In the mobile phone world, the iPhone from Apple has definitely set the bar with regards to touch interfaces.  Apple, with their multi-touch capabilities, has set a new paradigm with regards to user interfaces and user experience on mobile handsets.  We have seen other players in the mobile industry try and replicate Apple’s success, but have come short.

Nokia has appeared to be a sleeping giant when it comes to touch interfaces.  Over the last year, we have seen the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 and the corresponding S60 5th Edition come to the market.  And now, the Nokia N97 is the flagship Nokia model with its large 3.5″ touch screen.

These two handsets have been modest entries into the touch market and it appears with recent announcements from the Finnish handset maker that they have finally embraced the touch user interface and are putting their engineering talent behind it.

The Nokia N900 Tablet

As discussed before, the Nokia N900 Tablet/Phone takes some of the best features of the Nokia N97 and marries them with the popular, yet niche, features of Nokia’s Internet Tablet line.  With the N900 we get the expendable Linux-based Maemo 5 operating system tied in with a 5Mp Camera with Carl Zeiss Lens, 3.5″ touch screen, 32GB of onboard storage and a slide-our keyboard.

If you watch the demo video provided by Nokia, you’ll see they’re featuring the touch interface front and center.  The N900 from Nokia is all about creating media and sharing it with those in your social circle online.

Nokia X6

The X6 is a brand new device category from Nokia.  This X6 device is made for media consumption with its 3.2″ screen.  It also features 32GB of onboard memory and a 5MP digital camera.

But, in a huge step for Nokia, the biggest news out of Nokia World (in my opinion), is the Nokia X6 features a capacitive touch screen.  Whereas the N97 and 5800 XpressMusic features a resistive touch screen that requires ample feedback to register a keystroke or tap, the X6 will be more user-friendly – like the iPhone which also features a capacitive screen.

With its advertised 35 hours of music playback and customizable homescreen, the X6 represents a new venture for Nokia in the touchscreen phone market.

What do you think? Do these new handsets excite you?  Or is Nokia just trying too hard and coming up short?

It is interesting to see all the changes that are occurring in the handset market.  The iPhone’s effect is starting to ripple and its time for other innovators to start showing us their stuff.  Does Nokia have any chops?  You tell me.

When looking at the mobile markets in the US and most parts of the world, there has been one major glaring difference.  Whereas most consumers outside the United States utilize mobile service on a pre-paid or contract free basis, we in the United States have operated under under a post-paid model.  That is, in the US, we prefer to be under extended contracts and service agreements with mobile network operators.

If activity in the blogosphere and pre-paid mobile network operator financial results are indication, this tide might be changing. Whether caused by growing disdain for high monthly cellular service costs, the sagging economy, or a combination of the two, more Americans are turning to pre-paid and contract-free mobile phone service.

What does the pre-paid market offer us here in the U.S.?  For the most part, prepaid customers enjoy a flat monthly fee for unlimited minutes, texts, and mobile web access.  For example, Cricket offers a plan for $40/month that includes unlimited services for those who subscribe to it.  The other major players in the pre-paid US market include Boost Mobile, Virgin America, and MetroPCS.

For comparison, if you were to sign up with one of the major dominant players in the US market such as AT&T or Verizon Wireless, you’d be looking at around $130-$150 for unlimited services.  Granted, those who sign up for Cricket or MetroPCS don’t have the broad nationwide network that T-Mobile, AT&T or Sprint offer, but customers who choose these lower cost carriers rarely travel outside of the geographic area served by them.  Although, these customers can buy reasonably priced roaming service when they need to travel out of their home areas.

Recently, some prominent bloggers have been attracted to the pre-paid market, including GigaOM’s Stacey Higginbotham.  Aside from Stacey, Cricket and the other carriers are attracting those who want simplicity in their monthly bills and are driven to save money on their wireless bills.  Apparently these folks are not alone – as Virgin Mobile reported today that they recently had a record breaking quarter, hot off the heels of coming out with a $49.99 unlimited plan.

Also, for those looking for mobile data access, Cricket offers a mobile EVDO data service for $40/month.  This is 1/3 less than similar service offered by Verizon Wireless and Sprint.  Also, Cricket’s data service comes contract free, unlike their bigger competitors that demand a 24 month contract for their over-priced data service.

As you can see, pre-paid has a high degree of upward growth potential as US customers evaluate their monthly expenses and realize they’re paying too much for mobile phone access.

(photo credit: Flickr user playerx)

As a US-based mobile nut, I’m always looking abroad to Europe and Asia to see what’s coming in the mobile industry.  For some reason, it seems that with mobile hardware, software, and web services, many innovations hit Asia and Europe before coming to North American shores.  I think it has to do with regulatory environments and also culture.

This “grass is always greener” mentality hit me like a freight train yesterday when I saw a post from Taptu friend Ewan over at Mobile Industry Review.  Basically, Ewan pointed out that 3, a UK mobile phone carrier, is offering the brand new Nokia N97 for free in exchange for customers signing an 18 month contract and a mere £35/month (that’s roughly $58 US dollars for my fellow yanks) tariff!

In exchange for your £35/month, you get 300 mobile minutes.  Add on another £5, and 3 will throw in unlimited data.

This is really an awesome deal, from a US perspective.  If this a similar offering were made available by AT&T in the States, the handset would probably cost $300 or $400 up front, and you’d have to have a voice and data package that would be roughly $100/month; all with a 2-year agreement versus 3’s 18-month.   Note: I’m using the iPhone 3GS handset cost and monthly plan costs as a comparison.

Right now in the United States, no carrier is offering to subsidize the Nokia N97, meaning potential customers will pay the full $700 handset cost plus around $100/month to AT&T for voice/data services.

And don’t even get me started on how spotty AT&T’s voice and data network is here in the States.  I know from friends that 3G speeds in the UK leave AT&T in the dust.

My point is this: competition in the mobile market is a good thing that benefits all mobile services consumers.  3, in an effort to stand out, is giving a pretty sweet offer for customers who want to purchase top of the line handsets like the Nokia N97.  Unfortunately here in the U.S., we only have two GSM carriers, leaving a void in terms of competition and therefore making our mobile landscape less attractive.

What’s the view like from the other side of the pond?  How do you view the US mobile market?  I look forward to being educated.

It’s a big milestone for the mobile internet – At the beginning of this month, Vodafone announced some new consumer tariff plans in the UK market which include 500 MB of flat rate mobile internet access. Previously, mobile internet access was charged at a significant monthly premium. Now it’s included “free” in the standard tariff plan.

Don’t get too carried away with Vodafone’s spin on this. Vodafone users aren’t going to be queueing up to change their existing tariffs just yet. Compare the minutes and texts between these new “Vodafone best-ever value tariffs” and “Vodafone’s most popular price plans” on their UK website.

Vodafone’s “best-ever value” tariffs

Vodafone’s “most popular” price plans

I do think that this is exactly the sort of simplification step that is required to open up the mobile internet for the mass market. Mobile internet pricing has been enormously complicated and confusing for users. People are scared that if they use the mobile internet they’ll get hit with big unforeseen bills – even when they have flat rate tariffs, as one Vodafone UK user with a flat rate data card connection found out when he went to Germany and accidentally downloaded a whole episode of Friends that his wife had previously set running on his laptop in the UK – the world’s most expensive premium download at £11,000 or $22,000USD.

Mobile internet has a bright future ahead of it when operators include a big flat rate chunk of data as a standard feature of mainstream consumer contract tariffs. We are going to see a lot more of this kind of pricing in the US and in Western European markets where there is enough 3.5G infrastructure installed to enable it.

Fascinating comparison from Nigel Bannister at Leicester University (via ShinyShiny)

Text messaging costs four times as much as receiving information from Nasa’s Hubble Space Telescope.

It cost £85 to obtain a megabyte of data from Hubble, 595km (370 miles) from Earth, as opposed to sending a 5p text, which works out at about £375 per megabyte.

Scientist Nigel Bannister, of Leicester University, said: ‘Hubble is by no means a cheap mission – but the mobile phone text costs were pretty astronomical.’

If you’re a heavy texter, it’s worth investigating a variety of tariffs to find the one that suits you best. And no matter whether you’re more of a voice, SMS or web user, remember to check every so often with your operator to find out whether you’re able to change your deal – without necessarily increasing your tariff.

For example, as we’ve mentioned before, Vodafone has added 500MB of free data to all pay monthly contracts but, if you’re an existing customer, you need to call to get this added to your current deal, as your operator cannot change terms and conditions of your contract without your approval. So what are you waiting for? Call your operator and see if you can get a deal that suits you better.

Meanwhile, if you’re not interested in browsing, but just want the ultimate el cheapo phone, how about a phone for £13 (that’s $25 USD!) on pay as you go. Not a bad phone to have around, that way you won’t shed a tear when it meets a watery grave in a pint of beer this Summer!