The N91, Nokia's 4GB musicphone
By Peter Rojas 
posted Apr 27th 2005 8:31AM
posted Apr 27th 2005 8:31AM
Alright, not only did those leaked pics of Nokia's new two
megapixel musicphone turn out to be legit, they actually introduced the phone today, which was way sooner than we'd
anticipated. The Nokia N91 is part of Nokia's new media-centric N series, and apparently they're throwing down against
Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung and putting a 4GB hard drive in there, an industry standard 3.5mm headphone jack,
support for playback of MP3, M4A, AAC, and WMA audio files, and USB 2.0 so you can just drag and drop your files over
from your PC. Better still, the N91 has 3G (WCDMA) and both built-in WiFi and Bluetooth. Should be out sometime around
the end of the year.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this one in]
imagine the possibilities with this thing. with wi-fi if you have a wi-fi enabled car it would automatically be able to play music from your phone through wi-fi and then when you hop out of your car you grab your phone. This has been my problem with the ipod I've been wanting to use it in my car (ie. integrated Alpine solution). However if I'm going out somewhere I don't want to keep the iPod in my car because if it gets very hot in my car i don't like the idea of keeping it in there, but at the same time I don't wanna lug an ipod around with me, or remember to take it everytime i leave the house. with a phone i always need it on me anyways so no big deal. for me it would be an ideal solution now all i need is a car with bluetooth capabilities!
Concerning price: On Reuters Technology News Nokia is cited saying that its N90 phone (which seems to lack the HDD or MP3 capabilities or whatever, but offers only the 2MP cam) would cost some 600 euros (approx $780), thus I am wondering at what price the N91 will hit the shelves, especially since the carriers are pressed to cut back on their subsidies these days...
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=technologyNews&storyID=8315882&src=rss/technologyNews
$780!!!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me!!!! I want one but thats coming close to how much my laptop will cost!!!!! If it is that much, as much as I want one, thats just way to much for me!!!!!
That is crazy expensive, I mean common, $780 smackers for a really good phone. I think they might be goin' to far on this one.
Wow, so this phone would probably have a list price of $1k? hahaha... and then after new service rebates and all... $700??? That's sick. Ahh well, I'm only waiting on the Sony Ericsson w800i since it seems like a more affordable phone with just the right features.
What service rebates? I doubt we will see this phone picked up by ANY Cell phone company in USA. Specially not without crippling the Wi-Fi and the line-in and the USB 2.0 to PC transfers.
Same goes with the Sony Ericsson w800i and the Aplle Itunes phone, They just won't make it to the US, but the rest of the world will have so much fun with these phones and the unlocked market will have a best week ever...
I'm counting on Tmobile to make some miracles... Maybe even ATT...
#2: well, considering that Nokia is a part of the MPEG group that developed AAC, they shouldn't have to pay apple anything.
The N90 is a video camera phone, so the price someone quoted for that doesn't really apply to the N91. Plus, in the US, you're gonna see some level of subsidy. Still, it'll be interesting to compare the price to an iPod + a decent camera phone.
judging from the prices of the latest nokia symbian handsets, $800 actually sounds quite plausible, cheap even, with all the stuff they crammed in there. the design is weird, bordering on ugly as usual, would have been uglier in plastic. the bulge on top is probably the hdd.
I can tell you that I am holding one of these right now. It's funny because somebody IMd me a link to this first thing when I got in this morning and I sent it around to a couple other people. Turns out somebody in the building had one on their desk. Pristine. That's all I will say about that. But it sure was a surprise when later on in the day I walked one of these puppies over to the guy who sent me the link in the first place.
Without its battery it is actually lighter than an iPod Mini and with comparable storage. With the battery, they claim it runs 12 hours playing music (if I recall).
Who cares! This thing is so sweet. Believe me, if you get ahold of one you wouldn't think twice about putting down $700 for it, assuming you're paying with plastic. Because that's a lotta cash but with a credit card you'd put your momma up for collateral to own one of these. That's no joke.
If it turns out to be like their Series 60 phones this thing is gonna be a great thing. WiFi! Every bell and whistle. And it all works. Sometimes a kink but overall a rock.
$700 will never fly in the US. You can get a 60GB iPod photo and one hell of a phone for less than that. I know there is the convenience factor but for that pricetag, it's not THAT convenient. They are dreaming at $700 especially since it cuts out the carriers and their insane music download plans.
the design is terrible. i think it's better a 3310 model than this. i don't even think this is an ipod killer because when it will be in stores there will be a new version of the ipod that will toast the n90 under the music aspect.
and it will be very expensive i think
Besides which is more useful an ipod photo or an ipod phone. Combine the cost of a cool phone and a cool mp3 player and $700 isn't as crazy as the cost of the two seperately. Granted we are only talking 4GB, but the price will drop when the competition comes. And it will come.
Has anybody noticed it has a color screen. It is a mini photo ipod or however you want to phrase it?
Actually I will be waiting for the Sony Ericsson W800i. I looked at the US website and it says that it is "coming soon." I can't wait. Hopefully, it will be reasonable in price and the fact that it looks beautiful compared to that fugly Nokia.
500 american
WOW... Simply WOW..
12.5 hours of batterly life for music?
7 day standby time?
3-4 hours talk?
4GB HD, WLAN, BT, S60, 3.5mm headset, remote control headset, ...
WOW WOW WOW...
And not to mention that I hear that the sound quality BLOWS AWAY iPod (100% increase in volume over iPod, Much better low freq range (better bass), 10x less distortion, etc. etc...) - and lets not even talk samsung or SE.. they arent even at the iPod level in sound quality. (N91 has 1400% the volume of a samsung!).
Just WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW and I CANT WAIT UNTIL XMAS!
Price seems about right for a WCDMA Smartphone (especially with all the extra bells and whistles). I'm sure it will be subsidized to some degree, but we'll have to wait and find out!
i don't have too much knowledge on bluetooth but will a bluetooth enabled car already have the ability to read and display music information from the phone or would that have to be built in or need a software upgrade?
i don't have too much knowledge on bluetooth but will a bluetooth enabled car already have the ability to read and display music information from the phone or would that have to be built in or need a software upgrade?
Um to my knowledge only Japan and Korea uses CDMA 2000. Any others?
I think either your phones works in Korea and/or Japan, or it works in the rest of the world.
Great, another iPod killer.
So, how do I hook this thing up to my car?
i read sumwhere that motorola and ipod are making a simular product. the n91 isnt ugly and has loads of good features. if its at a good price ill buy it. no more than 200 pay as ya go, or free pay monthly but it wont be
i would want another feature- a homing device. if i lost this, or had it stolen... heh.
anyway, i wouldn't call it an "ipod killer" because it holds so little music. my 40GB iPod is just about right for me, and it holds 10 times what this does-
that said, it WOULD be nice to leave the house with just my cell and not have to carry my 'precious' ipod, although, at this price, i could afford to lose my ipod or have it stolen more than i could afford to lose this. so yeah.
And what's wrong with simply using the basic phone that comes with most plans?
Sorry, I guess I'm just a big guy on the simple stuff.
Or something.
And what's wrong with simply using the basic phone that comes with most plans?
Sorry, I guess I'm just a big guy on the simple stuff.
Or something.
"#2: well, considering that Nokia is a part of the MPEG group that developed AAC, they shouldn't have to pay apple anything."
Oh dear, where to start:
AAC was NOT developed by the MPEG, err, Group.
AAC is owned by Dolby. Anyone who uses AAC (including Apple) pays a royalty to Dolby.
Just like anyone who makes an MP3 encoder pays a royalty to Thompson.
Agree with post 74
But they will develop this idea. In time it will have 20/40 gig hdd and more functions and be lighter. its just the start
From wat ive seen it is ridicously priced.
759 Euros
about 500
About 1000 usd
think ill have to wait at least 6 months to a year till i will pay that price,
correct me if im wrong about the price but i think im right.
Alot of features for alot of money
hasn't anyone notice the "coincidence"?
n-gage, n91...
maybe a super upper n-gage 2 has the dream machine of the "Nokias new media-centric N series"?
For all those people that are going back and forth about the ipods and the phones; if you want an ipod- then keep your stupid ipod, this is a phone "Hello....Goodbye" the other stuff is just sprinkles on the cake. While people that will stand for Ipods are right about the memory (obviously) they should be happy that these companies are trying, and besides the fact that Apple is not trying to make phones I would suggest that you stop b^t(hing about it.
For those people that are saying that this phone is ugly, get over it look at motorola, SE, etc. Nokia is just one of those dependable phones and no other company can match (especially in terms of durability for that person who said "yeah until you drop it"). I agree that the phone maybe a little on the heavy side, but it's much better looking than an ipod, I mean think about it the design of those things are gross. I wouldn't spit on the face of an ipod it's so god aweful ugly, but you don't see me on ipod's boards complaining that they are ugly.
Functionality wise I think that this is a good phone, notice I said it's a PHONE!!!!! For Nokia the battery life is awesome, but the reported battery life is always shorter from Nokia's reports than they real are, example I have a 6600 now it works great, reported battery life is 4 hours but while taking pictures/video, checking my e-mail, and talking I can get a good 7 straight hours of work between charges.
For the CDMA/GSM thing, I think that they will both stay, simply because the pro and cons of each are about the same while in different areas. Performance wise true that one is better than the other (which I won't say to save myself some trouble ;> ) but the thing is that the importance to the everyday user, what are some factors? I like gsm for the sim swap ability (meaning that you can do it yourself at will, I mean I don't know about you guys but I have like 4 phones that switch between during the day depending what/where I'm doing/going) the bad side to it is that stupid carrier lock; which since the advent of unlock requests and software unlock that allow you to do it yourself, there's no biggie. CDMA I think is better for data, but the phones are very clunky I just saw the CDMA version of the 6630 and I was like this is what pregnant phones look like.
Good groundbreaking phone. Better to have nice Looks but will not complain much. Does anybody know if this phone has video calling. There is a little thing on the top right that looks like a small camera and possibly an earpiece or mic near to it as well. Having video calling will make device more complete for me.
anyone knows how much it will cost in singapore?
Does anyone know whether N91 is going to have flash along with the camera?
Because flash is a must-have component in a camera-containing phone if it wants to compete with regular cameras...
It's a 3G phone (WCDMA), so data speeds kill both CDMA and GSM.
No Videocall. This is a MUSIC phone.
No flash. This is a MUSIC phone. :) High quality 2MP Camera is thrown in as an extra.
Audio quality kicks iPod is every conceivable category. Volume, noise ratio, freq range, distortion, ... ... ..
hey , how much is this ? it's all great , but it really looks like old wireless phones...specially those buttons...take a look at them :-s
I just wish that the phone came with a flash camera. I know its a music phone, but at the price, it is much more than just a music player, and i think a flash included would have been PERFECT. It wouldnt have been that hard for nokia to include it would it?
Just regarding the flash. Is there any type of enhancement flash that could be added onto the N91 to give it a flash. Sort of like this one..
-----> Light up your photos with the Nokia Camera Flash -- a lightweight, compact enhancement for your Nokia 7610 or 6630 imaging phone. Take good quality still pictures indoors or at night, or brighten up your video. The Nokia Camera Flash attaches directly to the phones Pop-Port, so there are no cables or wires required. And it has a separate battery, so it doesnt consume your phone battery and you can snap more great pictures up to 200 flashes when the battery is fully charged.
Key Features:
Xenon flash for photo shooting
High bright LED for video shooting
Status LED
Battery
Pop-Port interface
Auto-charge when attached to imaging phone
There's a good review of the N91 here:
http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/5944.html
Lots of detail re specs and features.
Personally, I'm already saving....
It may seem quite easy to add extra features and to support what may seem like 'simple' things, but believe you me that every single addition to a phone is an extremely challenging task. That is what makes the N91 such an accomplishment as it stands. Yes, a flash could be added. However, that would increase the size and weight of the phone, the entire circuit board would need to be redesigned, and of course the price would have to go up. Nothing is for free. The only reason the phone is not on the cheap side, is that it costs a LOT to put each and every piece of technology in the phone (sheesh, the Harddrive alone is a couple hundred dollars). You would be amazed at the technical difficulties just to support a 3.5mm audio jack instead of the standard 2.5mm jack! This phone is a technical wonder! (If they can deliver as reported!)
I'm still of the meaning that we should pay for QUALLITY!!!
This phone is ment for Bussines people!! sow dan't give comments like
" I bet it will last no more than an hour or two talk time. Way to short for anyone in the business world. I would have to walk around with a charger everywhere I went "
in comment number 20
greatz
"I bet it will last no more than an hour or two talk time. Way to short for anyone in the business world. I would have to walk around with a charger everywhere I went "
Regardless... this is just ignorance. The batterly life stated is very very reasonable and comparable to other phones on the market (actually, it's a wonder that they get this much juice out of their standard battery!)
12.5 hours of music playback
3-4 hours talk time
7 days standby
"I'm still of the meaning that we should pay for QUALLITY!!!
This phone is ment for Bussines people!!"
This doesnt make a lot of sense either. This is certainly not intended for business people (a specialized music phone, for business people?). Sure, it can be used as an external HDD (which is extremely useful) but that isnt it's main purpose.
I wanted the original N-Gage but the accessories seem rather hard to come by, i.e. the HDD-2 stereo headset. Being a music guru myself--http://www.download.com/philhasani--I'm just gonna wait it out till the N91. $700+ . . . well, just pray that my music business flourishes (and I mean really flourishes).
I thought the style was iffy, till I scrolled down and saw the keypad! Nokia is kickin' azz with this one! WOW! 4gig...I think this is the one i'll wait for. I was waiting for a decent megapixel, but for this type of storage intergrated in a phone?...I just wonder if I can use it like a flashdrive and transfer pics, data and small movie clips...and btw, what are M4A files?...
I thought the style was iffy, till I scrolled down and saw the keypad! Nokia is kickin' azz with this one! WOW! 4gig...I think this is the one i'll wait for. I was waiting for a decent megapixel, but for this type of storage intergrated in a phone?...I just wonder if I can use it like a flashdrive and transfer pics, data and small movie clips...and btw, what are M4A files?...
I thought the style was iffy, till I scrolled down and saw the keypad! Nokia is kickin' azz with this one! WOW! 4gig...I think this is the one i'll wait for. I was waiting for a decent megapixel, but for this type of storage intergrated in a phone?...I just wonder if I can use it like a flashdrive and transfer pics, data and small movie clips...and btw, what are M4A files?...
"WOW! 4gig...I think this is the one i'll wait for. I was waiting for a decent megapixel, but for this type of storage intergrated in a phone?...I just wonder if I can use it like a flashdrive and transfer pics, data and small movie clips..."
It states that it is a USB Mass Storage device. That means that you can just plug it into your PC (USB 2.0), and you will see a new drive letter (E: or whatever) and this will act just like an external harddrive!
I HOPE IT COMES FOR SPRINT sprint has some cool phones (samsung vm 680) But other than that everything is ugly and this would be so cool for sprint. but sprint only has like 2 or 3 nokia phones so it will most likely be for cingular or tmobie
prefer getting a 8800 and a iPod - got a better look and better audio experience. why combining two and worsen off both pleasures?