The Nokia Guide

Ultimate Accessories for your Nseries part 1

In many cases, after buying that brand new Nseries it far from over as a great deal of your budget when buying mobile devices goes to the accessories. But what if money was no object, what ultimate accessories should you get for your Nseries?

Playstation 3($399-$499): The Playstation is currently one of the best and cheapest Blu-ray players and one of the first supporting BD-Live.  Just like N95, N95 8GB, N78, N82, N96 it supports DNLA and UpnP which all comes down to wirelessly accessing files stored on the one of the devices mentioned above and displaying it on your large Plasma screen, like your pictures or videos. No need to worry about your music collection as that too can be wirelessly accessed and played on your Home Theater. I think this vid should do the trick.

Shure SE530PTH ($549.00): Simply put, the Shure SE530PTH is one of the best sounding In-Ear-Monitors (IEM) under $1000. In-Ear Monitor sit directly inside the ear canal and fully envelope it. IEM serve a double duty:  they also act as earplugs to block out environmental noise. This not only has its advantages when it comes to isolating the listener from outside noise, but it also has its implications when it comes to the volume needed for comfortable listening and of course performance, delivering much greater dynamic range, as compared to the average earphone/earbud. Equipped with two woofers and tweeter this things produces incredible sound and has become my personal earphone of choice when enjoying my tunes on my N95 8GB. It’s noise-blocking properties totally isolate you from the rest of the world, luckily it’s included Push-to-Hear module has a mic and transfer music ambient sound to your ears allowing you to make normal conversation without taking them off.

SoundCast Outcast ($699):  Most portable speaker sound horrible. The outcast is portable and features an 8” downward firing woofer, four 3” high frequency drivers in an omni-directional array, a 100 watt digital amplifier and the Soundcast receiver. The best thing about this is that it’s rechargeable, allowing you to take these anywhere you like, even outdoors due to speakers being weather proof. The Soundcast receiver allows you to keep your Nseries inside and wirelessly stream music to the Outcast outside! Finally a portable speaker that really sounds good.

Sandisk 16 GB microSDHC (No word on price): With an impending release of the N96 with its built-16GB of memory and the option of adding microSDHC cards, you could very soon be walking around with devices holding no less than 32GB’s of memory. Sorry N95 8GB and N81 GB users, you’re out of luck here.

Proporta’s “No Ordinary Designer Charger Kit” by Ted Baker:The Proporta Mobile Charger has become a de facto standard when it comes to mobile charging. Recently Proporta released a special edition black version of the Mobile Charger called the “No Ordinary Designer Charger Kit” by Ted Baker.  According to Wikipedia Ted Baker is “is a British clothing retail company, known for applying twists to their products, and has become a UK designer label through word of mouth rather than advertising.  It seems that the updated unit was Styled by Ted Baker London and features a new black and grey look. Hardware-wise the unit is exactly like the original except for the new black and grey look with the Ted Baker sign and a drawstring bag. The unit will sell for as much as the original version, which is around $ 49.95.If that wasn’t enough they also released the Ted Baker Six Pack which includes all of the above but adds the World AC Power and Car Power Supply (with USB) for $ 59.95.

What high-end accessory have you bought or are thinking of buying for your Nseries?

How can the TV-out feature be improved?

Introduced with the N93, the TV-out feature is still alive and kicking on the latest high-end Nokia devices like the N96 or N82.  Once you think about it truly enhances the “Multmidia Computer” aspect of the Nseries.  Want a gaming console? Connecting the TV-out cable, adding a Bluetooth keyboard and what you essentially get is a fully featured gaming console with online gaming that can even play the classics. The same can be done with other productivity tasks like Spreadsheet, Word and Powerpoint viewing and editing or even entertainment in the form of media playback and surfing. While we can go on and on about the possibilities, I can’t help but wonder why this features has basically stayed the same ever since it was introduced on the Transformer-like N93.

Despite moving to HDTVs with resolution of up to 1080 (1920×1080) using Component video cables, DVI or even the newer HDMI connection, the Nseries’ solution for TV-out still relies on the Nokia Video Connectivity Cable CA-75U or CA-64U that outputs a 320x240/240x320 resolution using a RCA connector for composite video and stereo audio. When it comes to video playback though, it thankfully uses a 640x480 resolution.

How come we get  to get one of the most advanced mobile solutions coupled with high-performance, high res screen, yet we can’t make full use of this due to the now dated TV-out system. Leading to the question: How can the TV-out feature be improved?

1.Higher output resolution

On current Nseries device, the output is a pretty low-res 320x240/240x320 and 640x480 when playing back recorded video. While this might look OK on older low-res screen, the same cannot be said about that fancy new Plasma or LCD screen you just bought. Another reason why adding higher video-output is a must, is because, it’s just a matter of time, when  these devices start to record in HD and you are going to want a nice new TV-out system that can output at the same high-quality resolution. On the current system the output resolution is mostly limited to the screen resolution. In future devices we might see VGA screens which means that for outputting the UI theirs is going to be the need for up converting to a higher resolution. Output of at least 720 (1280x720) should do the trick on most new HDtvs. Better yet would be user selectable resolutions.

2.Longer modular cable

The included Nokia Video Connectivity Cable CA-75U or CA-64U are way too short. I found myself in many cases wanting for a longer cable. In certain situation you’ll find yourself way to close to the TV for it to be of any practical use. And while it would be nice to support the newer, higher-res screens, keeping the support for older TVs (atleast for a few years) would be nice. They could always include several cable, but having a modular cable design is in my opinion the way to go.

3.Add audio upmixing and virtual speaker technology

There’s always the possibility of adding more mics to capture audio for a true 5.1 or even 7.1 audio playback, but for mobile solutions I think it would be best to just stick to two mics and use sound upmixing technologies like Dolby Headphones and virtual speaker techniques like Dolby Virtual speaker to upmix the recorded audio to a 5.1 or in the case of just two speakers using virtual speaker technology

to create the effect of having a true surround sound setup. Nokia has been working with Dolby laboratories, making this something that we might see very soon in future devices.

4.Exact screen output vs Presentation mode

In some cases like viewing images in Gallery the devices would output the images in full-screen and not show an exact representation of what happening on the screen like displaying the carousel of images, in such cases an “Exact screen output” mode would be appropriate. There should be option to change this. Other times when doing a presentation for example you don’t want other to see the menu, just the media to be played back. In such a case the “Presentation mode” would come in handy where it only shows the media being displayed and hides things like menu screen or options while you are adjusting these and instead it could show a stand-by screen with your company’s logo.

Do you find the TV-out function useful? How do you think it can be improved?

What’s the best way of implementing media keys on a Candybar?

Point number 2 of my recent post: “The 10 reasons why the N82 isn’t perfect ” mentions that something that the N82 lacks are media keys. This got me thinking:  On sliders like the N95 it’s been pretty much solved by doing a dual slide design which houses media keys, but how should these be implemented on a Mono block device like the N82?

1. Slide-out top-mounted media keys: The N95’s slide-out design works perfectly, so why not do the same for a mono block device like the N82? This could be done by having a small slide-out portion at the top of the device.

2. Traditional side-mounted keys: This is probably one of the more traditional ways of adding media keys: placing keys on the sides of the phone. Peter Rullmann from the Humane Computing blog suggests that side-mounted media keys on the mono block devices like the N82, would Not only to control the music player but also to start a voice recording.

3. Sliding front cover. A similar idea was implemented on the N91 and N91 8GB which in fact were candybar devices with a sliding front cover.

4. Stealth keys surrounding the D-pad, which were implemented on the N81 series of devices and soon to be released N96.

In my opinion the raison the etre for candybar devices is having a sturdy and compact devices and having slide-out (point 1) and slide-to-cover solutions like the N91 (point 4) would work well, but would add unnecessary moving parts which candybar lovers are VERY sensitive about. Stealth keys like the N81 don’t work so well as it all has the be pushed into a very tiny space and it also increases the chance of accidentally pressing the wrong keys. Based on this, I would say that tradional side-mounted media keys stay true to what candybars are all about, while still adding the convenience of media control. What do you think is the best way of implementing media keys on a Candybar design like the N82?

10 reasons why the N82 isn’t perfect

The N82 is in my opinion currently one of the best multimedia-oriented smartphones on the market, doing everything a N95 or N95 8GB can (sans the slider of course)in a more compact, go-anywhere-do everything package that’s also sturdier due to the candybar design. Its design doesn’t scream “smartphone” like the N95, which should allow it to appeal more to the general market. Not bad neither that it has one of the best cameras on any smartphone, including that wonderful Xenon flash and the impressive low-light performance. Despite of all these notable attributes, it’s far from perfect and here are 10 reasons why.

1. No Optical Zoom: The N82 has the aspiration of being and even replacing your digital camera, but lacking Optical zoom means that you’re pretty much stuck with the digital variant,which by now we all know is pretty much useless. Lacking Optical zoom still means that the N82’s plans for digital camera domination will be cut short.

2. No Media keys:  Having a smartphone means doing many things at once. A lot of times, playing music is going to be “one of those things” and the lack of media keys mean constantly having to open the Media Player to control your music, instead of just pressing a single button.

3. Lack of micro-USB charging. Having the ability to charge via USB not only means one cable to take along, but also charging while transferring data, especially during those firmware upgrades or those long first-time music-sync sessions.

4. micro-USB and charger connector Placement. The micro-USB and charger connector should be placed at bottom phone. Both of them get in the way when I’m talking on the phone and charging the device at the same time.

5. Small screen. Ask any N95 user and they tell you that one of the things they miss is the large screen, which does come in handy when viewing videos or pictures. While sliders have the advantage of being able to house larger screen, on the N82 there seems to be a lot of empty space to facilitate this. Making the phone bigger to achieve this would also seem like an understandable compromise.

6. Speaker placement. The N82’s speakers work great when held horizontally, but try playing your tunes while holding the device vertically and you’ll quickly realize how your hands actually cover the speakers. The placement of the speakers on the N95  works a lot better, but a combination of both should work best.

7. Slow USB transfer. Based on these simple test here, it shows that the transfer speed on the N82 is painfully slow. You could always take out the memory card and use a card reader, but that would defeat the all-in-one purpose, wouldn’t it?

8.Lack of optical Image Stabilizer (IS): Adding Optical zoom means more chances of getting blurry shaky images, adding IS should help a lot.

9. No QWERTY. Not only business devices should equal QWERTY. A N82 with a side-mounted slide-out QWERTY keyboard would be killer.

10. No Flashlight: One thing I liked about the N93 was the fact that you could use the flash as a flashlight and just like the upcoming N96 you could use it during the video recording.

We got Flash Lite 3, Now we need Java support

Now that the latest N95 8GB firmware has added Flash Lite 3, making full use of Flash content, it sure would be nice if could now get full Java support in the S60 browser. There’s a lot of content out there in Java that just cannot be accessed via the mobile browser. Take for example this National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES Satellite page here. On the Desktop it works just fine, but on a device like the N95 8GB it just doesn’t work as will ask you to install a Java plugin. Can we get Java on the mobile browser? Can we also get Flash Lite 3 on the other handsets ASAP?!

The N95 8GB Fix List

The N95 8GB may be one of the most advanced devices on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. There are a few software issues that I believe need attention and can be easily fixed with a software update. So Nokia please take note and include these in your next firmware update.

1) Slow Gallery load time, especially after picture was taken: The N95 8GB is overall a pretty speedy device, but when it comes to the Gallery load up time, it’s pretty slow. This is a behavior that seems to affect only the devices with the built-in 8GB. When I had the N81 8GB it too exhibited the same behavior, until it was supposedly fixed by the version 10.0.058 (N81-1) / 10.0.035 (N81-3) software update. The software update for the N81 8GB description said: “This software version includes improvements in WLAN performance, memory transfer and camera stability.” The key words are “memory transfer”. It seems they fixed the issue on the N81 8GB by improving the memory transfer and things got a lot faster. I believe the same thing is affecting the N95 8GB and just like the N81 8GB it can easily be fixed. To retest my findings, I took a test shot with the camera, which by itself is pretty fast. But when opening the gallery to see the picture I had just taken, it took me almost 40 seconds before I could actually see a thumbnail of the photo!  The same process on the N82 took 5 seconds.

Mirror Mirror on the wall, what’s missing in the Nseries line? A true fashion device!

I was thinking. What the Nseries needs is a true fashion “I-want-that” device, that not only looks good, but doesn’t compromise too much on the features. Sure, we got the N72, but it didn’t look all that good and it basically was a N70 in a different package with the old S60 2^nd edition UI. Besides even in the time-period it was released its specs were considered a bit dated. Next we got the N76 which looked the part, but compromised on the camera and even worse: no GPS, no WLAN. The latest attempt is the N82 aimed at the fashion-conscience buyers. While the device isn’t an ugly duckling and is packed with features, it’s not the prettiest thing either. It’s as if Nokia is creating these amazing S60 smartphones with all the bells and whistles yet they are incapable of making them look fashionable. I really like the N95 8GB’s looks, but it kinda looks “nice” in a serious, business/multimedia sort of way. Why are all the nice looking devices S40 phones? Just look at the 8800 series, 8600 Luna, 6500 classic or even the 7900 Prism! No, I’m not saying that the Nseries should be just as small as these S40 devices; they just need to look better.

Can you imagine something like the 8800 series, but with a larger screen, at least a 3 megapixel camera, GPS, WLAN and Symbian OS with the S60 UI?

Improvements to the camera: We need more then Megapixel

The ability to take pictures has become one of the main features behind modern mobile devices; consequently people are quick to look at the megapixel count to determine if it has a “good” camera. Nowadays the amount of pixel seems more like a marketing trick than anything else and it seems to be working: in the uninformed consumers’ eye 5 megapixel cameras are far superior then the previous generation’s 3 megapixels ones. But fact is that the megapixels counts merely tells you the resolution or number of distinct pixels in each dimension, but doesn’t say much about the actual image quality. It is true that the more pixels used to represent an image, the closer the result can resemble the original scene (as a scene seen with our eyes has an infinite amount of pixels), but other things can play a role in image quality such as sensor size, lens quality, color accuracy, dynamic range, noise, artifacts and geometrical accuracy. I’m not saying that Nokia should drop the Megapixel race, but the mobile industry should learn from digital camera makers as they seem to heading in the same direction and making the same mistakes: High megapixels on tiny sensors, just to satisfy the marketing team. As a result they end up with large files (which take up more processing power) therefore end up with a slower ccontinuous shooting mode and slower camera overall (Unless they increase processing power with each megapixel raise, something that doesn’t always happen.) And due to the small sensor and high megapixel count the pixels are much smaller, as a result you end up with an image quality difference between let’s say a prosumer camera and DSLR on one end and mobile phones on the other, especially in terms of noise and dynamic range. So what should be done to make the imaging side of future Nseries a lot better?

1) Increase the Sensor size: Increasing the sensor size would not only mean bigger pixels, but also better noise and dynamic range performance. As a result there wouldn’t be the need to use such aggressive noise reduction and edge enhancement, so no unnatural looking picture like the N73 which was known for its aggressive noise reduction and edge enhancement. These two are also notorious when it comes to image loss.

2) Increase camera start-up, image processing/saving time: Most great pictures are taken spontaneously, that’s why it crucial to have cameras that only start-up quickly but can also save them just as quick. While the N95 is an imaging powerhouse, its usefulness is severely hampered by the slow startup time and the slow saving time. Having a fast saving time means that the camera would quickly be ready for the next shot. Maybe it’s time to use a dedicated processor to only handle digital imaging, something like Canon’s Digic chip.

3)More scenes (and fully manual mode): Most people I know just want to quickly take shots and have the camera do all the guessing work, having more scenes for specific situation would be pretty handy. But as mobile devices get more serious about digital imaging and as the gap between digital cameras and mobile phones gets narrower these mobile devices would appeal a lot more to the professional if they would have full manual controls over Aperture and Shutter speed.

4)Better High ISO performance with real ISO values: Higher ISO(higher sensitivity) levels are needed in low-light conditions or action photography (where fast Shutter speeds are needed), but as a result of using the higher ISO, there’s more grain in the image. Nokia should work on improving high ISO performance. Current Nseries like the N95 don’t tell you the real ISO level. It uses a very vague naming scheme: high ISO, low ISO etc. I would like to see the real ISO levels used like for example ISO 100 or 80.

5) Silent optical zooming: I was spoiled with optical zooming on the N93 and now I really miss that on the N95. The optical zooming contributed to the large size of the N93, but I believe that the technology has matured enough that optical zooming can use less space. Just take a look at Sony’s T-series line of digital camera’s which uses internal optical zooming in a fairly thin package. Many digital video and digital cameras use an Ultra-Sonic Motor (USM) to achieve silent optical zooming, why not apply this into a mobile device?

6) Xenon Flash for better flash performance.

7) Optical stabilization: Stabilization has been used in the Nseries, but it is of the digital kind. This contributed to quality loss. I think it’s time for optical stabilization.

8) Lens protection: No matter how much the battery life can be improved, there needs to be a way to protect the lens! Having an unprotected lens like in the case of the N95-3, N95 8GB or N76 is just asking for trouble. If you need to make the device bigger to improve battery life just do that, but please have a proper way to protect the lens from scratches and dirty fingers.

What features do you think can improve the imaging side of the Nseries? Share your thoughts.

Are we ready for direct and reflecting speakers on the Nseries?

The other day me and my sister were stuck in traffic and I was playing some music on my N95. She commented on the sound and how loud it was, eventually we came to the conclusion that she perceived the sound much louder than I did. This is logical especially since the side-mounted stereo speakers of the N95 were directly pointed at her (I had the N95 in my hand).  The sound coming to my ears where mostly reflected (bounced of the windows and ceiling), by the time they reached my ears the volume was much lower and some detail was lost. On the other hand the sound I perceived had a much more open quality to it. This got me thinking….

The N95 is without any doubt the loudest Nseries when it comes to the external speakers, but from what I described above there’s room for improvement and I personally think this can be done by putting both direct and reflecting speakers.  The reflected sound by the side-mounted speakers give music its spacious, open quality. By adding speakers just below the screen or below the keypad much of the lost details and volume (especially during dialogs is regained). Maybe this is something that Nokia could work on. What do you guys think?