[stuartturrell]

I have posted in this forum, as there isn't a general one under handsets.

I upgrade my phone around april/may time every year, which is when nokia tend to release a decent mobile every year.
2006 was N80
2007 was N95

What are the up coming mobiles to be released this year and are they likely to beat the N95?

I was thinking of maybe even changing to another mobile maker, one tha maybe uses windows mobile as an O/S or a touch screen LG, they look sweet.

Anyone here know of upcoming mobiles?

I won't be fixed to a network, i may change from orange this year, their data costs are too much really!

Many thanks

Stuart

[Ben]

We wont see the real headliners until 3GSM, but I think that's only a couple of weeks away now, so sit tight and await the juicy pictures!

[Hands0n]

...........What are the up coming mobiles to be released this year and are they likely to beat the N95?.......

*gets out crystal ball*

Really I think, as far as Nokia is concerned at least, you need to look at their product announcements towards the end of 2007. One that springs to mind is their new touchscreen handset (http://digitaledge.excite.co.uk/news/645/Nokia_shows_iPhone_how_touchscreen_should_be_done) that has yet to make a physical appearance. 3GSM may be where we get first sighting of the beastie - and a general availability mid-2008. Nokia have to get a touchscreen device (http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/9774/10798/nokia-touchscreen-iphone-clone-2008.phtml) out soon, and in any event well before the 3G iPhone which is eagerly anticipated during 2Q/2008, but is by no means certain to appear.

I do not believe that we are going to see anything particularly revolutionary. Windows Mobile is due to go to version 7 - another small evolution of this rather tired OS that tries to be so very much more than it turns out to be in reality. Symbian is pressing forward, will the touchscreen implementation of it be a success? Then we have the relative newcomer Linux - not sure which handsets it will become mainstream on. And in the wings we have Google and no doubt a few others who would like to break into this business.

I wonder if April/May might still be a bit early to see very much new stuff appear. For sure, the various formats are all looking rather tired and dusty these days. We are unlikely to see anything particularly groundbreaking. New formats like the iPhone will now have to consolidate their position. Older formats like WM7 and Symbian will try to take on the iPhone's UI, and in my opinion largely fail to beat it. LG with their own format may do well - they seem to have a brand loyalty that is inexplicable to me.

All I can really say is that if you are a Nokia man then you'll need to be very open minded switching to another format. Especially if that format is quirky (i.e. LG - in my opinion).

But I am not convinced that 2008 is going to be a "year of the handset" quite like that of 2006/7. Instead this year, I believe, we are going to be witnessing the mobile networks compete for the Data (Internet access) market which is potentially huge if they but knew it!

[Ben]

But I am not convinced that 2008 is going to be a "year of the handset" quite like that of 2006/7. Instead this year, I believe, we are going to be witnessing the mobile networks compete for the Data (Internet access) market which is potentially huge if they but knew it!
Indeed, I believe that handset development, in terms of the humble mobile phone, may start to slow down. Refinements will continue, but what can they converge next? Your microwave? Your car? ...

Large, touch screen devices are going to be interesting... mobile computers that can make proper use of all this high speed data filling their air we breath. But I don't know if these will eat into the conventional mobile phone market much. Could it finally be the time of the PDA, albeit in a very different guise?

Edit: Know what? I look at my N95 8GB and, for the first time ever, I think "This is it. This does everything I need a mobile phone to do. This is the ultimate mobile phone." And it's true, the N95 8GB is a refinement of a thousand refinements before it. For calls, SMS and MMS it's perfect. It's a good camera, and has GPS, WLAN and HSDPA. It even has a screen that's big enough to be useful but small enough to still be a mobile phone screen and not a PDA. It is the ultimate mobile phone.

So yes, now that the mobile phone has been perfected (IMHO), I think the time has come for these full-on, touch screen miniature tablet computers. I'll quite happy have one of those in one pocket, and my N95 8GB in the other.

[Hands0n]

To continue the slight digression ... I did make mention of this a little while back, just before the turn of the year. The N95 (not even the N95 8GB) does the all-in-one-basket deal quite nicely But for serious use the keypad is nigh on worthless for anything serious.

And so, I repeated something that I did years back (between 2000 and 2003) with my Palm Tungsten PDA. I coupled the N95 (Classic) with a Bluetooth keyboard - the iGo Stowaway Ultra-Slim Keyboard, model XTBT01. I was not disappointed.

Back then I was engaged in a rather large [IT] project in Canary Wharf where I would chair several project meetings and have to attend no end of others also. Everyone used to lug around their laptops of the day, and it was amusing watching them go through the usual machinations of getting one up and running in a hurry. Once I'd settled on the Palm Tungsten with wired keyboard I was sorted in seconds. All I needed to do was make notes, or refer to on-site notes taken previously. The Palm was perfect. At the meetings I was able to enter data into the Palm as quick as anyone with their lappy. Back at base it was a snip to import the text into Word and finish it off for presentation purposes. On-site all you need is capture, not formatting.

Fast forward to 2007 and the same experience was possible the Nokia N95 and the iGo Stowaway. It is more integrated than I recall with the Palm. The iGo has function keys that will launch S60 the appropriate apps. So setting up the N95/iGO takes mere seconds and then I'm off and running.

It still amuses me greatly the baffled looks you get when using this combination. People just cannot believe that it is even possible. But the only downside is the infamous N95 battery life, or rather lack of. It barely lasts a working day used like this, and so it is important to be able to top up the charge while out and about. That I normally do when I arrive back at my work desk (spare charger on the ready).

So - returning to the topic at large - does this mean that there is little more to be had going forward? I think the answer is a mixture of "yes" and "no".

Yes - because what else can you want your mobile handset to do that the N95 does not already do? You can strive for longer battery life, or larger/smaller screens. But these are merely tweaks to the format. Even improving the apps is tweaking. What is left to innovate?

No - because there is scope to improve the HCI or UI that couples man and machine. Free speech control would be an astonishing development by today's standards. The ability to talk to your handset as you would a person - move over HAL. Such technology could even allow the separation of the main handset from the HCI, a tiny bluetooth headset with which to communicate with your mobile device. When would you ever need a screen? But maybe that is too many years away form 2008 to contemplate right now, although not at all unreasonable to expect in our lifetimes.

But apart from the likes of the above I fail to see what could be quite as enabling as the last few years of 3G and accompanying handset development. Sophistication that would have been mostly impractical in a 2G environment.

Now we have a convergence; the networks are ready, the mobile devices are ready, other devices are beginning to incorporate 3G technology, all that remains is for the mobile network operators to actually permit us to use all of this wonderful new stuff. The first signs of that happening are now - and the pace at which offerings to tempt us will inevitably pick up through 2008.

The mobile network operators desperately need to (a) reduce churn and (b) increase ARPU. They won't do it by beating us up every single time we have the sheer audacity to use their networks for mobile data.

[gorilla]

Innovation in mobile phones will never stop. Where can they go? Smaller, thinner, longer battery, more applications.
I suppose the real question should be, how will consumers use their handsets in the future? What drives change in the mobile market?

Well, if data charges become feasible to everyone i.e. your £35 per month gets you 500mins 500sms unlimited data (for example) then consumers will change their habits. In this case people will use their handset for social networking, you tube, or all sorts of other web technologies. The point being that mobile data is going to drive the innovation in the mobile handset market. We have seen this already with the iphone.
What I predict we'll see is, better handset integration with web 2.0 apps and faster / more responsive UI.

The networks need to force through the transition to 3g for all consumers and to stop GSM services. Mass market consumption will drive through innovation in services and ready the market for 4g / wimax or whatever will come next.

[whatleydude]

Going back to the original question - two phones to look out for are the N96 and the N82.
The latter was recently released on o2 is arguably the best handset on the market at the moment (if I could upgrade today - it's the phone I would get).
The former was recently leaked online. It's a two-way slider in the same way as the N95 but the L&F is more like the N81.


In regards to this year in the industry? iPhone mark 2 should join the ranks of the 3G handsets around autumn time I reckon... and I agree with what has gone before about refining and improving etc..
I personally am looking forward to OVI. I fear it'll be another white elephant, but Nokia have been working on it for long enough now they might actually pull it off.
That and of course and the Symbian Touch UI. I was supposed to go to Mobile Monday tonight (hosted by Symbian - theme 'OS') but I had to work late.
iPhone kicked them in the backside last year so they may come out fighting...

...and I still haven't mentioned Android!

[Ben]

Going back to the original question - two phones to look out for are the N96 and the N82.
The latter was recently released on o2 is arguably the best handset on the market at the moment (if I could upgrade today - it's the phone I would get).
The former was recently leaked online. It's a two-way slider in the same way as the N95 but the L&F is more like the N81.
Mhm. The N82 has had some good reviews, but could you honestly stand texting every day on that abomination of a keypad? What, in the name of all that is holy, were Nokia thinking? It also looks like it was formed by placing a lump of plastic and metal in between some blokes man-boobs for a few hours.

The N96, on the other hand, looks fantastic, but I worry about those front keys given how poor the N81 has been said to be. The front, and keypad, keys on the N95 8GB are so spot on that I don't think it'll be superseded for a little while yet. Talking of the N95 8GB, MOBILE (http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/Nokia_N95_8GB_retailer_review.html) have finally checked it out and concluded much the same as I did.

Here's hoping all the best new handsets are being saved for 3GSM.

[whatleydude]

Hand on heart I've not played with the N82 - I've just heard very good things.

And you know my opinions on the N81 (http://www.smstextnews.com/2007/11/whatley_wednesday_-_nokias_latest_music_phone.html)

Why nokia thought it'd be a good idea to replicate any feature on that handset I don't know.


I'll be at 3GSM/MWC so if I see anything spectacular I'll make sure to get lots of pics.
;)