Nokia N96 Vs iPhone

The top end slot in phones is getting crowded and it is difficult to pick and choose any clear winner. Yesterday TMobile Google phone was in news and today let us compare the Nokia N96 and iPhone 3G from Apple



Both Nokia N96 and Apple iPhone 3G have their pluses and minuses and no clear winner emerges in a comparison between the two. The two phones are neck to neck on a host of applications available or bundled. If N96 fails in terms of an impressive interface, the iPhone stumbles on security and storage.

Let us take the comparison a bit further:

Looks and Interface:
The iPhone wins hands down from Nokia N96 as far as the looks are concerned. N96 though a smart slider phone, has bleak black looks which reveal none of the phone's power and capability. There’ is hardly any design innovation on Nokia’s part.

Multimedia and Applications:
Nokia N96 screen (diagonally) is 2.8 inches; the iPhone’s is 3.5 inches and here size matters. Being a video-oriented phone, the N96 adds support for more video formats, including H.264, Flash video, ensuring you can watch YouTube clips on the phone, and Windows Media Video version 9. The N96 includes dedicated DSPs and video acceleration chips.

The picture quality on the iPhone is good and you can watch in either vertical or horizontal mode.

Camera:
The iPhone has a 2 megapixel built-in camera, but it takes adequate photos in daylight. Compared with N96’s 5 megapixels camera (with flash support) it seems inadequate.

Games:
Nokia has included three great games to begin with, but the iPhone offers more variety in games.

GPS:
Nokia has taken a lot of pains to make the GPS simpler and detailed, even adding a pedestrian mode. Apple’s newly-added assisted GPS offers pinpoint locations with the help of Google maps, but is nowhere close to Nokia’s accuracy.

Apple iPhone 3GInternet and Mail:
On the iPhone mail can be configured to ‘fetch’ (iPhone term) mail every 15 minutes, 30 minutes, hourly, or manually. N96’s symbian OS is a familiar one, with web security and remote lock features weaved in.

Storage:
Nokia N96 packs in attention-grabbing features like inclusion of DVB-H digital TV and strikingly high specifications. It comes with 16 GB of onboard and 8 GB of replaceable flash storage, and has a pronounced focus on video and music.

Even the form factor and bundled kick-stand suggest this model is a TV-phone, let alone the numerous hardware specifications like the STMicroelectronics chipset that make it video-relevant.

Battery life:

Nokia has invested a lot in making the battery life longer and one can happily dismiss the fear that the low-capacity battery used in Nokia N96 (950 mAh) won’t be enough for comfortable operation. N96 averages a solid 6 hours while iPhone battery fizzled out in about 5 hours.

Price:

The Nokia N96 (16 GB) is now available for 34,999 while Apple iPhone (16 GB) retails at Rs 36,100 and the 8GB iPhone for Rs 31,000 with Airtel and Vodafone. Nokia’s phone is operator independent.

How the iPhone will raise your phone bill by 30 percent

The long wait for iPhone fans is over now. The much sought after iPhone is finally available in India, though for a steep price. (There is no subsidy on iPhone in India unlike USA where the price is subsidized by the telcos)

Many agree that the iPhone is a touch above the rest, what many do not know is that this touch-screen handset from Apple Inc is also expected to raise its users' monthly bills far more than other hi-end mobiles in the market.

In fact, according to telecom industry experts , an iPhone might increase billing charges by up to 25-30 per cent. And that's where Vodafone and Bharti Airtel - the two service providers who launched the gizmo in India on Friday - would make the killing.

Both telecos have come up with special iPhone-specific data plans that are basically aimed at promoting net-surfing on their networks.

While Vodafone is giving 250 MB and 600 MB data usage free per month on a plan of Rs 799 and Rs 999, respectively, Bharti Airtel is offering free 500 MB per month on iPhone-specific plans that will have a basic rent of Rs 600 per month.

You will need to change your current plan.

But telecom analysts feel that these plans are not economical enough, as the iPhone will encourage users to spend more through its value added services (VAS) and bundling stratergies.

"iPhone will increase its owners' bills by more than 25-30 per cent of what they used to pay earlier, especially if he uses all the functions that the phone offers in the country ," said Romal Shetty, Executive Director of the research firm KPMG.

He further pointed out that this latest gizmo, even otherwise , is too expensive, putting it out of the reach of most Indians. For Manoj Mohta, head of another analysis firm CRISIL Research, it's the lack of 3G services that makes the iPhone too expensive for too little in return. "Only after 3G comes in will the service providers launch more of data-oriented plans. But until then it will remain an expensive proposition," said Mohta.

He even hinted that this may actually disappoint iPhone owners, especially when there is also not sufficient Indian-specific content available for such a phone.

Also, iPhone users will need to repeatedly use iTunes (the copyrighted software created by Apple for its products and which has to be paid for) to download content. This is because the iPhone does not have any Bluetooth services that can transfer or get music from another phone.

Sanjay Gupta, chief marketing officer for mobile services at Bharti Airtel , told Mumbai Mirror that 98 per cent of people who use the iPhone globally have heavy data usage.

"Our aim will be to promote that data usage here too. The iPhone is already known for its VAS like GPRS, maps and iTunes," said Gupta.

So if you finally managed to acquire the gizmo be ready to part with cash every month for its upkeep. Sounds like marriage, where upkeep is higher than the acquisition cost.