Chris’s Domain

As I played around with my ancient Nokia 6610, I realised how quick and drastic mobile technology has evolved in the span of 3 years.

I can still remember clearly how much I had longed for the 6610 the moment it was announced. The year was 2002 and the 6610 was one of the most advanced handset on the market. That was all before the hype with Smartphones and what not came along. It was Nokia’s first Series 40 phone and was released about the same time as the first Series 60 phone, the 7650. The 7650 was bulky at that time (though it had a camera), so I settled for the 6610. With a 4096 passive matrix colour screen, stereo radio, J2ME 1.0 capable, polyphonic ringtones (albeit 4 chords), IR and add-on camera via Pop-port, it was revolutionary. It was after all, Nokia’s first attempt at next-generation phones, which will all have the 6610/7650 as a basis. I still remember when I was holding that phone in my hand at the shop. It was my first GPRS enabled phone and the feeling was awesome.

Till today, the latest Nokia phones still incorporate all these features, although they have evolved a lot through the months. Now, we’re looking at the N-Series which happens to be the most advanced GSM/WCDMA phone to be sold outside Japan and it’s been only 3 years since the 6610 was introduced.

The only other time I had such an elated feeling was when I first set eyes on the T610, that’s about 10 months after the 6610 was launched. By then, the emergence of camera phones in the market has tempted me enough to crave after a new “perfect” phone. At that time (2003), the T610 was pretty much perfect. 65k colour screen (non-TFT), integrated camera (CIF), 32 chord polyphonic ringtones, plus other nifty features. No speakerphone nor radio (external), but heck, it was way better than Nokia’s 7250. I can vividly remember how excited I was to get this phone. There was so much hype over it and missed out on the first batch and had to return a few days later to get it. I spent hours playing with the themes and SE’s UI is simply amazing. Again, it was a breakthrough, only this time on SE’s part. It was an amazing phone at its time and the popularity proved it.

Towards the middle of 2003, the Smartphone phenomenon began. Nokia introduced a series of Series 60 handsets which were deemed “smart”. The 3650 (remote control phone haha!), was the hallmark at that time. It was cheap and feature-packed, but the design was too “revolutionary” (cough cough). Being a Microsoft supporter and a hardcore one at that, I settled for the MS Smartphone platofrm (based on WinCE). The first MS Smartphone to be introduced into the Malaysian market was the Mio 8380 by Mitac. It looked promising at the time. After all, the feature list was impressive, i.e. camera, video, wmp9, PIM functionality, etc. The P800 was too expensive and it’s touchscreen. The Nokia 6600 wasn’t even launched (arrrghhh!). RM1888 for this piece of crap. Can’t trust non-branded generic stuff anymore.

The O2 Xphone was my next Smartphone. This one is solidly built and extremely stable (Windows Mobile 2003). Built by HTC, it is definitely a good Smartphone, albeit a little bulky/thick. I got it over the 6600 mainly for the fact that it’s Microsoft Windows powered. While previously, choosing a phone is mainly done solely on its features (camera, memory, tones, etc), now choosing a phone, especially a Smartphone boils down to choosing an OS itself (Symbian, Microsoft, proprietary, Linux). That’s because nearly all the platforms offer as much common features a user could ask for. How times have changed. There are of course the usual stuff we still look out for, but rather than the gimmicky polyphonic ringtones or colour screen, we’re now looking into resolution, mp3 playability and external storage support (memory cards).

The Sony Ericsson S700i, launched in the third quarter of 2004, marks the start of another trend in mobile phones, the chase for ever-increasing megapixel resolution cameras. Remember how the T610 used to be “perfect” mainly because it has an itnegrated camera? That’s so yesterday. The S700i packs a 1.3 megapixel CCD camera and it’s the beginning of a line of new generation phones with excellent cameras and mp3 players. Sadly, though, it uses a proprietary OS, but besides that, everything else was cool. The swivel form factor was new, 3D Java is excellent, but Sony’s use of Memory Stick Duos is a bitch.

Which draws me to the Motorola MPx220 as my Xphone replacement. This is probably the sexiest Smartphone to ever hit the market (followed by the MPx200). As a replacement for the MPx200, which I missed out because the stupid dealers in Malaysia couldn’t get the prices right. I mean, how can you price a phone without camera and bluetooth at a ridiculous RM2099 at launch?? The 6600 didn’t even justify that price.

I got the MPx220 through a reputable eBay dealer and it was awesome from the start. Despite numerous complains about its speakers, I find it perfectly fine. The frequent ROMs flying around the net is a definite plus and Windows Media Player 10 hits just about every right note. This IS the smartphone to get. The price is right and the features are great (save for the lousy 1.2 megapixel camera, but then again, the S700i spoilt me).

So, what’s next? I’m currently looking at the K750i by Sony Ericsson and the N Series and new 6 series by Nokia. They’re the promising devices for 2005 and I don’t think anyone will be disappointed. The N series are terribly expensive and the K750i is not much of an upgrade over the S700i, so can’t justify swapping for that. But for people looking for new phones, the K750i, 6680, 6270, 6xxx and the N Series are worth a look. Mind you, but I’m not a big fan of touchscreen PDA phones, else I would have voted for the O2 Mini aka HTC Magician aka iMate JAM aka T-Mobile MDA aka Qtek S100. Notice how most, if not all, Microsoft Smartphones are Taiwanese made? Ironic…

Phew, all that nostalgia as I itch for a new gadget to play with. So many choices, so little time.

I worked blarrrdy hard through the session and now, I am going to be real lazy to motivate myself for session two! Really have to stop bitching and get my life back…..

and so I’m home finally, after a gruelling 8 hour flight. Malaysia Airlines is weird, and I mean real weird. Most of us would expect the international flights to offer better quality services compared to the domestic flights, right? Well, MAS work differently. The flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur was terrible. The service was, well, much left to be desired. The cabin crew themselves have trouble operating the AV system. The pilot can’t speak proper English and the PA system crackles so badly you could hardly hear any announcements. The lady sitting next to me tried pressing the “attendant-call” button numerous times and unsurprisingly, none came around to help her. This is terrible.
The domestic flight, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. The cabin crew were beautiful, ever smiling and they all speak REAL GOOD English. The service is far superior to the international flight. I can’t believe it, it was a shame to the airline that supposedly carries the nation’s name.
and so I’m home……Lots of catching up to do. Currently looking into Turbo C++, sleeping (can’t sleep actually, too nervous), eating, watching ASTRO and anxiously waiting for results. Can’t believe how much I miss home after only 4 months. The pressure and demands of uni life has eclipsed this thought for the past few weeks!

Let’s do a recap. Finally completed all my assignments and tests. Final exams are in week’s time and I’ve got a whole ton of work to catch up on.
Watching TV now to take a break after doing some boring read up for BDM. The Chinese Remainder Theorem and Magic Squares are really distracting math problems, interesting but extremely time consuming and best of all, not even examinable. I’m wasting time on stuff that won’t help me much for exams!
[URL]http://mathforum.org/alejandre/magic.square/adler/adler.whatsquare.html[/URL]

Going back to TV. I should watch less of it. Seriously…..