Despite Nokia’s decline in recent years, I’ve secretly been rooting for it, especially when I read Stephen Elop’s burning platform memo. I really wanted to see it pull through it all and regain market share. Stories about winning against all odds are always entertaining and inspiring, after all.

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to check out the upcoming Nokia N9.

The Nokia N9 comes in 3 colors: Black, Cyan and Magenta

Does it make me wanna throw away my Nexus S? Almost.

But I have a feeling the goal of this phone isn’t only about raking in the sales. It represents much more — it’s a strong testament that Nokia is able to turnaround and innovate in less than a year. It is a signal to its believers, employees, customers, investors that Nokia still has what it takes — the cojones, no, the sisu — to regain its place as a dominant player.

What I Liked

I absolutely love this phone. It only took me half an hour to figure out where most things are. The Swipe interface is surprisingly intuitive and the phone is very fast! It’s evident that a lot of attention has been paid to user interaction and experience. As a design snob, I especially love the new Nokia Pure font.

Ovi Mail showing off the new Nokia Pure font

Simple User Experience

There are only 3 homescreens: Applications, Opened Applications and Events. That’s really all a user needs, and they are all accessible a swipe away.

(left to right) Standby screen, Applications screen, Events screen. Open Applications screen not pictured above

Seamlessly Designed Hardware

The whole phone is made of a piece of polycarbonate. It’s light yet it looks durable. The screen is made of gorilla glass, so it should be scratch resistant too. And check out the picture below. I’m so amazed at how much effort they spent on the little details. The N9 even has a little clasp that covers the not-so-sexy-looking micro-USB port.

The cute little clasp hiding the Micro USB port

Gorgeous Screen

The screen is so clear that it feels that you’re touching the icons directly. It’s really quite amazing. It’s definitely a cut above the super AMOLED screens I’ve seen so far.

The amazing “floating screen”

Friendly Keyboard

The keyboard is definitely better than Android’s default keyboard. I was chatting with a friend via Skype for 15 mins. I didn’t have to struggle through it like I would with my Nexus S (without Swype). And I had no persistent autocorrect to contend with (à la iPhone). I actually really enjoyed my chat and I could keep up with my friend who was using a PC.

Start of my Skype chat on the N9

Beautiful Maps

As usual, Ovi Maps never fails to wow. It’s the pride and joy of the Ovi suite of apps.

Ovi Map on the Nokia N9

What I Didn’t Like

Not Future-Proof

This is the first and last Meego-powered phone. I’m not sure how long Nokia plans to support the phone. There will not likely be many future major updates to look forward to, and I doubt there’ll be many apps too, since developers wouldn’t waste their time on a soon-to-be retired platform. This, to me, is the N9′s biggest downfall and really, the only thing that prevents me from rushing to Nokia’s store for an N9. Phones are all about the ecosystem today.

Heating Issues

I’m not sure if it’s because what I played with was a prototype, but it does get quite hot in the top left hand corner of the phone after some use.

Closed NFC Ecosystem

The N9 is NFC-enabled, so you can broadcast your playlist with a tap on the Nokia Play 360° speakers, share files and unlock Angry Bird stages with a tap to other Nokia NFC-enabled phones. All this doesn’t work with other NFC-enabled devices like my Nexus S. I’d really like to see NFC take off as an industry standard. I think it’ll help us all save time and simplify technology, so this kind of closed ecosystem mentality gets minus points from me.

With that said, I still think this is a fantastic phone. The N9 has done a phenomenal job convincing me that Nokia is walking in the right direction in terms of product design and user experience. I hope these ideas will translate in their Windows-powered devices in the future. I’m so excited to see where Nokia’s revived sisu will take them!

Oh and if you’re in Singapore, it’s S$799 for the 16GB variant and S$899 for the 64GB. These are out-of-contract prices. We’ll have to wait until it launches “in a few weeks” to find out what the telco subsidized prices are. It’ll be available at all 3 telcos.

September 20, 2011 Update:
Nokia has kindly issued a clarification on several points in my review. Their comments below:

• The Nokia N9 and Nokia Play 360° Speakers are built in line with industry standards. The connectivity of these devices with other non-Nokia devices is dependent on the NFC capabilities of the other devices, their compliance to industry standards and other factors unique to other brands.
• Firmware updates for the Nokia N9 will be released in due course if and when required.

Related posts:

1. I got my hands on a Nexus One!
2. My History with Cell Phones!
3. Review: LG Viewty KU990R

01. Human Japanese

Learn Japanese for under $10
Human Japanese is the most expensive app I’ve ever purchased and it is worth every single penny. The interface is absolutely gorgeous and very intuitive. The lessons are easy to understand and are interactive with audio and quizzes. Although, it is a little bit unnecessarily wordy. 9.99 USD might sound expensive for an app but think about it this way: can you buy a kick-ass beginners Japanese language textbook for 9.99 USD? Nope, didn’t so.

Excerpt from the Hiragana chapter

Vocab Quiz

02. Akinator

Impress your friends with your own genie
Akinator is a mystical genie who can guess who you’re thinking about just by asking a few questions. There’s a free web version at akinator.com so I’m not sure if I would pay USD 1.99 to upgrade from the lite version, which gives users 5 tries. Nevertheless, a very cool app to kill time and impress your friends with.

Question asking stage on the Akinator

Search result on the Akinator

If you manage to defeat the Akinator with an impossible-to-guess character, this is what the genie looks like. (In case you’re wondering, I was thinking about 藤田 玲司 Fujita Reiji, the protagonist from an obscure seinen anime called Gallery Fake.)

03. Instafetch

Every commuter’s best friend
I take the subway to work and back everyday. Unfortunately, the data connection on my subway line is fairly slow. So Instafetch has been very useful. I just save articles that are usually too long to read during my work breaks to Instapaper.com. Instafetch will then sync with Instapaper and download the article content. While the app’s got a fairly basic UI, the text is presented in a very readable serif font a la the New York Times app.

Instafetch Dashboard

Downloaded Article from Instafetch

04. Foodspotting

Foursquare for foodies
This app detects your location and shows you food and beverages that other users have recommended in the vicinity. I’m usually not a fan of location-based apps (because I have my doubts on check-ins) but this is actually pretty nifty. Pity the app is still fairly bare bone and has some stability issues. Nevertheless, there’s tremendous potential for this app to flourish — especially in a country full of mad foodies like Singapore.

05. Package Buddy

Obsessively track your online shopping hauls
While the enigma of not knowing when your package will arrive is exciting for some, control freaks like me prefer to know exactly where the fruits of my online shopping spree has been and when it’ll arrive. This app saves me a lot obsessive refreshing on the unfortunate courier’s website. Package Buddy can be set to auto update and notify you on your packages’ latest whereabouts.

Well, I hope you found some interesting apps in this entry. I know I’m terrible at keeping my blog updated, but I do hope to make this a series of entries.

So please do share your favorite apps in the comments!

If you’re an app developer, feel free to email me with your product details. It I think it’s great, I’ll be sure to give it the coverage it deserves!

Related posts:

1. Taking Screenshots on the Android-powered Nexus S
2. Which Part of the World Should I Live In?
3. Chinese Condoms and Favorite Animal

Ever since I got my hands on the Nexus One back in April 2010, I’ve been waiting for the day I would own a phone from the Nexus family. I went through hell and back to get it, since it’s not readily available in my country (yet). Thanks to my Twitter network and this amazing gentleman, I became a Nexus S owner.

What’s so good about the Nexus S?

Firstly? Speed. Specs-wise, this phone is nothing revolutionary. It’s similar to the Samsung Galaxy S and other high-end Androids like the HTC Desire HD. However, there is a marked speed difference. Reason? It’s Pure Google. This means it’s the pure Android operating system. There’s no HTC Sense or Motorola’s Motoblur or Sony Ericsson’s Sense UI to contend with or slow down the system. While these UI have prettier interfaces and are sometimes more functional, users are usually held ransom by manufacturers for the latest Android OS updates.

When I used the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 (before it was stolen), I was grudgingly using Android 1.6, while the world had already upgraded to Android 2.1 or 2.2. That meant I couldn’t download many apps or have access to the latest features. It was a really frustrating position to be in — especially since the Xperia was considered a high-end smartphone.

What’s not so great about the Nexus S?

Having the latest Android is a little bit of a double-edged sword. While it means you are always first with the latest and greatest features, it also means you’re a sort of a guinea pig. I haven’t spent much time with the phone yet, but I’ve already found some bugs in the Android 2.3.1 update. Here’s just a few:

• It can’t change “My Number” stored in the SIM card
• It’s not using the specified contact ringtones
• Sometimes, forms can’t be filled out

I’ve heard there are more serious bugs like sending a message to an unintended recipient, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take for the sake of speed and being free from manufacturers’ terribly slow — or non-existent — OS update timeline.

More Nexus S Photos

Feast your eyes on every Android geek’s current wet dream.

Google Nexus S’ curved screen

Samsung Galaxy S vs Nexus S Photos

Here’s a few photos comparing with my boyfriend’s Samsung Galaxy S and my Nexus S side-by-side. I haven’t made a true performance comparison but from casual use, it seems the Nexus S is faster.

Screen: Samsung Galaxy S vs Google Nexus S

Front: Samsung Galaxy S vs Google Nexus S

Back: Samsung Galaxy S vs Google Nexus S

Dear readers, do you prefer the iPhone or Android phones? Why? And slightly off-topic, is there anything that intrigued you from CES 2011? (Mine’s predictably the Android 3.0-powered tablet, Motorola Xoom.)

Related posts:

1. I got my hands on a Nexus One!
2. Hello! It’s been while…
3. Review: LG Viewty KU990R

Featured on Web Design Galleries

Big thanks to all the CSS galleries and web design blogs for featuring my latest theme, Nami. And another thank you to those of who gave me feedback, when I first rolled out this theme. Web design has been a long-time hobby of mine, so it’s always nice to receive recognition. I got to know many people as a result too! (I know I haven’t replied to some of you, sorry about that! Will get to it soon!) So thank you to CSS Mania, Spyre Studios, Web Creme and the many others!

Switched to a Smartphone

As I was saying in the Nexus One entry, I’ve been reluctant to switch to a smartphone since I didn’t want to become too connected. But my dumbphone recently lost the ability to send texts, and I was able to borrow the Sony Ericssion Xperia X10, so I switched. Thanks to the Xperia, I now sync my phone contacts with Google Contacts, which pretty much guarantees I’ll be loyal to Android phones for the next few years.

Since the phone isn’t mine, it doesn’t seem right to do a review. Hahaha! But let’s just say, despite its specs and price tag, it’s still got some way to go before I could classify it with the likes of superphones like the iPhone, Nexus One, HTC Desire, Motorola Milestone or the Samsung Galaxy S.

Touched an iPad!

Thanks to my colleagues and Justin, I got to spend some time with the Apple iPad. I wasn’t too impressed initially. It’s a phenomenal e-reader but there’s no way a tablet is befitting for a content creator like me. I have to admit my initial thoughts was slightly clouded by my disappointment with Steve Jobs and his letter to Adobe. (I switched to a Mac because Photoshop works better on it. So for Apple to declare its disapproval of Adobe’s alleged “closed system” felt like they were backstabbing a partner to me.)

But after I realized I could type a proper email on it without making mistakes, I was pretty impressed. As touch tech improves, tablets will slowly, but surely replace laptops in the future. With that said, I won’t be buying an iPad so soon. It can’t really replace a laptop or even a netbook for me just yet. I need multitasking support, and I don’t want to be held ransom by the App Store. Guess I’ll just wait until I see OS X or Win 7 running smoothly on one.

Sayonara, Social Media

On the work front, I’ve officially relinquished my social media responsibilities to someone even more passionate and capable. (That doesn’t mean I’ll stop blogging or tweeting though!) Social media was a good entry-point to the corporate world, since it was something familiar. I now do traditional comms for financial-related matters. It’s not an easy transition since the learning curve is fairly steep, the responsibilities are greater and perfection is just a minimum requirement. Nevertheless, I’m enjoying myself so far. I like being constantly challenged. Keeps me on my toes, keeps me learning. And it’s definitely the right place to be to learn more about the tech and telco business, both of which I’m pretty passionate about.

Thanks to the change, I can finally answer the question I’ve been struggling with for the longest time: “where do you see yourself in 5 years?” I’d like to move from a support unit like communications into the business. But more on this another time.

Upcoming Blog Posts

I attended a few interesting blogger events earlier this week, so do expect those entries to be up soon. There’ll be one on Nokia Connection 2010 and another on the Infocomm Accessibility Centre. I’ll probably disappear again after that because my boyfriend is coming back to Singapore this weekend! This time for good!

Okay, back to sleep. My fever is unfortunately still not subsiding. Blah.

Related posts:

1. I got my hands on a Nexus One!

What I Like

Auto-correct – One of the few gripes I have with the iPhone is its egotistic auto-correct feature. Without adding words, I can’t swear or type in foreign languages without being corrected. Not the Nexus One though! I could write whatever I want without having to battle the phone for dominion over my linguistic choices. It has even recognized my address book’s and Google Contacts friends’ names.

Performance – It’s the fastest Android-powered phone I’ve tried so far. No lag whatsoever! Not sure how it performs in comparison with the iPhone 3G S. But I’m guessing it should be at least comparable.

Auto-syncing with Google accounts – I was a bit shocked when I first played with the phone. After logging in with my Google account, I found all my contacts, photos and even web search history on the phone. It was quite scary at first, but I have to say it’s now quite handy since I’m now only one touch away from everything.

Camera – For a phone, it has quite a good camera. It has 5MP with flash. Here are two shots. One of yummy waffles and a low-light shot of a souvenir Kirin got me when she visited Singapore. I did not edit the pictures except to watermark and re-size them.

What can be improved

Scrolling – It takes a little bit more effort to scroll on the Nexus One than on the iPhone but it’s better than all other touchscreen phones I’ve tried so far.

Touch buttons – I think this is a matter of personal preference. If you’ve read my gadget reviews before, you’d know that I don’t like touch buttons. They are no match for real buttons. Touch buttons fail miserably at usability – even with tactile feedback.

Accelerometer – There’s a bit of a lag when I turn the phone sideways for the larger keyboard. I feel like I have to shake it for the screen to change. Definitely not as smooth as the iPhone.

Design – The Nexus One is not the type of phone where you whip out of your pocket and everyone in the vicinity will go “whoa!”. Here’s a photo of the Nexus One next to the ultra sexy Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. There’s just no comparison in terms of looks.

So tempted to buy it but….I. must. resist!

I am this close to clicking “buy” at google.com/phone. It’s one of the very few phones that I very happy with. And the iPhone HD (or whatever it’s gonna be called) and HTC Desire are coming out, so I shouldn’t be hasty.

More importantly, I’ve actually been resisting a smartphone for the longest time because:

1. I don’t want to be that accessible.
2. I would really like to experience life outside of rectangular screens.
3. And I don’t want to be that rude person who whips out her smartphone to check some unimportant email / tweet, while leaving her dinner companions feeling dejected.

We’ll see how long my resistance can last before I cave in. Vive la Résistance!

Related posts:

1. Review: LG Viewty KU990R

Witty Tagline

Anyway, I’ve always been a bit of a language freak, so it’s not surprising that a lot of my jokes are puns. But it’s a shame they always end up being quite lame or worse, when nobody seems to get them. So I always appreciate it (okay, more like become envious) when people make witty puns with the English language – and HTC’s new tagline has gotta be one them:

You don’t need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you.

.

It’s ingenious, but not so in-your-face kinda ingenious. It’s more like a subtle kinda ingenious, so I can see how this all fits in with their new brand positioning “quietly brilliant”, which is also quite brilliant in itself.

(Okay, sorry. Couldn’t resist the pun.)

The ads that came with the YOU campaign are pretty darn witty too. They’ve got one where you see from the phone’s perspective, and another where it emphasizes how their phones are customized to suit the lifestyles of different individuals.

Wicked Tattoos

To celebrate the launch of the HTC Tattoo, HTC also gave everyone airbrushed tattoos. It’s such a neat idea to get everyone excited. Here’s a picture of Jacelyn‘s, mine and Nicole‘s Android tattoos.

There were a bunch of other tattoos like vintage ones, tribal ones and even Hello Kitty ones!

You can check out what tattoos the other bloggers got, along with the hot models clad in winter Springfield clothing at my Facebook album.

(Okay, okay. That’s my last play with words, I promise.)

So that’s it from me for now. Will search for time over the next week to publish some of my many drafts before super busy season starts again for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings. This will be my last project for the year before I take my uber-long staycation in December. Woot! Can’t wait!

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Motorola StarTAC

My very first phone was a hand-me-down from my dad. It was 1998 and I was 12 at the time. Before you accuse me of being a spoiled kid, it was really a necessity rather than a luxury. I had just moved to a civil war-torn Indonesia then. The remnants of the violence was still very much visible, and the danger of another uprising was always looming. Hotel windows were broken, rows upon rows of shops were defaced and fear was still the prevalent in city. So my dad gave me his phone as a safety measure.

Ericsson T10

As the turmoil of the times slowly receded and peace finally prevailed again, I began to see cellphone as a cool accessory rather than a lifeline. I was flipping through my favorite magazine at that time, the now defunct Smash Hits, I came across the coolest ad a 13 year old had ever seen. A white page with multicolored phones lined up one after another. It was too cool and Santa sent me one in turquoise.

Nokia 8210

Then clamshell phones became soo yesterday. Nokia candybars became the in thing. And you could buy all these different covers to match your phone to your clothes.
At that time, I didn’t have to wear uniform to school so changing covers was sure hand.
I remember having a ton of covers from Nokia originals to the rip off ones…until I was robbed one day when I was back in Malaysia. And lost my phones along with my Oakleys. Devastation befell…

Nokia 8310

…but not for long! By then I had moved to Singapore, the land of amazing gadgetry for low, low price. I got the upgraded model the 8310 which I remember loving very dearly since it was so cute and tiny!

Nokia 7210

But then suddenly phones had color screens! I mean “snake” with color screens would be infinitely more fun than black pixeled “snake”! So I had to jump on the color bandwagon too!

Motorola V600

After the streak of Nokias, I finally switched to Motorola because it was one of the few early quad band phones with that amazing Bluetooth technology that allowed you to have a wireless earpiece. It even had a camera! I was moving over to Canada then and I needed a quad band phone so I could use it in North American and Asia without having to perpetually switch between two phones. So this was an investment. It still is the most expensive phone I ever owned to date. It lasted me two good years before the screen finally gave way.

Nokia 6131

But by then I really couldn’t care much about phones anymore. Canadians don’t really have craze for gadgetry like Asians do. No one texted me. They called. So all I needed was something I could receive and make calls with. Hence came a very simple Nokia 6131, which too lasted me two years.

And of course now I work for a telco. Phones have become more like business and less of a cool item. So I have two now, which most of you have probably seen. Nothing spectacular. The HTC S630 for my personal line, the LG Viewty KU990R for work.

As for my upcoming phone, I’m impatiently waiting for the Palm Pre. I’ve fallen madly in love with QWERTY phones and there aren’t many out there to choose from (Blackberries aside). We’ll see what Engadget and CNET say about the Pre when it’s released. If it falls short, I guess I would have to settle for the HTC Dream or a Nokia E71.

And on a not-too-unrelated note, here’s a hilarious video on Cell Phone Reunion.

So dear readers, what phones did you own? Any models you particularly adored? What about phones you’re on the lookout for? And OMG, do you remember SNAKE?

Related posts:

1. Review: LG Viewty KU990R

It looks like I have an older firmware. LG has yet to allow people to upgrade their firmware via their website. I will update this post whenever I make my way down to the LG Service Centre at Vivo City.

So, I got another cellphone for work purposes. And this was one of the phone I was considering to buy, if not for the lack of quadband capabilities: LG Viewty KU990R.

In Singapore, it comes in three shades: white, pretty pink and sleek black. I had a hard time choosing between to two, but ultimately chose the black. I don’t think anyone will take me seriously with a bright pink cellphone.

LG Viewty KU990R Review

Pros

• Responsive Touch Screen – The first that pops up when you switch on the phone is a touch screen calibrating system, which allows the phone to customize its responses to your fingers. And the touch screen response is simply amazing! So far, I’ve not mistyped an SMS or misfired while playing Space Commando (a futuristic phone version of Counter Strike).
• Big Bright Screen – Even under the amazingly hot sun of Singapore, the screen is still very clearly visible.
• Full-Featured Camera – Well, it’s not as a good as a digital camera, but it still performs better than most camera phones in the market. With the flash, it can even take decent night shots. Along with basic camera features, LG has also added different modes, image stabilization and special effects! It’s like the Mac photobooth – only portable!
• Vibrate Touch Response – One of the common complaints about touchscreen gadgets is the lack of response when you press on something. LG has changed all that. Now the phone vibrates whenever you click on something. Good job!

Cons

• Strange Scrolling Method – With any computer program, you would always scroll down by moving the scrollbar downwards or rolling the scrollwheel downwards. Even my Cowon D2 MP3 player does the same. But LG had to be special and have the user scroll upwards to move the page down, and scroll downwards to move the page up. It’s really confusing my senses even after using it for 2 weeks.
• Fingerprint Magnet – This is quite standard for most touchscreen gadgets, right? Someone please invent a matte touchscreen!
• No Full Keyboard - Well, it’s a touchscreen phone, why have a phone keyboard when you can add a full-sized QWERTY keyboard?! Even my tiny Cowon D2 has a full keyboard for the dictionary feature! So size is not a constraint at all!

Pictures from my LG Viewty KU990R

The BMW Garage at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix

The Pit Grandstands at the F1 Singapore Grand Prix

Ivy’s Final Verdict

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

On the whole, this is a pretty good phone. Great camera, great touchscreen ergonomics and great looks. The designers clearly put a lot of thought into making this a fashion-forward and functional phone. However, the designers shouldn’t get too carried away by designing a scrolling system that is counter-intuitive. That’s as big of a blunder as replacing the QWERTY keyboard.

But is it an iPhone killer? Definitely not. It’s missing basic internet features like wi-fi, and full-fledged browsers like Firefox, Safari or even Internet Explorer. Although the LG Viewty does have good basic features like Google Maps, GMail and Google. Besides, I don’t really consider the iPhone a real phone with the lack of basic features like changing batteries; it’s more like an iPod that you can make calls with.

All in all, LG Viewty KU990R is the perfect gadget for camwhores and fashionistas (or fashionistos). It’s a great looking phone, packed with solid basic features, and full-fledged digital camera to capture your narcissistic moments.

And if you’re looking for an iPhone killer, look elsewhere – somewhere like the HTC Dream running on Google Android.

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