I've heard about some people who queued up outside shops like Primark and Selfridges at 3 in the morning during the cold snap that was Christmas and Boxing Day 2008. "Insane people!", I thought, what on earth would possess them to get up *that* early in the morning, in the freezing cold, and queue up for hours just to buy a few bits of clothing?! Well fast forward almost a month and it's Friday the 23rd January 2009, it's 4 in the morning, and I'm getting out of bed to get ready and leave the house. Yes. Me, of all people, someone who's never really understood the masses of raving mad sale hunters.
What persuaded me to join their ranks you ask? Well let me explain.
It began a month or so ago when I started coming across reviews and unboxing videos (boring, yet fascinating things at the same time) of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. As someone who was an early adopter of the Nokia 3650, and who's owned a Symbian S60 phone of one sort or another ever since, the latest edition of S60 (5th) has been something of interest to me since it was first announced. For those of you who may be wondering what Symbian or S60 is, let me take a moment to explain.
Just like your computer, with operating systems such as Windows or Mac OS X or Linux, there are some operating systems for phones, the main ones are Symbian and Windows Mobile. Lately though, there's been a few new ones, one of them you've probably heard of is Apples iPhone OS, as well as Blackberry's OS and Palm's new WebOS. Phones with an operating system on them are called smartphones, one of the reasons being they allow you to install programs that companies and individuals write to be installed on a certain operating system (os), just like the programs you get on your PC or Mac, like Word, Photoshop, Winamp etc... But your Sony Ericsson W810i allows you to install Google Maps and Solitaire, so is it a smartphone too? No, because another main feature of smartphones is the ability to multi task. Multi task? Yes, multi task, in the context of mobile os's, this means being able to run more than one application at a time, such as having the web browser open, finding an address, opening maps, putting the address in (whilst listening to music maybe) and sending the directions to someone else by email or text whilst the other apps (web and maps) are still open in the background. Ok not very well explained but that's basically it. This is one of the reasons there's some disagreement on the iPhone's questionable status as a smartphone, as you can't switch between open apps, you have to return to the menu everytime to open another app.
ANYWAYS! Symbian is a mobile operating system, and just to make it more confusing there are various versions of Symbian, known as S60 (Series 60) and the late UIQ. UIQ was used on famous devices such as the Sony Ericsson P800 and its various successors. S60 is perhaps more recognisable as the OS that was used on popular Nokia phones such as the 6600, 6630, N70, N95 and E71. More recently it's been used on the popular Samsung Innov8. The point is, that it's a useful and easy to use OS that the majority of its users probably don't even realise is there. It is easily identifiable from its menu structure and look:
There, you do recognise it!
I just really enjoy the simplicity, yet versatility of it, and there's a bunch of great apps for it. Back in 2003 when I had the 3650, there was no other mainstream phone that could record video, with a 3rd party add on, we had unlimited video recording (limited only by the memory card capapcity).Another app allowed mp3 playback straight from the phone, there were Nes, Snes and Gameboy emulators, on your phone!!! At the time it was amazing. I've just become accustomed to the os over time, and have consistently purchased S60 handsets. I have my reasons for not liking the other OS's, but this is not the post in which I'll get into that...
The iPhone is naturally an enticing device for anybody, even I was seduced by its slick interface and gorgeous hardware for a time (about 7.54 seconds) until I tried text entry. I commend their automatic word correction, it really is very useful, but for my primary device on which I heavily input text, it just wouldn't do, and I really couldn't compromise on that. I settled for an iPod Touch 32gb (the original), to pair with my old N95, a really amazing combination, the best of both worlds, it really allowed me to do a lot of things away from my laptop (which incidentally is a MacbookPro running Windows XP on Bootcamp (you can tell I really do believe in getting the best of both worlds)).
Alas, my N95 is dying and in pieces, so it was time for a new phone. I had my eye on the Nokia N96 for a while, but then they announced the N85, a cheaper smaller version of the N96 with a gorgeous oled screen, it made sense. There I was saving up about £350 to get an unlocked N85 when they announced the UK release of the 5800, £250 for an unlocked S60 touch screen device with great ergonomics and one of the best music playing capabilities around (another important use of my phone, with a 3.5mm jack).
The reviews I'd read online were generally positive, so I hopped along to my nearby Nokia Flagship Store in Regent Street and asked one of the customer assistants if they had any dummies of it so I could get a feel of the phone in my hand. He then told me to follow him and he went to one of his colleagues and asked him if he had a 5800. I'm standing there getting very interested as my ears pick up to hear what he's saying. His colleague then pulls a black plastic slab out of his pocket and carefully hands it to him. My eyes widen and a choir sings in the background as he reveals to me, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic! In a hused voice he tells me I can play with it, constantly looking around to make sure nobody is hatching a nefarious scheme to grab it and run. It really felt so comfortable in my hand, highly ergonomic. Not so wide and sharp edged as the iPhone, not so heavy feeling as the N95, it felt, dare I say it, just right.
After playing with it for a while, testing out the main things I'd use it for, I decided this was the phone I wanted, I don't take as many photos with my N95 as I do with my Canon Powershot A640 so the reduction from 5 to 3.2 megapixels really didn't bother me. I asked him when the phone was being released and he told me sometime withing the next 2 weeks (this was about 2 weeks ago) so I said thanks and left.
I actually had the intention of buying it online unlocked within the next 2 days until I read an announcement that it would be released in the Flagship Store on the 23rd at 8am for £250. I was torn, until I realised nowhere else was doing it for that cheap! So I waited, and hoped my N95 would carry on functioning until I could replace it! I visited the Nokia Store again a week before the release just to find out if they were expecting queues. The lady there told me that many people had come in to ask about the 5800 and that they were expecting queues. She also told me the first 100 people would receive freebies and tickets to the Benicassi Festival in Spain, and the next 100 people would get various other freebies, sounded good to me so I pre-ordered and left.
After some discussion with a friend, we decided to get there earlier would be a good idea, I then grimaced and suggested we try and get there for 5.30am.... He agreed, we planned what time to meet up and how long it would take to get there. The only thing left to do was wait, and before we knew it, the morning of Friday the 23rd January 2009 was here, and I was getting up at 4am....
See my post about the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Launch at Regent Street.
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