Various webmasters attending the Games Conference in San Jose have confirmed with the Nokia team what's going to be new on the N-Gage 2. The spectator sport of Side Talkin' (http://www.sidetalking.com/) is no more, with a speaker being placed on the face of the machine. THe oft-requested Hot Swapping of MMC's is here as well (no more MacGyvering the machine into its component parts). And the biggie? It's staying backwards compatible with N-Gage 1. Which isn't surprising given that it'll still be a Series 60 machine, but still, hats off to Nokia for finally doing something about the N-Gage. Now let's get some games released for it, chaps?

I know that they have to stick with Series 60 for backwards compatablity reasons but I think series 90 would make the best games platform.

I know that they have to stick with Series 60 for backwards compatablity reasons but I think series 90 would make the best games platform.

Most games drop the Seris 60 UI in the MMC games for their own idea, so in that respect it doesn't matter S60 or S90. What does matteer is the screen, S90 is a traditional horizontal display...

...buyt N-Gage runnign Serie s60 means Nokia hasa huge number of developers working on devices like the 6600 without knowing it. The Java downloads are geared to the vertical screen, and there are a heck of a lot more S60 evices than S90, even oif thye had both launched at hte same time.

Series 60 is the best way forward IMO. Always has been.

yep that's right S60 is the best for N-gage 2. Also for pricing side with Series 90 which based on TouchSensitive Screen it will going to make the price of the device to rise. Thus this will make gamers to think about it even if it could handle Calls...

can't wait till the PSP comes out

Most games drop the Seris 60 UI in the MMC games for their own idea, so in that respect it doesn't matter S60 or S90. What does matteer is the screen, S90 is a traditional horizontal display...



I agree its mainly the horizontal display I was on about. I think I've semi mentioned this elsewhere but perhaps they could make a N-Gage that could be used both ways round i.e. held vertically (as now) or horizontally. Then it would be up to the programmers how they want to code their games. It would be a bit of a challenge getting the controls in the right place though!

i just hope this time they perfect it

now what am i going to do with my old n-gage:(?

You can keep using it - just because the new devices has some physical tweks, I doub;t they'll be any change in the software.

or maybe try to sell it bfore the price drop because of the N-gage 2 (just my prediction tho)

it could be something like gba and gba-sp:D

it could be something like gba and gba-sp:D

Thats correct. So talking about N-Gage 2 is little bit incorrect....what we will see is more like N-Gage(i) model....or N-Gage SP if we want to use Nintendo's terminology. =)

n-gage i sound corny

they better call it n-gage something else

or even better n-gage advanced

Any memtion of a 65k screen? Will it have the OS from N-Gage/3650/3660 or 6600?

Since it is a gaming device, wouldn't it be treated as any other gaming device? Meaning wouldn't we be able to trade it in for the N-Gage 2? It would make sense, since Nokia's main thought was to make the N-Gage a series 60 gaming device with phone capabilities and not vice versa. Here in the US the N-Gage has a 90 day warranty just like the PS2 or X-Box (unless you purchase the store warranty seperatly). I know that you can trade the N-Gage games in so why not the unit itself?

hey darla where do u trade ur games?

i hope they include a camera on n-gage 2! bigger internal memory, 2 hot swapable slot for the game and for external storage :)

u know what 2 hot swapable is realy better than one

Hi Andy,

I know that they have to stick with Series 60 for backwards compatablity reasons but I think series 90 would make the best games platform.

Series 60 has, by far, the largest momentum, and will most likely continue so for several years to come. Therefore I think N-Gage is going to stick to Series 60 until Series 90 can come down to mass market affordability and popularity. So N-Gage III, N-Gage IV etc are likely also going to be Series 60.

However, someone, somehow, is gonna come up with Series 60 simulation within Series 90. The screen is large enough for three Series 60 screens next to each other. The only potential stoppers are various naming conflicts within the OS/UI itself, but there's gotta be a way around that too.

And ultimately, yes, a landscape screen gaming platform based on Symbian is bound to arrive, may it be 5 years or so ahead...

cheers
Martin

I agree that for now, it's probably best to keep series 60 for compatibility. But after that a future N-Gage should be a series that doesn't exist today, one based on Symbian 8 (for hardware acceleration of graphics) and CLDC 1.1 (for 3D in Java). By comparison, Series 60 is Symbian 6 and 90 is 7, and both have CLDC 1.0.

I also think that it won't have a screen the size of the series 90 devices, but something between Series 60 and that -- the best IMO would be the same height as now but twice as wide. That'd be a perfect resolution for video, and good for games, and Series 60 games could fit well in the middle of that screen.

Symbian versions are mostly compatible, and Nokia could probably easily continue with ARM based CPUs, so while I'm sure they'll have some work to do to keep application compatibility, it shouldn't be too hard to keep it while still advancing the device considerably.

FYI Series 60 runs under Symbian OS 6.1 or 7.0(s).

Sorry, my mistake. Series 60 2.0 runs under Symbian 7. Possibly the reason for a few software incompatibilities with the Nokia 6600.

So to correct what I said, the new N-Gage should IMO be not Series 60 in general, but Series 60 1.2 (or new subversions), for maximum compatibility. Just change the design flaws and keep the insides the same. Future one should use a yet unannounced platform, regardless of name. Could be called Series 60 4.0...

Maybe the N-Gage 2 will use S90 display? Its pretty much certain that this enhanced N-Gage isnt going to use it. We arent going to see N-Gage 2 this year... only a N-Gage SP.... if I'm allowed to use Nintendo's terms. =)

It's a given that the N-Gage iwll use Series 60 and the Series 60 display. It'll be interesting to see if it uses 6.1 and 7.0s. There's arguments for both, but for comaptibility with existing N-Gage, you'd be looking at 6.1

Do you think upgrading to 64k display could give some compatability problems with old N-gage games wrote especially for 4096 color screen?

btw, what do you think are the odds Nokia developing/outsourcing N-Gage 2 from scratch? i.e. ditching OMAP platform and going for "special" CPUs and GPUs, like what nvidia, ati and ibm can offer? OMAP2 has been announced with 3D hardware acceleration but I have a feeling it will be never as optimised for gaming as "dedicated" cpu's and gpu's.

I think its safe to say that this upcoming enhanced N-Gage still uses the same internals that can be found from "old" N-Gage.

N-D00D (btw why don't you register?)

There may be some compatibility if the programmers aren;' on the ball. It shouldn't prove anything too challenging.

I don't see Nokia outsouricing the N-Gage mk 3 (let's stick with 1, 2, 3, and no SP, Advanced, etc, at least in here). They've invested in OMAP for a reason, but there are some low power 'mobile' 3D chipsets out there that could be added with little difficulty. For example, the Sendo X Series 60 has seperate chips to handle sound and the screen to reduce load on the CPU.

And yes, N-Gage 2 will be functionally similar to N-Gage 1 in terms of internals

IMO.

I guess the big question about the N-Gage 2 is just how big a step it's going to be from the N-Gage "Classic", it would seem a little odd for Nokia to produce a series 60 phone with OS 6.1 given that they've already announced at least three 7.0s phones, but I think backward compatibility will stop that.

My money is on the N-Gage 2 having just enough fixes to take away the majority of the current complaints (much like the 3650 "upgrade" to the 3660). So that means:

* Hot swappable MMC (a second non-swappable MMC would be nice, but I can't see it happening).
* No more side talking
* 64K colours
* Not much else :-(

Nice things that I'd love to happen but I can't see coming for NG2 are 7.0s and a camera: 7.0s because Nokia really don't want any negative press on this phone (and they'll get plenty of that if any of the old games don't work), and remember that the NG is a cheap phone to make, so any extra hardware cuts into the margins.

There is an ongoing rumour that the N-Gage 2 will be announced on the 14th of this month.

Indeed - I wonder where I'm going to be on the 14th? At a press launch from Nokia perhaps? :)

http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=343845

:D

The picture are taken for HowardForums.Thanks to N-D00D for posting the link.

http://www.evesnik.com.mk/n-gage2/0.jpg
http://www.evesnik.com.mk/n-gage2/1.jpg
http://www.evesnik.com.mk/n-gage2/2.jpg
http://www.evesnik.com.mk/n-gage2/3.jpg

-Edit-

Even though you can clearly see "Camera" on the standby screen they say that the N-Gage 2 doesn't feature a camera.

yeah... I dont think there's camera. Maybe that prototype is just using a sofware from some other S60 phone..?

so... hotswap mmc, no sidetalking (speaker at front), S60 2.0(?), new keypad, no music keys... Looks less wide, maybe little bit thicker. What else..?

what is the s60 2.0?

i really reaally hope it has a 1mp camera then and only then would it be perfect
hope its price range is as cheap as n-gage1

Judging by the size of the screen the overall size is that of a 3300. Looks to me like a pure gaming device. No MP3 Player. I like the way the the red hang up button has been moved away from the main gaming controls.

Looks like it has a covering like 5100. I wonder where the connectors are for the headset, could it have a pop-port connection? On the top maybe? This could mean USB connectivity via DKU-2/5.

hey badger what do u mean no mp3??

Looking at the unit, the media player button has been removed, also the radio button. I think they will have done this as the unit will have no MP3 or radio functionality. I also think that it has no camera, Just a same software as 6600 before the unit variant tweeks were implemented.

s60 2.0 is the o/s which the 6600 & 7610 use. I think this unit will also have this o/s.

badger,I agree with you,i don't think the N-Gage 2 will feature a camera.I don't mean to be picky,but S60 2.0 is the UI on top of the OS which is Symbian 7.0s

Good observation about the missing buttons but i really hope they haven't been messing with the media features.I really got used to the radio and listening to AAC,MP3,OGG on it.

Radio and MP2 buttons above the 2 and below the 0 respectivly

Nokia seem to be repositioning it clears a s a PHONE that plays games, rather than a GAME UNIT that has a phone.

On initial looks, I prefer N-Gage v1.0

Radio and MP2 buttons above the 2 and below the 0 respectivly

I must be missing something. I can see the button above the '2' (though I can't make out the symbol), but the only button I can see below the '0' is the right soft key.

Here's a picture with the '0' button faintly highlighted in red, and the right soft key highlighted in yellow -


http://www.mossytc.utvinternet.com/S60/NG2.JPG

Can you explain where the MP3 button is relative to these buttons?

Despite what I originally thought I think those buttons are c - cancel button and the pen button. I'd be surprised if Mp3 went since that's just software...

Rafe

Despite what I originally thought I think those buttons are c - cancel button and the pen button. I'd be surprised if Mp3 went since that's just software...On the N-Gage as it is available today: software + a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) chip.

And I think you have to pay some sort of licensing fee for every device sold with a MP3-player... so if Nokia is trying to seriously cut some costs...

Hopefully N-Gage 1.5 still has stereo output, because you can always install a third party mp3-player.

http://www.whester.com/N-Gage2Pics.htm

Awesome find Ewan!

Awesome find Ewan!

That's why Rafe pays me... Rafe? Rafe??? RAFE!!!!

;-)

They've also been posted here; http://www.mobilmania.cz/Bleskovky/AR.asp?ARI=107004 with a few comments, but from the watermarks it looks like the pictures came from this site originally: http://www.flashfly.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3950 .

It doesn't appear to have a port for USB connectivity, and with no MP3, radio, camera (couldn't care less), I suppose it will (should!) start selling at about $100...

Dont like the way that the contacts on the MMC will drag on the rubber flap.

Where do you think the pictures were taken? Thailand?

yep that's right S60 is the best for N-gage 2. Also for pricing side with Series 90 which based on TouchSensitive Screen it will going to make the price of the device to rise. Thus this will make gamers to think about it even if it could handle Calls...

can't wait till the PSP comes out

S90 (touch screen version of it anyway) is more of a simplified mobile office than a gaming device and IMO it will be a bit pricey for the average user. Great for email and text messages though.