Big Wednesday...

I'm torn between forking up the green for the new N95 and N-Gaging in some hot N81 action that was announced today. I love the idea of how the N81 has dedicated gaming and music keys as well as an unexpected Navi wheel function in the 5-way navigation pad, but the device sort of lacks in other specs (especially for the price). No TV out? Only 2 mega pixel camera? No GPS? And no US 3G support?

On the other hand, the N95 8GB is awesomely packed full of features that are well worth the price. But alas, no US 3G support, and although 8GB built-in storage is great, I would miss having removable storage. If this is "what computers have become" then the N95 needs removable storage options. I know the 3G issue is due to the slow moving greed machines that are the US telcos, but that's not the biggest missing piece keeping me from getting one of these devices.

After seeing the Nokia touchscreen demo and hearing about the 8 million iPhone touchscreens ordered by an "unnamed" mobile phone manufacturer, I'm thinking about holding out a bit longer to see what else is around the corner. We'll see how I feel about it in a few weeks.

Overall, the Nokia webcast was well executed, the devices and services all look and sound great so far. It will be cool to watch as both the hardware and software develop over the next few months. Oh yeah, I almost forgot...

I, for one welcome our new Ovi-lords.

I'm Getting In To Symbian

Yep, I've been lusting over the recently released photos and info of the new US 3G N95 as well as the Black 8GB N95 lately, and I'm really thinking about getting an Nseries phone real soon. I don't know much about S60 phones, but I'm learning a lot of cool new stuff about the platform, and I think I'm about ready to jump on board the Nokia train in a big way with my next gadget purchase.

This doesn't mean I'm giving up on the Internet Tablet world in any way. I'll still use my 770 to the fullest potential, and I'm real excited to see what the successor(s) of the N800 will be capable of. However, between now and the next Internet Tablet launch, I'll be getting my hands on some high-end S60 phone/multimedia device. So come August 29th, I'll be all ears, eyes, and wallet for the latest and greatest from Nokia. Stay tuned for the highly reactive test results once NET9 gets some new "lab equipment" in.

UPDATE: I've been checking out the news and rumors about the Nokia N81 and after looking at the teaser site (several times) I think I see this device in my future. If my logic serves me correctly, there's a high probability that there are two hidden buttons on the face of that device (on each side of the speaker at the top of the phone) which will allow one to play games quite comfortably. I wondered why the device would be oriented in that strange way on the site...I think I understand now.

XOHM To Be Huge Deal In 2008

Sprint's new WiMAX service has a new name, XOHM. The "killer collabo" between Sprint, Google, and friends will definitely be a big deal next year. I'm not too sure about how I feel about the name, but the logo looks very cool. There's now a teaser site where you can check out the latest news about the upcoming service and sign up for email alerts for when it rolls out in your area. I can just hear the slogan already... "There's no place like XOHM"

Kagu: Another Great Media Player For Internet Tablets

One of the many awesome developments over the Nokia Internet Tablet genre's relatively short time on the market is the various media playback options. There's many to choose from, and adding to the selection is the recently released Kago Media Player, which works on both the 770 and N800. The player is still in early development stages at this point, but it already works quite well as a nice visual audio player. The python powered app scans for your music and even has an option to find album covers via the web, which are displayed quite logically in the player.

A couple of the unique features that sets this player apart from the rest is its A2DP and maemoscrobbler support. One feature I'd like to see in future releases is the ability to zoom in on album covers to take full advantage of the nice bright screen of the Internet Tablets. It's great to have so many quality applications like Kagu being built for the Maemo platform. It's as if there's been a surge in development recently which helps inspires the community to contribute that much more to the growth of the platform.

HTC Shift Is Awesome!

This is a really nice looking device from HTC. This has to be the best UMPC I've seen yet. Such a shame it took this long (and from a cell phone maker no less!) to get something I'd invest in. I love everything about the design, and the dual modes are very cool too. This is definitely the future of mobile tech, and HTC has outdone themselves with the Shift. Truly amazing device. I'll let the video from GottaBeMobile drop your jaws. I'm still picking mine up off of the floor.

Will They Form Voltron?

Nokia, Sprint, and Google seem to be preparing some sort of planetary alignment, ultimate collaboration, Captain Planet, Voltron solution with the recent moves they've been making. It's been known for some time that Nokia will have an update to the N800 with the addition of WiMAX connectivity, and Google wants to be the one to serve up the 700 MHz goodness to support WiMAX, who is teamed up with Sprint for the "big roll out". To complete the circle, Sprint is said to be set to offer the WiMAX enabled device sometime next year.

If this is some massive plan to push WiMAX to the max by the three giants, and it all works out, I'll put my money towards this very connectible new tablet. However, if the pieces don't appear to fall into place like they should, I might wait it out or look into other mobile offerings down the road. One thing's for certain, there's a lot of movement going on in the mobile arena and it may have something to do with the arrival of the iPhone, but it's still too soon to tell what will come of all this. All I know is it better be good or Voltron will disassemble.

iPhone Web Applications Work On Nokia Phones Just Fine

For Apple's iPhone to have such fierce competition from the likes of Nokia phones like the N95, it sure has a lot in common when it comes to the power of the web browser. With the Nokia Series 60 browser using the same code base as the iPhone's Mobile Safari browser, the applications made "exclusively for iPhone" aren't really that exclusive at all. This may not be a big deal (unless you're Apple), but it's bound to make developers that much happier to know their apps will reach more than just the massive number of iPhones out there. Ah, the spoils of war.