Nokia just announced Nokia N9 and it looks super awesome. Nokia might be in shambles but it sure can make great hardware. Nokia N9 now boasts of several firsts in the smartphone world. N9 is a pure touch screen interface. No button pressing nonsense. Going to the home menu or moving to a different app is all controlled by gestures. I hope Nokia has filed its patents for this technology. My guess is, quite a few manufacturers will be craving for this unibody touch-only feature.
Nokia N9 also has a the fastest camera available on a smartphone. Click-to-capture in a jiffy is what Nokia N9 promises. Something which I don’t have on my iPhone right now, but want it so badly.
Swipe only
Steve Jobs should be commended for being paranoid with iPhone design. That got us all to minimize stuff that can go on a phone. But Jobs has gotten away with all but three hardware buttons on the phone. He is so wishing now that he should have gotten away with the buttons at least on iPhone 4. It’s too late. Apple will not be credited for going with a all swipe phone. May be that should stop Apple from buying all the tech companies out there with the spare cash it has.
Nokia N9’s swipe only interface is done wonderfully well. A single swipe the current application will show a 3-way split screen with the open app, current app and the home screen. Thus avoiding the need to press the home button. More than the hardware it’s the software that makes it possible. And would you be surprised if I say, it was done by Meego? Yes Meego. Meego was a no-go only yesterday and everybody were talking about Mango. Not sure if this would make Meego a blockbuster but people will be talking about it for sure. It still has to deal with the app factor.
64 GB – no kidding
Nokia N9 also has a capability to read 64GB memory. The first of its kind. Kingmax has released the 64GB microSD in May to become the world’s first manufacturer to do so. Now Nokia has implemented the ability to read one. Nice.
Hardware
In the midst of dual core phones and 4.3 inch screens, how does Nokia N9 fare. Not bad. Actually not bad at all. Nokia has right sized the screen size at 3.9 inch. That’s a weird size because I haven’t seen anyone using it thus far. Yet it feels just right. Anything around 4-inch seems to be a good screen size for a smartphone.
Here are the detailed specs :
- Display: 3.9” WVGA (854×480) AMOLED display with curved Gorilla glass, no air gap, anti-glare polarizer
- OS: MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan
- Camera: 8Mpix auto-focus Carl Zeiss, wide-angle lens, 2x LED flash, Video capturing MPEG-4 SP 720p @ 30fps, 2nd camera for video calls
- Memory: 1024MB RAM, 16GB/64GB storage
- Processor: ARM Cortex-A8 OMAP3630 1 Ghz, PowerVR SGX530
- Networks: Pentaband WCDMA 850, 900, 1900, 1700, 2100, Quad band GSM/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
- Speed: HSDPA Cat10: 14.4Mbps, HSUPA: Cat6 5.76Mbps
- Size / Weight: 116.45 mm x 61.2 mm x 7.6–12.1 mm (L x W x T) / 76 cm3/ 135 g
- Connectivity: BT 2.1, GPS, A-GPS, WLAN 802.11abgn, NFC, 3.5mm AV connector, micro USB connector, USB charging
- Audio: MP3 player, Audio jack: 3.5mm, Supported codecs: mp3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, FLAC.
- Battery: 1450 mAh
- Talk time: (GSM/WCDMA) up to 11 h / up to 7 hours
- Standby time: Up to 450 hours (WCDMA), up to 380 hours (GSM)
- Video playback (720P): up to 4.5 hours
- Music playback: up to 50 hours
Apps
Oh! don’t we love to talk about apps even in our dreams. Apps is the only thing which is separating a good smartphone from a bad smartphone. Nokia N9 has covered the ground quite well. And Nokia is calling them Applications and not apps, which means Apple can breathe easy now. Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Angry Birds, WiFi Hotspot, Foursquare, AP mobile and Accuweather are the default apps. Not sure about you but that’s pretty much 80% of my smartphone usage. The other 20% is split between email and any new apps. Of course, Nokia has email on N9. For new apps, ovistore will fill in. The store might not be as exciting as the Apple store, but seriously how often do you use all of them apps which you downloaded? I downloaded WolframAlpha – don’t ask why – and I hardly use it. Even though I have paid for it. Come to think of it, I am not using my iPhone for anything else. Are you?
Nokia N9 should usher in new trends in smartphone segment which is riddled with extra cores and larger screens. Nokia has shown the way with the only-swipe interface. That opens up a lot of possibilities.
Nokia N9 is a phone which will be on everybody’s wish list, including Steve Jobs. Jobs might print a Apple log at the back and use it secretively. When N9 comes out give it to a kid and see the kid’s reaction. I am sure the kid would look at any other smartphone with disdain. The kind of look now reserved for phones with buttons.
11 Responses to “Nokia N9 is so easy to use, even Steve Jobs would buy one”
June 21, 2011
SajidDjI am surprise to see your passive mode of writing. It sounds more like a hands-on experience on Nokia N9. I think its over reaction and lets not compare this with any one or talk in such a manner unless its not available for anyone for hands-on reviews !!!
Sajid
June 21, 2011
Sriram VadlamaniHei Sajid,
Thanks for the comment.
Excitement is based on one single fact – Nokia N9 is button less phone. Nothing more, nothing less.
The pictures are just exquisite and very few phones have looked like that beautiful before.
June 21, 2011
TaritaYes, i agree with you. Nokia N9 looks awesomely beautiful. I am also crazy for this button-less phone. It is in my wishlist. Nokia N9!!!
June 21, 2011
Nokia’s obituary is premature [infographic][...] has just launched a spectacular piece of hardware with Nokia N9 and critics have hardly registered it. The phone’s good but as per many, it’s a niche product. [...]
June 21, 2011
Nokia is Not Dead! [Infographic][...] Sriram Vadlamani on June 21, 2011 Nokia has just launched a spectacular piece of hardware with Nokia N9 and critics have hardly registered it. The phone’s good but as per many, it’s a niche product. [...]
June 22, 2011
The Gadget Fantherohan says
The N9 has arrived. Functional units of Nokia's long-awaited MeeGo Smartphone have finally landed into our eager hands Check out http://bit.ly/kCbvMH
It’s great news for developers… The Nokia N9 Smartphone, based on MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, is an exciting addition to the range of Qt-powered phones from Nokia.
The new Linux-based platform, called MeeGo, looks fantastic. It's fluid, smooth, and the "swipe" idea looks really interesting.
June 22, 2011
The Gadget FanBuy the gadget at affordable prices with contract offers | goodshoper.com says
[...] – Hottest Tech Gadgets On The Web Provide all information about new gadget and technology Nokia N9 is so easy to use, even Steve Jobs would buy one Gadget Tips Buying a Perfect Point Shoot Camera | Congresomipyme Buy Latest Gadgets: For an easy [...]
June 23, 2011
The Gadget Fanmihir says
hello sriram, what is the approx price of nokia n9?
July 2, 2011
RajeshSo Late for Nokia. They can not catch now with apple and Android Phones. So Addicted to the apps that Nokia new features fails to attract..
July 14, 2011
The Gadget Fansubway application says
Help me admin and guys out here… i think you all guys must be knowing about this…! am totally dumb when it comes to knowing anything about my phone. I want to be able to catch up all my tv shows while I spend countless hours in the car. How, if possible, do I download my shows to my phone? I bought the JUPITER JACK so I can listen thru my car stereo…but now I just need to know how to get the shows to my phone. Thanks!
November 28, 2011
Windows' powered Nokia Lumia 800 in India for Rs. 29000[...] solid and stunning are the words which come first in my mind on looking at the device. Nokia N9 is the design innovation behind Nokia Lumia 800’s shiny matte looks which is made of [...]