What Do You Want On Your Next Phone?
November 28th, 2007 • Mark Guim • Filed Under •
Time for some reader discussion! On my next phone, I want at least 3.5 inch touchscreen display with 5 megapixel camera, video-recording at least 640×480 at 30 FPS, xenon flash, GPS, native flash support so that the real Youtube.com videos actually work, at least 128mb RAM, microSDHC storage, battery life that lasts longer than a day, and thin enough to still fit in my jeans. I almost forgot to mention that I should still be able to make calls. It sure doesn’t sound like I’m describing a phone. Let me know what you want on your next phone.
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from where can i buy this one for 70$??? 
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how do I change the Date? 
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Dan on 28 November 2007:
I’d add a qwerty keyboard and touch screen.
But why not aim for better things? I’m almost sure my next phone will be an UMPC. And I think it’s gonna be the only personal computer I’ll need. I imagine a dock at home with a hard disk, a keyboard and a big monitor, but the CPU is gonna be my phone. And it’s gonna be small enough to carry it around in my pccket and it will have a small qwerty keyboard and touch screen.
Does it sound too difficult? What if Nokia puts a cellphone chip in a future version of the N810?
Arthuro_Adam on 28 November 2007:
N82 (or N95) has native flash support?
Mark Guim on 28 November 2007:
I don’t think I can rely on a future UMPC device like the N810 to do all my computing needs. I have my macbook for that.
@Arthuro. Nope… the flash videos on youtube.com does not play straight from the web browser.
Srinivas on 28 November 2007:
My phone shoudd have everything you mentioned plus: a higher resolution screen like the n80 has, a little wider screen(but not as wide as iphone, that’s just gross), no querty keyboard(i hate those things on a phone), with in-built FM antenna, plenty of buttons to control most common functions(camera, music, video, web etc). I am not so crazy about touchscreen. While it may be nice at first, i dont see much use for it on a phone. I can do most stuff on my nokia by barely moving my thumb over the wheel-button. I would have to go crazy with a touch screen for the same stuff.
The phone should be faster with snappy response running atleast 5 apps in parallel. More than 128MB ram. It should prevent bloated big apps from installing.
It should have a faster , lighter PC suite. As soon as i bring my phone home, i should be able to switch to full screen view of the phone on my PC/Laptop/Monitor and use my keyboard if i want to.
there should be no dev certificate issues bullshit that s60 have right now. It should also have a walkie-talkie mode to talk with other phones that can be turned on.
Thats all for now. But, i have a ton of ideas.
James @ Nokia Creative on 28 November 2007:
Give me an iPhone-like device, but with HD (720p) video recording and I’ll be so happy!!
Nakkel on 28 November 2007:
I want my next phone to just work. I want it not to suddenly boot under heavy(?) load (as in playing music and browsing the web through the BT connection at the same time). I want it not to freeze when its in 2G/3G border area and constantly switching between networks. I want it not to freeze in the middle of the song and corrupt the filesystem where I have stored my music and documents.
This all experienced with N91, still I must be some kind of masochist for loving my phone.
All in all, I want my next phone to have a thoroughly tested, rock solid software/firmware.
- N
Bewo on 28 November 2007:
GPS on searchable Google Maps with voice directions, 5 MP camera, 3.5in screen, 2 day battery life, Google desktop type search for sms etc, wifi, 8 Gb storage, touch screen, docking for keyboard and monitor etc, ability to pay for things by swiping my phone. Cheap data plans, Faster functions (256mb memory). Ability to record calls (voice & video). Fully functioning office suite such as openoffice and thunderbird or gmail.
Note: new MyLocation in Google maps mobile works in Sydney on my N73 but not very well in the outer suburbs.
Vikram on 28 November 2007:
I want, QWERTY keyboard, intuitive touch screen, 3.5mm jack is must, pres-installed Divx Player, 128 MB RAM, 2 to 4 Gb of Flash Memory, 3MP camera with normal Flash and yeah 3G, WiFi and Wimax enabled..this is too much to ask for..but asking doesnt cost anything…Thnx
Mark Guim on 28 November 2007:
@Bewo I think I want that too! NFC-enabled so we can pay for stuff with our phones. Great suggestions here. I also want to add that US-3G is a must.
NET9 on 28 November 2007:
Touchscreen, navi-wheel, games and other apps that take advantage of the accelerometer. Maybe higher res tv.out.
Marc on 28 November 2007:
I really just want a n95 8gb with a xenon flash and us 3g. Is that too much to ask? I’ll settle for a n82 with us 3g, but i won’t like it.
Bernd on 29 November 2007:
my new N95 8GB would be perfect with more Speed
Dan on 29 November 2007:
To Mark Guim:
What if the future UMPC was as fast as a current PC? With the development of bigger memory cards we can’t discard full OS’s (Windows Vista, Linux, Mac) being installed in the device and with the dock at home giving you all the extras you want (keyboard, hard disk, mouse, monitor, etc) I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible. I have the impression Nokia (with the tablets) and Google (with Android) are going towards that direction.
harbin on 29 November 2007:
nice wishes I hope yours and mine will come true some day in recent future but Nokia (i love them) and other companies won`t create such a thing `cos that would be the ultimate phone gadget and there will be no more things to add to the new version or new model so they create 5MP phone but remove some other things,while on other model they put all other good stuff but weak camera.I hope iPhone 2 will be something better so Nokia will create even better model I we all can enjoy our lives and finally relax.
usb flash disk support will be nice on new models, nothing lower than 5MP, xenon flash,touch screen should be optional either you want n96 with or without touchscreen nice option, and all other stuff that we consider as standart feature, like:BT,WiFi,GPS,Symbian OS(hope soon will be relesed the PC version of symbian), long life battery(I don`t care much about that make the screen darker and buy a reserve battery) the list continues but my boss is coming so you can continue the list on your own.
don`t learn to hack, hack to learn.
Karl on 29 November 2007:
I want:
- Better GPS utilizing a more sensitive and low-power consuming GPS chip
- No time-limited GPS software (eg the GPS software on the Nokia N95)
- Better support of internal GPS (for use with 3rd party apps such as TomTom)
- 8 to 16GB memory (Come on, iPod touch has 16GB flash based memory already)
- Quad band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) and UMTS (850, 1900, 2100)
- 5 Megapixel camera (no megapixel race), xenon flash, faster and more accurate autofocus
- Multiple Autofocus Zones (which is also user selectable)
- Long exposure modes for the camera (Maybe Long Shutter Priority Mode? that allows 0.5 to 15 seconds exposure)
- Image Stabilization (Optical or a better digital image stabilization that can make use of the accelerometer instead of more gyros), and maybe 3x optical zoom?
- Faster start up and shot to shot time of camera (maybe a seperate processor dedicated to handling the camera UI).
- More camera settings.
- Ability to use music/video player, games and camera application when phone is off (I don’t mean offline mode)
- At least 8 hours of audio and 5 hours of video playing time
- S60 with touch screen
- MiniUSB with fast transfer speeds that supports devices such as USB memory sticks
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Stereo speakers that don’t crackle that easily
- More inbuilt use of the accelerometer
- Inbuilt Speech to Text functionality
- VGA screen for better internet browsing with Flash support for Youtube and flash enabled sites
- Ability to make ringtones from songs on the go.
- 256MB RAM so there are no memory full messages
- Ability to update phone’s firmware without needing a backup
- Better tools and documents for people to develop apps.
- Free Windows Live Messenger access with no monthly fee
Ok, I admit, I expect too much.
Jean-Pierre on 29 November 2007:
My next N95-8GB should have.
5MP camera is good enough but must be a bit faster with Xenon flashlight
Better GPS and 3rd party software connectivety.
A S60 touch-,and a larger N80 like screen.
And all the features my N95-8GB has now.
Malique on 29 November 2007:
Well I think the N82 would do for me, only maybe in black, front and back. It would be cool for it to have a black glass screen, similar to the nokia Luna, or the prisms. I like it to be shiny and glossy after i shut it down.
Eugene on 29 November 2007:
To Mark Guim:
Hey, is thenokiablog.com your job? (i know this is a little out of topic) Just wondering how you do it like getting to borrow the latests phones from Nokia haha Im from Malaysia.
Well about this Topic I want a mobile phone which is best for gaming and music as well as a very good camera. All in one like the swiss army knife lol.
PseudoFinn on 29 November 2007:
I agree with James- 720p video recording would be outstanding, and while they’re at it- might as well have a microHDMI out, or at least something better that composite for crying out loud.
I’d love to see optical zoom as well, and a much faster shutter speed to capture moving objects.
You can keep your embedded memory out of my next device though- especially with the USB transfer speed of my N95.
Ninong Brown on 29 November 2007:
i’ll keep mine very very simple…
let me have the “standard” Nseries doo-dads but… give me a phone whose battery life lasts longer than 3 conversations after a full charge!
anything else is a plus
coopere on 29 November 2007:
it is hard to decide what i want in my next phone. the n95 and n82 are powerful beasts, so many features cramped into a little device, and with technology advancing so quickly it’s hard to decide really. a 5mp camera seem to be on everybody’s wish list but samsung already has 7mp and 10mp camera phones on the market, and touch screen is being demanded more since the iphone release, but sonyericsson’s smartphones like the p800, p900/910, etc, has been utilizing a touchscreen. so i have to think of a device that is not currently does not exist.
so i want my next phone to literally fit in the palm of my hand, i would hold it and it will merge, become my palm. so i would not worry about losing it. it would come with a bluetooth headset, i wont have to buy one separately. full voice functionality, i can control every function by voice, from camera to text messaging, and if i do decide to write a message instead of speaking, i would touch my palm and the phone becomes visible and i can use a full virtual mini keyboard, (not querty.) the camera would rival the best standard digital camera. that would be one of the few times i would hold the phone. battery life would be almost endless because its solar powered, but a charger is still available in case i don’t step out of my house for days for some odd reason. to me thats the ultimate phone, the possibilities are endless.
giovou on 29 November 2007:
Hi!
What I would like from a future(?) phone?
01) 5MP Camera/Xenon Flash! (already exists)
02) 3″ Touchscreen VGA (already exists)
03) DVD video recording (already exists)
04) FM Radio (already exists)
05) GPS SIRF STAR III (already exists)
06) 3,5mm Audio jack (already exists)
07) iPhone or similar interface (already exists)
08) At least 256MB Ram (already exists)
09) HD 8GB or MicroSDHC (already exists)
10) Compatible with 3RD party software (already exists)
11) Full Flash support (already exists)
12) A phone that combines ALL the above (ALREADY EXISTED!) feautures in ONE!
Am I asking too much? Maybe …., But I know that i ask for technology of today….not for a super-dream-machine!!!!
Devin Balentina on 29 November 2007:
Hey Mark,
I think youtube video with a large touch screen and touch haptics.
QWERTY would be nice too!
James @ Nokia Creative on 29 November 2007:
Hey, I’ve just thought of another (nice blog post Mark!), how about speech recognition, and high end speech synthesis?
Also, is 5.1 surround sound too much to ask? (^_^)
And what about HDR photo capture, Ultra Violet and Infra Red capture too!
Props to Pseudo, Optical Zoom is a must have for me also.
PseudoFinn on 29 November 2007:
James- if we’re gonna have a mini-HDMI output, we’d have to have 5.1 surround out as well, right?
HDR looks crazy. I had to look it up real quick… yeah, I think I want it on my phone too.
IR capture, no reason why not- right? I just snatched up one of those IR LED flashlights on eBay… can’t wait to see what I can do with that and the N95.
Mark Guim on 29 November 2007:
@Eugene thenokiablog.com is my hobby, but definitely love the fact that I get to review the latest devices.
@James and Jeremiah definitely the optical zoom! I’m afraid my dream phone is going to be too thick with all these features. LOL 720p might be overload since now I usually share my videos on youtube.
PseudoFinn on 29 November 2007:
I don’t know, Mark… I mean, the turn-and-slide concept seems like it would allow for optical zoom in a nice compact package- maybe even a bit larger sensor?
http://www.nokiausers.net/General/Nokia-Turn-and-Slide-Concept-Uncovered.html
And of course even a 720p video recording handset could still record in 320×240.
Suraj V on 29 November 2007:
touch screen, qwerty keyboard, push email, loads of ram, candy bar form factor, 16 mil. colors, 11g wifi, hsdpa, 3.5 MM hack for head phones, 8 gb hard drive
charging via usb, and the lock button like the n81/ipod which can be used to lock controls
I use it for music and email. Don’t particularly care for camera/video.
Saule on 30 November 2007:
i would want a 6 mp camera..high quality games,a big screen,loud and clear music,stereo speakers, wifi, …. i want it to be lite and to slip easely in my pocket ,…a 4 GB hard drive is enough,a senzor like the ipod when turning the phone, no touch screen, and i want it to be fast 128 mb ram
James @ Nokia Creative on 30 November 2007:
@Mark: Good point about YouTube, but don’t forget, we’re probably only a few months away from an H.264 version of YouTube which will mean much higher quality video and perhaps even HD, who knows!
tamoghno karmokar on 30 November 2007:
all features in N81
** Optical Zoom (i aint buying no phone for is camera unless it has optical zoom.) MUST MUST & MUST
** At least E61i like battery life ( nokia , please learn something from Philips Xenium )
** 3-3.5 in screen in VGA ( like Nikon D3 has )
make the navi wheel work better
Neil on 30 November 2007:
multimedia broadcasting to broadband
flexible photovoltaic tactile haptic surface
extensible modular hardware, software and firmware
very standard non-proprietory connectors and chargers
homing instincts
r2d2 on 30 November 2007:
Min 5 mpix camera with optical zoom and xenon flash, atleast 32 gb storage, 256 mb ram, dual core cpu, agps, wimax, min 4.2″ display supporting atleast vg resolution, 3.5 mm audio jack, multi touchscreen as well as qwerty kb……
Snoyt on 1 December 2007:
I want it to be a pocketsized computer with mobile sized touchscreen and mini-qwerty keyboard. It should have HDMI/VGA out and when connected the higher possible screen resolution should be supported so decent office work and desktop stuff can be done. A higher cpu-power mode for when hooked to a powersupply could be a blast to. 3x optical zoom. WiMax.
Glenn on 1 December 2007:
My ideal phone would be;
* Steel case that is shock-, dust- and waterproof
* Touch VGA screen of at least 3 inch
* Led indicators that signal incoming call, msg, bt,…
* GPS with SIRF III chip and seperate battey for GPS
(This would make sure that the battery lasts way longer)
* Stronger and less power consuming WIFI chip
* 256 MB ram and and 16GB memory Microsd card slot
* A stronger CPU than the N95
* Double the Graphic performance of the N95
* 7,2 MP Carl Zeiss Vario Tessar Lens with dual Xenon Flash
* Automatic shutter that opens with just pressing a button
* Ability to record videos in HD resolution
* 3x optical zoom (a lens that goes outside the phone not like n93)
* Renewed media center
* Shake control
….
If this phone would ever have the same specifications I think it would be very expensive, but worth buying
Joost Andrae on 2 December 2007:
My next phone should have:
a recent, very fast processor
a lot of memory
a storage capacity that allows at least to store 32 GB
a keyboard containing bigger cursor keys
a good and large display that allows high screen resolutions
quad band access
UMTS/GPRS
WLAN (a,b,g and n standard)
WIMAX
VoIP (SIP, Skype)
bluetooth
infrared
no drm and no trusted components
a nice to have is a camera
J2ME/MIDP 2.x
metal cover
vibration alert
the operating system should be multi tasking capable and realtime capable
there should be a central place to configure network access (eg. to generally disallow applications to open UMTS/GPRS connections)
application development should allow open source development (full API documentation, development by using OSS compilers)
system should allow to run unsigned applications to access every module of that mobile (not like current Series 60 does)
3rd party elements, like flash plugin or Office shouldn’t be preinstalled. There should be a central download repository instead
there should be a mime type registration application on the phone to allow re-configuration of mime types like media extensions to any user defined application
Joost Andrae on 2 December 2007:
…and I forgot that system updates should be accessible to every user (not like current Series 60 that allows current updates for un-branded phones only)
Ninong Brown on 3 December 2007:
mark…check out the N81…
Ninong Brown on 3 December 2007:
oops…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMzXqJJ5Gug
Christopher on 4 December 2007:
I agree with a lot of the previous comments…more RAM (why settle for 128 MB? Give me 256 or 512 MB!), flash support, optical zoom etc.
But I do not understand the crave for touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard? I do not want to tap away on a touchscreen (been there, done that…) and I prefer my phone to be just a phone. A phone that is capable of changing by way of accessories, mind you - like the N95. I want to be able to hook up my phone up with an external display and if I need to type in a lot of text, I will use a bluetooth keyboard.
What I do want is a phone with a revamped OS that does away with some of the phone-specific features. An OS much more similar to the OSs of other computers. I want to be able to receive and save any file type in the folder I choose - I want to be able to associate file types with applications.
cheers
Mark Guim on 4 December 2007:
@glenn I like your suggestion of Automatic shutter that opens with just pressing a button. I think I would want that on my dream phone too!
bronx on 7 December 2007:
What I’d like to see in a phone?
- fast CPU
- responsive UI
- a lot of memory
- better GPS chip than N95
- newer/better maps, now that we have Navteq?
- 802.11n
- DVB-H
- PC Suite-like functionality for linux
- PIM sync
- phone backup
- tools for easy 3G internet access
- USB charging
- metal enclosure
–bronx
M on 7 December 2007:
I want OCR associated with the camera, so I could scan text.
M.
Carl on 8 December 2007:
I want
- 3x optical zoom on the digicam
- SDHC Compatability up to 16GB
- Video recording at 720p/ 30fps (the new kodak easyshare digital cameras offer this so no reason really why a phone couldnt offer this))
rob on 12 December 2007:
my n95 8gb but then with added:
-microsd slot (expandable memory is better)
-vga screen
-xenon flash
-optical zoom
-qwerty keyboard
-maybe faster processor
-full flash/shockwave support, so mobile games/movies work
built in html email client would be nice aswell
i think thats about it, though im sure nokia will be able to think of some more stuff i “need” in the next couple of years
Tony on 18 December 2007:
Great what James said, an iPhone like device, but with HD video recording, and dont forget a good camera (at least 5MP) and a GPS, those are a must. And like they said above, US 3G included in the mix.
brucie on 22 December 2007:
What I would like is some here and now fun user improvements such as:
You stand the phone up and it would laser project a qwerty keyboard or other user interface on to the desk so that I can control it easily
or a wifi keyboard that doubles as a phone case that unwraps flat for you to use
The GPS lat/long data to be embedded on the pictures so that with pc software I can remember where and when I took my pics/vids ie Google earth with an overview of my pictures by position/time . This would allow everybody to search for pictures around the world by lat/long and time. Think youtube but you know where/when they were taken
USB2 video output to drive the new USB video Flat panels coming
touchless charging so that I can go anywhere and put my phone down in a cafe on a T Charge point and get a top up of power
or have the screen double as a solar power charger, good for the green brigade this one….
Oh yes and I want the video/audio wifi’d to my new combined video eye earpieces so that I can watch video with the phone in my pocket.
A wifi link from a camera that is also attached to the above eye piece would allow me to video all of the concerts that I go to without having to hold the phone up for ages.
A docking station for my car with a video out to drive my DVD screen so that I can at least see the GPS navigation
I want it to tell me where it is when it is lost in my pit of a bedroom. I shout “where the hell are you” and it rings
Special pass code so that if it is nicked you can ring it up in silent mode and it tells the bill where it is and they go and get it back for you.
Software so that when you are pissed it automatically knows that you are staggering about using the inbuilt accelerometers and rings for a taxi to take you home. Oh yes it tells the taxi driver where you live and it pays the taxi bill by auto transfer and also says sorry to the taxi driver for you throwing up in the back of the cab
It has stress analysis and lie detection software built in that vibrates the phone in your pocket when your girlfriend tells you that nothing happened when she went out on the town with her mates last night and met your best friend she has always fancied…….
And finally it makes calls through skype
When can I have one please…….
Max on 7 January 2008:
Hi - just wanted to say good design and blog - cu