N just another phone

MANILA, Philippines – I am not a TV-watching or picture-taking sort of person. But I do know a lot of other people who are.

So, when I am told that a new HD TV is available on the market chances are I will take a look at it, check out what it can do and maybe even ask the nice salesperson to change the channel that the TV is on in the store so I can watch a little more.

If there is a new camera, OK, a really innovative camera, I also give it a once over just so that I am in touch with what’s out there.

My affair with gadgets like these normally ends with an interesting conversation with the salesperson and a good scrutiny of the gadget.

Cellphones are different. For as long as I can remember I have always had a fondness for cellphones. I can still remember when I got my very first cellphone, a Nokia 5110, which, at the time, was the gadget to have. Pagers were on the wane — and a new age of communicating was on the rise. Today, there are all sorts of cellphones — just as there are all kinds of people.

I like to refer to this techie-gadget time as “the age of one-upmanship” — for gadget manufacturers, that is.

And how.

A trip to my fave haunts for gadgets always needs a whole day — a return the next day if that is doable. There are so many gadgets (cellphones, in particular) and so little free time.

Go ahead, shoot

It is easy for us to sometimes forget what cellphones were made for.

“Eight-megapixel camera, ang ganda pa ng video quality,” said my ever-reliable suki. “Eto, tingnan ninyo may video ako ng anak ko.”

I watch the video, and humor my suki more by commenting on how he is really good at taking videos — this leads him to show me his photos, too.

The reviews I had read on the Nokia N86 8MP mainly center on this new Finnish cellphone as being an imaging one.

With what I have seen so far, Nokia is certainly right. The N86 packs enough punch to impress a novice-forever photographer like me. I did ask a friend who is into photography though what she thought about the picture quality.

“It’s good. Better yet because it’s also a cellphone,” F added. “For starters the Nokia N86 has a wide-angle Carl Zeiss Tessar lens for panoramic pictures, shorter variable aperture for sharp photos in not too bright and low light conditions. The fast mechanical shutter ensures pictures with less motion blur while the dual LED camera flash is powerful enough for excellent photography and video capture.”

That’s a mouthful.

I took the N86 out for a test photo shoot with my canine companions (they never complain) and the camera of this cellphone also impressed me. Every detail of the metal-framed Nokia N86 8MP is designed with photography in mind. At least that’s the way it seems. Really, when you have internal memory of up to 4,000 images — what else is one to think?

My friend F added that like any high-end digital camera, the memory could be increased with an exchangeable microSD card. The device has a bright OLED screen with scratch-resistant hardened glass, easy photo management, full sync capability with a PC, and TV-out support for slide shows.

OK. I am convinced.

At the park in the village where we live, I coax my two puppy doggies Yuri and Cola to sit still as I am to shoot them. No can do. I wait till they are tired and then I shoot them with their tongues hanging out.

Cool, for someone like me who is a point-and-shoot sort of person. For a cellphone camera to work well with me it has to be really easy to use, and I mean really easy. I have no patience for fixing camera settings. The Nokia N86 is exactly that — easy.

I would show you the photos I took, but my doggies are shy and I need a few centuries of practice more before I put my photos out for display.

It’s also a cellphone

The N86 is a device along the smartphone bloodline. I remember Nokia general manager William Hamilton-Whyte saying often enough that Nokia — and the Nseries in particular — as being designed to be multimedia computer devices aimed at converging multimedia functionality and mobile phone into a single device.

“It is the future of cellphones,” said Hamilton-Whyte. “They are no longer devices for testing and calling — but they will become the way young people connect on their social networking sites.”

It was when the Nokia N95 came out that Nokia went to town with its cellphone/computer device in one. The N95 was such a good device that it became one of the most-liked and popular of Nokia devices, perhaps the most popular high-end device ever.

Although more and more cellphones have opted to go the touch-screen way, the Nokia N86 has not.

But that is not to say that the Nokia N86 is not a great phone. It is. And from what I have experienced, it is the new successor of the ever-famous Nokia N95.

The difference

The N86 uses AMOLED which makes for a brighter screen, increased color range, improved contrast ratio and reduced power usage.

The N86 is a little heavier than the N95. But the weight factor might add to the fact that the cellphone is more balanced when it is slid open.

It seems that Nokia, which has designed many sliders, has learned that for a slider to be any good, it’s got to be balanced so that it does not tip over when open. The N86 is great. It feels stable.

Of course, I like the minimalist look when the phone is slid shut — just a screen and six buttons, well spaced between each other.

The Ovi-ous choice

Nokia’s development of its Ovi software and services gets the best treatment with the N86. Ovi Maps, N-Gage, Nokia Messaging, Music Store are all pre-installed and offer a consistent and rich level of service experience that competing manufacturers will find difficult to match.

The N86 features the N-Gage games service. There are quite a few games to choose from and experiment with. The Nokia Messaging significantly improves the e-mail software compared to earlier S60 devices.  

I like…

The eight-megapixel camera is easy to set up and even easier to shoot with. Even better is that the N86 makes my not-too-professional shots good enough.

The N86 shuts firmly. In a bag like mine that is a must — lest I accidentally press the wrong buttons with the other stuff loaded in my bag.

The N86 has a classy look. I can take it anywhere and people give it a second, third, fourth look.

I was able to configure my e-mail quickly.

The calls I made were clear — that is, it was easy to hear who I was talking to and vice versa.

It was easy to text.

As we continue to move faster and faster into the age of communication — in all ways and possibilities, it is good to know that Nokia keeps its reputation of being easy to use — whether it be for texting and calling and then some more.

I love cellphones — and how.