I did a rant about Nokia going off course. It was also the last time I wrote a post on this blog, I’ve been drawing blanks on what to write for some time. But after nearly a year has passed, what kind of changes have we seen? Lets explore what new things have been introduced and how they stand against the 2009 standard.

Photo by jblndl / CC BY 2.0

Tough Year

Some bullet points from last year’s post :

• Too many devices with minute changes
• Weak hardware for 2008-2009 //Lackluster email
• S60 showing signs of age
• The competition was catching up
• Felt like Nokia was following some of it’s competitor’s mistakes

This year has been trying and tough for Nokia, but in the end, it was a year the company has tried to learn from its mistakes. I can honestly say nothing they released thus far in 2009 was truly exciting to me. I very much anticipated the 5800 and really wanted to see the N97 shine, but was left wanting a little more by both handsets. However, at this very moment, the notion of the impending Nokia N900 on a new OS revamped OS (YES!) is refreshing. That device is truly what mobile phone enthusiasts want to see. On top of new software, they are providing more powerful hardware.

I want to see how this pans out. I barely used a Nokia device this year. I sold my 5800, my mom uses (and loves) my N85 (thank you Mark for the live search / paypal trick last year). You might ask, how I’ve gotten by?

Well, for email and overall messaging, I use a Blackberry. Nothing Nokia offers comes close to the messaging power of a Blackberry (email + IM + BBM). For imaging, I still swap my old (now my mom’s) N85 should I want to go out and snap some photos. However, as the N86 NAM was not out at the time the Sony Ericsson C905A was, I used the SE 8MP camera as well. That phone took some great photos and has some seriously cool camera functions, but alas is a dumb phone, and lacked a lot of versatility over the N85. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a shootout between the phones to see which is better. I have a feeling I’d like the N86 because S60 as old as it is, is a better OS than SE’s dumbphone OS. However, it’s picture quality that were talking about here.

Outlook

Being a trying year for Nokia, how do they compared to last year? I feel like the outlook has actually improved, but still needs some work.

The number of high-end handsets they’ve released has diminished. Contrary to how some feel, I think that this is better for the consumer. Now that all the bells and whistles (GPS, 5/8+ mp cameras, 3.5g etc etc) are coming standard, people no longer have to choose which features they want to sacrifice for another, they get it all. Look at the Nokia N97. While it might not have been a phone with the greatest execution just looking at the hardware, it seems to be a winner for having everything. Now that features are becoming standard on the high end phones, it only becomes a matter of which form factor you prefer.

Hardware. This is a touchy subject. Overall, I like where they are going with the overall upgrading of the high end sets. Also, releasing new versions of their staples (Nokia N86, currently unreleased E72, etc) is a good move. Some people are happy with what they have but wouldn’t mind hardware software upgrades in the form of a new shell. This is what all tech companies should be doing… finding what people want and what works, and consistently improving on the design. However I still feel like they are lagging behind a little bit. Instead of being ahead of the curve, it still seems like they are slightly behind it.

Later on this year and early next year feature phones from other brands will come naturally equipped with 8mp cameras (Sony Ericsson WALKMAN phones will be equipped with 8mp cameras). Multimedia flagships will be sporting 12+ mp cameras, or 720p video capture (SE Satio, Samsung Omnia HD). The iPhone got a serious speed boost in the 3Gs version of the phone, and new Blackberries, which although are only sporting 3.2 mp cameras have more ram and cpu speed than most Nseries devices. If RIM or Apple ever decide to put monstrous cameras into their phones Apple would probably take some time, but RIM is trying quite hard to get more consumer marketshare. Rumors of that happening are already out there, but of course, like all other rumors, should be taken with a grain of salt. Email and messaging sill pale in comparison to the two most popular types out phones out there, (BBs and iPhones).

Lastly, screens are finally to go high res, high pixel density is the way to go, most of the competitor’s phones do not share a 320×240 screen at any of the higher price points anymore. Lets hope that resolution becomes a thing of the past next year. C’mon, OLED + higher res, give us something pretty to look at!

I love what Nokia does each year with their luxury lines. If the Erdos becomes a reality, it will be a great phone with lots of utility and look stunning. If it’s one thing Nokia knows how to do, it’s make an expensive handset out of premium materials that both look and feel awesome.

Finally, some US carrier support from Nokia. They delivered on the awesome Nokia E71x. But if they had more like this, they would really be able to open up the NAM market.

What do you think of the outlook? What excites you and which do you want to buy to be your daily handset? I really want to check out the Erdos and the Nokia N900. Comment and flame away!