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Tuesday June 21, 2005 10:33 pm
New N-Gage QD Accessories En Route
Despite being pilloried in both the press and gaming communities, the Nokia N-Gage QD is a great (and most importantly, cheap) smartphone. At E3, Nokia unveiled some accessories that look to improve the platform, including the problem of having a smartphone platform where the expandable storage and game cards use the same slot. These new add-ons are all due in the second half of the year.
Unfortunately, each accessory has some strange drawback or flaw, and perhaps shows that the N-Gage just isn’t fully up to the task of being what Nokia envisions the platform as. Let’s take a look at what they’ve come up with.
First up, Nokia is launching a external speaker add-on, so that you can actually hear the games that you’re playing on that tiny screen. It uses a AAA battery for power, so there is no risk of draining your cell phone battery, but the speaker will only last for about 10 hours. It has an external volume control wheel, so you’ll be able to amplify the sound separately from the volume control on the phone itself.
I’m not entirely sure why anyone would want to use an external speaker with the N-Gage, since the included headset would do the same job without the cost of a battery, unless it were as a speakerphone. You’re certainly not going to show off the awesome sound of the N-Gage QD while playing a game like Splinter Cell which no one else will be able to see clearly, even if looking directly over your shoulder.
Next, Nokia is launching not one, but two new headsets. One is a wired version, and other than the larger earpieces, it’s uncertain what would be gained by using these instead of the earbuds already packaged with the N-Gage QD, but it’s possible that they’re more comfortable.
The other headset is a strange little Bluetooth version, which gives you the option of using either one earpiece or two (by connecting a cable between the two earpieces). Both headsets are mono-only, a disappointing limitation of the N-Gage QD hardware. The wireless headset supports Bluetooth 1.2 (both Headset and Handsfree profiles) and will give the user six hours of talk/gaming time (up to 140 hours standby).
Easily the best and slickest new accessory is the MMC Expander. Finally, you can have two MMC cards loaded at the same time, though a “backpack” that replaces the battery cover of the QD and slips into the existing MMC slot. The MMC Expander is see-through, so you can see which games or MMC cards you have loaded.
This could have been a major upgrade for the QD, finally allowing people to use a large MMC card for storing messages, photos, and high-quality ringtones, as well as keeping a slot free for games. However, the MMC Expander forces the user to choose which card is active, through a switch on the unit, likely due to a limitation of either the hardware, or the Series 60 OS. This makes using two cards at the same time impossible, so you’ll still have to load any data that you need to use regularly onto the QD’s meager internal memory. Still, this could be a bit of a time saver, as well as saving some wear and tear on the fragile MMC slot.
Nokia has other accessories coming as well, including a slick little low-profile aluminum MMC card holder, similar to a business card case. Other accessories are simply redundant (like the carrying case or key strap), or worthless, like the case designed to hold your N-Gage games in the same ridiculously large cases they came in. That’s right, a case to hold the cases that hold your games.
Nokia is clearly trying to continuously update and improve their gaming platform with new features, and for that they should be commended, but they fall just a bit short on each well-intentioned effort. I suspect that there is a dangerous amount of groupthink happening at Nokia, since they appear to be oblivious to the suggestions and standard features that people expect from a gaming device.
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Comments:
although I like the idea of being able to play cool games on my cell, I have to admit that the ngage has never interested me at all. I was curious how it would turn out but I would never buy one because they are ugly as hell (as a cell phone) and not cool enough for me to want to carry around for the gaming portion. Maybe if they made it a cooler phone while keeping the game part they would do better?
With so many parents getting thier kids cell phones these days (and I mean under 15), these things could be huge if they did this thing right. But I don’t think they have much interest they way they are now.
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I like the article but I feel this writer is missing the point on some of the accessories. Did it ever occur that the headsets could be simply for style? They definitely look better than the included headset you get with the N-Gage when you buy it. And with the 2 game card holder backplate, it allows you to have two cards on you at the same time. It isn’t meant so that you can read documents on your MMC card while playing Glimmerati - that isn’t something you’d want or need to do anyway. It’s so you can have two cards on you without having an extra hassle. You choose which one you want to use.
I think the speaker is uncalled for, though. N-Gage’s speaker is loud enough, and this just makes it look ugly and bulky.
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Oh, no ... I get the point. Thing is, there is no “style” in those accessories. I’m pretty sure that the incredibly small installed base using the N-Gage doesn’t want to be wearing anything to call attention to that fact, nor do they want to have anything strapped to their head that’s going to make them look like Robo-Dork. Those aren’t stylish, they’re gaudy, and that’s coming from a self-confessed fashion victim.
As for the MMC Expander, it has nothing to do with reading documents. On my Nokia 3650, I ripped some MP3s as WAV files and use them as ringtones on my phone. They’re too big to fit in the on-board memory, so I put them on an MMC card. Wasn’t a problem, but since the N-Gage uses the same slot to play games, I can’t play a game and have my custom ring tones at the same time (which becomes a problem if my phone rings WHILE I’m playing).
My point was that from the beginning, Nokia has fallen just short of having a pretty decent device, and every accessory released for it illustrates the point.
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No, I don’t think you do. There is style in those headphones, they look pretty cool. You say in the article that N-Gagers might as well use the included heaphones. Well, the included headphones are extremely ugly and uncomfortable. They also have N-GAGE written on both earbuds, and the two ear wires connect high up into the part that records your voice for phone calls. This shows that they are clearly phone headphones. Oh yeah, again: they say NGAGE on them as well. So, there goes to merit for your “’m pretty sure that the incredibly small installed base using the N-Gage doesn’t want to be wearing anything to call attention to that fact” statement. If you’re going to where something that says N-Gage, it might as well look better than the headphones that come with the QD. Plus, there are no alternatives for the QD headphones since they have to be dual-mono and a small plug. This offers an alternative.
Who writes an article reviewing things that aren’t out and that they admittedly don’t understand yet, anyway?
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I agree with Jonathon, the rest of u = wh0res.
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I have the original N-gage and after about 3 months of heavy use the OEM headset failed. I called Nokia and checked nokia.com ebay, google etc and it appears NOONE has the original N-gage factory headphones.
I had Nokia on the phone for 2 hours and all they would do is recommend i BUY a bluetooth version. I didnt want bluetooth yet because i felt it was too expensive after i shelled out like 200 for the damn phone and of course it is only one-sided (or one speakered). So i am interested in this two sided version in the article but its not on nokia.com or anywhere else so i assume its not out yet.
Can anyone tell me when its due?
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i think the headphones look cool and since they are wireless, that’s even better.
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The new n-gage(if it’s ever released) should have atleast 10 MB of internal memory,atleast 65k colors display,mp3 ringtone & playback(stereo) support,atleast 1 GB(MMC or better) support and symbian 60 v2. A camera wouldn’t hurt either. That would make it pretty decent.
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