In Light of the iPhone 3G
I’m not going to rail iPhone too much. First, it’s too easy to hammer the business model of Apple for what they do to their customers, it’s too easy to compare the iPhone to phones that feature things like 3G without having to brag about it because other companies actually understand the market they’re in and don’t have to get all excited when they conform to a standard…
What I will do is mention the new Nokia N96 campaign. A sleek martial arts marketing platform, great brand projection, and though its creative, it’s still mature enough to make it feel like, if you do buy the N96, you’re not buying into the teenager fad-campaigns such as those presented by Apple for their bricks.
The N96, which I may actually upgrade to, features:
- 16GB internal storage space
- MicroSDHC Slot for expanding the memory up to 32GB total*
- 5MP Carl Zeiss Optics camera
- Near-DVD quality video recording
- LiveTV with DVB-H technology
- Integrated A-GPS and Nokia Maps
- The usuals (unless you own an iPhone)
- Removable LiIon Battery
- Multi-media Messaging
- Front facing 1.3MP camera (yes, 2 cameras)
- A flash (5MP camera only)
- Tactile number pad
- 3D stereo speakers … on the handset
- A plethora of awesome gadgets (That are largely compatible with Nokia products in general *cough*)
- Nokia PC Suite
- Send SMS, MMS, Email via the handset from your bluetooth or STANDARD USB cable connection
- Manage photos, videos, files from the Media Manager, File Manager
- blah blah blah tons of awesome stuff etc etc
Needless to say, the king of cell phone innovation has been Nokia since the early 2000’s and what they’re doing today is still no exception. Pretend for a moment the iPhone didn’t have MultiTouch, what do you have? A PDA phone, lacking in features, with an extra large footprint, an Apple OS, clever marketing campaign that turns Apple fanboys into herded cattle when an upgrade or update comes out, and about as much awesome as the Air, which is really an overpriced Eee PC with lots of pretty.
Shiny appliances with great (young feeling) marketing ideas, lacking sophistication, maturity, and business sense. Go Apple, go!
*32GB total is dependent on ScanDisk actually releasing their 16GB microSD card already. I’m waiting patiently, but have the option to upgrade from my 8GB to a 16GB card w/o buying a new phone. Neat, huh?
