Nokia Shows Off Phone with Printable Faceplate 149
jonknee writes "Nokia is prepping a new phone that one-ups all the other attempts at face plates... you can print your own! Just place one of the template pages it comes with (you can buy more) into your ink jet, and make a nifty design that isn't mass marketed at every mall this side of the Mississippi. The template is perforated so you can get a nice fit around the keys. The phone looks pretty nifty as well: camera, flashlight, FM radio and about everything else." It might be fun to rename someone's keys as a practical joke, not that I've ever done it to anyone's computer keyboard.
It does so much... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It does so much... (Score:2)
Don't be silly, why on Earth would you want to be able to do that?
Al.Re:It does so much... (Score:1)
It is anti-theft (Score:2, Insightful)
Great (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Great (Score:4, Funny)
Word of the day (Score:1)
Not Exacty (Score:4, Informative)
SO you actually don't see that much of your design on the front -- it is all keys and screen -- but a lot of it on the back.
Re:Not Exacty (Score:2)
Off topic, but ... (Score:5, Funny)
Hours of fun, especially for touch typists =)
Re:Off topic, but ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Shifting keys around as a joke reminds me of another story too, a bit more interesting.
Some guy called his network admin and asked for help with a "password problem". It seemed as he could log into his account when sitting down on the chair in front of the computer, but if he tried to log in standing up (!), he would get a "wrong password" error. The admin asked for the password and tried it himself. Sure enough, when he sat down, the system would let him log. When he stood up and tried logging in with the same name and password, no go. Now this is not the usual kind of problem you run into. So he checked if there was some kind of interference, like some cable being shifted when anyone stood up from the chair, but he couldn't find any such thing.
It turned out that someone, as a joke, had physically transposed two keys on the keyboard. Now, how could this cause the problem? Well, both the guy with the account and the admin were touch typists, and sitting down, they didn't need to look what keys they pressed. But standing up, they had to peek at the keyboard to get the keys "right". Which they didn't, of course.
Now I can't remember where I heard this story first (Slashdot?), and I've most certainly not remembered all the details correctly, but admit it's a cool story nevertheless!
Re:Off topic, but ... (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't believe any touch typist is going to miss the fact that keys are transposed when doing hunt-and-peck. To touch-type you have to know where the keys are pretty well, and if you move keys around it's going to feel strange. Even if a first person gets fooled, I doubt a second person will.
Still, it's a great story, and if it isn't true, it ought to be.
Re:Off topic, but ... (Score:1)
Not that you'll believe me any more than the previous poster, but this did happen to me.
I used to work at a college as a sysadmin. One day a professor e-mailed that the keyboard was messed up on one of the computers in a certain lab. So, I walked over there, then decided I should e-mail him and ask him which machine and exactly what he meant by "messed up".
By the time I finished the e-mail, I l
Re:Off topic, but ... (Score:2)
Re:Off topic, but ... (Score:5, Funny)
I once changed around the number keys at the top of the keyboard so that they went 0123456789 instead of 1234567890... it took the IT support staff weeks to figure out what was going on
They have been out for a long time (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:They have been out for a long time (Score:1)
Pictures (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.nokia.com/nokia/0,,42298,00.html [nokia.com]
Re:Pictures (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re:Pictures (Score:1)
Full Tech Specs (Score:1)
Re:Pictures (Score:1)
Nokia needs to remember that functionality is a higher priority than style.
Well, it is for me anyway...
N.
Warning....annoying music at Nokia site... (Score:1)
How in the world could someone think that hi-jacking my speakers is a bright way to present information on a phone to an end-user? I felt like I had hit a geocities page.
Re:Pictures (Score:2)
I think i'll be more water resistant then inkjet as well...
Faceplate revenue (Score:5, Informative)
There's specs and some more PR stuff on the 3200 from the Nokia site [nokia.com].
Sounds like something that'll catch on with the younger crowd; I'm surprised that no one else has done it yet. On the other hand, faceplates are a big business with that same demographic, so maybe no one's tried it because they'd rather make you pay to customize.
Next great customization: (Score:2)
So what if it sucks the batteries? It sells phones.
Re:Next great customization: (Score:2)
Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:5, Insightful)
it looks like the plates go under the plastic covers rather than staying on the the top(heck, if you just want that then you can print your own covers now and glue them on the phone).
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:2)
If your have water inside your phone, you have a bigger problem than running ink.
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:1)
couple of hours on the tv dried up the insides though and
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:1)
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:1)
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:1)
Re:Inkjet + cell phone == problems? (Score:1)
Interesting (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Interesting (Score:1)
And btw, you have any stickers on your computer case?
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
Asians are notorious for customizing their phones to death...those neon/blue lights just annoy me to death. They are an abomination and should be made illegal.
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
What, Asians?
Re:Interesting (Score:1)
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
Lets not start bashing the phone companies, consumers want this and whether or not you realize it you love this also. How many case modding articles have been posted to slashdot? That's fashion too.
Every phone has some wacky design because the standard screen plus keys is fairly boring and been done many times before. There are no conservative looking phones out there, no standard designs. Everything is over desig
Maybe I'm just tired (Score:5, Insightful)
maybe... (Score:4, Funny)
What if the submitter had suggested a custom faceplate showing Natalie Portman, naked and petrified, eating a bowl of hot grits?
Re:maybe... (Score:1)
In Soviet Russia, the bowls of hot grits put Natalie Portman down their pants.
LK
Re:Maybe I'm just tired (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Maybe I'm just tired (Score:2)
And, more relevantly, Europe. Japan is by all means a minor market for Nokia, who's stronghold is in countries with GSM networks (Europe, the rest of Asia and the Americas (except the US)). They do have CDMA models (for the US, Japan uses something called PDC or PHS - there is W-CDMA 3G service which would work with some 3G handsets as well, but raise your hand if you have a 3G handset... I thought so.), but not as many as GSM models.
Note how
Issue with the phone (Score:5, Funny)
I thought to myself: How on earth am I supposed to dial with those keys?
Am I the only one thinking about this ?
Re:Issue with the phone (Score:1)
Re:Issue with the phone (Score:1)
Good news (Score:4, Funny)
80's Theme (Score:1)
All you base are belong to us !!!
Nokia
i can see it now.. (Score:2)
tickle-me-tux (Score:1)
Changing keyboards (Score:5, Funny)
Every year in December, he'd replace the boss' keyboard's L with a J key. We'd ask him why, and he'd say "because this way you now have a Christmas keyboard".
"Huh?"
"No L".
*cymbal crash*
Re:Changing keyboards (Score:1)
A B C D E
F G H I J
K M N O P
Q R S T U
V W X Y Z
Few people ever understood, so most would end up calling for an explanation, which was fun. Same idea.
Re:Changing keyboards (Score:1)
As someone who has changed out many keys to hunt-and-peck users, I know.
Re:Changing keyboards (Score:2)
The little bump on the J is now doubled, you're right. But the key cap is exactly the same size.
YMMV
Re:Changing keyboards (Score:1)
no bluetooth? (Score:2)
Integrated camera Polyphonic ringtones Customized contact list (images and ringtones) Integrated flashlight FM radio IR JavaTM
Why is it Nokia will release phones with all sorts of 'features' like a radio and a calorie counter, but can't give us more phones with bluetooth? I know they have a couple, but for the US market the offerings are pretty slim unless you want to carry around the big (by today's standards) 3650. IR isn't dead but it should be.
Re:no bluetooth? (Score:2)
Phones in these 'low' series are consumer products, Nokia expects to sell millions of them. Adding the hardware, which will only make it desireable to a very small part of those millions, just isn't a good proposition if it makes the hardware more expensive for the overwhelming amount of people who don't want it. It makes the phone more expensive to subsidize for the operator, and Nokia lives and dies by the operator liking the phones.
MMS and cameras will ma
phone keys vs calculator, PC numeric keypad (Score:2, Interesting)
Yeah, similarly I could put the phone's number keys the same way up as the keys on my calculator and the numeric keypad on my computer keyboard, with "7 8 9" up the top instead of "1 2 3" up the top.
Does anyone know why phones' keys are upside down compared to a computer keyboard and a calculator?
Re:phone keys vs calculator, PC numeric keypad (Score:2)
Dunno, but what I find most interesting that this has never been a problem for me or anyone I know - and I do use both computers/calculaters and phones quite often... for some reason I can type numbers on my keyboard number pad fairly fast, and can do just as well on my phone, not recalling a single time where I've mistaken the layouts. Funny.
Re:phone keys vs calculator, PC numeric keypad (Score:4, Insightful)
To quote the conclusion: "Basically, calculator keypad design evolved from cash registers, while telephone keypad design evolved from the rotary dial. Tradition has kept them that way ever since."
Keys (Score:5, Interesting)
What's up with Nokia keypad layouts, anyway?
Go here [nokia.com] and look at some phones.
The 3650 are in a circle. I gave up rotary dial decades ago, I don't want to be reminded.
The 3510 is like a spider web or something.
The 8910i doesn't have any keys at all! (Just kidding... I know they're under a cover.)
This 3200 looks like it doesn't have enough keys.
The 2100 looks like a smiley face.
With all these funky keys, how does Nokia expect me to dial a freakin' phone while I'm driving my SUV at 90mph in the right lane eating two cheese burgers and a Coke?
Re:Keys (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Keys (Score:1)
Re:Keys (Score:2)
besides.. it's offbase to compare keypads on dialing speeds, since most of the time you call numbers that are already on your phones memory, from the address book. what's more important is the text typing speeds, at least for me. 3650 is big enough for my thumbs combined with the butt
Real features (Score:2, Interesting)
But that's probably cause I'm a terrorist...
Re:Real features (Score:2)
My Motorola C331t phone supports encrypted TDMA but only about 1/2 of the time does it actually do it, I guess because the tower that it connects to has to also support it.
Re:Real features (Score:1)
Re:Real features (Score:1)
Looks good but (Score:3, Informative)
Even though this Nokia phone looks good but I would spend my $$ on this one:
Handspring Treo 600 Getting Closer [palminfocenter.com]
The story behind it's design [handspring.com]
More images [palminfocenter.com]
Another image [palminfocenter.com]
More info on how it will look like [treocentral.com]
Treo 600 in Europe next week? [treocentral.com]
Future Phones/PDA's [treocentral.com]
Re:Looks good but (Score:2)
I've got a SE P800 and I really like it - it's not quite perfect either, but also getting there.
Some of the problems:
Treo:
-Lo-res screen. 160x160. Ugh. Needs to be at least doubled to 320x320.
-Protruding antenna bulge on the top,
not so good, likely to get hooked on stuff.
-No bluetooth? I was skeptical about bluetooth at first, but I love it now - it's a great way to interface headsets to the phone and sync/move files without having to plug the un
In fear of the treo 600, sidekick gets os update (Score:2)
http://www.danger.com/developers_peek.php [danger.com]
Its a no buy, No Bluetooth (Score:1)
Apple did it already (Score:5, Informative)
Bluetooth (Score:3, Interesting)
Until Nokia stop being total wankers and resume support bluetooth on their phones I'm not buying one -- no matter how many "features" it has.
People have been abandoning Nokia like hell because they've stopped making "professional" products. I mean, who wants an FM(!) radio (!) over bluetooth?
Re:Bluetooth (Score:2)
??? whaaaaat?
what the f? just buy a nokia phone with bluetooth if you want one(7650,3650,6310(i),6650,upcoming 6600, upcoming ngage,8910). they've totally NOT dropped bluetooth support.
they never "stopped" making "professional" products, they've just been selling stuff for teens on the side for quite a few years now.
Re:Bluetooth (Score:2)
7650 -- doesn't support bluetooth headset profile.
3650 - weird key layout.
6310i - very old but not a bad phone.
6650, 6600 ngage, 8910 -- i'll loook into them. the 6650 looks good.
I'm suprised, their last lot of phone releases only included one bluetooth phone (the 3650).
Once every 100000 times, this backfires (Score:3, Informative)
Joke would be on you if you did this to someone like me who types on a QWERTY keyboard but with the OS set to Dvorak. They probably wouldn't notice the renaming.
Re:Once every 100000 times, this backfires (Score:1)
Probably not what you meant.
more info with high res picture (Score:3, Informative)
oh (Score:1, Insightful)
I just moved (Score:3, Funny)
You really should think about moving.
But it's still Nokia... (Score:1)
Why not a BG monitor for diabetes? (Score:3, Insightful)
Having a mobile phone with a built-in blood glucose meter would be a real useful thing, especially since the number of people with the disease is growing at an alarming rate.
Imagine what could also be done--you could IR, bluetooth, USB or phone in your results to your computer or an online data store or your docs. If your BG indicated a possible hypo or hyper attack you could press OK to dial one or more numbers for assistance, or the phone could be pre-programmed to automatically dial for help if you did not hit NO/Cancel within, say 10 seconds. With calendaring and alarms, the phone could also remind when it's time to take medication.
As a type 2 diabetic, I have to carry a meter around with me that's about the same size as a mobile phone, so having the two integrated would be great.
Re:Why not a BG monitor for diabetes? (Score:1, Insightful)
The reason the project was axed, was that the pharmaceutical industry and doctors were totally against it. They want the patients to remain as dependent on them as possible.
Re:Why not a BG monitor for diabetes? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Why not a BG monitor for diabetes? (Score:2)
Actually, much of what you dicsuss might be done by a separate glucose meter that interfaces with the Nokia phone using the PopPort. That could be a 3d party opportunity.
That Kuhrazy CowboyNeal (Score:2)
Man, that CowboyNeal, he sure has some wackyfun ideas! What will he think of next? Livin' on the Edge!
Third Party clear covers for Nokia phones... (Score:1)
80s flashback (Score:2, Insightful)
Now that I think about it - the controllers have a very phone-like interface. I wonder where the Nokia engineers got the idea..
Mississippi (Score:2)
Funny how that expression seems to work no matter where in the US you live...
Oh no. (Score:1)
So I swithed to a Nokia phone with Bluetooth and the it is great that the phone just needs to be near my pc in the office for me to sync it with Notes. But the sync. of the phone is too annoying when you have tried a PDA. It's not a one touch update like my Palm wa
Features (Score:2)
Where's the spork?
Where are you? (Score:1)
My Panasonic has a removable transparent back that I can put pictures under. I got it 2 or 3 months ago.
It's been done. (Score:2)
Re:Cool idea for computer cases... (Score:1)
So, even if they have a patent, there's prior art. Heck, even sleeved DVD and VHS cases could be considered prior art.
They might have a patent on a unique way of locking down a plastic cover though. And I have seen patent numbers inside of DVD cases...
Re:Cool idea for computer cases... (Score:1)
Re:Cool idea for computer cases... (Score:2)