Following on from the launch of the N85, Ewan mulls over the use of a consistent design language in the N81/N96/N85/N78. It may not be to everybody's taste, but he reckons that it'll help a lot in the High Street, with quicker recognition of the brand by potential purchasers.
Read on in the full article.
I agree in part with what you are saying, but I still think that the N96, N85 and N79 are too similar and too late to market.
With Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG all having announced 8 megapixel devices Nokia is in danger of losing the 'normal' customers it gained with the N95.
Personally I use an E71 as my main phone these days and a such don't care too much about the amount of megapixels, but for the the non-phone geek it is different, if Joe Bloggs down the pub or at work has 8 megapixels then they want it too.
No matter how good they are the N-Series is going to look very outdated in the advertising posters on shop windows with its 'lowly' 5 megapixels.
Joe Bloggs doesn't want to upgrade his phone to something that offers nothing new over his 18 month old N95.
While I agree that it's good that they build up a "N-series look brand", it would have been even better if I liked their design :tongue:
I like black, but the glossy plastic fingerprint magnet is no good and makes the phone look like a toy and I want a more "serious" looking phone. I'm not fond of the asymmetrical look either, thanks to the multimedia key(s).
The recently leaked Samsung i7710 pretty much looks as good as a phone can look as far as my taste is concerned. It's black and metallic and the keypad is symmetric and there are spaces between the keys, yet the keys are large enough to have text on them.
The E-series look also nice. A candybar with the hardware (N82 (xenon)) and services (N-Gage) of the N-series and the looks of the E-series (E51) would be wonderful.
Its still horrible to think that we all have to use same looking car,live in same looking house,have to eat same kind of food and drink same drink whatever is the reason behind!
Human being loves difference....boredom has started to creep in the NSeries design. Maybe
1. people at Nokia Corp is running out of ideas ( very unlikely)
2.they found an ultimate design which is impossible to surpass (at least for now)
3.they are leaving Nseries as such (quite some time!) and gathering their innovation in design for some future line up 😉
Its still horrible to think that we all have to use same looking car,live in same looking house,have to eat same kind of food and drink same drink whatever is the reason behind!
Bear in mind Ewan's only talking about Nseries.
Most of Nokia's devices aren't Nseries, but Eseries and numbered which have completely different design styles. If you compare the Nokia 5320 to the Nokia N81 for example, they have similar specifications (both S60, both 2mp cameras etc) but totally different appearances.
And of course Nokia's only 40% of the phone market, most people buy non-Nokia phones, so that adds even more variety.
re : all this Ford thing, if one really learned from history one would realise now why japanese's cars ( toyota) are now world's number one selling cars! Is Nokia going Ford's way or Toyota's?
Tzer2 wrote:Bear in mind Ewan's only talking about Nseries.Most of Nokia's devices aren't Nseries, but Eseries and numbered which have completely different design styles. If you compare the Nokia 5320 to the Nokia N81 for example, they have similar specifications (both S60, both 2mp cameras etc) but totally different appearances.
And of course Nokia's only 40% of the phone market, most people buy non-Nokia phones, so that adds even more variety.
But does that justify almost same design for every NSeries considering the importance Nokia supposedly give to their NSeries line up? Do the people who want to have an NSeries should look for other Nokia smartphone or better all together choose another manufacturer if they dont like the concept of "same looking " NSeries devices?
I dont think Nokia marketing people have this kind of arrogance that says " NSeries devices will look like same...if you like variety choose other smartphone or go to other manufacturer" !!
I do not agree with the fact that Nokia will standardize N series devices. This may be the design for 2009 for but not for N series all the way. They matured to N95 and then they built on that platform to come out with 96, 81, 85 and all. But they sure will come out with different design. There may not be many designs in one year but there surely will be different designs for different years.
I reckon.
Replacing 'Nseries' with 'RAZR' in your article, I realized that Motorola's product strategy in the last few years was pure genius! :sarcasm:
Design similarity of mobile phones is a mistake, and it's not even an original one.
I have to agree with Ashu. I think Nokia is trying to build a brand following by having easily recognizable phones. The LG's and Samsungs, are virutally indistinguishable. What makes the iPhone appealing is its unique, one of a kind design. Nokia is going this route as well and I hope that they are successfull.
@ratkat,
Can you tell the difference between a 3.2 or 5 or 8 mp image? No, and neither can most people. Higher megapixels are marketing hype. Many professional photographers shot with lower resolution and no one can tell the difference. Nokia is smart in keeping the cost down as larger or higher MP cameras tend to cost more. Another thing to consider is size. If an 8 mp camera is the same size as a 5 mp camera, then something is wrong as the 8 mp camera has to have a larger sensor, or they are using dithering techniques to let you think you are getting more when in reality, you aren't.
i disagree on d design front, d ppl who use high end nseries (n95 to be precise) just becoz of looks may not switch to n81 types becoz of similar looks of d newer models, also thrz nthn new for them in thz fones, same 5mp cam, same features, nthn ground breaking like d n95. thz users want somethn new to boast about, remember n series fans want looks too
sapporobaby wrote:@ratkat,
Can you tell the difference between a 3.2 or 5 or 8 mp image? No, and neither can most people. Higher megapixels are marketing hype. Many professional photographers shot with lower resolution and no one can tell the difference. Nokia is smart in keeping the cost down as larger or higher MP cameras tend to cost more. Another thing to consider is size. If an 8 mp camera is the same size as a 5 mp camera, then something is wrong as the 8 mp camera has to have a larger sensor, or they are using dithering techniques to let you think you are getting more when in reality, you aren't.
His point was that the masses will just see the spec - 8mp must be better than 5.
And camera mp has always been a big draw for phones, regardless of the resulting quality.
Khurram_8686, please can you not post in text speak? Would be much easier for the majority of the AAS readers to understand.
there are N80,N81,N82 and even the new N85 now,but i wonder where is "n83"?
4everskyline wrote:there are N80,N81,N82 and even the new N85 now,but i wonder where is "n83"?
Don't you wonder where N84 may be 😉
Unregistered wrote:Don't you wonder where N84 may be 😉
Nokia considers 4 as unlucky. Hence it never launches anything with 4 in it. Think about it - even in the number series phones there are phones right from 1xxx to 9xxx, except no phones exist with the 4xxx series.
Also worth noting is that the current symbian version released by nokia is 9.3 and the next is going to be 9.5. There will be no 9.4. 😊
On the design front, I personally would prefer variances. I would not like it if my GBP380 phone looks exactly / similar to a GBP150 phone. Sure my phone phone specs would be higher, but when people look at our phones, they don't know whose specs are higher. If I am spending good money, I want my phone to stand out - at 1st glance. I mean, how would you like it if your BMW looks like a Hyundai???
After all, variety is the spice of life...
Just to add on the lines of the Ford Focus example given - it is fine if Nokia launches a n81i or a n81lite or n81vx or something like that and offers it as variants of the n81 (like you primarily have the Ford Focus and you have variants in 2 door, engine, etc). But the moment the model number changes, the design has to change. Again, the design change need not be drastic, but it has to be distinctively different.
Ewan is spot on - I've been also frustrated by all the moaning about the N85 being the "N81 again" or "N81 is the template to all N Series now". N81 is not a template for anything. It just HAPPENED to be the first phone to come out with that design _language_ (I think what the hipster designers call it 😊). The design language of several models was in all likelihood decided at least 2 years ago (sure, details have changed).
And Malerocks, I am sorry but you are wrong. The N78, N81, N85, N96 design is not the same - its just similar to create an N-Series design series (btw, N79 is distinctly different already). Look at the current (or almost any historic) lineup of almost any car manufacturer: you can immediately tell "Ahh.. that's an Audi" or "that's WV" - A4 looks a lot like A6 or Jetta looks similar to the Passat.
And, as Ewan pointed out, its very common in electorics too. Look at camera line ups for example.
bartmanekul wrote:His point was that the masses will just see the spec - 8mp must be better than 5.And camera mp has always been a big draw for phones, regardless of the resulting quality.
Indeed to some extent that is true, but taken into account that the internet and other magazines have been constantly criticizing the Digital Cameras for the Megapixel race, I believe that most people would know about this issue already and therefore not just run and buy the phone with the most mpx on it.
That being said I do look at it myself, but I compare it again in terms of other specs.
Is it a smartphone? What other uses can I get from the phone?
(I usually almost use all my phones functions throughout a day, that being taking a picture, reading documents, listening to podcast / music, watch media clips and the list grows on. Then again I regard myself as a power user.)
malerocks wrote:There will never be a n84. Just as the n7x series is now complete with the announcement of the n79 and it is still missing a n74.Nokia considers 4 as unlucky. Hence it never launches anything with 4 in it. Think about it - even in the number series phones there are phones right from 1xxx to 9xxx, except no phones exist with the 4xxx series.
Also worth noting is that the current symbian version released by nokia is 9.3 and the next is going to be 9.5. There will be no 9.4. 😊
That was some nice observations, but I thought that Nokia was Finnish?
The number 4 which is considered to be unlucky is because of the pronunciation is similar to the word for death. (In fact both in Cantonese and Mandarin)
So as you can see this have arrived from Asian beliefs.
A bit strange really, but fun.
Interesting thought in this article.
Much of it which is also quite true.
To have an unified "language" is indeed what have been around for a long time.
Nokia have given N-series a similar design, while SE have been keeping the similar design throughout their W and K-series of phones which makes it both harder to distinct as well as not providing much new.
So fortunately Nokia haven't yet fallen into the traps that SE have been doing with their phones.
As long as they provide a new design for their other phone series that is fine by me.
Wampyre, the don't use it _because of the Asian beliefs_, not because Finns have started believing in it. We Finns all know (like most of "west"😉 that 13 is the real evil and unlucky number.. 😃
malerocks wrote:Also worth noting is that the current symbian version released by nokia is 9.3 and the next is going to be 9.5. There will be no 9.4. 😊
I read some interview some a while ago with some Symbian guy, and they just didn't announce it with a large bang cause it's such a minor update compared to 9.3.
Nah.
Nokia's design with these models is ultimately boring. Furthermore nothing new under the hood. :tongue:
I have few N8x and N9x series phones at my desk and hands, GPS feature is added after N80. That is all.
I have a N81 8gb and i'm planning to buy a N85. It really doesn't matter that they look same. As long as I remember, all motorolla phones looks exactly like each other. The same is for sonyericsson.
I agree, the consistent design language of the N series range is a good thing. I think it's worth pointing out that it looks like the N series design concept has been around longer than the N81. The two key features of the design are the gloss black front and all 4 sides being wrapped in silver. This silver edge first appeared in the menu icons on S60 3rd edition. Each icon had a consistent silver edge to it. This allowed each icon to be a completely different shape and colour but look consistent with the others. Obviously the direct comparison falls down with the n series having black fronts, but coloured back xpress-on covers of the N79 seem to show this idea again. I think the gloss black fronts are a way to reduce the components of the design (screen edges, printed buttons 3G camera), simplifying the phone as a recognisable object, like the iphone. The asymmetrical mulitmedia button is key, no other phone has this layout, and many if not all n series devices have asymmetrical labeling model labeling going all the way back to the N75. Glancing at the phone on a table you see the gloss black with the silver d-pad and multimedia key, hopefully recognising it as an n-series like you would with the large audi grill, or split bmw grill.