kind of stuff like living backgrounds and different key lights… I know that I would fiddle with them
i think this is FINALLY nokia’s version of the motorola V80 a few years back- but while the phone was really cool and had a beat detection and the lights would flash to the beat of the sounds it detected, the phone was utter riddled with bugs. i think nokia needs to make sure that this one wont go down as something similar as it’s a relative different technology and who knows what bugs may come out and mess it up? and throw in that rhythm detection on the next version too, wont you, nokia?