mobility

Mobile Open Lab 2009 - A proposal

It's been 6 months since a few mobile folks met in Helsinki for Nokia Open Lab 2008 as Mike Maddaloni and CT Moore have pointed out and my mind is still reeling. It's time to start thinking about a Mobile Open Lab 2009. I say worldwide, done via our mobiles, self organized and distributed! What say you? [the following is in the order it was on the 2008 wiki, forgive me for omissions and typos!] Mike, Steve Dembo, Rebecca, Whatleydude, Gwapz, Eddie, Nick, Solobasssteve, Philip, CT, Glenn, Mickipedia, Rahul, Steve Rumsby, Chletten, Apocalypso, Jussi, Jason, Rafe, Jen, Thej, cybette, tnkgrl, Matti, Mikko, Nate, Antti, Nick, Vinnie, Kristine, Yuhui, Anne, Janne, Anssi, Brian, Luis, and Stefan please update the Mobile Open Lab 2009 wiki page with your ideas or leave a comment here! And let's get the ball rolling!

Ideas from Roland Tanglao (Vancouver, Canada)

flickr: roland, twitter:rtanglao, nokia chat:rtanglao, jaiku:roland, qik:roland

(NB these are just brainstorming ideas!!!!!! No commitment implied :-) ! )

  1. the "original 50" are all co-organizers and responsible for organizing in their home town
  2. the original 50 must present a mobile 10 minute or less "1 year later" status/way forward/whatever and must recruit at least 1 participant in their home town to present as well!
  3. done via mobile video streaming e.g.ustream, qik, kyte, mogulus, etc. for 2 days world wide & archived
  4. the 2008 workshop presenters will reprise their workshops in a 2009 stylee
  5. Outcomes:

    1. a user vision of the way forward for nokia and the mobile industry
    2. "raise a barn " i.e. create a mobile app / site / something that we all agree on beforehand for a cause that we all believe in
  6. Things I can help with: Drupal, Bug Labs Bug, S60 Python, "dis-coordination" :-), blogging, wiki gardening
  7. Things I am not so good at: getting sponsors (do we need any?), politics, web design
  8. Looking forward to the cool ideas from others!

Open Hardware + Open Software = telcos that can be setup easily like blogs

Telcos set up as easily as WordPress and Drupal sites using software and hardware from projects like OpenBTS! Now this would be the end of "telco business as usual". Go open go!

QUOTE [From Using Constraint to Design for Innovation at Many Possibilities] (via Ethan Zuckerman)

2. Make a telco as simple to set up as a wordpress blog. Wireless meshes, least-cost-routing, etc. Let’s make as much of that complexity disappear into default behaviours that can be tweaked as the owner/entrepreneur becomes more comfortable with the product.


3. Be as open as possible. This is more of a philosophical than a practical constraint. We believe we can attract maximum participation by making software and hardware as open as possible. We believe that Open Hardware strategies devices like the Mesh Potato can change the way people think about hardware.

END QUOTE

N96 World Tour will come to Vancouver where it was designed (fingers crossed!)

GorillaPod+DT-22+N95+Bike=fun - IMG_5948

Steve Rocks (literally since he's a bass player! And figuratively since he's an articulate and very cool person!) ! Met him in Finland at Nokia Open Lab 2008. I applied to the program so, "Global Omnipresent Delivery Services" (GODS hat tip to Neal Stephenson) and Nokia willing, the N96 will make its way to Vancouver (apparently the N96 was designed/integrated in Vancouver) for me to take it on a bicycle and have my devious (ha ha !) ways

QUOTE [From N96 World Tour starts here! — Steve Lawson: Bass 2.0 — the soundtrack to the day you wish you’d had]

A few weeks back I was contacted about a project involving the Nokia N96 - the idea was to send one round the world, getting various people to use it, upload video and photos, add apps to the phone itself, leave stuff on it, basically put it through its paces and tell a story… It’s a great fun idea, and I’m the first one to get it! So I’ve got a brand new lovely N96 to play with for a week or so.

END QUOTE

The Future of Mobility is Linux (and iPhone) RussellBeattie.com from September 2005

Change 2008 to say 2009 or 10 and change Linux to Android (which is on top of Linux) and Russell was basically correct. Go Russ go! Looking forward to more mobile predictions now that you have joined Nokia (and I love how you continue to be honest!)

QUOTE [From The Future of Mobility is Linux - RussellBeattie.com]

There could be some spoilers out there. You never know what's going to happen tomorrow - Apple could pull out some amazing iPhone and change the market over night. But right now being in the industry this is how I see things progressing. As it is now, I use a Symbian phone and plan on recommending that platform to others looking for a good smart phone. But as the next 12 months goes by, I full expect that a Linux based phone will enter my world, and within the next few years become a standard.

See you in 2008.

END QUOTE

It's all about the usability, not the features - Nokia unveils S60 5th Edition and DRMed Comes with Music

S60 5th edition and touch *sounds* good but if it's not in an easier to use form than the current S60, it's useless. And I am sorry but DRM'ed Windows only music doesn't work for me (I don't buy DRMed music from anybody including Apple)! Anyways Apple badly needs competition in the usability department so my fingers are crossed that this represents some sort of competitive threat to them. Go Nokia go! Viva la compétition!

QUOTE from Nokia unveils iPhone competitor — Alec Saunders SquawkBox

Comes with Music (press release, backgrounder) is Nokia’s new digital entertainment service. When you buy a supported Nokia device, including the NSeries, any of the XPressMusic phones and some other mass market phones, Nokia gives you access to the Nokia Music store at no additional charge for an entire year. Download (and keep) as many tracks as you like. This is not a subscription. You get to download and keep as many tracks as your heart desires. Tracks are delivered in Windows Media format, with DRM.

S60 5th Edition (press release) was also introduced. This latest operating system release includes support for new displays, the touch UI, a widescreen mode, a variety of new sensor support, and updated applications and browser support. Wonderfully cool things are possible with the new sensor support, like being able to stop the ringer by picking the phone up and putting it back down face down.

A touch screen phone and operating system were not unexpected. After all, Nokia had to respond to Apple’s phenomenal success with iPhone. However, the gutsy decision to give away the music goes straight after Apple’s cash cow, iTunes.

Scorched earth is a powerful offensive posture. One wonders what kind of deal with the devil RIAA Nokia had to agree to in order to gain the rights to distribute all those tracks for no money… and what the impact will be on their bottom line.

Look for 5800 XpressMusic devices with North American standard radios to land here Q1 2009. Exciting times are ahead.

[From Nokia unveils iPhone competitor — Alec Saunders SquawkBox]

END QUOTE

Nokia Open Lab 2008 - Video Wrapup

My video reflections on Nokia Open Lab 2008 (wiki)

Show Notes (selected)

It's been 3 weeks since Nokia Open Lab 2008 (wiki) in Helsinki and my mind is still reeling! If you don't want to watch my video (apologies for the audio quality) above, check out the show notes (which summarize maybe half of the video!):

  1. Fantastic people, fantastic event, in particular the women I had a chance to really speak with were great: Micki, Jen and Anne - glad I had a chance to have in-depth conversations with you all. I suggest that the event needs  to be longer next time and include more non native English speakers in a more inclusive manner
  2. The environment is everything. We need to get beyond an economy based on "gadget obsolescence". It's the end of  business as usual as Umair says. Thanks for leading me to further insight about the environment, Micki!
  3. Nokia gratuitous advice time :-) Team 1 milks the cash cow of S60 by refining it. Team 2 starts with a clean sheet and comes up with a mobile to make the early adopters once again fall in love with Nokia (hint: it's got to be open, it's got to be an holistic experience, perhaps it's green, perhaps it's a lifetime hardware subscription, a lifetime phone!)
  4. How about a"DeviceCamp" where people like the Nokia Open Lab Participants come together with Nokia Software and  Hardware people (under NDA if need be!) to produce a real device over a long weekend? It could be designed in a Wiki or in a visual riffing service like ConceptShare beforehand! Let's do it in Vancouver!
  5. Nokia you know where to find me if you need further input and feedback! Love to help!
  6. To everybody at Nokia Open Lab 2008: Come to Vancouver and I'll help you get a rental bicycle and I'll show you my city!

Going to Nokia WOMWorld Workshop in Helsinki September 10-14

Details have yet to be finalized, but it looks like I'll be going to a Nokia Mobile workshop (paid for by Nokia, including carbon offsets!) September 10-14,2008 being organzied by Nokia's WOMWorld folks. Sounds like fun. Maybe I can lead a session on Mobile Muse and SIFTTool.

Here's a portion of their invite:

QUOTE

It's taking place in September between the 11th and 14th, and will be the first of its kind hosted by Nokia. We're contacting everyone from creative's, designers, video producers to open source software bloggers and mobile tech pioneers. There will be a number of workshops that'll see discussion with participants, and with Nokia guys, about the future of different online arenas and mobile technology. Workshops that we hope you'd like to join in with and make yourself heard.

END QUOTE

In the meantime, time to start my travel research. If anybody has been to Helsinki, love to have the following questions answered by a Helsinki person:

  1. Where can I get a pay as you go SIM Card with several gigs (2GB or higher) of data so I can blog, flickr, youtube, et with my Nokia N95-1 while at the workshop?
  2. Can somebody recommend the best place to rent a bicycle in Helsinki? I am a "born again" bicyclist who's been commuting to work for 16 months 5 days a week and who has taken thousands of photos from an N95 and uploaded to Qik while bicycling. So I'd want to do the same in Helsinki.

Rogers Unlimited Plan is restricted to Rogers' apps, 3rd party apps pay r*poff tax. Buy unlocked N95 8GB instead

As I feared the $7 "unlimited" data plan for the recently introduced N95-8GB and other Rogers approved devices restricts you to using the built-in apps. The built-in apps are *ahem* (to be nice) not that great with the exception of the web browser (and I fear that Rogers has somehow neutered the "great for Nokia" webkit based browser but not so great when compared to the iPhone browser). 3rd party apps, like ShoZu and Qik, are much better in my humble opinion.

Not only that, you are forced to commit to a 3 year contract if you wish to use the $7 plan.

At this time, if you are mobile enthusiast, therefore, I can't recommend the Rogers Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan or buying a Rogers N95 8GB. Instead I recommend buying an unlocked N95 8GB from Tiger Direct or other source and then buying the Rogers 1GB/month $65 'PC Card plan' which Alec Saunders uses with his unlocked non Rogers N95. As far as I know, this plan doesn't have a 3 year contract requirement. And it doesn't have the 3rd party app tax (Alec uses 3rd party app Qik to stream video live and doesn't pay 5 cents per kilobyte).

Anyhow, to end in a positive note, if any Rogers N95-8GB owners want to experiment with 3rd party apps and want to set them up in such a way as to avoid the "5 cents / kilobyte 3rdparty app" r*poff tax, and you are in Vancouver, please email roland AT rolandtanglao.com and let's get together in Gastown at lunch on a weekday and I'll show you how (it's not as intuitive as the iPhone). I've been using Nokia S60 smart phones like the N95 for four years and can show you how to use the powerful but not so intuitive S60 interface to your advantage.

From Rogers.com - Wireless Essentials:

QUOTE

NEW! Adding Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan* to your voice plan provides:

* Unlimited on-device mobile browsing access to your favourite social communities like Facebook & MySpace, news, sports and entertainment sites all on the go for one flat monthly fee!
* Access to search the mobile Internet with Yahoo! Search and Google
* Access to information sites like Yahoo! Canada, Canada.com, Windows Live, The Weather Network, Lavalife Mobile and more!
* Protection against high pay-per-use data charges while surfing the mobile Internet

Start saving on all your mobile Internet browsing with Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing* or pay per use at 5¢/ KB.

Plan or pay per use at 5¢/ KB

Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing Plan
Monthly Fee Includes
$7 Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing*

For a limited time, customers who activate on a Voice Plan and add Vision Unlimited On-Device Mobile Browsing* on a 3 year term receive Vision Bonuses. Learn more

*Important: This plan includes unlimited on-device mobile browsing only and is only available on select phones (PDAs such as Blackberry or Windows Mobile devices, PC cards and non-Rogers certified devices are not eligible). Data usage incurred on ineligible devices or incurred while tethering (using device as wireless modem for computer) or incurred using non-Rogers (3rd party) applications downloaded to your device will be subject to pay-per-use charges of 5 cents/KB. A 3-year term service agreement is required for Rogers Vision devices.

What is tethering?

This plan does not include any usage incurred while tethering. Tethering is when you use your phone as a wireless modem to connect to the Internet. The phone can be connected via USB cable or Bluetooth. Once connected, you can access the Internet wirelessly on your laptop using the Rogers Wireless network. While accessing the Internet wirelessly on your computer, data charges are incurred at a rate of 5¢/KB.
What are 3rd party applications?

3rd party applications are applications like Yahoo! Go or Google Maps. These are non-Rogers applications which may be downloaded to the device and incur data charges at a rate of 5¢/KB.

END QUOTE

N82 has cool Xenon flash but will it pass the Roland Shozu Challenge?

The N82 was released today with great fanfare (rightly so since it's the first Nokia with a real flash!) and some fun video but nobody has told me whether it can pass the "Roland Challenge" and the "Roland ShoZu Challenge". I'm hoping the latest Nokias like the N95-3 and the N82 pass because of their increased RAM.

p.s. in case you forgot, here's the Roland Challenge: take 50 pictures in 30 minutes of random stuff and see if the phone or camera app crashes (without any 3rd party software installed and a freshly formatted 2Gig or larger card)

p.p.s. and here's the Roland ShoZu Challenge: Repeat the Roland Challenge but install ShoZu first and set ShoZu to auto-upload and again let me know if ShoZu, camera app or the phone crashes

Igor is MoMoVan face - MoMoVan October 2007 Wrapup

20071001-429- MoMoVan Oct 2007

The face of MoMoVan (at least for 2007-8) by popular vote is Igor Faletski who not only is one of the partners behind Handi Mobile but also looks great in a hat.

Some other MoMoVan Oct 2007 thoughts:

  • Enjoyed the beer and the venue at Granville Island Brewing Company. Looking forward to the next event there
  • Igor Faletski's and John Boxall's MoMo World Wide Summit 2007 presentation was insightful and hilarious. Love how they loved the unconference part the best too. I suspect I would have too.
  • Handi Mobile's poll service sounds great. Please add acknowledgement message to confirm a successful vote.
  • The floobs aka "Mogulus Mobile" service that they mentioned sounds great. Sign me up for the beta, Igor and John!
  • Great enthusiastic organization by new WINBC Executive Director Michael Bidu. Go Michael Go! Go WINBC go!
  • Edie Hats is fantastic (and Igor and the MoMoVan attendees looked great in them). I have two of their hats and will head to their celebration this weekend at their Granville Island Store

Mobile Monday Vancouver re-launches October 2007 in a more informal style

I'm helping a wee bit with the re-launch on October 1st in a more informal style like Steph and Bryan did for the original Mobile Monday Vancouver way back in January 2006. Register today, it's free; see you at Granville Island Brewing Company at Granville Island on October 1st at 6p.m! From MOBILE MONDAY VANCOUVER, October 1, 2007 | Bryght:

QUOTE

Roland Tanglao is helping organize MoMoVan October 2007! (event on upcoming)

Every first Monday of the month 100 of the smartest local minds will share their ideas in places that we all love. The new WINBC Mobile Monday Vancouver (MoMoVan) starting Monday, October 1st is going back to its grass roots origins. FROM HELSINKI’S MOMO GLOBAL SUMMIT TO VANCOUVER’S LOCAL INNOVATORS Are you an interested, opinionated developer, entrepreneur, CEO, Ph.D or student ready to share with others your thoughts, ideas, and solutions around our local wireless industry and Web 2.0 community? Are you ready to have fun? How about free pizza, free beer (1st round), and free parking? We have listened to people like you and developed an event that YOU want:

* To enable an open conversation that is relevant to the wireless and Web 2.0 community in Vancouver and BC

* To facilitate opportunities for casual networking, identifying local talent, building strategic partnerships and business development

* To promote local innovation and collaboration in the wireless and Web 2.0 industry from small start-ups to large companies to research labs

* To have FUN

** You must register, even if you are not paying a fee, by Friday, September 28, 2007. **

END QUOTE

Nokia sells 11 phones per second and has history of re-invention

Wow 11 phones per second, wonder what's next for Nokia after mobile phones!

From Jan Chipchase - Future Perfect: 5th, 11, 39%, 70+:

QUOTE

The significance of the numbers? According to this recent InterBrand/BusinessWeek survey the 5th most valuable brand in the world with industry peers such as Microsoft at #2, Samsung at #21, Apple at #33 and Motorola at #77. 11 phones sold per second, which equates to a 39% market share in a (roughly) 1 billion sold per year industry. And lastly 70+ languages supported on our entry level products.

Tires and toilet paper? Mentioned because the company has a history of re-inventing itself from its fairly recent focus that included these two products, and that the design research which the Tokyo team is engaged in has a scope very much broader than simply mobile phones.

END QUOTE

FeedM8, make money off your RSS Feed - [FM8327-55]

UPDATE: here's the FeedM8 badge

Another mobile RSS service to try: FeedM8 (requires verification code: [FM8327-55]).This one allows you to make money and is Canadian (Tris Hussey at blognation has the full FeedM8 scoop). We'll see! I'm skeptical (I believe in making money indirectly instead of directly off of "creating compelling constantly").

Lazy Web - Give me unlimited mobile uploads to a video service of my choice over WiFi

I've asked for this before from ShoZu but nobody is listening :-) ! In the wrap up meeting today of the mobile rich media research study at SFU at that I was part of the last two months, I expressed my frustration at not being able to fluidly upload videos (sorry but email, FTP or Bluetooth or USB just don't cut it from a mobile device) to my favourite video sites like I can easily do with photos. I know videos are much much bigger but we have phones that support WiFi. so LazyWeb let's do it. And I'll pay! The USB / Bluetooth chain of pain doesn't work if you take as many videos as I do and if you use a phone like the N93 which takes gorgeous videos that have huge files which easily exceed the limits of today's mobile uploaders (the biggest I know is Vox which supports video uploads up to 50MB; unfortunately this doesn't work since the N93 videos can easily be well over 100MB).

SMSes don't have a standard way to insert line breaks

Unfortunately technical people often can't seem to get simple things right. Unbelievable but not so unbelievable if you look at the history of HTML and how many many websites to this day are generating "bad" HTML.

FROM Technical Challenges in Content Delivery to Mobile Devices | Mobile Muse:

QUOTE

Our first surprise came when we discovered that even a "tried-and-true" standard like SMS - that world-wide delivers billions of messages monthly - is not so much a standard as a guideline. Something as simple as inserting line-breaks in content is not, in fact, specified in the protocol as a requirement and it is often not implemented at all by certain platforms. This makes it very difficult to deliver even the simplest "structured content" (i.e. a list) in an easily understandable fashion.

END QUOTE

N800 + GSM 850 phone = perfect price checker - N800 Review Part 2

I misplaced my mouse at Super Happy Dev House. I went shopping for a replacement on Friday and found that the combination of the:
N800 and 850 GSM phone + unlimited data plan = perfect price checker and shopping companion.

The 850 means that unlike GSM 1900 phones it basically works anywhere except a Faraday shielded bunker :-) ! A bit geeky but it was fun being able to take notes and check out the websites of the mouse I was considering as well as verifying that contrary to the label on the box, the mouse I bought, a Microsoft Wireless Bluetooth Mouse 8000, actually works with Macs (inaccurate MS 8000 mouse review - works fine for me out of the box with latest MS drivers - I luv MS mice; I think this is the 4th I've bought with my own money!) !

And I guess maybe not so geeky since I didn't get any second looks and I see "normal" people playing around with their Sony PSPs and Nintendo DS's all the time these days.

Mark my words, shopping and checking prices and taking photos and sharing media back and forth about what you are buying with friends while shopping will become just as normal as playing games on mobile devices!

Nokia: please build Christian Lindholm's Transformer Mobile OS around an open source core

Awesome vision (I am not a fan of Lifeblog (his previous vision) but I am fan of Christian! And of course I am a fan of Series 60 which was one of Christian's first visions!). Go Christian go! Wouldn't it be cool if Christian Lindholm built this OS at a startup around an open source core like Linux and wouldn't it be cool if Nokia bought that OS and used it on future phones? This would blow the iPhone out of the water. In the long run, this is what has to be done if the iPod-ization of mobile phones is to be avoided IMHO (but hey I could be wrong :-) !)

FROM ChristianLindholm.com: My speech at MEX, The SW Transformer A Vision for a mobile OS:

QUOTE

I was asked by Marek Pawlowski from PMM to give a keynote at the MEX conference, a small mobile user experience conference. It is great small conference with key people in mobile user experience.

My brief for the talk was this manifesto:

"Manifesto point #4:

Handsets, applications and services should be more aware of the user's physical environment and adapt to provide the most appropriate interface for sound and visual conditions. We think multi-modal interfaces should be supported on many more mobile devices and can dramatically improve the user experience."

Summary:

We are at a stage where a new mobile operating system should be created. One that enables the creation of a cheap monoblock enabling best of breed convergence of mobility and computing. I envision an OS that morphs to accommodate both moving use and mobile use. Focused use and multi-tasking. I call it a Transformer OS.

One way to think of this is to think of RSS in terms of comand. Each command or feature in the user experience is wrapped into a meta language of context. This language of context will drive the use cases and the rendering. We do not only separate funtion and presentation we make function and context interdependant.

With such an operating system we would tear down classic application boundaries: like calling, camera, idle, and calendar into a fluid dynamic environment. The operating system is broader than the footprint of the silicon. It extends into the environment and the network.

I think this kind of device and system could be a massive hit in emerging markets where they choose a mobile before they buy a computer.

END QUOTE

Unlocking the Mobile Phone: Why we need to go SIM-Free

Best "Why you should buy an unlocked phone" rant ever!

FROM AAS Feature: Unlocking the Mobile Phone: Why we need to go SIM-Free:

QUOTE

How to free the phone

This is all easier said than done, of course, and much of the change has to be cultural as well as technical or legal. Here are three suggestions that would help bring about this change:

- Phone-locking should be completely illegal.

- Phone network operators should not be allowed to sell phones.

- "Free" phones should not be called free, but labelled exactly like any other product bought on installments with the real total price and interest rate clearly marked on all advertising.

As the Finnish example showed though, the phone operators have a tremendous lobbying power which is difficult to overcome. While we're waiting for enough politicians to realise and accept that the operators are worth taking on, we can make a difference right now by doing the following:

1. Don't buy phones from operators

2. Don't sign long term contracts with operators

3. Buy phones SIM-free from high street and online electronics retailers and other non-operator shops

The more we do those three things, the less power the operators have, and the freer, cheaper and better the phone world becomes.

END QUOTE

ShoZu + Nokia N Series phone + flickr + WiFi = least painful way to get photos online today

Ah the mobile photo chain of pain. Although I whinge :-) constantly about the state of software on Nokia N series phones, I can't recommend any other phones if you are serious about about putting your mobile phone photos online (uploading them to your PC through the USB and Bluetooth chain of pain is very unpleasant as Igor describes and really is not worth it!) and want the minimum amount of pain. ShoZu has its problems (like an issue with thumbnails on Series 60 V3 phones which I am unclear as to whose "bug" it is: ShoZu's or Nokia's) but by and large it just works. Get an N Series phone with wifi, a flickr account, install ShoZu and upload photos automagically for free when you are in your fav WiFi hotspots. Until the iPhone comes out this is as good as it gets; Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola etc either have lousy cameras and/or software or only work with the less than optimal Java version of ShoZu.

FROM Software Matters | Mobile Muse:

QUOTE

Consider my D900. It takes decent pictures in bright environments, but getting them to the computer is anything but trivial. Find them on the phone (photos can only be saved on its internal flash memory), copy them to the memory card (painfully slow), insert the card into the PC card reader, import into Picasa. Sounds complicated? How about this - every time I move the pictures off the device, it starts counting them at "1". Eventually, multiple pictures with duplicate names are produced, causing even more confusion. Often I don't even want to create pictures because of how much work is involved in using them (and we're not even putting them on the web yet, just copying to the computer)!

END QUOTE

N800 killer feature is see-me calls today with SIP tomorrow with Skype

Please read the very thoughtful N800 review that I've quoted below. I can live without YouTube, really (and I am sure this will be fixed!). Easy to make video and audio calls with SIP and soon Skype + open Linux make this the closest thing today to Doc's ophone (anything with a SIM in it will never be truly open!) concept. I definitely want one of these things! Saving my pennies! When Skype comes out for it, I'll be seriously tempted to cross over the border into the USA and pick one up! Go Nokia go!

[BTW still want the N95, N999 and the iPhone :-) Yes I am obsessed or rather I have a compulsive need to create and consume stuff on the go and N95, N999, N800 and the iPhone are (or will be) the best ways to do this!]

FROM My review of the Nokia N800 - when the walkaround web meets the see-me-anywhere call at Internet Tablet Talk:

QUOTE

Take it from me, see-me calls are just … natural. When you don’t have to decide up-front, “I want to pay extra for this, so it better be worth using,” there’s an immediate acceptance of “this is the way it’s meant to be.” And it’s the kind of thing that makes people buy a new device, the way Visicalc (the first spreadsheet) made buying one of those new-fangled Apples worthwhile 20-plus years ago. The step-in price is reasonable, the experience is unique and persuasive immediately, and you don’t worry that “this is going to cost and cost and cost.”

You won’t hear this described as “video conferencing” or “video calls” next year, btw. Those names are so Flash Gordon in their invocation of the future. So don’t trust that any reviewer who uses one of those terms has any idea of what’s coming. Video conferences are what the guy holding a Treo expects to happen, once Verizon offers it as part of a $120-a-month data plan.

Some users wonder about why the N800 jettisons the useful screen cover that the 770 comes with. It’s so you’re always able to get a call. Putting on the 770’s cover doesn’t turn off the WiFi (or Bluetooth), but it breaks the wireless connection. Users make it a physical representation of “I’m putting my device to sleep.” You don’t put your phone to sleep, and the N800 behaves similarly.

And it makes a world of difference between these tablets and laptops that really do sleep. Your tablet is just on. You start using it. No delay, no wakeup, no nothing. I’ve always regarded the 770 as “instant on” because it’s live the moment the screen cover comes down. But the “never off” side of the N800 is better, and I’m more comfortable with keeping it on all day and connected to my network than I have been with the 770.

It’s my contention that the opportunity to hook up with voip giant Skype got tied to the webcam, and Ari Virtanen’s ascension to the VP of convergent products not only put the internet tablet into the mainstream of Nokia’s future thinking (and N-series)**, but also into the CES and consumer electronic marketing timeframes. They weren’t going to launch entry number two on some random day in spring like entry one (May 25, to be precise).

END QUOTE

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