A ring to unite them all!

I was just sitting and watching something known as the television and as soon as the episode was up, it was back to my E75 just doing one of those random things we do on the internet, when we got nothing to do. I hit ‘Search’ and typed news, looking for nothing in particular, and Google News it was. After having read a few articles here and there on the happenings, I hit the Science and Technology section, there was an article on the N97 and below that another article on the N97 being a worthy contender to the iPhone. This article spoke a lot about a many things and it got me thinking. I thought it best to rant them out for you all to read.

The N97 comes at a point for Nokia when a lot of things have changed in the mobile industry. What seemed like a battle of only handsets and megapixels has slowly, with the advent of the iPhone escalated to something more. the iPhone has brought many features previously unknown to us, multi touch and phones were not used in the same sentence, UI – suddenly became a huge differentiator, materials became important.

Then came the rush to overturn the iPhone, Samsung, LG, HTC retaliated with a slew of devices, each claiming to be one up on the iPhone. Nokia trusted it’s flagship – the venerable N95, there were many video comparisons and countless blog posts about the two.

Then Google came not with a phone but with an Operating System and changed the rules of the game. Suddenly with the advent of Android, there were many foundations which were formed to take on the might of Android and Google’s marketing prowess. LiMo Foundation, and a few more, then Nokia decided to make Symbian an open source platform and created Symbian Foundation. In between all of this it is the ‘app store’ which became the next weapon to sharpen the divide between iPhone and the others. Soon every phone manufacturer had to have an app store or be looked down upon. Nokia, Samsung, Microsoft, Google, RIM – they all launched their ‘app stores’.

So what has changed in the last two years? Firstly, the UI has become extremely important to everyone. How easy is it to work with? What else can it do for me? These are the questions people are asking their dealers and the phone companies. The need for it to be Open Source has also never been louder!

Design which was the only thing is now of prime importance, since the physical object has to close the gap between the real life and the digital life. A candy bar, a clam shell, slider are just not enough… It has become increasingly important for manufacturers to give more in the same form and give new devices in new forms to their customers yesterday.

App Stores, an idea that many people thought of, but only one could exploit successfully. Even if you think the apps on iPhone don’t make sense and their tight controls on what goes out and not, it still remains a success story. Other companies also have their own versions of the same idea and you have some independent ones as well.

Internet, which was not so important a few years ago, is now suddenly something everybody (OK, a lot of people!) wants on their cell phone. Internet innovations have spilled over to phones, and there is an inherent need of having a mobile friendly version of it. People’s needs have evolved. They want to be able to do things with their cell phones on the internet. Share, explore, learn and be informed, they want it all.

Features, they were there earlier, but now are even more pronounced. The megapixel war has only escalated; entertainment features are a deal maker and breaker; hardware additions like WiFi, GPS, etc are a must for smartphones and feature phones. A rather nice development here is a rather large consensus for a few components like 3.5mm audio jack and USB in its many iterations. There’s more but I can recall only these off hand.

Environment, this suddenly is the topic that everyone is discussing. It is now an equally important feature for prospective customers. many of them want to know if their next purchase is going to be a power hog or a power saver. Being green was never so important!

With so many factors emerging and becoming powerful decision helpers many companies are taking up their positions. Each wants to be known for one particular feature that makes them better than their rivals. Every one is gunning for a niche category. Nokia being the biggest has clearly shown that it wants to be number one in them all. It can be also, but only when it can be better than Apple, Samsung, Android, Microsoft and many more combined. In the struggle to be this mammoth amongst giants from other areas, it has released the N97.

The N97 is in many ways like the ‘One’ ring in the movie “The Lord of the Rings”, with this device Nokia aims to rule them all. To what extent it will succeed is something only time will tell, simply because the churning has only just begun. The ring has just been forged. There is a lot more to come. So keep your ears to the ground!