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2008 is the make or break year for SE.
(I am bad at introductions,so i will skip to mains...apologies)
Heres my take on each Series.
K Series
K850 needed optical zoom for the edge from others.Now the photos are not as good compared to other manufacturers and then there is the dust under lens.All due to poor software dev and testing and bad designing.And the price here in India is Rs18,500..but you get a better 5mpx(manual + autofocus) with good video,touchscreen LG viewty for Rs20,000(extra Rs1500 is really worth IMO).On the entry level,I have seen much better pictures with K750 than those taken with 'Cybershot' K550.The last best was K800 and its minor update K810.
Next K (900?)series...another mpx war(7mpx?) and 3x zoom...but they all will have these or maybe better...what else??
W Series (Candybars)
First of,i use my phone more as a MP3 player than as a phone.i don't consider newer Walkman phone at all..because it doesnt have any autofocus or good flash.Is it really that hard to put a 2/3mpx autofocus camera and flash inside a W phone??Or will it make the phone really expensive(asking for K750/K800 camera hardware in newer W phones)??Does SE think that music loving walkman users are happy with poor quality photos??I will always consider a K series phone to a W series phone coz music is played by all SE phones...u don't look at the media player/walkman player all the time...but for good pictures,you always need a good camera.
On the music part,lately there has been better mp3 players from nokia phones(at least 1 or 2) than Walkman phones.In a new Walkman phone,i want to see the Album cover on the standby screen.I want a dedicated chip for better music output,i don't want to pull the phone out of my pocket and shake it...i want a lcd remote with music buttons...my 10 year old cassette walkman has it.My old cassette walkman also has a 3.5mm slot..but i can live without that as am very happy with my Hpm70 in ear-phones.The problem with SE is that they don't listen to what the consumers want.
Swivel
Everyone liked it(even nokia)...its cool,its unique compared to sliders.But SE thinks otherwise.Bring it back!!
Slider
SE killed the swivel and jumped into the bandwagon.Some really good looking phones,excellent use of colours!!W850,W580,S500,W910...but Walkman 3 is not good enough(above mentioned reasons),Camera are non autofocus,bad keypad in few??Love the W910,but I will pass...
Thin Phones
Excellent!!..didn't like the W880 initially,but the all black W880 won my hearts.Some said the keypad was not user friendly and screen was small...but i won't complain.W890 also looks good..love the silver colour.Autofocus and flash excused.Walkman in them...(not again)
T Series
Love the resurrections of the T series...thanks to fond memories of the beloved T610.I liked the use of good materials...very european design.I would like to see this as a high priced series with best of K and W series without any branding.Just don't make low end T series(T250).
Flip Phones
SE lost out here...What happened to Z1010 and Z800 phones?They were such cool ahead of time phones.What happened to high end flips??Flip phones are loved in USA.They didn't seem interested in tapping that market.Women like them...Z610 which was very nice...a nice fashion phone.Hope to see more along those lines.W300 and Z550 were nice.
P Series
P990 was a disaster for SE.First the bad phone(delayed,bugs,bugs,restarts....) and then to put salt on wound,"we find the phone perfect to use,but if you don't like it,buy a P1i" (and some people actually listened to that and bought a P1
).P1i was the saving grace of the P series(but i wont brand it a P series..don't want to stir another debate,just my opinion).I also found that the price has been drastically reduced.I bought my P990 for Rs 35k...after a year,price now is Rs12k..no wonder i saw my barber using one the other day.
So the Next P series is a slider?double slider?thin?Whatever it looks like,i am sure it will have a big screen like its competitors.A big blank black screen covering 90% of the front of a phone leaves 10% for the designer to work around.IMO,P series needs a flip.The keypad gives a character to the phone.On the feature,software aspects,hope SE learned its lessons with P990 and competition(HTC,nokia,apple..)
J Series and low end K and Z Series
SE entered the low end phones(in India) at the wrong time.Previously,for people who buy a low end colour screen phone,the basics were colour screen,radio..and maybe a vga camera.People liked new colour wallpapers and nice ringtones etc.When SE entered the new low end phone,nokia had changed the definition of low end which now became vga-2mpx cam(non autofocus),bit larger screen,radio,few mp3s(sd cards are cheap compared to MS).Also,if the price is bit above,they know that the nokia price will come down in couple of months as compared to SE where price reductions are few.Add to that poor marketing for the phones.No wonder it bombed big time.What SE needed was K750 and W800 at cheaper prices to attract nokia users.Anything below this model(SE are bad at and use poor quality), people trust and swear by nokia's superiority.
What SE needs to do is bring back the innovation that we saw in pre-2006 phones.SE should make a phone ahead of 2008.They should test their phones more stringently than before..Bring back the 'Sony' in SE.Also i want to see better design from Ericsson.Bring back the 'Wow' factor.
Nokia spent last 2-3 years on their high end phones(N series) and succeeded(because they grew from low end to high end and had something to offer for everyone who was upgrading to a higher phone) and SE spent it on making wider their portfolio with existing features and low end phones during which time,they forgot their high end users(who were left without any good upgrades) and pulled out some mediocre phones or phones with technology already in the market.
Yes,SE blew it big time the last 2 years.I hope this changes this year.2008 will be the year of "High end Smartphone meets PMP"...In this race,i hope SE is not left behind by delays,bugs,poor customer supports and high prices.Or else a lot of people will bid goodbyes to SE..and say hello to HTC/Nokia?LG?Apple...
I hope SE reads this...Free advice/consumer feedback.
[ This Message was edited by: dr_thug on 2008-01-02 15:37 ]
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Posted: 2008-01-02 16:32:52
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Wish developers at SE read this thread.
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Posted: 2008-01-02 16:45:05
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As far as the P series goes, it does
not need a flip - but what it does need is some real innovation, both in the hardware design and the capabilities. It needs to look and feel different to other smartphones, and stand out from the crowd, which the P1 doesn't really do.
More than anything, the UI experience needs to be fast, and slick, and stable. Something that lays the P990 to bed forever, and makes the competion - including the Iphone - look clumsy.
You know what else? It needs to be announced
now, and in the shops within weeks rather than months (or years). The vapourware and the photoshops aren't doing it for anyone. The P1 was old news before it was even released, and the W960 is just compounding the same mistake - SE need to wipe the slate clean now and start clawing back a little respect...
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Posted: 2008-01-02 16:51:36
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Thug!!! Well said.
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Posted: 2008-01-02 16:57:34
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(posted in wrong thread ->moved)
[ This Message was edited by: aqualung on 2008-01-02 16:10 ]
[ This Message was edited by: on 2008-01-02 16:12 ]
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Posted: 2008-01-02 16:58:58
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@Boinng,yes i agree with you.Almost every SE phone take few months to reach the stores.SE should reduce this to a maximum of 2 weeks..not more.After W960 was announced,N95 8gb and N82 8gb were announced.AFAIK,Nokias reached the stores before W960.
Thanks drgopoos
@aqualung,you can yourself delete it.Just hit the edit button and delete you post.
[ This Message was edited by: dr_thug on 2008-01-02 16:37 ]
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Posted: 2008-01-02 17:08:11
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boingg
As usual, well said ! A perfect appraisal of what needs to be done
Waspinator
It's not the SE devs who need to read this, it's the suits at SE. Hopefully this year they've got some who can think a little and see where the changes need to be made.
Honestly, one of SE's problems, especially in light of what went down this year, is that they don't leverage the online communities properly.
If, as we're told, SE reps read these threads, they're either not getting the feedback into the correct channels, or it's being ignored.
SE should find it acutely embarassing that customers are able to articulate their problems and suggest strategies far more cogently than SE themselves.
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Posted: 2008-01-02 17:10:20
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SE needs to impress us in 3GSM.
I hope K850's redesign will have more functions than fresh design..
or Walkman's phone with 3.5 mm
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Posted: 2008-01-02 19:58:37
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2008 is
's Year.
The line up is looking good
Keep the faith dudes.
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Posted: 2008-01-02 20:04:27
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On 2008-01-02 20:04:27, PeterKay wrote:
2008 is
's Year.
The lie up is looking good
Keep the faith dudes.
I'm not so optimistic, I'm sure the next phones, will have the same problems, mid/high-end walkman phones without 3.5 mm jack, low internal memory ((w880 had even less than 2year old w800, people want upgrades, not downgrades
))and outstandingly bad camera and totally
overprized, in my country nokia's 5610 is only 2/3 off w910i prize tag, it is newer and has better cam, screen only I like se ui and design but still w910i's starting prize was nearly an insult.
I can just agree with what the others here are saying !
edit: just saw the w880 is also expensivier than nokia's 5310
[ This Message was edited by: not_me on 2008-01-02 19:40 ]
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Posted: 2008-01-02 20:33:27
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