NOKIA N-GAGE

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Physical Aspects and Display

The N-Gage is far from tiny. Nokia was not trying to make a diminutive handset, as it needed to be usable as a gaming device. Weighing 137g and measuring 134mm x 70mm x 20mm, it is one of the biggest modern Nokia handsets. With all that said, it is quite comfortable to hold and thin enough to be not too noticeable when in your pocket. The handset has a simple straightforward layout, a big very usable directional pad controller on the left, and number keys on the right. Instant access to the menu with a single key, selection keys on either side of the handset, a button for music, one for radio, and one for access to the music/MP3 player are also present. My fingers were instantly at home using it for gaming, SMS, and dialling. My 12 year old usability expert also found it quite comfortable, even in her small hands.

The N-Gage's display is identical to that found in the Nokia 3650: 176x208 pixels displaying 4096 colours. While this is acceptable, 65K colours would have been better. It is a gaming machine after all - so the prettier, the better. The upcoming Nokia 3660 and 6600 have the same size screen with the TFT 65K upgrade. It would have been nice to have seen that in the N-Gage as well.

The N-Gage has two mini connectors on the front edge to connect the included headset. They are colour coded for simplicity, one black and one grey. The grey connector can also be used for a line-in jack from your CD walkman, allowing you to use the N-Gage's built-in speaker to play your music. On the left side of the unit is a USB port to allow simple connectivity with your PC, and next to it is the loud speaker. Under the hood is an 850 mAh battery, a spot for a MMC card (either memory – up to 128 MB – or game cartridges), and a spot for your SIM. Removing the back plate is easy. A bonus I noticed was the ability to lay a game cartridge or memory card on top of the installed card. This allows you to carry another game or memory card around without having to dig in your pockets.

A feature that will undoubtedly be interesting to many users is the speaker. It can be used for hands free calling, gaming, and media playback. It is loud! I can happily listen to an MP3 with it sitting next to me on the desk, without the need to turn it to the highest volume setting. A side effect of this is that ringtones are also quite loud. I leave most handsets on vibrate as a bit of insurance that I will notice a call. There is no need to do that with the N-Gage, the volume of the ringtones gets your attention – no matter where you are. This was a review handset and as such, had many ringtones pre-loaded. It's anybody's guess which came with the handset, but suffice it to say, they sounded as good as they do on a 3650, but (I can't say this enough it seems) LOUDER.

User Interface

Text entry is accomplished using triple-tap or by using T9 (predictive text). Both work as easily as you would expect them to.

Making and Receiving Calls

Here is where the trouble begins. The N-Gage is not terribly convenient to use as a phone when using the traditional device-to-ear approach. The handset is held with the thin upper edge pressed against your head. Picture holding a taco to your ear and you get the picture. I found it took a fair bit of wiggling to get the device positioned so the earpiece was lined up properly with my ear. Once this was done, the N-Gage's reception shines. I found the audio quality to be very good, it just wasn't very comfortable to use. With this said, the traditional method thankfully isn't the only available way to make calls. You have the option of using a Bluetooth headset, hands free speakerphone, or the included wired headset. More on Bluetooth use later. I tested all three of these and the wired headset was my favourite. While it's great that there are other ways to make and receive calls, the N-Gage does suffer because of its earpiece/microphone location.

If somebody is thoughtless enough to call you while you are helping Lara Croft with her adventures, the game mutes and you can pick up the call - a nice touch. The N-Gage also includes the typical one touch dialling and voice tags for voice dialling.

Messaging

A full suite of messaging applications are included in the N-Gage: SMS, MMS, and email included. Of course users can download one of many instant messenger applications for the Series 60 platform. I used the freeware AgileMessenger for my review purposes and I am happy to report that it worked flawlessly. The messaging centre has icons for the Inbox - where all your received messages are stored except email, My folders - where you can organize your messages, Mailbox - for the built-in mail client, Drafts, Sent, and Outbox. The email client allows you to set up multiple accounts that will appear as new icons in your message centre. Again, a picture speaks a thousand words, so have a look at the screen shots later on in the review.

Unfortunately, my provider does not support MMS, so I was unable to test it. I did use text messaging a fair bit and had no troubles. The layout of the N-Gage actually made it quite easy to create them.

Games and applications

The N-Gage comes pre-loaded with a pile of applications. There is a Real Player app for watching prerecorded video files, a MP3 player, a calculator, a converter tool, and more. The Symbian OS has many applications written for it that can be purchased inexpensively or downloaded for nothing. Users can also download applications and games written in Java.

One application I think many will appreciate is the screen shot utility. Using this, I was able to take my screen shots of the user interface to add to this review. This is a great tool to use to brag about a game score or perhaps prove your prowess in helping Lara unveil all the secrets in her latest adventure.

An interesting feature of the N-Gage centres around its Music playback functionality. Using the line-in connector on the N-Gage, you can connect it to a Walkman or other device and record the incoming sounds to .AAC format. AAC is a successor of MP3 allowing similar quality, with recorded songs being about 25% smaller. This was a handy feature as I didn't have the Nokia software suite that will be included with the final retail version. I could make my own music on the fly and store it for later.

The built-in radio is a really great feature as well. You can preset your favourite stations and you can also record what you are listening to. The radio's reception is decent when you are sitting in one place, but while walking I found a fair bit of static crept into the sound. I used this feature more than the MP3 player to listen to music as I wandered about because it didn't require me to do anything to get the songs ready - I just tuned to a station and listened. This also saved me from swapping whatever game I had loaded with a memory card. More on this later.

The show stopper of course is the gaming. I received three games with my demo unit: Sonic the Hedgehog, Puyo Pop, and Virtual Tennis. Puyo Pop was by far my favourite. It is a Tetris clone that you can play by yourself or with a friend via Bluetooth. Sadly, nobody else I know has an N-Gage, so I had to play against the computer opponent. The control of your game with the control pad on the N-Gage is really good - better than the mini joystick found on typical cell phones could ever be. With an expected 10 to 15 titles to be ready before the Holiday season, there should be something for everyone. I really look forward to playing Tomb Raider, Red Faction, and Pandemonium. I saw Pandemonium on display at CeBIT earlier this year. I played Puyo Pop quite a bit, and it is an addictive title. My focus in the review is truly the handset – not the games, but I was pleasantly surprised by the sound and graphics and I quite enjoyed it. Perhaps in the near future I will have the chance for another hands-on. If I do, you can be sure I will fill my pockets with games and try them out – if only to get a better feel for the playability off the N-Gage.

Yes, the gaming is great, but the catch is the game cartridge. It is a big black X on this otherwise cleverly designed device. To change cartridges you are obliged to shut the N-Gage off, take off the back cover, remove the battery and then insert your game. This isn't a trivial task, it also takes a couple minutes between shut down and starting the new game. While speaking with Norm Zapata of Nokia Canada, I asked why Nokia had made the decision to place the cartridge where they did. I was told it was for security and to protect the game cartridge from being damaged while floating in a shoulder bag or pocket. I would rather have accepted the risks of it being damaged. This design philosophy makes very little sense to me.

Battery Life

The N-Gage literature claims talk time of 3 hours and stand-by time of 175 hours. I didn't have it long enough to be able to go through more than a couple of battery cycles. In one decent Puyo Pop session I did manage to reduce the battery indicator by half, this took between 2 and 2.5 hours. On the bright side, the unit seems to recharge really quickly. The battery returns to full power from almost drained in about 2 hours. Gamers take note, if you expect to be playing marathon sessions, it may be worth purchasing a spare battery.

More and more often, a feature that busy folks are asking for is Organizer functionality. While I likely would not be using the N-Gage to keep my day organized, there may well be many N-Gage users who will need this. The N-Gage has 2 of the typical PIM features installed: a calendar app and a to-do list.

The Calendar is organized in a typical fashion with either day, week, or month views available. When creating a new entry, you can select different types of events: weekly, monthly, daily, or one time. A nice added touch is the ability to send a calendar event by email or by Bluetooth. This would be an easy way to share birthday lists for example. To-do lists are just that, a short list of things you have to get done. It is an easy way to see what you have on your plate. Fairly standard fare all in all.

Connectivity and Software

Connectivity is likely the second most important feature of a handheld device. The N-Gage has Bluetooth and GPRS class 6, which should translate to about 16-24Kbps Send - 24-36Kbps Receive. This is a decent speed for casual web surfing or getting and sending email.

In terms of PC connectivity I can not really comment since I didn't have the Nokia Software for the N-Gage. From literature I have found that the PC suite will allow you to synchronize your N-Gage with Outlook and Lotus Notes, transfer files, backup your device – essentially manage your phone from your PC. To connect the N-Gage to the PC, I used a USB cable. The USB cable use came as quite a surprise, I plugged it into my PC, then plugged it into the N-Gage and I suddenly had a removable hard drive icon in Windows Explorer. I could then wander through my N-Gage and download files at will. This was extremely handy.

Sadly, I wanted to give a report on how well the N-Gage worked with my current Bluetooth headset, the Nextlink Bluespoon Chameleon. Unfortunately, while I could pair them, as soon as I attempted to make a call, the link would break. I am not sure what the problem could have been. I can use the Nextlink with a P800 without any issues. The N-Gage does support both handsfree and headset profiles - so compatibility should not have been an issue. I will revisit this in the future if I get a chance. I had no other functionality issues with Bluetooth. The Bluetooth indicator is somewhat hard to see since it is indicated by small dot. File transfers worked perfectly. I was able to send and receive files from several devices without a problem

I am happy to report that I was able to play Agile Fighter with a friend using Bluetooth. He was using a Nokia 3650 and we had absolutely no problems getting connected and playing. Apart from getting an ass-whooping, I really enjoyed it.

In the category of non-connectivity, one of the profiles in the list is "Offline." This turns off the N-Gage's GSM radio so that you can safely use it in a place that does not allow cell phone usage, such as in a hospital or airplane.

Conclusion

Bottom line is, I like it. Is it perfect? Nope. It has a few design flaws, but these don't ruin the experience for me. I got over the strange taco style calling, I wasn't too worried about the access to the game cartridge. These are errors in my opinion, but they are not "deal breakers".

Nokia is on to something here, and I would go as far to say they were pretty brave to even try it. Nokia undoubtedly expected criticisms; many people are quick to point out the why not, but Nokia took a stab at it anyway. The potential for wireless gaming is immense and will likely become a very profitable enterprise in the near future. Can you imagine having games like Diablo in next generation devices? Perhaps even handheld Everquest?

Have fun with your N-Gage, I did.

Sumber : MOBILEBURN by Sean Cooper on Monday October 06, 2003

SILAHKAN KIRIM TANGGAPAN/ PENDAPAT ANDA MENGENAI PRODUK INI