Darla reports on Nokia's apparent plans to create 'Internet editions' of the N70, N73 and N93 - in Asia. I can't quite see the point, given that all these devices are fully Internet-ready as-is. I guess it comes down to marketing and fitting in with local data rates/tariffs.
Read on in the full article.
There's a whole new world out there, people who've never used symbian, so they don't know the true potential of this platform. They seriously have a perception that one cellphone can't do everything. Nokia is simply cashing in on them by simply branding the same phones as music, internet, sports and gaming phones. Once those users start using their smartphones only then they realize that even the age old 3650 can match up to an n93 on some fronts. Although the latter one is much more advanced but both of them have same symbian DNA, so whether its using ur cellphone as a music player or surfing the internet. Its actually Symbian that makes it happen, not the edition.
Yes, I agree fully with Hardeep1singh, this is a question of getting people to notice that modern smartphones can be used as proper music players, internet browsers, game consoles, video cameras, sports pedometers etc. This labelling is aimed at people new to smartphones, not those who are already enthusiasts, because enthusiasts already know that all smartphone models let you use music, video, games, the internet etc.
Nokia tried to make specialised models when the first smartphones launched, but it's only now that the hardware is actually good enough to compete with separate equipment (for example the storage capacity of older smartphones was far too small and the software far too slow to threaten the iPod), so the time is now right to actually market smartphones to the same people that separate devices are marketed.
By labelling smartphones with particular tasks, it means people used to buying feature phones or separate devices will have a reason to look at smartphones, because that's how they're used to choosing a phone. Once they buy a smartphone a certain percentage will notice that they can add even more functions by buying the appropriate software, and the smartphone ecosystem will grow. Hopefully Nokia will include gateway applications to download new software embedded in the phone so a greater percentage of new users realise what their phone is capable of.
One could similarly compare the specific brandings of W950 (Walkman) and M600 (Messaging/Email) drawing from the P990.