Nokia 7700 Media Device
Cancelled 19th
June 2004
8
months after the original announcment of the Nokia 7700
media device, the company cancelled the handset without
going in to too many details.
We'll explore the possible reasons later
in this article, but we feel that this is a shame, because
if Nokia had a handset that could outclass the Sony
Ericsson P900, then the Nokia 7700 is it - well, for
now anyway.
Nokia dubbed the 7700 a "media
device" rather than a phone, and it's clear to
see why. The most obvious feature in the 640x320 pixel
touch-sensitive display, enormously bigger than everything
else currently on the market and much bigger that the
P900. Indeed, the only thing that comes close is the
display on the Nokia
9500. There's no keyboard at all on the 7700, and
it's a side-talking taco shell handset like the original
Nokia N-Gage, which probably counted against it when
Nokia reviewed the project.
Also unique is the Symbian Series 90
operating system, the most advanced OS to be found in
any Symbian based handset. Even the powerful Nokia 9500
Communicator only sports the less powerful Series 80
OS. There's a full set of office compatible applications,
an Opera web browser and lots of multimedia enhancements
too.
The 7700 was designed with a VGA resolution
digital camera, FM radio, GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, Bluetooth
and really the full range of features you'd expect with
a Smartphone of this type. The lovely 640 pixel wide
display is ideal for web browsing and email, an advantage
similarly shared by the Nokia 9210i and 9500 series.
Combine the powerful hardware and software
together, and you start to get a truly smart Smartphone.
So
why did Nokia ditch the 7700 project? Well, we think
there are several factors at work here.
Firstly, Nokia's declining market share
has been well documented, and many observers think that
Nokia has taken it's eye off the ball with too many
esoteric projects, such as the N-Gage
QD, 9500 Communicator, and other oddities, while
ignoring the vital mid-range of the market.
Secondly, the Nokia 7700 was announced
back in November 2003 and by June 2004 was still nowhere
to be seen. Eight months is a long time in the mobile
phone business, and certainly elements were beginning
to look obsolete.
Thirdly, the Nokia 7700 isn't terribly
attractive phone. It's large, heavy, lacks a keyboard
and it difficult to use as a telephone handset. At an
estimated retail price of €800/£500/$900 this is a hugely
expensive handset too, and possibly Nokia weren't prepared
to take the financial risk. After all, the only similar
phone in their current inventory, the Nokia 9210i Communicator
has been a very slow seller indeed.
We understand that Nokia will have some
7700s in circulation as technology samples, and that
work on the Series 90 OS will continue with the intent
to bring it to play in another Smartphone later. Possibly
this new project will be the rumoured Nokia
9300 lightweight Communicator.
All-in-all, we're a little sad at the
demise of the Nokia 7700. As a handset it seems ideally
suited to those who would sooner surf the web or play
back media than make phone calls, and this is a growing
market. Hopefully Nokia can take away the 7700 concept
and come back with something truly polished later this
year.
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