Devices News - Written by Coops on Friday, January 2, 2009 9:00 - 3 Comments

Hottest Nokia stuff in 2009

Tags: accelerometer, Home Control Centre, Home Music, HSUPA, Indoor satnav, N-Gage, N97, QWERTY, Services, touchscreen

If you thought Nokia was busy in 2008, you’re in for a shock. This year will see the company unveil more amazing technology than you could ever dream of.

What sort of things are we looking forward to? Read on, and see why it’s going to be a very happy new year indeed!

Nokia N97
Now the Big N’s ripped the dustsheets off the N97 we know it’ll be worth waiting for. Packing the first touchscreen in an N-Series device, alongside 32GB of storage, full hardware keyboard and a ludicrously slim body.

Nokia Home Control Centre
Next year we’ll be using our phones to control the heating, check on home security and even set the PVR while we’re away, thanks to Nokia Home Control Centre, the next-gen home helper designed to take charge of our household gadgets.

Touchscreen and widescreen N-Gage games
N-Gage will grow up next year, with a new wave of widescreen games, touchscreen controls and a slew of new titles. They’ll hit the N97 first, but before long, owners of all sorts of handsets will be enjoying those luscious 3D graphics on a whole new scale, and reaching out to touch them too.

Location based N-Gage gaming
The evolution of N-Gage doesn’t stop with the screen, new games using GPS will flood onto our phones next year, letting us play against nearby opponents or even see games tailored to our location.

Indoor satnav
Shopping centres, car parks and even office buildings will become the battleground for a new breed of navigation services next year, with Nokia’s indoor satnav system leading the charge. It’ll help us to specific stores, show us where we parked the car, or even track down empty meeting rooms.

The QWERTY keyboard renaissance
Nokia knows we love typing on the move, and simply can’t make do with a temperamental touchscreen. Expect a surge in keyboard popularity next year, but only if it’s done as well as in the N97. Functional, skinny and without adding to the bulk of the phone.

More HSUPA phones
If 2008 was the year mobile downloads took off, 2009 will be the year we start giving something back: with mobile uploads. Video streaming, photo sharing and next-gen gaming all need faster sending speeds, which only HSUPA can provide.

Nokia Mobile Broadband
Forget the low-quality dongles currently bundled with mobile broadband. Nokia’s unveiled its own USB modem, guaranteed to dish up hair-raising speeds and trouble-free compatibility. Oh and it’s a bit of a looker too.

Nokia Home Music media streamer
The Big N isn’t happy with you simply listening to music on your mobile and PC. Its new Home Music media streamer shows it wants to send songs around the house too. Is this the first hint of a home invasion by Nokia? We hope so, it’s bloomin’ gorgeous!

Accelerometer gaming
Other handsets already use movement in their weedy mobile games, but when Nokia unleashes the next-generation of N-Gage we’ll start waving our phones around as if they were connected to a Nintendo Wii. Sports simulators will be the first title to get the arm-waving treatment. Expect bowling and fishing games to be the first to take advantage of it.

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3 Comments

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Renegade Fanboy
Jan 2, 2009 10:09

Hi Coops, I’m quite sceptic about these points as hottest stuff in 2009. The N97 might be, but it will come down (again) to execution, which Nokia is not famous for (CwM, Ovi etc.), even if they have the best ideas.

The rest (N-Gage, Home Control) are nothing new and seem to be similar to previous unfulfilled promises. (E.g. millions of N-gage capable phones, only 400k users; Home Control needs ecosystem, just like Sensor Framework, which has also not taken off.)

The biggest chance is in LBS, as that seems to be a working area and Nokia strength.

Mike Bowen
Jan 2, 2009 11:02

We are already using our smart phones to control the lights, record/watch TV, download torrents, stream and listen to music via media servers or streamers (at least I have been for over a year now on my Nokia N95), but I agree this year with the right technology in our hands or pockets it’s going to be a big change for a lot of people.

The problem I foresee is that the Service Providers (T-Mobile, O2, Orange, 3 etc) will still be playing catch up because the vast majority of their customers are still using non smart phones, therefore they will not be willing to improve their infrastructure for the small percentage of smart phone users wanting to make use of the faster capabilities on their phones. Also like most of the Service Providers they will want to milk the new people discovering smart phones. So we (smart phone gurus) will have to wait even longer.

Lets hope this is not the case.

Mikey Bee
Jan 8, 2009 11:55

With something like 70 million handsets floating about in the UK alone, the Service Providers need to find new ways to get people using their handsets. That’s why we’re seeing plenty of deals out there trying to get people to use data. Perhaps it’s not the Telcos who are a bit slow on getting behind smartphones but the consumers – after all the average person wants a phone and a text machine.

Gawd, I’d faint if my mother tried using her phone to record TV on your Nok, then again I’ve seen her pointing it at the TV thinking it was the remote!