“Here’s Your iPhone; Is That an N95?”
I just got off the phone with my sister and I have a great story that had to be shared. I think you’ll appreciate it…
So my sister goes to an AT&T store in Manhattan around 1:30 pm and waits in line to buy an iPhone 3G. As it turns out (and as has been reported), by the time she got inside they were no longer selling iPhones. They have plenty left but they cannot sell them due to activation issues. Whoops! So she gives her info to a rep and has them order one to be picked up in a few days.
During the course of this process, the AT&T rep happens to notice my sister’s current phone; an N95 that I gave her a while back. “Is that an N95,” the rep queries. “You know that phone is much better than the iPhone, right?”
Too funny. Here this guy is working for AT&T and he is supposed to be pushing AT&T inventory, obviously. The iPhone 3G is the hottest phone that AT&T will offer this year and he tells a potential customer that her N95 is ‘better’ than the phone she is trying to purchase! Of course he is allowed to have his opinion and in the grand scheme of things neither phone is ‘better’, but it’s still kind of funny.
My sister agreed with him and explained that she wanted the iPhone anyway. So what was his next question? “Umm, you want to sell me that N95?”
Here my sister is trying to buy a phone that AT&T can’t even sell to her due to technical difficulties, and instead she has an AT&T store rep trying to buy her N95 from her! After some preliminary negotiation they both agreed to think about it and discuss things further in a few days when her iPhone comes in.
Who knew AT&T was in the barter game? :)
16GB iPhone 3G Giveaway!
Sure we’re all S60 fans here on SiMo, but I doubt anyone would refuse a free 16GB iPhone 3G in your choice of black or white. :)
Go on, enter the contest. Hey if you’re a diehard and you win, you can always just sell it off and grab yourself a shiny new E71 or something…
Nokia Beta Labs Releases Nokia Chat
It’s been a while since something interesting came out of the Nokia Beta Labs, but today they have released Nokia Chat - an IM (instant messaging) application which also utilises Nokia Maps to show your location and also presence - something very similar to the Jaiku S60 client.
Phillip Schwarzmann takes us through the introduction video demonstrating the use of Nokia Chat, head over to see the video. The application has been tested with and is compatible with the following models and should also work with some other models listed below, which haven’t been tested.
Tested with:
Nokia N95 8GB, N95, N82, N81 8GB, N81, N76, E71, E66, E51, 6290, 6120 Classic, 6110 Navigator
Should work with:
Nokia E90 Communicator, 6124 classic, 6121 Classic, 5700 XpressMusic
The basic features:
Meet one-to-one
Chat helps you hook up with no hassles by sending your real-time location in an instant message. This unique feature lets your friend pinpoint your position and share her own on Nokia Maps.
Share Your Location
Chance meetings with friends are made easy. Pick out your places on Nokia Maps and choose where you want to publish your presence. Chat automatically updates your location status when you arrive at your hangouts.
Update Your Status
As well as sharing your location, you can edit your status with what’s going on and stay up-to-the-minute with your friends. Status symbols on Chat show when you’re available, on the phone, or away.
Message Friends
Chat puts quick and easy instant messaging at your fingertips. You can also record and send voice messages to friends.
I’m heading over to install it and give it a go, expect more feedback on this soon.
Comes With More of the Same?
I’m glad that Olly decided to put his thoughts with regards to Comes With Music down on [virtual] paper. In my eyes, this is a service that could have so much potential if done properly but from what we’re seeing and reading, it’s just more of the same. We had this conversation quite some time ago and Olly had some great ideas with regards to how Nokia might create a music offering worth exploring.
Every web browser is capable of streaming music / downloading files and every S60 device is capable of doing the same. Why not put purchased music in a “digital locker” that I can access from anywhere? Not physically of course, merely designate tracks I purchase in a database and make them accessible to me. Allow me to make online playlists and recommend artists / tracks to me based not only on my purchase history but also my play history. Allow me to stream my purchases whenever I want, wherever I want. Allow me to download my purchases whenever I want, wherever I want. The technology is here now.
Instead, Nokia seems to be assembling what will become ‘just another music store’ with the addition of free downloads for a year. While “free downloads for a year” sounds attractive on the surface, I can already listen to free music from a million different places - legally even. Muxtape, Last.fm, Pandora, Songza, SkreemR, iMEEM, SeeqPod and so on and so forth. Some people might get lured in by free unlimited downloads for a year though, despite the fact that I won’t. Once they’re in however, what is going to keep them there? Nokia cannot and should not try to compete with iTunes. If that’s the game plan Nokia may as well throw in the towel right now. Nokia needs to build a new and exciting ALTERNATIVE to iTunes; a product that introduces new and exciting technology in a well-built and attractive web app accessible from any computer or handset in the world.
Nokia is trying to be an “Internet Company” but lack of innovation is going to be a huge roadblock. Share on Ovi? Why not Flickr or any one of a thousand other services? Files on Ovi? Been there, done that. Nokia’s position is perfect on one level - become an Internet Company and use the hundreds of millions of handsets you sell to hock your wares. The truth of the matter however, is that this very fact will make or break Nokia. Use your great position to pitch products that are “more of the same” and you’re doomed. Innovate, and the world is your oyster.
New Flixwagon Build Adds Plenty of Functionality
Did you guys catch the most recent Flixwagon update details? They’re definitely making it hard to to use Qik / Ktye right now…
- Share on Twitter and YouTube directly from phone: you can share individual videos on twitter and YouTube directly from your device, as well as customize the message or titles. All you need to do is add your Twitter or YouTube account details on Flixwagon.com, and then you can customize posts directly from your phone.
- Detailed sharing from device: on your device you can now easily choose which specific groups (friends, family, etc.) can access your video. Make sure you set up your contacts, groups, and alerts first on flixwagon.com and you can start sharing flix with them on the fly.
- Digital zoom-in and zoom-out.
- Post messages back to chat. You can send IM messages back to the video chat room, making chats around your video 2-way. This is especially useful when you want to respond to your viewers’ comments without interrupting the video or audio in the broadcast.
- Change title: you can now change the video title directly from the phone while broadcasting. This is great when the ‘right’ headline comes to you while you broadcast (and can help more viewers discover your broadcast while you’re still broadcasting live).
- Choose between delay or video quality: in the preferences section you can determine whether your broadcasts will be optimized for the shortest delay, or highest video quality.
Digital zoom and the ability to chat via text are awesome additions to the app. It’s still the best out there in terms of quality as well. All the big boys seem to be sticking to Qik though, despite the fact that not much seems to be going on in terms of app development. Is it just a case of the Twitter effect; popular people use it so everyone uses it? Let me know in the comments section - what live video streaming service do you guys use most often and why?
