Where Is The Next Video Flagship?
Thanks to WOMWorld, I have been trialling an N93i for a couple of weeks. The first time I held it in my hands, I noticed two things that I fell in love with : the first is that it has a tranformer form factor that will never have you bored ; the second is that it has dedicated camera keys.
See the N93i was the perfect video recorder when it was released. It sports the only form factor that can be held in a DVR-like way, which is easier on the hands than holding an N95 or an N82 horizontally. It is also the only handset to offer optical zoom, which can be activated in video mode and improves the the digital zoom’s limitation on other handsets. It offers dedicated keys to allow browsing through the camera menu (joystick and softkeys) even when the device is twisted. It also has the great still picture/video toggle button, as well as the flash switcher key. These are the two main options I personally look for when I launch the camera, and having physical buttons for fast access is an amazing plus. Another great aspect is that the N93i can be twisted to lay still on a desk and allow watching videos without having to hold the device.
The N93i is the last flagship video from Nokia. The N95 and N82 can provide better quality, even if the resolution and frame frequency numbers are the same, but they don’t provide an overall better experience. We have seen a patent for what looks like an N93i successor surface on December 2007, and although we always take rumors with a pinch of salt, this one was too good it stirred some great conversations like the eternal debate between megapixel count and optics with image processing. Fact is we are all waiting for that next imaging and video flagship from Nokia, we were hanging by a thread and immediately jumped on the patent.
So when is the real next video flagship from Nokia going to be released, be it the one that was rumored or something else? What form factor would you prefer : the N93i or the twisting form of the handset on the patent? And what features do you think are must-haves for the next video flagship from Nseries?
I have no idea what’s coming next… but whatever it is, it better be soon and it better be superfly, I feel a distinct wave of Nokia apathy coming over me at the moment. For the first time in two years I’m really not *that* excited about any of Nseries devices. The N78 will be fun and the N96 looks to be a great media playback device, but what happened to content creation? :(