Nokia goes for the big picture

By RICHARD PAMATATAU

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is battling stiff competition this year with new phones bristling with camera facilities for both the Telecom and Vodafone networks.

The biggest mobile maker is fighting to maintain its hegemony in mobile design as it staves off strengthening competition from Asian manufacturers such as Sharp and Hyundai.

Nokia New Zealand general manager Bruce Howe says the company is on track for a good year as it fleshes out its product range to include a picture frame that can receive "PXT" images from either a "cellphone call" or via an infra-red connection.

But it's not alone and its competitors, like Alcatel, Sony Ericsson, Panasonic, Siemens and Sharp, are hitting back with a raft of new phones and car accessories for consumers craving the new black - devices that feature voice, as well as pictures, email access, radios, games and even torches.

Nokia has the soon-to-be-launched Image Frame SU4, which is essentially a digital picture frame with a SIM card built into it and room to store 50 images. It displays photos taken from the phone on its built-in LCD screen. The SU4 is expected to cost around $300.

All Nokia phones would eventually be equipped with a quality camera facility, said Howe, enabling customers to move closer to a words and pictures world.

Howe joined Nokia recently after a career selling fizzy drinks and toothpaste and said mobile phones have very similar attributes to those fast moving consumer products.

Like toothpaste, they are a part of everyday life and the desire by people to capture themselves on camera will drive very big opportunities for the phone networks as those messages get sent around, he said.

At the top of its range, Nokia is touting the 7610 - the first of its mega-pixel handsets. This means it takes pictures that are close to those of a good digital or film-based camera and for budding film-makers it offers 10 minutes of video recording time and an onboard edit facility.

Megapixel images cannot be sent on the Vodafone network at present but once its 3G (third generation) enhancement is in place sometime next year, this will be possible.

Howe said once Vodafone moved to 3G, the greater capacity for data would make send times quicker and bring costs down.

Coupled with the 7610 is the 610 Car Kit which costs almost $900 but may make driving and phoning safer.

Using wireless Bluetooth technology, the Nokia 610 car kit phone makes it possible to switch from a compatible mobile phone to the in-car environment - without swapping SIM cards. It also works with Nokia's 6230 and 6820 phones.

The 610 is Nokia's first car kit phone to offer Bluetooth SIM Access Profile (SAP). With the Bluetooth SAP profile, the car kit phone is able to access the SIM card in the user's compatible mobile phone, automatically log into the GSM network, and disengage the portable handset while the on-board system is in use.

As soon as the user exits the car or presses a specific key on the mobile phone, the Nokia 610 car kit phone switches off and automatically re-logs the mobile phone into the network.

It will be among at least 10 GSM models Nokia launches onto the New Zealand market this year.

Nokia is also flirting with Telecom's 027 customers and unveiled the 6225, the first of its camera phones for that market.

Kevin Bowler, Telecom mobile head of marketing, said pictures are becoming a bigger part of its network but refused to say how many of the Hyundai TX95C - its only picture messaging phone - had been sold.

Bowler said 66 per cent of traffic from picture-capable phones was images.

Picture messaging on Telecom's network is free until June 30.

Grant Shaw, mobile product manager at Panasonic, said his company is releasing the GD55, a "microphone" for people hitting the nightclubs.

Also on the way from Panasonic is the X60, another compact phone.

David Croucher, Sydney-based marketing director of Siemens, said it was bringing out a whole range of camera phones.

Alcatel's line-up includes enhanced versions of its One Touch 735 - a device targeted at the youth market.

Sony Ericsson is bringing out a raft of new phones that have a form factor that makes them look like a camera while pictures are being taken.

Howe said mobile users have become used to talking to each other over the network but were just getting into pictures. He said Nokia was now the biggest maker of cameras in the world.

Mobile must haves

* Built-in digital still camera

* High resolution colour screen

* Simple email capability

* Basic WAP web browser or access to Vodafone Live or Xtra Mobile

* Infra-red Port

* Decent storage - internal and/or removable SD card or Sony Memory Stick for storing saved pictures and messages.

* Long battery life

Less useful mobile extras

* Polyphonic ring tones

* Bluetooth connectivity

* Recharge cradle

* MP3 player

* "wi-fi" 802.11b/g connectivity

* Car kit

* Built-in video camera

* Email "snycing" with PC

* Changeable face plates