Meraj Chhaya from Phone Report attended the Growing Together 2008 Conference and was able to get some hands on experience with the 4 devices Nokia launched at the event. I've offered to publish his article on Into Mobile and he has agreed, quite enthusiastically might I add. The fascination with sub 100 EUR handsets stems my curiosity with what effects the democratization of technology will have on future generations and how they will define the term knowledge. What happens when the people who are currently scraping by to buy a Nokia 1100 will have something in their pocket that resembles the Nokia N95 of today? It may sound crazy and cruel to say such a thing now, those parts of the world have more important issues to deal with, but with the rate of technological innovation we're facing in the mobile industry today such a future might happen in less than half a decade. Anyway, enjoy Meraj's piece after the jump! Nokia on Wednesday released four mobile phones and gave an in-depth press conference about its strategy in the entry-level emerging markets. Following the speeches by Nokia's Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Sales, Loren Shuster, and by Nokia's Vice-President for entry-level devices, Alex Lambeek, there were three workshops where Nokia demonstrated the need for mobile internet and email in rural areas. Interesting remarks were also made by Paul Griffith, Nokia's Head of entry-level phones design, and at the end the day there was a lecture on the partnership with Nokia Siemens Networks to provide internet connectivity for rural areas with the Village Connection Internet Kiosk Project. During Shuster's speech he noted that current mobile connections outnumber fixed connections by nearly six to one. He explained that the key to Nokia's success in the entry-level emerging markets is the wide range of products and services and consistency in evolving by recognizing the needs and wants of African consumers. When analyzing this market the Sub-Saharan sales Vice-President stated that “Nokia wants a direct touch with retail customer” and to confirm this he said that there are already more than 500 customer care service points across the market. Alex nominated South Africa as one of the top three largest growing markets of Africa and stated that Nokia is a major catalyst in the industry. Heading into the technical details he said “Nokia brought innovation with the first flash-light-enabled phone, the Nokia 1100," besides that Nokia also brought the first cameraphone under 100€, the Nokia 2630. The Nokia 2300 completed the innovations list which featured a built in FM Radio. The Nokia 1100 sold over 250 million units; the first billionth phone sold by Nokia was the 1100, sold in Nigeria, one of the most profitable emerging markets due to its size. Alex listed the 5 key areas of focus that needed for a entry-level device to be successful:
- Languages: Nokia releases phones with menus in 80 different languages.
- Durability: Dust covers were released to protect the internals of the device from harsh environments.
- Battery life: In remote locations electricity is scarce.
- Ease of use: An example of this is the speaking clock.
- Entertainment: FM Radio is an important step to transform phones into multimedia devices.
To conclude his speech he noted that users replacing their mobile phones are slowly increasing in number versus first-time users, a segment that Nokia will place more emphasis on than the latter.
Nokia 5000 This is the most expensive low-end phone at 90€ before subsidies and taxes. The 5000 incorporates a 1.3 megapixel camera. The display is a suitable QVGA with 65k colours that fills up the 2” screen. An FM Radio is included, but the breakthrough here is being able to record FM Radio. MP3 and ACC ringtones are compatible as well, but the question is how to fit everything under 12MB of memory without a memory card slot? There is Bluetooth, GPRS and EDGE. The phone's shape and appearance kept on reminding me of the Nokia 5310 Xpress Music that I reviewed some time ago. The colours available for this phone are cyber green, neon blue, and perfect purple. An interesting detail in this device is the speaker on the back, the stylish way the cover is raised so that the sound doesn't get trapped if the phone is put on a surface. Paul Griffith told the press that on the speaker there is a mesh layer that prevents dirt and its colour matches the aluminum highlights on the sides of the display.
Nokia 2680 The 2680 is the first slider in the entry-level phones category. It will be available in the third quarter of 2008 and it has reduced functionality when compared to the Nokia 5000, therefore it has a reduced 75€ price tag. In terms of features there is a VGA camera, FM radio with the ability to record, Bluetooth and GRPS connectivity. The display has a resolution of 128×160, which fits well under this price tag and by being an entry-level phone. A QVGA resolution might have slightly increased the phone's cost. The question about memory still remains, none of the devices announced have more than 50 MB of storage capacity and none of them possess a memory card slot, therefore the supported MP3 and FM Recording wouldn't be as enjoyable. In terms of cosmetics, the 2680 will be available in slate grey, night blue, and orange violet, they all have to be colours which look nice in metallic paint an contrasting to black. According to Griffith the phone was designed for good grip in case the hands get sweaty, so you can notice the grooves on the sides. The speaker is on the back of the phone, and the cover is raised in a stylish and practical way to enable sound to flow through. The centre keypad column is matt, while the side keypad columns are glossy. A contrast explained by Peter as a way to minimize fingerprints damage to a phone's appearance. To add to the little details, the top slider has a metallic effect where the colour fades to black to match the rest of the phone. Stainless steel was also added to the top of the back case for it to shine in case you are on a phone call.
Nokia 7070 Prism The Prism collection had a rather limited showing and we didn't see many of them on the show floor. The 7070 is significant to the Prism family as a way to introduce stylish phones into the entry-level market. Many journalists at the function agreed that its external beauty will attract many customers, even people who can afford to purchase higher ended device. Given the 50€ price tag many will be able to afford one. "For some style-conscious consumers, mobile phones are uniquely personal objects. Unlike electronic items from the conventional wired world of fixed locations, they are kept close to us, and used whenever and wherever necessary" - Nokia Growing Together Press Magazine. Feature-wise the 7070 will incorporate MP3, GPRS, Mobile Email, and only 11MB of memory. There will be no Bluetooth or FM Radio. During the workshops Griffith made it obvious that the phone would clearly stand out from the crowd due to its geometric design. The designer also told us that the back and front of the phone, when open, flow into one another, as they are designed to become one piece. Although the keys seem to be complicated due to the awkward shape, Nokia made sure they were easy to use, probably thanks to their size.
Nokia 2600 Classic The colours chosen for this model seem quite attractive: midnight blue, sunset orange, sandy gold, and sky blue. The Nokia 2600 Classic is already released and features a VGA camera, MP3 ringtones, Bluetooth, GPRS and EDGE. Once again, the mobile email is present as well. The display only has a resolution of 128×160 pixels in 65k colours. The keypad is divided in three columns for better grip. The orange decoration around the central keypad column is translucent, so whenever the keypad backlight lits the decoration glows.
Nokia 1680 Classic According to Nokia the 1680 Classic is the cheapest cameraphone to date. At a reasonable 50€ price tag it offers a VGA camera with video recording, the newly-released mobile email, MP3 ringtones, GPRS and EDGE. The display is the usual 128×160 in 65k colours. You can find the 1680 Classic in black, slate grey, wine red, and deep plum colours. They keypad is made out of one membrane only, and there is no vertical splits between keys. The only thing that might truly help to type in the bumps Nokia has included in the '5' key, as well as in all of the other released models.
Final notes Besides the interview with Nokia's Vice-President for entry-level devices Alex Lambeek, we also got a short time with Peter Griffith, the Head of Design of entry-level devices, who we asked the following questions:
Glossy surfaces add style and make a phone look shinier, however, they are affected by fingerprints which damage a phone's external appearance. What's your opinion in this? In the devices launched, same areas have matt surfaces, while others are kept glossy, this minimizes the fingerprints.
Most keypads in released phones didn't have vertical lines, which makes typing more difficult. What can you do to correct this? Usability of the keypad is really important and something to develop and it's combining the way it looks with the way it feels, that is why there are a lot of these details in it (referring to the bumps on '5' key). You can feel almost without looking between the keys. The other detail is where we separated the centre column of keys with a different finish (referring to Nokia 2680 slider and Nokia 2600 Classic). These are some of the simple things along they idea that you make the key as large as you can make it.
On the upcoming S60 Touch UI, what do you expect the form factor to be (in terms or keypad)? Physical keypads are here to stay, they are better, work better and are easier to type, and nothing else brings that feeling when you click on the key and feel the feedback. --- Related Articles at IntoMobile:
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