Posted on Wednesday, April 27 2005 @ 15:49 CEST by Thomas De MaesschalckThree Nseries phones were announced today: the Nokia N90, the Nokia N91 and the Nokia N70.
"This next step in digital convergence brings together mobile devices, Internet content, still and video cameras, music, email and much more. Nokia Nseries devices share similar design traits as mobile phones, but they are actually powerful pocketable computers with a comprehensive set of multimedia features," said Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia.
"The Nokia Nseries offers the world's most powerful functionality in the mobile space. As Nokia Nseries is based on Series 60, people can choose from thousands of add-on applications to customize their device to best suit their needs. The Nokia Nseries range is the perfect choice for customers who want to have mobility with the latest technologies and great design - for both work and play."
The first Nokia Nseries are expected in the second quarter of this year and more will follow by the end of the year.
I wonder what kind of impact will these mobile phones have on the digital audio player and entry-level digital camera market. Why would one spend a lot of money to buy a MP3 player like an iPod and an entry-level digital camera when some mobile phones might soon offer the same for less money? The Nokia N91 for instance will offer a 2 megapixel camera, 3G functionality and a 4GB built-in hard disk to store more than 3,000 songs.
The digital camera part is still limited but I think that within a year we'll start seeing 3-megapixel phones with optical zoom and that should be enough for the average user to take a few nice pictures on the go. Combined with a multi-gigabyte hard drive, audio playback features and 3G cellular features these devices promise a lot.
Nokia added that camera phones shipments are already about four times higher than digital camera shipments.
