New Phone

New Number

I’ve got a new mobile phone, and with it, a new number – if you don’t have it, you can get my number by either:

• Visiting my contact details page, if you’re able.

• Looking me up on Facebook or any of the other services I mention my mobile number on, if you have an account on any of these services.

• Following the instructions on any Q Card issued before today.

• Asking me for it, or asking somebody who already has it. I’ve tried to send a text message to pretty much everybody who I think might care, as well as a few people who probably don’t.

Nokia N95

My new phone is Nokia‘s stunning new smartphone, the N95. I just wanted to share with you what a sexy piece of hardware this is. Really.

Aside from the usual stuff a mobile phone isn’t complete without today, the N95 carries a fantastic 5MP digital camera (with a flash), a sophisticated media player, TV-out, 802.11b/g WiFi, an FM radio, hot-swappable MicroSD memory cards of up to 2Gb each, both Bluetooth and IRdA… and GPS. Yes, GPS. Whip out the phone and within a few seconds it’ll draw a map of your immediate locality, plan routes for you, and more.

It took me by surprise after I first booted it up and it used the GPS to work out where I was, established a GPRS internet connection, and then used the two together to get me a list of local radio station frequencies which it cached in the FM radio. The interoperability of the compenents (plus the API that allows them to be accessed by developers) makes this particular phone a beast and a half. And a bit more.

It’s a very, very powerful piece of kit. Aside from all of that lot, it’s the usual Nokia mid-high end offering: large, bright screen, Symbian OS 9.2, USB connectivity, a nice web browser, media controls, and a fab user interface. In fact, I’d do better to write about the things that I don’t like about it, as they’re fewer. I don’t like the flimsy-feeling sliding panel, which I feel like I might break if I’m not careful. I’m not very impressed with the resolution of the GPS (about 8-13 metres, in my trials) or the assumptions made by the integrated mapping application (will have to install Mobile Google Maps). I don’t like the fact that sliding the phone shut doesn’t – and can’t be configured to, by the look of things – end a call. I’m slightly displeased that the volume control does nothing when not on a call or using a media player (feels like a waste of a perfectly good button to me).

Other than those few little niggles, it’s an amazing phone that’s made me really glad I came back to Nokia after my hiatus in Windows Smartphone 2003-land. Recommended.