Nokia Remix 2008 Singapore was held today at 9am at Odeon Towers, Supper Club. Supper Club is a beautiful place the huge sofa chairs are so comfortable that I almost fell asleep. I knew pretty much everything that Nokia is going to announce thanks to the pre-media briefing yesterday.

My Media Pass

I have finally got the chance to take a video of the user interface of the XpressMusic 5800 and I have uploaded it to YouTube. Nothing is new here, for more information, you can check out the post below this or check the specifications at http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/5800_XpressMusic.

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 User Interface:

As usual, sorry for the out of focus digital camera video recording, but I don’t mind a sponsor for a dedicated HD video recording camcorder, any takers?

“Nokia Come With Music” service is also announced. Let me summarize it in points so that it is easier to digest.

• It is a pre-paid service that is bundled to Nokia mobile phones. Currently on the 5310 XpressMusic, N95 8GB and 5800 XpressMusic.
• You need to pay a little bit more for the bundled phone. Price for Singapore is still unknown at the moment.
• You get 1 year of unlimited music downloads through Nokia Music Store. 18 months option are coming in 2009.
• The music you downloaded, you get to keep it after the 1 year. Nokia spokesperson keep emphasising this.
• Like it or not it is DRMed.
• If I am not wrong, the format is WMA and not MP3.

Personally, I am not in favour of DRM and WMA. I don’t mind paying a little more for non-DRM and MP3.

Here are some of the pictures that I took:

It is now 1am Singapore Timing and my NDA has ended. Now it is time for me to talk about Nokia XpressMusic 5800 aka “The Tube”. I was invited by Text 100 (Thank You Supriya!) to the pre-media briefing of the Nokia Remix 2008 at Marina Mandarin. The media pre-briefing is held simultaneously with the Nokia Remix 2008 event in London and hence the weird timing of having it at 9pm last night.

The press release conference will happen later on at 9am and followed by a party at night at 7pm where I will be going with Li Xiang.

There will be 3 parts to this post, I will post the brief details about the Nokia XpressMusic 5800 which is in the PowerPoint presentation (full specifications will be out later), followed by my 1st impressions after playing it and lastly the pictures I taken at the pre-media briefing using my Canon iXUS 860IS.

Nokia XpressMusic 5800 “Tube” Press Shot

Brief Details on Nokia XpressMusic 5800

• Incredible Big Sound experience: High performance built-in stereo surround speakers
• Superb 30fps VGA quality video recording and playback on 3.2″ 16:9 nHD widescreen display (640×360, 16 million colors)
• Great music experience: 8GB MicroSD included, 35 hours playback, FM RDS Radio, OTA Podcasts
• Freedom of choice: 3.5mm audio jack, support for the leading digital music formats (MP3, eAAC+, WMA, M4A)
• Easy to side-load (USB) and download (OTA) using the new Nokia Music PC Client or the new Nokia Music Store user interface
• Key device for “Comes With Music” Service
• Direct Access: One-click media bar for quick and easy access to all your media
• TV-Out
• GPS with A-GPS
• Multiple input methods:
  • Stylus, plectrum, finger
  • Handwriting recognition
  • One-handed portrait usage (ITU-T)
  • Two-handed landscape usage (full QWERTY)
  • Tactile Feedback (vibra)
  • Copy/Paste functionality
• Automatic screen rotation using Accelerometer
• Running on Symbian OS 9.4 S60 5.0 aka S60 5th Edition
• RRP: €279 = SGD$558.20 (before subsidiaries and taxes)
• 3G version to be available in 4th Quarter 2008, GSM850/2G version to be available in 1st Quarter 2009
• Sales Package:
  • Nokia XpressMusic 5800
  • Extra Stylus
  • Stylus Plectrum in Wrist Strip
  • Protective Carrying Case
  • Portable Stand
  • MicroUSB Cable
  • TV-Out Cable
  • Charger
  • 8GB MicroSD Card
  • Battery
  • Stereo Headset with Remote Control
• For the full specifications, check it out here, http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/5800_XpressMusic

1st Impressions

• THICK! Due to the built-in high quality speakers.
• No Multi-Touch. Due to different technology being used.
• Tactile feedback is something innovative and I kinda like it. Beats touching on a normal screen.
• VERY RESPONSIVE. Even though it is just a prototype that I am playing with, it is more responsive than the Apple iPhone and definitely much more than the Samsung Omnia.
• Love the “One-click Media Bar” that can be accessed by pressing the button on top of the screen (NOT phone)
• The main screen will allow you to add 4 favorite contacts where you can see your history calls, SMSes, etc to him. Think of it as Facebook friend feeds.
• I love the multiple inputs that this device can handle ranging from T9 keypad to full QWERTY.
• 3 buttons at the bottom, Call, Menu and End Call respectively.
• I love the sales package, lots of stuffs inside there especially the cool “Stylus Plectrum in Wrist Strip” and the nice looking “Carrying Case”
• The buttons are generally big and easy to press on, accidental press on other buttons have not happen to me yet.
• I would love to see how Nokia can evolve their touch technology next year. Perhaps a new Tseries?
• Symbian S60 5th Edition is used, 4th edition is skipped because Chinese believed that 4 is an unlucky number. S40 OS and S60 3rd Edition will still be maintained.
• Applications and games built for S60 3rd Edition is backward compatible on the S60 OS 5.0 although it may not be optimal because of the screen size.

Exclusive Pictures/Videos

Here is a video of the video playback on the XpressMusic 5800:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 User Interface:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 Internet Surfing/Browsing:

Here is the video of the XpressMusic 5800 Gaming:

PS: The video recording is a little blur due to my digital camera focusing. I apologized for that.