Nokia N93 - ask any questions and I'll (try to) answer

[Rafe]

Following on from the N91 question thread I'll do my best to answer any questions about the N93 here. We'll have a review in due course which will give a general opinion, but if there's something specific...

Read the initial teaser info in the news article.

[nj7]

Questions:

1 - It has vibracall?

2 - Video quality - replace a dedicated video camera? Like a mid range Sony or Cannon? It´s subjective, I know, but is the main propose of a device like that.

3 - In real work, what about battery life?

Thanks.

[Rafe]

nj7

1. Yes the N93 includes a vibrate function.

2. Thats very difficult to say as I don't own such a camera. However this is eminently watchable on the TV, so I would say yes at least for the low end.

3. Bit early to say but it does have a reasonably big battery so we'll see.

[Enfors]

Perhaps this is more of a Symbian question than a N93 question, but I'll ask anyway: I have a Wifi network at home, and when I'm not at home, I'll use 3G/GPRS. Is it tedious switching between the two?

I'm currently using a PDA (a Sony Clie PalmOS UX-50), and it has Wifi and bluetooth. I use bluetooth to connect it to my phone, so that the PDA can access the internet. But on this PDA, you have to launch the preferences app, switch to the Network tab, and then switch between Wifi and bluetooth. Very tedious in the long run. Is this simpler on the N93?

When my PDA needs to connect, it asks "Connect now?" and I can choose between "Yes" and "No". It would be better if I instead could choose "Yes, with Wifi", "Yes, with bluethooth" or "No". Does it work something like that on the N93?

Whoa. That's a really long-winded way of asking a simple question. I'll shut up now.

[Rafe]

Yes that is a general S60 3rd Edition question. The answer in the case of Nseries devices is that it is fairly simple. In each application that uses an internet connection (Access Point) you can set the access point to be used in Settings. You can either set this to a specific access point or you can set it always ask. In the case of always ask when the application needs a connection it will pop up a dialog asking which connection to use. You can choose from your GPRS Access Points, Your predefined WLAN Access Points (basically known WiFi points you commonly use and can set up in the Settings program) and EasyWLAN which allows you to scan for WiFi networks and sign on to one (useful when using one in the airport for example).

This access point setting is set on an application by application basis. Personally I have some set to my gprs access point (e.g. ones I never use at home or which use very little data), some set to WiFi only (e.g. Real Player streaming), and most (mail, Web) set to Always Ask.

[Alio]

N93 Full review.......how soon til it appears on the smartphone show?

Cant wait to get this phone........it's so cooooool!

[dovale]

What is the text input method of the device, obviously it doesn't have a dedicated keyboard for text input.

Cheers,
dovale

[mike08061981]

I was wondering what the connector type is for the TV out... Not the pop-port connector (I assume thats where the phone outputs signal), but the connector that goes into the TV. Is it some strange alien type that no one will have, or is it something like s-video, or RCA? Because its Nokia, I worry a little

[jukkaeklund]

Composite RCA connectors (3 pieces), perfectly standard

[slitchfield]

Text input is via the numeric keypad/predictive text or Bluetooth keyboard - as usual 8-)

My (black) N93 will be in Smartphones Show 13, being filmed in about a week's time. The E70 review's coming up on Monday, the N93 one (hopefully) on Friday. You'll have to be patient, there's so much that's new on the N93 that it'll take us that long to find out its quirks!!

Steve Litchfield

[Alio]

My (black) N93 will be in Smartphones Show 13, being filmed in about a week's time. The E70 review's coming up on Monday, the N93 one (hopefully) on Friday. You'll have to be patient, there's so much that's new on the N93 that it'll take us that long to find out its quirks!!

That's great Steve.......looking forward to seing it

[Enfors]

Is the N93 capable of playing back videos in slow motion?

I practice fencing. It would be very useful to be able to film practice matches and then review them immediately afterwards, discussing with other fencers what you did right and what you did wrong. But it would be difficult to see what actually happens unless you can play the video back in slow motion, especially on the small screen.

[Rafe]

dovale - text input is via numeric keypad either via multitap or via T9, and yes the TV cables are standard connectors.

Enfors - you can't play the video back in slow motion in Real Player (as on other S60 phones). You can pause the video repeatedly (on/off/on/off) which does allow you to 'watch' the frames more slowly or study a particular one.

[bodstrup]

Well, I am sorry, but I am not very impressed with the video - given the hype about the phone we have heard.

The dynamic range does not look to be great, but then it is a very difficult motive you have chosen, a very dark dog, front in the shadow, and the background in bright sunlight. I am probably spoiled with a 3CCD Sony VX2000 Camcorder and a Canon EOS 20D DSLR though.

Also I felt that the grass and especially plants in the far left of the picture as the dog runs away looks washed out with little details. There is also visible blocks around the dog as it moves. Hardly suprising. Perhaps Nokia has chosen to compress to much to save memory space at the expense of quality

It is clearly close to or equal to my wifes cheap Sharp Digicam, so it can replace that type of device, but not a high end system. Problem is, once you use such a system it is very hard to go back.

For most of the people who watch what I record, I doubt they will find the same issues.

Still, I might get one of those, finances permitting, when you look at the TV output capability and everything else, it is an impressive package

Regards
Michael

[Alio]

I am probably spoiled with a 3CCD Sony VX2000 Camcorder and a Canon EOS 20D DSLR though.

I think you are spoiled a bit , however for most punters who want a half decent camera/camcorder, the N93 with it's 3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, 3x optical zoom, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 30 fps) has a great deal to offer as an all in one low cost multi-media device.