Nokia talks Next Gen Arena

The screens give a good idea of how it will all work and I found that quite an interesting read. I also like how they use the N95 for a mock-up which hopefully means it gets a lot of support since this will be my next phone. It's always nice to know your phone will have a future as so many new ideas and features get thrown around and never come to fruition within the lifespan of your new phone. Looking forward to the launch in September.

Thank you very much!
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"so many new ideas and features get thrown around and never come to fruition within the lifespan of your new phone."

If you're buying a phone, or indeed any piece of electronics equipment, I wouldn't assume ANY future features unless the manufacturer *officially* states that they're on the way. Unofficial speculation doesn't count.

The only thing you're guaranteed to get from any device is what's listed on the box when you buy it.

The most exciting ideas you see on unofficial technology news sites tend to be things that don't enter actual production models for a long time, sometimes they never go into production.

For example the recent updates to the Symbian OS probably won't be seen in actual phones until the end of 2008.

Another example are fuel cells in phones, these were supposed to arrive some time in 2006 but we're not even close to getting them yet.

For any British readers, it's like "Tomorrow's World", by the time exciting innovations are implemented most people have forgotten about them! 😊

"hopefully means it gets a lot of support since this will be my next phone."

I'm not quite sure what you mean by support. If you buy any phone in Europe it will usually have a 1 or 2 year guarantee, which provides free repairs or replacement if it goes wrong.

What more do you expect from a manufacturer?

krisse wrote:What more do you expect from a manufacturer?

Its quite obvious that he expects what any other Nseries user would. He wants the upcoming Ngage NextGen platform to be supported by his phone. He would also want to be extra careful, not to spend money on a phone that may get obsolete by September 2007 when Next Gen comes out.

Thanks Hardeep1singh that is what I meant krisse. I was basically commenting on how I like that they have said the N-Gage Arena will support current N Series as well as new ones coming out.

I appreciate that I should not "assume ANY future features unless the manufacturer *officially* states that they're on the way".

That is why I am pleased that the N95 should see strong support by publishers because they had not officially said much until now on what devices the new games would run on. Seeing the picture demo of the N95 and reading the interview gave me renewed confidence.

I never EXPECT anything other than what is advertised, I was simply saying that it is nice when something which you think is far off being a reality comes true sooner than you think.

No-one likes obsolescence so I am very happy that a lot of this will happen in the N95's lifetime.

"That is why I am pleased that the N95 should see strong support by publishers because they had not officially said much until now on what devices the new games would run on."

But this illustrates my point exactly: Nokia STILL haven't said a single thing about which specific models these games will run on, either in the interview or anywhere else.

You've seen an N95 mockup illustration on an unofficial site talking about the games, and just assumed that this is an official statement from Nokia about the N95's compatibility. It isn't.

The only thing Nokia have ever officially said is that they will all be running S60 3rd Edition.

People take mockups to mean the final product, but this is exactly why I was trying to warn against assuming anything until they read an official press release from Nokia themselves. The first Next Gen mockups and demos appeared at E3 in May 2005 and were on phones like the 3230, 6630 and N70, but Nokia never actually said these phones would support next gen games, and now we know they won't because they're not S60 3rd Edition.

"He would also want to be extra careful, not to spend money on a phone that may get obsolete by September 2007 when Next Gen comes out."

There's no next gen in the sense of phone hardware, just next gen in the sense of game software. All S60 3rd Edition hardware could technically run most of these games, it's just marketing and ergonomics which will decide which models these games end up on. Some games will require on-board 3D hardware, but most games won't, and that's been officially stated by Nokia on their own site.

If you want to use these new games on an S60, you will have to wait until Nokia issues an official statement on which models will be compatible. They haven't confirmed any models at all yet, so there's no alternative to waiting.

We can take guesses. It seems likely that the N93 and N95 will be compatible as they have 3D hardware. It seems unlikely that Eseries will have games as they're marketed for business use. But those are just guesses, nothing is confirmed at all.

"Its quite obvious that he expects what any other Nseries user would. He wants the upcoming Ngage NextGen platform to be supported by his phone."

Nokia never actually said all Nseries models would support the platform, they just said that the platform would contain Nseries models.

All apples are fruit, but that doesn't mean that all fruit are apples.

"You've seen an N95 mockup illustration on an unofficial site talking about the games, and just assumed that this is an official statement from Nokia about the N95's compatibility. It isn't."

I NEVER assumed it was official. I read the article and know what it is and take it at face value. I said that it gave me confidence. The N95 is the flagship N Series model and it is not unreasonable to have hope in the N-Gage Arena supporting it. Other people believe this too hence the fact that there was a mock-up in the article.

The N95 is set to be a very popular phone right now for power users and longer down the line as the price gets easier to bear for regular users who will appreciate its functionality rather than need it.

That's a large customer base and Nokia isn't stupid. They won't shun the phone and choose to support other phones as it will leave a lot of people unhappy.

As Nokia stated, the technology is already out there to support the N-Gage Arena. Therefore, phones such as the N95 and N93 should be obvious choices for Nokia to promote the new initiative as they have the 3D power as well as 2D ability.

Anyway, I think that's the last I will say on this. All I said in my first post was that I liked the direction Nokia were going with this and hoped the N95 would be a prime candidate. I know nothing is official yet and I indeed referred to the image they used of the N95 in the interview as a mock-up so I was hardly saying this was a final product or that the interview was Nokia giving an official statement that the N95 was compatible. Though as aforementioned, it would be a foolish move if it wasn't.

So there's my final two cents. The N95 looks to be a great phone that builds on the other N Series models I have owned and I look forward to getting my hands on it next week and hope it has a good future and support from the new N-Gage initiative.

Unregistered, I'm really sorry I made assumptions about what you were saying. I should have read what you said more carefully. Apologies. 😞

A lot of people post on S60 boards with stuff like "I've bought an N93 for next gen games" and I just don't want to see anyone being disappointed if it turns out not to be the supported by next gen.

There's also been a lot of bad reporting of this, with many unofficial sites claiming it's the entire Nseries range, which isn't what Nokia said at all.

I wish Nokia would just confirm at least some one model out in the open, it would avoid all this speculation. They must have at least some models they're 100% sure are compatible by now, the platform is launching in six months time and it takes at least six months to make a next gen game.

No problem Krisse, I undertsand your frustrations - with both the uncertainty and lack of official word from Nokia and the fact that a lot of people make assumptions that their phone is going to support next gen.

btw its unregistered - I thought I would log in since I spend a lot of time here! lol.