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Nokia 5510 - Cell Phone and More
matthew.thompson writes: "Nokia have released a phone to give the RIAA nightmares - it includes built in MP3 playing AND encoding and an FM stereo radio - so you can MP3 up tracks from the Radio or from an external source via a line in jack. It's also got a full qwerty style keyboard and GameBoy Advance style layout. RIAA headache inducing features here and piccies etc here." I'm not quite sure how this works - Nokia's page says the gizmo plays "secure" mp3 files, which sounds to me as if it is crippled. Here are some hi-res photos. Update: 10/11 12:59 GMT by M : Ahh, my misreading. It says "secure AAC and MP3 files", and apparently "secure" is intended to apply only to AAC. According to the FAQ, the phone is crippled - only stores crippled AAC files, not unencumbered mp3's. A shame.
Do we really need to carry this much technology? My thought is that its too much for one unit to handle. Probably have to reboot it every now and then when it crashes. I want my phone to provide good phone audio when I call people. I want the battery to last as long as possible so I can call people on the phone. I want good range, SO I CAN CALL PEOPLE ON THE PHONE. If I want music/MP3 I'll get a walkman or a Rio.
Don't Tread on Me
Nokia's page says the gizmo plays "secure" mp3 files, which sounds to me as if it is crippled
I can find no reference to "secure" mo3. It doe say that it supports AAC (which can have DRM) and MP3...
What do you know I wrote a novel
so it won't upset the RIAA. why don't people check these things *before* posting them.
see here for the availability and operating frequencies. duh!
Great, just another gimmic to attract the younger croud. As I walk around, I'm seeing a ton of teenagers with no more reason for a phone than to "stay in touch with all their friends". It's more like be bothered consitantly and cause headaches for everyone else because they can't talk quietly.
It's not just kids either. I walk around a major University here in the US and practically everyone has them and is always on them. It's the first thing they do out of class. It's what they do on the bus. It's become a cult and a horrible addiction.
I'm not saying cell phones aren't important. They have many great uses and I plan on getting one as soon as I graduate (not enough comfortable capital yet because of rising education costs) for work and long distance (much cheaper!!!).
Does anyone agree with me? It seems like there's more people out there that don't have a need for them - especially the younger croud. Live life; meet new people - like the people sitting next to you in the bus; and get off the damn phone.
Why does Nokia care if the file format on the phone is "protected" or not? Is there some kind of phone-to-phone transfer capability that opens up the opportunity for "piracy"?
If I have an MP3 file and Nokia software converts it to "protected AAC", I can [technically] still share the old MP3 copy with half of the planet via P2P, right?
I realize the whole question is academic because the phone is not going to be in the US anytime soon.
Personally, I have no use for a music player in my phone, but I can imagine college students who might want lightweight, multi-function devices. I'd rather have MP3 capability in a PDA.
The battery life on this phone/music toy must be pitiful.
You can do it with Nokia 9210 (any wav can be used as a ringtone). But don't wait for the low-end phones to have this feature. It'll ruin network operators' business of selling ringtones.
"the phone is crippled - only stores crippled AAC files, not unencumbered mp3's. A shame."
Kinda defeats the purpose of the article itself, doesn't it?
"Nokia have released a phone to give the RIAA nightmares."
What I'm waiting for is four those four vulture companies to stop ripping us all off by making £120 million per MONTH in text messages alone and to cut text prices from 12p per message down to a more reasonable 1p/0.5p per message - how much does it REALLY cost to send that text message anyway?
But of course, oftel it probably in their back pockets and wont do jack.
-Nano.
This is one cool piece of gadgetry.
Not because of its feature overload, but because of its innovative (we can't say that much nowadays for most phones) User Interface Design, as well as its industrial design.
Real improvements in mobile phone UI design started last year with Kyocera's Palm-phone. Now we have something even better.
The split keyboard is extremely well thought-out, and tackles the input bottleneck for WAP/mobile devices. Heck, not only does it have a full QWERTY keyboard, it is optimized for 2-HANDED USE. Very ingenious. This thing looks very, very usable to me. Before, a user needed one hand to hold the thing, and another to type with. Now, you can hold AND type at the same time.
The centered-screen is also a very cool innovation, as it is something not even the suits of Motorola/Ericsson have even tried. In fact, you should expect copycats to this from now on. I think the people who would benefit AND embrace this design the most are Japanese i-Mode users, who use WAP extensively. It gives a new center of focus on the phone (middle instead of top), and makes great use of existing device real estate.
I gotta give Nokia a big hand for this one. =)
Makes me scream the old adage, "Why didn't *I* think of that?!?"
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Silicon Ghetto - 26th & Pulaski, Chicago, IL 60623
According to the FAQ, the phone is crippled - only stores crippled AAC files...
Since when does encrypted automatically mean the fortmat is crippled? Nowhere in the FAQ do I see the word "crippled." DVD's are not crippled, the encryption on the disk does not affect the quality of the picture or the sound. DVD's are encrypted, the content is scrambled, but not degraded. In the same regard, I'd assume the phone plays normal AAC files post-decrypting them. But hey, what would I know...