Mobile Phones

Portable cathedrals: The Nokia N9

nokia meego

Interaction designer Dan Hill reviews the Nokia N9. I think this might be the best mobile phone or product review I have ever read. It's something you take with you and not simply scan as you switch between tasks. I found myself agreeing particularly with the following:

The phone is an intimate device, not simply through its ubiquity and connectivity, its relationship with the body. While objects have long been cultural choices and symbolic goods, the mobile phone, being the most personal connection to the internet, is a device for generating symbolic goods, a vehicle for culture, a proxy for the owner's identities. It is vast business and cultural phenomenon, all at once.
Overall, Meego's design feels marginally stronger than Apple's inconsistent designs in iOS, which is both a breath of fresh air and some achievement. Steve Jobs believed that above all his firm had "good taste", and placed great sway in that; entire swathes of iOS exemplify this belief, with rock-solid interaction design supported by responsive performance, strong accessibility, clear metaphors and big bold buttons.

Yet the skeuomorphic nonsense that incomprehensibly pervades apps like Apple's own Contacts, Calendar, iBooks, GameCenter, Find My Friends et al--all awkward faux-leather, wood and paper stylings--is is of such questionable "taste" it threatens to damage the overall harmony of iOS with its discordant notes. You cannot derive value from the idle suggestion of such textures on screen; they are physical properties and should be experienced as such, or not at all. Yet Apple's design team will not explore those physical properties, merely sublimating their desire for such qualities into a picture of leather, a picture of wood. It recalls Marcel Duchamp's critique of 'retinal art' i.e. intended only to please the eye.

Interaction designer Dan Hill reviews the Nokia N9 and asks: will it be enough to revive the declining fortunes of the Finnish giant?. Via Small Surfaces.

Galaxy Nexus is too big

galaxy nexus is too big

They are too big. Its like carrying a SUV in your pocket.

A phone should feel comfortable in your hand and be easy to carry in a pocket but Samsung (& HTC) seems to be overcompensating. These feel too big to be phones. Though very impressive when on display, I think Apple is on the right track with their higher density displays.

Photo via Galaxy Nexus vs. iPhone 4S comparison photos

You might also want to read: Galaxy Nexus with curved 4.65" OLED screen

But the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S still lead the pixel race. Some people say they never notice the PenTile pixel structure but it is just like a stain on a carpet; once you see it, it is hard to disregard.

I don't write or share tech reviews often, nor keep track of the seemingly weekly launches of different Android devices (I do track these topics on my twitter feed @mobilculture). I'm more interested in usage but the direction so many Android devices are taking seems to fit within my topics of Popwuping.


Mapping Android Activations Worldwide

Mapping global Android activations reveals the succession of Android activations worldwide between October 2008 - January 2011. I like the little spike in Taiwan early on in the animation.

Via Information Aesthetics.

Mobile Tail

Mobile Tail

Designed by Sangwoo Park & Jongwon Park the Mobile Tail holds a mobile device horizontally or vertically allowing for easier viewing and usage of your device while stationary. The suction cap allows for easy removal and attachment. The the idea for the product came from the notion that mobile devices are much like pets - accompanying us wherever we go. Fun. I love it.

Mobile Tail. Available at Designboom shop.

HTC and Facebook sitting in a tree

HTC and Facebook sitting in a tree
HTC Chacha

HTC and Facebook sitting in a tree
HTC Salsa

Recently announced at Mobile World Congress 2011, the HTC Chacha and Salsa smartphones are designed in both hardware and software to automatically integrate with Facebook. Both feature the HTC Sense interface running on top of Android 2.4.

It's interesting to see this level of integration between social media and mobile but I am lost as to how this is enough of an improvement, over the myriad of apps. that already bring Facebook to your phone, to warrant a dedicated device. It's only a fragmented software stack (widgets) with dedicated hardware controls or am I missing something? This looks of yet another example of engineering driven product design with a design activity thrown in at the end (hardware > android > htc sense > Facebook).

The Chacha, my favourite of the duo, includes a full QWERTY keyboard beneath its 2.6" touchscreen, Salsa features a 3.4" touch display.

The HTC Flyer with it's ability to sync with Evernote is a far more interesting device.

Iida Lotta Phone

Iida Lotta Phone

"Beautiful form and color, comfortable feel, and a whimsical sense of fun--that's iida's new "lotta" mobile phone". Ichiro Iwasaki mobile phone design for the Japanese company iida. While much of the conversation has switched to software there is still some great looking hardware being produced, the lotta phone being a prime example. Love the color, typography and the fact that it won't allow me to check in on foursquare.

Continue reading >>

The Nokia Reality


A video demonstrating the reality of using the Nokia N97, which is what Nokia call their "flagship" device.

The above video pretty much illustrates the experience I've had with every Nokia phone I have tried, including the Nseries on my desk. What's most damning about the video is not that it can't compare to an Android device or an iPhone but that it can't even live up to their own expectations.

I constantly refer to and share Nokia's insights on mobile trends, behaviour and culture. I follow and respect the work of many of their designers and researchers. They employ some of the greatest minds in mobile, so why can't they make a great mobile (smart) phone?

Via Mobile Inc.

PLY by Kamihara Hideo and IIDA

Ply mobile phone

I really like the design language that designer Kamihara Hideo is using in the PLY mobile device. The color palette, shapes reminiscent of the tab's in document folders, the idea of layers -- each building on top of the other as found in wood, and original typography help to create a far warmer, more welcoming device. The stand is a great touch.

As innovative and perhaps impractical as the PLY may be the days of consumers being attracted to hardware as lifestyle is coming to an end. Software and services are now the attractive qualities, not beautiful featured packed devices and the dangly tchotchke that they enable.

PLY by Kamihara Hideo and IIDA

Windows Phone: death to hardware as feature

Windows Phone

One thing that I have realized from this launch is that we now no longer talk about hardware, the conversation is now centering on software and experience. Perhaps having empathy for consumers, and their needs, and the death of the feature set can't be far behind.

Below are a couple of my thoughts of the announcement based on what I have read and seen to date.

It's been a few days since the launch of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series (try saying that name over and over) and my interest in their new phone OS has only slightly abated. Windows Phone 7 Series is a complete rebuild of their phone OS which features smooth services integration and a distinctive new interface.

My initial attraction is the interface aesthetic with it's reliance on typography and low information density; an approach I've always been a fan of. It's content first with little to no traditional UI and none of the clutter of the old Windows Mobile, now dubbed 'Windows Phone Classic' (will this be Microsofts "new Coke"?). It may prove to be fraught with usability problems in a device this size but at this point I find it very attractive.

Josh Topolsky shares his initial excitement:

The design and layout of 7 Series' UI (internally called Metro) is really quite original, utilizing what one of the designers (Albert Shum, formerly of Nike) calls an "authentically digital" and "chromeless" experience. What does that mean? Well we can tell you what it doesn't mean -- no shaded icons, no faux 3D or drop shadows, no busy backgrounds (no backgrounds at all), and very little visual flair besides clean typography and transition animations. The whole look is strangely reminiscent of a terminal display (maybe Microsoft is recalling its DOS roots here) -- almost Tron-like in its primary color simplicity. To us, it's rather exciting. This OS looks nothing like anything else on the market, and we think that's to its advantage.

And Luke Wroblewski compares the information density of the iPhone's photos experience with Microsoft's Window Phone 7 Series experience.

I do like what they call "the start experience" and Hubs were at first fairly interesting; everything I read touted it as an activities based organization scheme. A nice alternative from the laundry list of apps. you are given on the iPhone. While the iPhone's approach is due for some refinement, Hubs is nothing more than an additional abstraction layer which includes social media/web integration. Tighter integration with services is cool but what I have seen doesn't lead me to believe that they are truly delivering a "personalized way of navigating the things that you care about". It's about what they care about.

It's been a long time since I've been interested in any products coming from Microsoft. Now that they have our attention, I'm looking forward to see what they deliver.

See also: Switched On: Making it different versus making a difference and
Windows Phone Designer Seeks the Right Balance.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz and Aspen

With all the press being given to the iPhone and the Android platform, one might start to think that the other manufacturers were just sitting idle waiting for all the hype to die. This isn't true of course, Blackberry still sells (it's wildly popular in Thailand as a consumer device), Nokia releases new products, with success outside the Americas, and Sony Ericsson, despite staggering sales, still produces some interesting kit. Until my recent disastrous flirtation with my Nokia Nseries, and our household love of the iPhone, Sony Ericsson was the only brand of phone I owned. Two of their announced phones have recently caught my eye.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

The Vivaz is their latest media-centric device and it has some pretty impressive features, including a HD-capable, 8.1 megapixel camera that can capture 720p video. To store all that imagery the phone includes 8GBs of storage and integrated sharing to your Facebook and Youtube accounts. The Vivaz also has a 3.2'' screen with Touch UI, aGPS, a browser based on Webkit and a plethora of other features you would expect from a phone of this class. Though I've learned the hard way that a laundry list of features does not a good phone make (I'm talking to you Nokia), the Vivaz is worth a look for those wanting to take high quality imagery on their phone.

Continue reading >>

Next

Or jump to: