Nokia N93 - ask any questions and I'll (try to) answer

Questions:

1 - It has vibracall?

2 - Video quality - replace a dedicated video camera? Like a mid range Sony or Cannon? It�s subjective, I know, but is the main propose of a device like that.

3 - In real work, what about battery life?

Thanks.

nj7

1. Yes the N93 includes a vibrate function.

2. Thats very difficult to say as I don't own such a camera. However this is eminently watchable on the TV, so I would say yes at least for the low end.

3. Bit early to say but it does have a reasonably big battery so we'll see.

Perhaps this is more of a Symbian question than a N93 question, but I'll ask anyway: I have a Wifi network at home, and when I'm not at home, I'll use 3G/GPRS. Is it tedious switching between the two?

I'm currently using a PDA (a Sony Clie PalmOS UX-50), and it has Wifi and bluetooth. I use bluetooth to connect it to my phone, so that the PDA can access the internet. But on this PDA, you have to launch the preferences app, switch to the Network tab, and then switch between Wifi and bluetooth. Very tedious in the long run. Is this simpler on the N93?

When my PDA needs to connect, it asks "Connect now?" and I can choose between "Yes" and "No". It would be better if I instead could choose "Yes, with Wifi", "Yes, with bluethooth" or "No". Does it work something like that on the N93?

Whoa. That's a really long-winded way of asking a simple question. I'll shut up now.

Yes that is a general S60 3rd Edition question. The answer in the case of Nseries devices is that it is fairly simple. In each application that uses an internet connection (Access Point) you can set the access point to be used in Settings. You can either set this to a specific access point or you can set it always ask. In the case of always ask when the application needs a connection it will pop up a dialog asking which connection to use. You can choose from your GPRS Access Points, Your predefined WLAN Access Points (basically known WiFi points you commonly use and can set up in the Settings program) and EasyWLAN which allows you to scan for WiFi networks and sign on to one (useful when using one in the airport for example).

This access point setting is set on an application by application basis. Personally I have some set to my gprs access point (e.g. ones I never use at home or which use very little data), some set to WiFi only (e.g. Real Player streaming), and most (mail, Web) set to Always Ask.

N93 Full review.......how soon til it appears on the smartphone show?

Cant wait to get this phone........it's so cooooool!😊

What is the text input method of the device, obviously it doesn't have a dedicated keyboard for text input.

Cheers,
dovale

I was wondering what the connector type is for the TV out... Not the pop-port connector (I assume thats where the phone outputs signal), but the connector that goes into the TV. Is it some strange alien type that no one will have, or is it something like s-video, or RCA? Because its Nokia, I worry a little 😊

Composite RCA connectors (3 pieces), perfectly standard 😊

Text input is via the numeric keypad/predictive text or Bluetooth keyboard - as usual 8-)

My (black) N93 will be in Smartphones Show 13, being filmed in about a week's time. The E70 review's coming up on Monday, the N93 one (hopefully) on Friday. You'll have to be patient, there's so much that's new on the N93 that it'll take us that long to find out its quirks!!

Steve Litchfield

My (black) N93 will be in Smartphones Show 13, being filmed in about a week's time. The E70 review's coming up on Monday, the N93 one (hopefully) on Friday. You'll have to be patient, there's so much that's new on the N93 that it'll take us that long to find out its quirks!!

That's great Steve.......looking forward to seing it 😊

Is the N93 capable of playing back videos in slow motion?

I practice fencing. It would be very useful to be able to film practice matches and then review them immediately afterwards, discussing with other fencers what you did right and what you did wrong. But it would be difficult to see what actually happens unless you can play the video back in slow motion, especially on the small screen.

dovale - text input is via numeric keypad either via multitap or via T9, and yes the TV cables are standard connectors.

Enfors - you can't play the video back in slow motion in Real Player (as on other S60 phones). You can pause the video repeatedly (on/off/on/off) which does allow you to 'watch' the frames more slowly or study a particular one.

Well, I am sorry, but I am not very impressed with the video - given the hype about the phone we have heard.

The dynamic range does not look to be great, but then it is a very difficult motive you have chosen, a very dark dog, front in the shadow, and the background in bright sunlight. I am probably spoiled with a 3CCD Sony VX2000 Camcorder and a Canon EOS 20D DSLR though.

Also I felt that the grass and especially plants in the far left of the picture as the dog runs away looks washed out with little details. There is also visible blocks around the dog as it moves. Hardly suprising. Perhaps Nokia has chosen to compress to much to save memory space at the expense of quality

It is clearly close to or equal to my wifes cheap Sharp Digicam, so it can replace that type of device, but not a high end system. Problem is, once you use such a system it is very hard to go back.

For most of the people who watch what I record, I doubt they will find the same issues.

Still, I might get one of those, finances permitting, when you look at the TV output capability and everything else, it is an impressive package

Regards
Michael

I am probably spoiled with a 3CCD Sony VX2000 Camcorder and a Canon EOS 20D DSLR though.

I think you are spoiled a bit 😊, however for most punters who want a half decent camera/camcorder, the N93 with it's 3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, 3x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30 fps) has a great deal to offer as an all in one low cost multi-media device. :icon14:

Yes it's really a bit early to judge the video from my perspective. I didn't have a great deal of choice and you're right to say that a black dog on a sunnay day is a rather nasty combination. We'll make sure there some more generic video examples for the review. To be honest until you use it yourself these things are very hard to judge. However it is the best video I've personally captured from a smartphone, but then I've seen excellent results that others have taken with the N90 / N70 etc. Its important to realise the operator is an important component!

I think with these types of converged device its not necessairly aimed at those who buy mid to high range camera / video recorders, but rather people who might liek tto have the function or who have a low quality one. The always with you element is not to be under estimated either.

bodstrup wrote:Well, I am sorry, but I am not very impressed with the video - given the hype about the phone we have heard.

The dynamic range does not look to be great, but then it is a very difficult motive you have chosen, a very dark dog, front in the shadow, and the background in bright sunlight. I am probably spoiled with a 3CCD Sony VX2000 Camcorder and a Canon EOS 20D DSLR though.

Also I felt that the grass and especially plants in the far left of the picture as the dog runs away looks washed out with little details. There is also visible blocks around the dog as it moves. Hardly suprising. Perhaps Nokia has chosen to compress to much to save memory space at the expense of quality

It is clearly close to or equal to my wifes cheap Sharp Digicam, so it can replace that type of device, but not a high end system. Problem is, once you use such a system it is very hard to go back

Thanks Rafe for the recent infomation, which has been eagly awaited.

I've a few questions which i hope you could help me with :-

1 - i believe the phone is the first to incorporate a 3d graphics accellerator - do we have a list of launch games that will be either included or purchasable once the phone is released ?

2 - I appreceiate you've only had your 93 a few days, any indication on battery life ? - there have been far too many complaints around Nokia's inability to produce decent "long life" battery's. (The N80 is a fine example)

3 - What network's are you testing the unit on ?

4 - Release date - Given you've posted information on here and the support info is available on Nokia's website, would indicate, the phone is "shortly" due for release. I work in the City of London, near a large Carphonewarehouse, who have indicated the unit was due to be delivered on Tuesday 25th. Another member now says it's been pushed back to Aug and another to September. Do you have any reliable release dates ? and, any reason why they are kept in a cloud of secrecy ?

Finally can you post a couple of screen shots of System Rush Evolution shown on a Tv screen ?

Thanks, and regards,

Mark

--1 - i believe the phone is the first to incorporate a 3d graphics accellerator - do we have a list of launch games that will be either included or purchasable once the phone is released ?--

At E3 2006 Nokia and many of their partners said the games service wouldn't launch until the beginning of 2007. The E3 Nokia N-Gage site includes a video of the N93 running "One: Who's Next", the sequel to the N-Gage game One:

http://pandora.luxus.fi/e3blog/e3_06/video/ca8f384610fe4875b70266c2120b9e49.swf.aspx

They'd made a special section of the One game so it could run on the N93 in landscape mode (and presumably future landscape-capable phones).

You can also find details of other next gen first party Nokia games on the site:

http://www.n-gage.com/e3/

--2 - I appreceiate you've only had your 93 a few days, any indication on battery life ? - there have been far too many complaints around Nokia's inability to produce decent "long life" battery's. (The N80 is a fine example)--

This is a general problem with smartphones, it's not just Nokia, they drain power faster than normal phones because they're having to run a powerful computer as well as doing all their phone duties. Some smartphones do have a good battery life but they usually either have a huge battery (e.g. the E61) or they have less impressive features.

--Given you've posted information on here and the support info is available on Nokia's website, would indicate, the phone is "shortly" due for release. I work in the City of London, near a large Carphonewarehouse, who have indicated the unit was due to be delivered on Tuesday 25th. Another member now says it's been pushed back to Aug and another to September. Do you have any reliable release dates ?--

You'll probably be able to get it sim-free most quickly, because that just involves Nokia shipping it from factories to retailers, there's no operator to deal with. Retail chains like Carphone Warehouse tend to sell more network-based phones than sim-free ones, so if it does get pushed back there it might be because the phone networks offering it need time to process it.

--and, any reason why they are kept in a cloud of secrecy ?--

As far as I know release dates in the electronics industry in general are normally kept secret because they tend to move about a lot. They obviously have a date in mind all along, but if they announce it straight away there's a good chance they'll have to issue a correction a short while later, and then another, and then another. It's best to only say a launch date when you're pretty sure about it, it avoids disappointment and confusion, so if they're keeping a date secret it implies they're still not sure themselves when it'll launch.

Just as an example, one spectacular error recently was Sony who unveiled a huge banner in 2005 saying that the PlayStation 3 would launch in Spring 2006. Of course spring has come and gone, and still no PS3, because the new launch date is November 2006. I think I prefer the "keep it secret until we're sure" approach.

--Finally can you post a couple of screen shots of System Rush Evolution shown on a Tv screen ?--

Yes, I'd love to see that too! 😊

so tired of hearing when the n93 is coming out.do you have any positive answer ?????:con?

will the tv out cable provided work with other phones? if yes then which ones.

Hmmm, that video footage looks HORRIBLY compressed. The image itself looks fine to me but if that is the only compression setting available then I think it is going to ruin the device for me. I appreciate it isn't meant to be a video camera but if it can't achieve even a semblance of respectability then you are just left with a large phone which is large for a function you never use.

Hopefully it can be improved after you have played with it. BTW, why 30 fps, surely 25 fps would make your life easier if you ever wanted to convert it to MPEG2 for DVD use. Lowering the fps might improve the compression?

EDIT - watching again the compression is only really obviously in the very bright areas of the image, I wonder why?

Rafe, were you capturing with image stabilisation turned on or off?

Steve

Well the Firmwareissues are also not nice there are quit many also on Older Phones so you can run many Times to NSC to Update the Phone.
Code:
http://hunajatehdas.net/nokia/firmware/index_en.php?model=
FOTA is currently not available only on Future SymbianOS 9.2 9.3 Phones
i guess. So Sony USB Firmware Updates are quit more Userfriendly as the Current Nokia Phones for Updateing.

So i wish to have a detailed Review about the Batterylifetime of this Phone before i buy under extensive Using Conditions.
1100mAh are many but for what in can use a quiet interessing Overfeatured Phone when the Batterylifetime isnt High enough to Use
the Video and Photofeature especially long.

And you cant turn the WLAN Subsystem fully off only non WLAN Seeking
so this WLAN Chip also consumes Power when it isnt in Use .

So the Review should the Batterylifetimes very detailed that would be nice to have to make a buying Decision.

The quality of that photo is very nice but you seem to get a noticable amount of radial blur around the corners and far edges which is a bit of a pain...

fmlad2002 wrote:1 - i believe the phone is the first to incorporate a 3d graphics accellerator - do we have a list of launch games that will be either included or purchasable once the phone is released ?

fmlad2002 wrote:2 - I appreceiate you've only had your 93 a few days, any indication on battery life ? - there have been far too many complaints around Nokia's inability to produce decent "long life" battery's. (The N80 is a fine example)

Difficult to say. It really depends what you do with it. My intial impression is quite good. But I'll try and be more specific later on.

fmlad2002 wrote:3 - What network's are you testing the unit on ?

I'm / will be testing it on O2 and Orange.

fmlad2002 wrote:4 - Release date - Given you've posted information on here and the support info is available on Nokia's website, would indicate, the phone is "shortly" due for release. I work in the City of London, near a large Carphonewarehouse, who have indicated the unit was due to be delivered on Tuesday 25th. Another member now says it's been pushed back to Aug and another to September. Do you have any reliable release dates ? and, any reason why they are kept in a cloud of secrecy ?

The device is likely to be available in mid August. However it varies a great deal from market to market and there's no rule as to where it comes out first. A lot of this is dependent on which networks choose a handset and how long it takes to get through the QA process. Even for SIM free handsets there's no way to besure where it will be available first

fmlad2002 wrote:Finally can you post a couple of screen shots of System Rush Evolution shown on a Tv screen ?

I'll make some of these and post it in due course.

zainman wrote:will the tv out cable provided work with other phones? if yes then which ones.

The TV cable only works with the Nokia N93.

Dr, Who? wrote:Hmmm, that video footage looks HORRIBLY compressed. The image itself looks fine to me but if that is the only compression setting available then I think it is going to ruin the device for me. I appreciate it isn't meant to be a video camera but if it can't achieve even a semblance of respectability then you are just left with a large phone which is large for a function you never use.

Hopefully it can be improved after you have played with it. BTW, why 30 fps, surely 25 fps would make your life easier if you ever wanted to convert it to MPEG2 for DVD use. Lowering the fps might improve the compression?

EDIT - watching again the compression is only really obviously in the very bright areas of the image, I wonder why?

You can change the frame rate and quality settings although these aren't that flexible. I'll take some more videos when I have something interesting to video. The one posted was taken on a very sunny day with the default settings. Video stabalisation was turned off.

No idea why 30 fps was chosen!

Hase1 wrote:
So the Review should the Batterylifetimes very detailed that would be nice to have to make a buying Decision.

Will do our best. However everyone will have a different experience dependent on their usage conditions / location etc.

elaverick wrote:The quality of that photo is very nice but you seem to get a noticable amount of radial blur around the corners and far edges which is a bit of a pain...

Yes I noticed that. I'll upload some more pictures later. I think it may be more obvious in that picture because of the lighting conditions. I've been taking some close ups and been quite impressed. For those with a N90 you'll find the N93 better, but there's not a lot in it image wise. However the extra pixel count does mean resampled pictures may look a bit better. The optical zoom means it is easier to capture the picture you want too.