Tag Archives: n97

iphone, mobile, nokia

Increase in mobile internet

Leave a comment

The Guardian reports on the surge in mobile internet use:

Google UK today revealed that mobile internet use was surging thanks to the Apple iPhone.

The head of Google UK, Matt Brittin, said iPhone owners search online 30 times more than those who use rival smartphones.

Increase in mobile internet

With the imminent release of the Palm Pre and the Nokia N97 I think we can expect a further increase in mobile internet use.

Just under a year ago I blogged about the increase in the use of 3G because of the increase in the number of 3G dongles. More and more of these dongles were been bought and used, partly I would suspect to availability but also falling costs of 3G.

If you take that increase and combine it with the increase in mobile internet use (over 3G), add in 3G prices falling, you do wonder if the 3G network can cope with all this traffic?

Spread over a city and a town, probably will be okay, however what happens if you concentrate the use of 3G in one space (such as a college or a conference).

Well the SXSW Conference in American suffered 3G failure due to the sheer number of iPhone users at the conference. As Wired reports

AT&T’s 3G coverage map for Austin may look rock solid, but turns out there wasn’t enough connectivity goodness to sate the hordes of iPhone-wielding geeks who descended on this artsy Texas town for the South by Southwest conference this weekend. Was the Verizon and Sprint crowd, usually consigned to the kid’s table at these hip mob scenes, having the last laugh?

Attendees with their beloved iPhone 3G handsets hoping to hook up with friends, find the next party or access Twitter to announce their location are encountering dropped calls, unavailable service or molasses-slow web access from the mobile service provider.

If every student in your college is using a 3G device, an iPhone, another smartphone or a 3G dongle, will the 3G network be able to cope? If the 3G is spread across the different networks, then this may not be a problem. However what happens if all those 3G phone are provided by the college (or only one network works on the college site) suddenly you could find that the 3G network can not cope with the traffic.

We already know wifi can be problematic it’s now looking like that 3G network coverage may also be less than perfect. Something to think about when planning the use of mobile devices and mobile internet in a college or university environment.

iphone, nokia

Nokia N97 – is it something special?

3 Comments

Nokia N97 - is it something special?

Nokia announces the Nokia N97:

The N97 isn’t a device that will trigger knee-jerk hysteria, but instead it should breed cool-headed excitement at the prospect of a new era of mobile experience.

It may be an Nseries handset, but the N97 carves a new space in the otherwise blurred realm between smartphone and laptop – a product built on a foundation of rock solid mobile principles, Nokia innovations, and tangible new technologies, pushed to the extreme and embodied in a slimline pocket shell.

I really like the Nokia N95, as a phone it allows me to do lots of different things. The main weakness for me with the Nokai N95 is the browsing experience. More often I will use JokiuSpot on the Nokia N95 and use an iPod touch for web browsing.

I did consider getting the Nokia N96, however early reviews did put me off, though others did like it. Likewise having seen the adverts for the Blackberry Storm on the London Underground I was tempted by that (especially as I am having problems with my work Vodafone N73 which is due for an upgrade) however Stephen Fry put me off that one (and others it would seem). Another choice was Nokia’s E71, as that was getting some positive recommendations.

So do I have the obvious choice, Apple’s iPhone?

No, partly as when it came out it did not meet my needs, no tethering, no 3G, no applications. Even the 3G model has some limitations, in the main the poor quality camera and lack of tethering. With the Nokia N95 I can use it as a 3G modem or as a wireless hotspot, likewise the 5MP camera does make it quite capable of taking decent photographs.

The other issue with the iPhone was that at work we use Vodafone and my personal phone is with T-Mobile, do going with O2 was not really an option.

However I am not a fan of text entry on the Nokia N95, I have never liked entering text via a phone keyboard. The Nokia N97 looks like it could be a real option for me with the slide out keyboard, S60 operating system and touchscreen.

There are some early reviews out now, CNET and ZDNet.

Will have to wait and see how it works for real.