On December 30, 2006 I posted a list of 20 things I would have liked to see Nokia do, how exactly did they do? Read on to see the results and expect a new list with requests to be posted before the clock strikes 12 and we’re in 2008. I’ve copied and pasted the list in the link above and added comments in bold.
- The Nokia PC Suite needs to become something we access via a browser, not an application we install. The current implantation is bloat and frankly thanks to technologies today like AJAX and the Symbian port of Apache called Raccoon we should never have to install that program, ever again. The Nokia PC Suite is still a desktop application, it can not be accessed in a browser. Ovi however will be and there will also be an Ovi PC Suite coming in 2008, something to look forward to. (Video)
- Hitachi began mass production of 2.9 inch screens with a resolution of 800×400. That is enough DPI to give an opthamologist an erection. There should be a Nokia phone out on the market by the end of 2007 that supports such a screen. Nokia is not using the 800×480 3 inch screens prevalent in Japanese cellphones and I’m getting sick of 240×320 displays. I’m absolutely certain we will break the QVGA barrier in 2008.
- S60 needs to become componentized in order to offer the best experience for users. One shouldn’t need an entire firmware upgrade just to upgrade the music player application, or the web browser. The core of S60 should remain the core and all other peripheral applications should be made into components; similar to what Microsoft does with Windows XP embedded. I use Opera for Mobile because I’ll never be able to use the web browser you have locked in to S60v3FP1. S60 is not componentized. If there is a new version of the music player or search application or whatever, I still need to wait for a new firmware instead of updating the specific application to the latest version I care about. Google’s Android will let you replace any application, even the ones built in. Come on Nokia, you can do better than that.
- The PIM needs a retooling. Get all the design engineers a Treo 680 and make them use that as their exclusive device for a month. I’m not saying Palm is better than Symbian, what I am saying is that certain aspects of their operating system are done so well it’s amazing that no one has yet to emulate it. The PIM today is still the same PIM of last year, zero improvements.
- 2.5 mm headphone jacks are useless, when was the last time you walked into a store and you saw them sell headphones with a 2.5 mm jack? If you’re going to sell a music phone then make sure it has a 3.5 mm jack. The 5300 was a disgrace. I want to meet the design team who decided to market a phone specifically tailored for music and not include a headphone jack. 3.5 mm headphone jacks are an Nseries default now, but the rest of Nokia’s S60 and S40 devices need to catch up. Eseries especially, RIM released a BlackBerry Pearl with a 3.5 mm headphone jack because guess what … business people have a life after 5 pm and some even enjoy audio books.
- Pop port has got to go away. Mini USB is the future, and so far a lot of the devices you seem to be cranking out as of recent have said interface. Continue this trend. POP port is dead, thank you. Mini USB is not the future however, Micro USB is.
- Relating to number 6: Mini USB should also take place of the charger. Why should we have to plug one cable in to charge and one cable in to sync? Look at the iPod if you want to know what I’m talking about. A few S40 devices have charging support via USB, but no S60 devices do. Shame, but it will happen in 2008 I’m sure.
- The hand writing recognition engine that the Nokia Internet Tablet uses needs to be taken out, thrown in the trash, soaked in gasoline, and lit on fire. I was not impressed with the handwriting engine in the N810, but it did get a keyboard so I will not complain. I hope that the S60 handwriting engine is stellar.
- A team needs to be created to begin porting VLC over to Symbian as well as for the Internet Tablet. Real Player is absolute nonsense and can’t handle nearly as many file formats as VLC can. Not to mention VLC will stream any file format. While you’re at it, start adding SMB support so I can access my files over my network! Real Player is being replaced with the Open Source Software framework known as GStreamer. Hypothetically it could lead to better codec support, but I’m not sure Nokia will be man enough to pay DivX a lisencing fee. It doesn’t matter, just get XviD working, all the pirates use that format. I’ve also been playing around with the S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 emulator included in the SDK and it does support adding a “network drive” to the device. Orb right now is a web UI for the files on my desktop, I can’t wait to use the music player application natively and just point it to my hard drive at home.
- Begin a marketing blitz in America to show consumers the advantages of going unlocked. It happened in NYC and LA, but it has to happen in more locations.
- Sony Ericson phones use XEON based camera flash technology while you’re still using LED’s. It’s about time you switched, people can tell a difference in the quality. The N82 is the best camera phone out on the market, period. Thanks for that. There may be something better in Japan, but I can’t buy it.
- Call Canon or Nikon and license their CMOS sensors to put into your Camera Phones. You guys rock at making phones, time to admit that you can’t make the best optics engines and call in the pros. Motorola teamed up with Kodak for their yet to be released 5 megapixel camera phone. I can only dream of the day you guys get a Canon logo on the side of an Nseries device. I doubt this will ever happen.
- By the end of 2007 I expect you to have released a successor to the N93 that can record HD video. This will not even happen in 2008, I was foolish back then to believe this was possible.
- I expect you to release a lot more phones with a full blown QWERTY keyboard running your latest version of S60. Two devices in 2007 with QWERTY, the E61i and the E90. I would have liked more, Nseries and S40 needs more QWERTY.
- The Nokia N95 is the first of many cell phones to come with a discrete graphics processor. Take advantage of this and create a slick 3D operating system that will wow people. The whole icons in a grid thing has been done since the 20th century. Time to move on. This has to be your goal for 2008. Bar none. Look what the iPhone did.
- The concept videos you showed off at Nokia world are amazing, I’d invest heavily in research to begin making a phone that has no buttons and everything is done by touch. I doubt such a device will be released in 2007, but definitely in 2008. My opinion has changed. I want touch + keypad. Touch will definitely come out in 2008, Nokia confirmed it.
- People in emerging markets might not have the proper infrastructure to charge their mobile phones as often as they would like. Announce a phone for emerging markets that can be recharged via solar cells in 2007. Did not happen, want it to happen. Jap Chipchase, a Nokia anthropologist, posted striking images that show how people live without power and have to wait for someone to come into town with car batteries in a wheel barrow to recharge their devices. Please do something about this.
- Announce an international warranty so people can feel comfortable importing a Nokia phone from Europe yet having it be serviceable in the United States. Failed.
- Every device you sell that contains S60 should be able to view and edit office documents and read PDF’s regardless of being an E or N series product. Failed. QuickOffice 5 should be on every “high end” E and N series device.
- Create a phone so advanced that it can be put in a dock, and this dock would have several USB ports, audio out, and VGA or DVI out. The one laptop per child idea is foolish; there isn’t an infrastructure to support it. What if each of those children had a device the size of an N73 that they can bring to a local center, plug it in, and now use a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Or apply the same scenario to emerging markets. This did not happen, but I think in 2008 the Internet Tablet get tighter integration with Nseries devices so if I get a text message for example, and my phone is in my pocket yet my N810 is in my hand, I don’t have to reach for my mobile phone to read it. This can and should be done with the Mobile Web Server.
- Open a flagship store in the Dallas/Fort Worth area 😉 This was a joke, but now I’m not kidding. Open more flagship stores. I’ve been in 3 so far (Helsinki, Chicago, New York) and I’ve loved each and every one of them. If more people can experience what I did then I’m sure your street credit would sky rocket.