Swiss Army Phones
Wraps off swiss army phones (Courier-Mail)
SUPERCHARGED mobile phones designed to replace MP3 players, camcorders and digital still cameras would be launched in Australia before the end of the year, Nokia revealed at its Asia-Pacific launch yesterday. Nokia’s new N-series mobile telephones, shown at its Next Generation conference in Kuala Lumpur, will include a phone that stores up to 3000 songs and can be connected to speakers to become a stereo, a handset that looks and acts like a camcorder, and a mobile phone with two cameras, including one that produces print-quality images.
Nokia Asia-Pacific multimedia vice-president Mauro Montanaro said the new range of phones was designed to replace existing consumer technology. He said consumers should be able to capture high-quality photographs, read e-mail, listen to music, surf the Internet and watch television using their mobiles.
The new range includes a mobile phone designed to appeal to music fans, called the N91, that features a 4Gb hard disk — the same size as the entry-level Apple iPod mini — and can store up to 3000 songs. The phone features dedicated fast-forward, rewind, play and pause buttons on its front cover and can be plugged into any headphones or to speakers.
Cool. I mostly like the label “Swiss Army phone,” though.
Nokia Launches Multimedia Smart Phones (PC World)
Nokia today launched three new Nseries mobile handsets, hoping users will be seduced by the smart phones’ built-in multimedia gadgets, which take print-quality pictures, read e-mail, play music, browse Web sites, and display mobile TV. Nokia also touts new features such as 3G (third-generation) technology, multigigabyte memory, VHS-resolution video, and WLAN (wireless LAN) capabilities. A major selling point is the integration of a high-quality camera into each model; in fact, one model boasts a lens from German optics maker Carl Zeiss.
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The N91, which can store up to 3000 songs on its integrated 4GB hard disk and play music for 12.5 hours at a stretch, will begin shipping in November at a suggested retail price of about $905, the Nokia spokeswoman said. All of the Nseries phones are initially being pitched at European markets, with pricing in euros. Eventually, however, the tri-band handsets will be sold worldwide, allowing U.S. consumers, for example, to use the phones wherever WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) and GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) networks exist, Nokia said.
The price tag is far above what I’d be willing to pay. Of course, I’m likely not the target audience–I haven’t bought an iPod yet and didn’t even get a cellular phone until 2000, failing to see why I’d want to have a telephone on my 24/7.
With a tag like “Swiss army phone,” it should be able to communicate with distant planets, access and edit the news crawl on cable news channels, and create an entire holographic carrier task force in the Formosa Strait to fool the Chinese.