In the final part of our series (check out Products and Services) of year end polls, we take a look at applications. The range and variety of apps available for Nokia devices is as broad as it is deep, so narrowing the list down to 10 for you to vote for was tricky in itself. Not as tricky as it was for you to vote, it would seem as not much separated the top three. Still, we have a winner, unlike in Services, so read on to find out the favourites from 2009.
The winner: Gravity (27%)
This isn’t the first poll Gravity has won this year. Back in May we asked you to vote for your favourite S60 Twitter app, and this one took a healthy 43 per cent of the vote. A great interface, addictive usability and some genuinely useful features add up to a winning recipe.
We said: “It’s interface is extremely clear, and it’s tough not to get suckered in by its velvet-smooth transitions and ease of use”
You said: “It was a solid Twitter app to start off with but the Google Reader support, even at this alpha stage, makes it absolutely indispensable” – commented Alex Whiteside
Nokia Photo Browser (21%)
Striking a good balance between fun, useful features and uncomplicated ease of use, Nokia Photo Browser has proved a popular addition to the Symbian arsenal. On touchscreen Nokias in particular, its intuitive simplicity makes browsing through your pics a joy.
We said: “If this is the standard of app now coming out of BetaLabs then we’re in for a real treat this year and beyond”
You said: “I like it a lot, hopefully Nokia will develop this software further and make it your official photo browser” – commented Gregg003
Nokia Ovi Suite 2.0 (15%)
One of those apps that’s as much about tomorrow as it is about today, Ovi Suite sweeps all previous Nokia software aside and delivers a single PC interface that’s streamlined, user-friendly and perfectly in sync with your device.
We said: “Eventually Ovi Suite will replace all your Nokia software with one simple, elegent yet powerful piece of software that’ll handle all the tasks you’d expect it to for your device”
You said: “Let’s hope that also a linux version is in the pipeline” – commented Pier
So that’s it. 2009 in a number of little nutshells. Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane as much as we did. Here’s looking forward to a cracking year in 2010. Wishing you a happy new year, we will see you on the other side.
Кой кой е пристрастен към интернет връзка, дори ако той живее в Замбия и Уганда, знае какво е YouTube. Видео споделяне мрежи са фантастично място за генериране на данни за потенциални клиенти.
Видео текста могат лесно да бъдат вградени във вашия уеб ипотпал, споделени от Twitter, Facebook и други социални мрежи и имат много по-висока стойност след писмено възприема. Много експерти казват, че Интернет маркетинг поточно видео е бъдещето и аз казвам ипотпал, че техните предчувствие е прав. Видео Позволява ви да се свържете с вашите клиенти, дори преди те да се запознаем, вие имейл или говорим с вас по телефона.
След като гледа само един клип с участието на ти-неотложен те се чувстват съпричастност към вас, който се мултиплицира шансовете си за приключване на сделката по гръб.
Разбира се, че ще dissappoint много добри блогове, които са поддържани от един автори, и те ще пропуснат по възможност да получи допълнителни трафика на сайта. Но причините са разбираеми за да поддържа високо качество на съдържанието Google News – защото един автор не може да бъде в състояние да прокара оригиналния ниша извънредни новини най-бързо и изчерпателно и мулти-автор ипотпал и организации могат, и разбира се, какво се случва в блога актуализира, когато блогър е зает в реалния живот или на почивка, без никой да направите резервно копие Но трябва ясно да показват Google Споменавам това за подаването страница, така че това много изисквания автор е ясно на заинтересованите блогъри.
Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint has reviewed the Nokia X6. One of the only two in the new Xseries lineup, the music centred X6 boasts Nokia’s first phone with a capacitive touch screen.
So with all the flack Nokia’s been receiving on ‘hampering’ flagships with ‘out-of-date’ resistive screens, how does the X6 fare?
Pocket-link says the X6’s 640×360 3.2″ screen is responsive – zero lag. No pushing or stylus necessary [though stylus necessity is more what you're doing, right? Not that it would work. But even if you're on a resistive screen, if you've got big buttons you don't need a stylus. Anyway, I digress]
It hosts the same 32GB as the flagship Nseries and N900 but lacks microSD – still plenty for the Comes with Music service – your all you can eat busic buffet.
Camera is OK – though apparently not on par with the camera centric Nokia range. [Do they mean Nseries or the select photography bunch in Nseries?]
Even though the X6 has the same sized 3.2″ screen as the 5800, surprisingly they found “touch interface buttons are big it’s not as fiddly”
Ample memory to run most things though you still get low memory errors if you push it [just a note, in the Nokia range, N900 does not do this]
As good as the X6 could get, it’s running Symbian with S60 interface – looking old and out of touch compared to the competition and Nokia’s own Maemo 5 beast.
One question everybody kept asking me about the N97 24/Tour I went on last summer was:
“Are they gonna let you keep the phone?”
Maybe because I had two of them, the answer seemed to be no — that is until yesterday, when I read this blog post from the good folks at Qik:
Thanks to our partner, Nokia, we had launched a contest to give away 5 Nokia N97s to Qikkers for sharing their experience and tagging them with #N97contest for the past month. Well, we had a whopping 688 entries during the month from all over the world and would like to thank everyone who participated in this.
So, the 5 lucky winners of the Nokia N97 are…..drumroll………..
#4 Andrew Currie from Canada
Wait, what? Zomg!!1!
The timing couldn’t have been better, as I’m currently in the market for a new Nokia anyway. In fact, due to the realization that the N97’s front-facing camera shoots at a higher resolution than other Nseries models, it was back in the running against newer, supposedly better handsets.
I thought it appropriate to stream a press conference acceptance speech apology video when I heard the news. Here it is:
I take delivery of my N97 sometime in January. Not sure if it’s going to be a white one or not, but I’m crossing my fingers. Either way it’ll be a great souvenir of every blogger’s dream come true!
Scenario: Your in a retail shop your interested in buying a product. You hold your phone up to the product and via the magic of the camera identifying the product the following scenario could happen:
The ability for the smartphone to respond when near specific items in a shop for example with discounts are displayed on similar items.
This should include:
Product item information
Price
Discounts related to the store
User comments
Information from other Smartphone users if they have just bought the product, for example using technologys such as twitter for a quick snapshot of opinions and a count of the people instore who may have purchased this item to encourge further product interest.
Highlighting a salesperson in store who may be an expert on the product.
The ability to make a purchase through the phone which is instantly verified and the shop alerted to the fact the product has been bought.
This idea could be expanded further. However at this point in time the technology to produce this application is in development at Nokia, i can’t wait for the next generation of phones imagine the applications we could create.
One to watch for the future but ideally i would like to see this feature emerging in smartphones within 2010.
Sans entrer dans les détails, le Nokia N97 vous propose la 3G/3G+, un écran tactile de 3,5″ avec une résolution de 640×360 et 16 millions de couleurs au format 16/9, un clavier complet AZERTY et coulissant, 32Go de mémoire interne, un port mémoire microSD/SDHC, un APN de 5 Mégapixels avec une optique Carl Zeiss avec un flash LED, l’enregistrement de vidéos en qualité DVD (VGA à 30fps), un GPS compatible A-GPS, le Bluetooth, le WiFi et une batterie pouvant vous assurer au choix une autonomie de 5h en conversation, 4,5h en vidéo, 1,5j en musique ou 400h en veille, le tout 117,2×55,3×15,9mm pour 150g.
Dupa 10 luni de la cumpararea ultimului telefon, un Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, odata cu venirea frigului, s-a stricat. Din cauza temperaturii scazute display-ul afisa niste linii orizontale. M-am hotarat sa ma folosesc de garantia Nokia, asa ca l-am dus pe Stefan cel Mare, la sediul CIRMA si dupa ce am stat la coada vreo 15 minute, un nene pe la 200 kg, sictirit (probabil ca si el realiza cat de jalnic e sa ajungi la 50 de ani, fara sa fi realizat ceva in viata) a luat telefonul in scarba si s-a uitat la el. Dupa ce m-a intrebat cum ma cheama pentru a completa actele, a reusit sa-mi poceasca numele desi ii pusesem buletinul in fata (chiar nu iti trebuie macar 4 clase ca sa lucrezi acolo?).
La 3 zile de la eveniment, primesc mesaj de la ei, pentru a ma prezenta in vederea ridicarii telefonului. Pentru prima data eram incantat de promptitudinea unui serviciu gratuit romanesc. Ajuns acolo insa, am aflat ca garantia imi fusese anulata pe motiv ca terminalul intrase in contact cu lichide. Hmm .. nu-mi aduc aminte sa-l fi scapat in piscina. Mereu sunt extra-atent.
Explicatia lor a fost urmatoarea: “Stiti .. contact cu lichide nu inseamna ca ati turnat apa pe el .. poate a stat in abur sau v-a transpirat mana pe el”.
-WTF ??!! Adica efectiv voi anulati garantii pe motivul asta, tinand cont ca vara inevitabil e cald si imi transpira mana pe telefon, iar iarna se face condens pe el daca vorbesc pe strada si dupa, il bag in buzunar sau intru intr-un magazin.
Tanti angajata de la CIRMA, debusolata, incerca sa ma convinga de faptul ca efectele fizice nu se intampla la fel pe toata planeta si ca este posibil ca daca intru de la frig la cald sa nu apara condensul daca sa spunem .. mi-as lua un telefon nou, model identic.
Dupa aceeasi idee, ma intreb, unde pe Terra trebuie sa ma duc sa ma bucur de anti-gravitatie ?
Bineinteles, ca s-au oferit sa-mi repare mobilul pentru o suma nu foarte modica (ca doar ei mi-au anulat garantia). Cei de la OPC (Oficiul pentru Protectia Consumatorului) mi-au spus ca nu prea au ce sa le faca fara ca eu sa ma duc la un alt service autorizat pentru a cere o contra-expertiza (si aceea platita, bineinteles) dar ca nu sunt primul in aceatsa situatie.
Nu este prima experienta nefericita cu CIRMA, dar este prima despre care m-am hotarat sa scriu, cu speranta ca intr-o zi se va sesiza cineva de magariile care se fac intr-unul din putinele service-uri autorizate Nokia. Se anuleaza garantii pentru ca mai tarziu sa ceara o tona de bani pe reparatii. Practic ei iau bani din 3 surse. De la Nokia EU pentru asigurarea service-ului, pentru anularea garantiilor si bani de la client pentru reparatia in sine. Foarte urat .. dar pur romanesc.
Jake Seid is a managing director at Lightspeed Venture Partners where he specializes in the mobile, Internet, systems, software and components sectors. Prior to Lightspeed, he was a product line manager for Cisco Systems (NSDQ: CSCO).
We continue to be excited about the mobile sector and the opportunities for entrepreneurs to build large companies. The industry has seen the smartphone universe expand dramatically and now no smartphone is complete without an app store. New business models like mobile advertising, which were touted in 2005 and 2006 but failed to live up to early expectations now seem to be blossoming. That said, we believe we’re still in the early innings with many more innovations to come.
Here are our predictions for the mobile sector for 2010:
Virtual goods means real revenue in mobile: We’ve all seen the rise of the virtual-goods economy in the online world. Like its impact on the online world, virtual goods is poised to have profound positive impact on mobile-app startups for several reasons. First, unlike the subscription fee or one-time purchase business model, virtual goods can help eliminate the friction to adoption. The cost to the consumer to try the app can be $0 yet the app developer still has a way to make money by selling virtual goods.
Second, the virtual-goods business model has proven to be a very scalable one. It has helped to create multiple public companies valued in the billion-dollar plus range including DeNA (in mobile) and TenCent (in the online world). Finally, it’s not mutually exclusive with the existing purchase, subscription and advertising business models. Certainly widespread adoption of virtual goods in mobile will take time and, depending on the platform, various issues will have to be worked through. But this business model’s entrance into the mobile arena bodes well for the entire ecosystem.
Still waiting for “off-deck” to (really) happen: Well, in some ways it has happened—almost. Certainly, the iPhone App Store is a great step forward for the industry. But, compared to the success of the iPhone App Store, the rest of the industry’s major players—Android, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Windows and RIM (NSDQ: RIMM)—have a lot of catching up to do. Those app stores are not quite functioning at where they need to be to give iPhone’s App Store a run for its money.
The most cynical in the industry may actually say the iPhone App Store is not truly “off-deck,” it’s just a different deck. But however you want to slice it, we’re still a long way off from mobile-app developers being able to create true direct-to-consumer offerings like their cousins in the web world.
Nokia or RIM buys Palm (and the next round of big battles begin).: Palm built a slick OS but it is in a tough spot as a standalone company. It’s not RIM and Nokia, big handset guys with material smartphone market share, and that creates a tough spot for Palm (NSDQ: PALM).
Apple’s iPhone not only created a great consumer experience but it created a great platform for developers. This platform allows developers to create compelling mobile apps, to reach the consumer without going through a carrier, and to bill the consumer leveraging the iTunes merchant
relationship. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) set off the virtuous cycles that feeds both the growth in the installed iPhones (and iPod Touches) and the growth in apps (and developers).
Legacy software at Nokia and RIM and the lack of deep OS software expertise at other handset vendors meant Palm had a chance to create its own virtuous cycle. Until Android pulled the rug out and ran off with the momentum.
In the world of mobile operating systems, Palm has created a real asset. For large OEMs like Nokia and RIM that have solid hardware and massive distribution but legacy software, Palm may be an asset they can’t live without.
The enterprise moves past using mobile data for just email: RIM did a great thing for industry in driving mobile data into the enterprise. This was no easy task since the enterprise is complicated. It not only involves catering to the needs of the end user but also getting IT comfortable that you are conforming to and not breaking their network and security architecture. Mobile email now has a healthy adoption rate in the enterprise and the good news is that people believe in the productivity benefits and are looking for the next set of applications to mobilize (the bad news about mobile email adoption is that response-time expectations have shrunk to hours and there’s no such thing anymore as an “out of office” auto response for why you can’t read email).
Other smartphone platforms beyond RIM, such as the iPhone, have also seen interesting levels of adoption, and we expect that to grow. With a rich and growing smartphone base in the enterprise and a positive experience around the benefits of mobile data from both end users and IT, we expect 2010 will create an opportunity for a new generation hot mobile apps and technologies—this time focused on the enterprise.
In 2010, mobile innovations will branch out into new categories, while also benefiting as the recipient of long-awaited applications. Both these trends will create new methods for monetization in the U.S. and beyond, and ultimately, promise another important and profitable year for the category.
The Nokia China factory at the Xingwang high tech park in Beijing China is a good illustration of what a high-value industrial park should be and can bring to a country.
Uganda is trying to achieve the same in the establishment of its industrial parks in Luzira, Namanve and across regional spots.
Sitting on 75 hectares, the Xingwang Park is also home to related supply industries like DHL, ELCOTEQ, SANYO, SAVCOR, IBIDEN and HIF, which either directly provide industrial inputs or are providing logistical support to the phone-maker.
Together with these partners, this industrial park has created 50,000 jobs. The Nokia factory employs 6,000 people.
Because of the highly qualified technical team and high-tech products, Nokia is now the biggest taxpayer in China. But it is the industrial park, which attracted all the related industries that is not only creating a distribution chain, but changing the landscape.
This concept and the cheap labour force provided by over the 16 million people, in Beijing alone, is causing transformation.
Uganda equally has a cheap and fairly educated labour force.
Having been in China for just 25 years, Nokia has surpassed its tax exemption period and is now the largest country market globally for Nokia products with net sales peaking euro6.42b in 2008.
This adds credence to the argument in the recent Africa tax administrators forum held in Kampala recently about the need to give incentives to investors with a long-term view.
Meanwhile, Nokia is experimenting with a new platform of e-micro-business management that could be used by the vast small and medium size enterprises that dominate most of the developing world.
This is to help with the structural and infrastructural challenges faced by many of the SMEs like the challenge of insufficient electricity supply. In East Africa, it is being conducted in Kenya.
“The idea is to improve on the viability and functionality of the business and ultimately the businesses will spend fewer hours recapping the data,” said a Nokia China official. Features like cash register will be developed and uploaded onto the phone.
Localising content is one of the key innovations coming from the phone maker in an industry driven by innovation and enterprise.
“The technology is to liberate people into higher quality of life,” said the official.
Officials say the platform under study could be an extension of “what we already have.”
Nokia has adapted superior quality control systems to ensure that products leaving the factory are of top quality. There is growing perception that phones made in China and exported to Africa are of inferior quality. But Nokia continues to assure the market that whatever comes out of the Beijing factory is just as good as any product from any of the other nine Nokia facilities.
In Uganda, MIDCOM and Simba Telecom are the two authorised distributors of Nokia phones.
So this is not a case of tit-for-tat as virtually every report so far has suggested. It’s a case of Nokia, finding itself well behind the curve in mobile phones, attempting to extort unfair, unreasonable, and discriminatory licensing terms against Apple for patents which Nokia has already committed to license under fair reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms.
(via roughlydrafted.com)
The above article is required reading for anyone truly interested in what’s going on with Nokia and Apple. However, if all you’re interested in is juicy gossip about a cat-fight between the two companies, don’t bother.
Skype has just launched the much awaited Skype app for Symbian platform, and has given it the nameSkype for Symbian. The just released app is currently in Beta version and supports a limited number of phones from the Finnish based company, Nokia. The app runs on Wi-Fi or 3G connection. Skype plans to bring support for more Nokia phones once they roll out the final version. (Features listed below)
(Image credit: Symbian-Guru)
Skype for Symbian features
The Skype app brings the following features:
Free Skype-to-Skype calling.
Call phones with Skype credits or subscription.
Receive calls on your Online Number.
Instant Messaging.
Group conversations.
File sending and receiving.
Skype for Symbian can be installed on any S60 Feature Pack 1 or Feature Pack 2 phone. List of currently supported phones provided below
The devices that fall under the Feature Pack 1 category include:
Nokia E71
Nokia E63
Nokia E66
Nokia N82
Nokia E51
Nokia N95
Nokia N95 8GB
Nokia N81
Nokia N81 8GB
Nokia E90
The devices that fall under the Feature Pack 2 category include:
Nokia N96
Nokia N85
Nokia 5320
Nokia 6210 Navigator
Nokia 6210 Classic
Nokia N78
Nokia N79
Sadly, the current beta version doesn’t support the newly released Nokia E72 or Nokia N97 for that matter. Since the app is in Beta, so you may find the quality a bit lagging, but that will surely be fixed in the final releases.
Download Skype for Symbian (for S60 Feature Pack 1 devices)
Download Skype for Symbian (for S60 Feature Pack 2 devices)
L’Orange App Shop est la plateforme de téléchargement d’applications mobile de l’opérateur. Ce dernier est proposé dans la cadre du système Orange Signature, les interfaces graphiques Orange intégrés aux téléphones des Packs. Outre les applications d’Orange (TV Orange, Orange Games et Orange Maps), l’Appli Store proposera une sélection d’applications développées en Java et/ou pour Android, Blackberry, Symbian et Windows Mobile. Il sera accessible au moyen d’un logiciel ou du portail mobile Orange. Les logiciels sont ainsi achetables depuis ce portail et la note est reportée sur la facture.
Actuellement, 5 modèles de téléphones (Sony Ericsson W995, Yari U100i, C905, C510, W595 et W910i et Nokia 6303 et 6700) peuvent accéder à l’Appli Shop via une mise à jour du système d’exploitation de leur téléphone. A partir de janvier 2010, Orange proposera directement son Application Store avec les téléphones de ses packs avec un téléphone Sony Ericsson et Nokia avant d’être étendu aux téléphones Samsung, LG, HTC, RIM et Motorola.
L’Orange Application Store est disponible avec Orange UK et Orange France. L’opérateur mobile compte déployer son App Shop chez Orange Espagne, Orange Pologne, Orange Roumaine, Orange Suisse, Orange Slovaquie, Orange Autriche, Orange Modalvie, Mobistar(BE) et Optimus(P) durant l’année 2010.
Les développeurs d’applications peuvent se renseigner ou soumettre leur création sur le site Orange Partners.
Orange arrive en retard et va entrer en concurrence, voir en redondance des services de téléchargements des constructeurs. L’opérateur compte sur la confiance du client pour se différencier du Nokia Ovi Store, du Google Android Market Place et du Windows Marketplace pour Mobile.
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic black red (WLAN, Touchscreen, 3D-Surround-Sound, Kamera mit 3,2 MP) Handy ohne Vertrag, ohne Branding, kein Simlock Review
Ich muss sagen ich bin mit diesem produkt sehr zufrieden. Es ist solide verarbeitet und bietet viele funktionen. auch der versand war mal wieder superschnell geiles teil auf jeden fall zu empfehlen
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic black red (WLAN, Touchscreen, 3D-Surround-Sound, Kamera mit 3,2 MP) Handy ohne Vertrag, ohne Branding, kein Simlock Feature
Unterstützte Netze: Quadband-Mobiltelefon für GSM 850/900/1800/1900-Netze, Automatischer Frequenzbandwechsel in GSM-Netzen, Flugprofil
3,2-Megapixel-Kamera (2.048 x 1.536 Pixel) mit vierfachem Digitalzoom und Autofokus
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic black red (WLAN, Touchscreen, 3D-Surround-Sound, Kamera mit 3,2 MP) Handy ohne Vertrag, ohne Branding, kein Simlock Overview
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic black red
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic black red (WLAN, Touchscreen, 3D-Surround-Sound, Kamera mit 3,2 MP) Handy ohne Vertrag, ohne Branding, kein Simlock Specifications
Available at Amazon Check Price Now!
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Dec 07, 2009 00:30:08
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Barely 15 day s after i had written about Nokia’s dual OS strategy, It turns out that Maemo is not so big news from Nokia.
Nokia has gone through a rough patch over the last 18 months or so. It has lost heavily in the smartphone space to Apple, RIM and Google; and its overall numbers tumbled down in 2009. Ovi store was a lukewarm fare. However, it seemed to be making a comeback of sorts with interesting applications such as Nokia Money and Lifetools in the Mid end and Maemo devices in the smartphone segment. N900 got a great response as Nokia moved away from the Symbian platform for the first time after failure with its N97.N900 boasts some impressive specs for a smartphone-type device, and includes a touch screen, QWERTY keyboard, media playback and more. While the N900 is a bit of a niche play and doesn’t have the largest addressable market, it’s an important step for Nokia to take in regaining some much-needed momentum in the world market for smartphones. The N900 was thought to be not only the Nokia flagship, but also a learning platform for Nokia and its Maemo line up.
In this regard, Nokia’s decision to launch only one Maemo based device in 2010 is bewildering. Nokia is committed to the Symbian platform as its “smartphone platform of choice”. Symbian S60 — is outdated and clunky. Maemo looked to be a solid step in the right direction, at least from a usability standpoint.The one Maemo-device announcement was thus a let down, dashing hopes of a slew of high-end, Linux-based phones from the mobile manufacturer.The Symbian Foundation has been working hard to reboot Symbian as a platform, but so far developments has been slow, and no devices have been announced with support for the latest Symbian versions.
Either Nokia plans to take over the world with just a handset update per year like Apple does or it believes Symbian still has some life left and will continue churning out S60 and the upcoming Symbian Foundation OS based phones by the dozen. The only manufacturer for whom this “one device a year strategy” has worked very well is Apple. 2010 would be a busy smartphone year with the supposed Apple 3.1 being readied for release and Android getting mainstream. Putting a large bet on Symbian S60 can significantly risk the Nokia portfolio. There is an opinion that even one Maemo phone would be enough – if it’s an iPhone killer. To flip it around, if Nokia’s 2010 Maemo and Symbian devices return average results, they would get dangerously sidelined in the smartphone space. That would also mean being left out of the consideration space of the developer community.
Software and user experience has become the key differentiator in today’s market. We know that Nokia can design attractive and functional hardware, but it is sadly lacking in the software department. Maemo would give Nokia a good chance at fighting off its rivals if given the right support. Planning only one Maemo device for 2010 — a year in which we are sure to see a new iPhone and dozens more Android models — is a mistake
Hoy hablaremos de algo que me encanta: el diseño. No importa si es de tipo industrial, gráfico ó de espacios (arquitectura), me encanta. La posibilidad de crear algo es sensacional. Jonathan Ive (aka Juanito) y Axel Meyer son dos diseñadores industriales que, a pesar de tener puntos de vista muy distintos, sus trabajos son mundialmente reconocidos.
El primero es un inglés de nacimiento, estudiado en la universidad de Northumbria (en su tiempo Politécnico de Newcastle) y americanizado en los 90s como parte de su trabajo con la globalmente alabada Apple. El segundo es argentino, nacido en 1969, que con un titulo UBA a los 23 años viajó a Europa trabajó con Philips en Holanda. Pero vayamos por partes, ¿Qué hace especial a cada uno?
Axel Meyer
Es la cabeza de diseño de los Nokia Nseries unicamente. El no esta involucrado con otras series como la 8800 (series de lujo y ultra exclu$$ivas). Si bien su trabajo no está basado en la simplicidad como J. Ive, sus teléfonos son muy atractivos para el usuario. Sin ir más lejos, el novísimo N97, N97 mini y N900 tienen teclados QWERTY deslizantes, los dos primeros con un ángulo de abertura un poco elevados, lo que les de una utilidad sin igual.
Pero las innovaciones no empezaron hace poco. El 26 de septiembre de 2006 Nokia lanzó su N95, un teléfono que supuso diversas innovaciones en diferentes ámbitos. Desde la cámara de 5 megapixles (aun revolucionaria para esta época), hasta la amplia gama de conectividad, fue reconocido inmediatamente por su doble slider, por supuesto idea de Meyer. Por un lado el teclado convencional de un teléfono, y por otro las teclas multimedia. Este modelo de diseño ha sido utilizado en los N95 8GB, N85 y N86 8GB.
Por otro lado están los Nseries N92 y N93. El Nokia N92 era un tipo de smartphone ‘convertible’ que parecía un clamsell convencional pero tenía una especia de bisagra doble con la que girabas la pantalla y parecía una mini-computadora. Al estar abierto en este modo me remite al N97 ó al HTC G1. Su uso era la TV móvil mediante DVB-H, que por alguna extraña razón no despegó y como era de esperarse el teléfono fue un fracaso.
Mientras que el Nokia N93 era un celular orientado a ser una cámara más que nada. Según muchos superaba a la competencia al incluir una cámara de 3 megapixeles con lentes de óptica Carl Zeiss y un autentico zoom óptico de 3x, incluso un video musical fue grabado, editado y subido desde el teléfono. Pero las criticas principales hacia los equipos era su voluminoso cuerpo, algo grande para llevar en un bolsillo convencional.
Actualmente los Nokia Nseries siguen innovando en el aspecto del hardware. ¿Y el software?, creo que ese si debería renovarse, y más después de haber visto al iPhone en 2007. Aunque no creo que ese sea un asunto de Meyer.
Jonathan Ive
Ahora si llegamos al diseñador industrial más alabado. Y sólo una palabra puede caber en la mente de este señor y describirlo: minimalismo. Y ya. Sólo es simplicidad.
Ive (aka Juanito) pasó desapercibido sus primeros años, sus primeros diseños se distinguían por tener una extrema simplicidad y utilidad. Trabajó en una agencia de diseño londinense llamada Tangerine (Mandarina), donde no diseñaban nada parecido a lo que hace en la actualidad. Se dedicaban a hacer planchas, secadoras, peines, etc… Él estuvo en el equipo responsable de la Apple Newton, hasta que en 1997 fue contratado por Jobs a su regreso a la compañía y juntos la revivieron (algo parecido pasó con Palm este 2009).
En 1998 Apple lanzó un computador que cambió la percepción de los ordenadores para siempre: la legendaria iMac. Fue un modelo al igual de controversial, revolucionario. Suponía un rediseño en las cajas grises y aburridas que en ese tiempo se vendían, donde daban más importancia a lo que había adentro que la apariencia exterior. Algo así como los sentimientos. Fue el único iMac en venderse en diversos colores y con pantalla de tubos de rayos catódicos. Se estima que se vendieron 150,000 iMacs el fin de semana posterior a su lanzamiento.
Luego en 2002 hubo otro suceso importante: el lanzamiento del iMac G4, otra revolución en cuanto a diseño de computadoras. A menudo fue llamado “lamparita” por su gran parecido con Luxo Jr., la mascota de Pixar, compañía hermana de Apple (para otros usos del término se recomienda ver estos vídeos, 1 y 2). Poseía una semiesfera de donde se sostenía la pantalla por un brazo articulado y ahí estaba toda la circuitería. Además era el primer iMac con una pantalla TFT plana.
Después de esto en 2004 se lanzó el iMac G5, con una estructura de diseño que aun se mantiene, una gran pantalla sostenida por una base de aluminio. Después de eso y hasta el lanzamiento del iPhone en 2007, Apple ha seguido una estela de diseño en su reciente interés por abandonar el blanco. Ahora todo es aluminio mezclado con cristal y altamente ecológico. Exceptuando con el iPhone 3G introducido en Junio 2008, que al parecer “vuelve a los inicios”, incluye una carcasa blanca de plástico. El cambio del metal al actual material es para mejorar la señal.
El 20 de octubre de 2009 se lanzó al mercado la nueva iMac, MacBook y Magic Mouse. El iMac no es más que una pequeña mejora de algo que ya estaba demasiado bien (en palabras del equipo de diseño de la manzana). Johnny se las ingenió para crear un iMac con cristal que llegaba al perímetro, una estructura unibody de policarbonato (si, sigo sin entender como lo hace con ese material) y el ratón más simple de la historia, otro producto revolucionario.
Además de eso se le atribuye el diseño de las MacBook. Los últimos modelos son reconocidos por su revolucionaria manera de construirlos, el unibody.
Si bien sus diseños han sido muy aclamados a lo largo de su carrera, también ha habido fracasos como el PowerMac G4 Cube ó el ratón USB, que si bien no eran feos su enfoque no estuvo tan bien planeado como debería.
Conclusión
A pesar de contar con diferentes argumentos de diseño, ambos lo hacen basado en la usabilidad y calidad. Sus obras son usadas alrededor del Globo y son inmediatamente reconocidos.
Se podría decir que gracias a ellos, vivimos en un mundo mejor…
Extras
Este es un fragmento del documental Objectified del cineasta Gary Hustwit acerca de diseño industrial donde aparece Jonathan Ive. Está en inglés y sin subtítulos, pero no creo que sea difícil entenderle.
Matt from the Nokia Daily News recently interviewed Julien Fourgeaud of the Symbian Foundation, in this interview they touched on present and future of the Symbian Foundation and they also covered the migration from S60 to SF2 to SF3, upcoming hardware, QT, and new manufacturers on board with Symbian. Enjoy!
Stuart Miles of Pocket-lint has reviewed the Nokia X6. One of the only two in the new Xseries lineup, the music centred X6 boasts Nokia’s first phone with a capacitive touch screen.
