Apple may be taking the lion's share of the hype when it comes to phones that offer a slick Internet experience, but amidst a sea of me-too contenders Nokia remains one of the most interesting handset manufacturers.
While Apple sails into one million iPhone 3G S sales-territory, Nokia has been busily honing its line of do-it-all Internet phones, with interesting results.
Nokia's new hero, the N97
The latest is the N97: another handset with an impressive feature set including touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Exchange compatibility, 32GB of onboard storage, WiFi, and a large 3.5" touchscreen that makes this a solid contender as a portable video screen for the bus or train.
But for us, the interesting thing is the interface.
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| The N97: Nokia shows no sign of ditching the slideout QWERTY keyboard. A good thing, we say. |
One of the big problems smartphone designers are increasingly facing is the how to fit all the good stuff being delivered via the Net onto a tiny phone seen. It's a problem Apple has arguably nailed with the iPhone 3G and 3G S, but for most other vendors it's been a hit and miss affair.
Various solutions include home screen "panels" such as those seen on Sony's Xperia, rotating 3D cubes as seen on LG's Arena, and multiple home screens such as those seen on Android phones like HTC's Dream.
The N97 home screen - welcome to widgets
The current trend is to place apps and feeds onto the main home screen interface. Nokia's N97 does this with the use of various Internet widgets and feeds, including Facebook apps and weather apps that display data on your home screen.
Crucially the apps don't need to be opened - you can see Facebook updates or the current weather info from the home screen. In the case of the weather app, the software taps into the N97's GPS function, so it also knows where you are and displays the correct local weather.
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| The N97 with keyboard shown, and Facebook, MySpace and Friendster apps onscreen |
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| The N97 home screen showing weather feed |
The overall effect is a phone screen that looks busier, and dare we say, more like a desktop PC screen than what we've seen from Nokia before. Nokia's own marketing likens the experience to "similar to what you would expect from a PC".
With the N97, Nokia seems to be at a usability crossroads - by introducing touch control, they're now trying to integrate all these touch apps into an OS that's very appeal is that it is has always been so simple to use.
The worst case scenario is that Nokia will make a mess of their home screen usability by trying to cram in too much, and that navigation will be too fiddly.
Or, Nokia will learn from others mistakes, and through phones like the N97, cement its platform as the next best alternative to Apple as a one-stop shop for mobile music, video, maps and games.
The future for Nokia
Nokia certainly has all the pillars in place. As well as all-singing, all-dancing phones like the N96 and N97, Nokia has secured itself one of the most compelling alternatives to iTunes we've seen in it's Comes with Music offer, plus the newly launched Ovi Store for goodies like games and apps.
The other strength of Nokia phones are their GPS abilities - which includes built-in maps, advanced mapping features like turn-by-turn navigation (though unlike the iPhone, you have to pay for the privilege for Nokia's mapping features).
Right now the verdict's out on Ovi Store. One thing we're interested in is video content - something Nokia phones would be well suited for with wide screens and 30fps on some models. There doesn't seem though there's not much in the way of compelling video content for Nokia owners yet via Ovi, and the Nokia Music Store is a music-only affair (though some phones such as the N96 have come bundled with TV content).
While the number and types of phones on the market is enough to confuse the average shopper, the important thing is that phone manufacturers find a way to integrate the flood of Web apps and content in a way that's easy to navigate.
All-up, Nokia has everything in place spec-wise when it comes to do-it-all phones for mobile music and video. Let's hope they don't ruin things with the interface, something that's been in Nokia's favour.