Is the Nokia Communicator form factor outmoded?

By on November 29, 2006 in Devices, News

Link: Nokia World Blog

In a Q&A session with OPK (check out Stephen’s earlier post if you’re not hip to that TLA), the unsurpressable Ewan MacLeod of SMS Text News brought some much-needed levity when he asked the Nokia CEO what his first handset was (a five-kilo monster in 1984 that stretched the limits of what could be a “mobile” phone), and what he’s currently carrying. It was hardly surprising to seem him pull out a Nokia E61, which seems to be the business phone du jour, at least for the Northern European set, knocking off the venerable Communicator.

The E61 is a pretty fantastic device, but its popularity raises another question: what next for the Communicator series? If mobile-phone sites and forums were to be believed, another Communicator was expected to be announced here. But with the success of a device like the E61, is the Communicator form factor outmoded and outdated? There’s not much that can be done on a Communicator that can’t be done on an E61 (camera aside, of course), and the Series 80 software platform’s been absorbed into S60, and the QWERTY thumboard is a more than capable sub for the bigger keyboard on the Communicator.

I’m in two minds about the Communicator. It’s a bit bulky for your suit, compared to an E61. I’d like to see the next generation though — if they can get it slim enough, it might be worth a look. Otherwise, I’m sticking with the E61 form factor.

About Ewan

Ewan is Founder and Editor of Mobile Industry Review. He writes about a wide variety of industry issues and is usually active on Twitter most days. You can read more about him or reach him with these details.
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  • http://invalid.name dan lane

    Forget about bulk… if the device is good enough then people will deal with bulk.

    The fact is, the last models of communicator were just too slow. I think I timed it as taking between 7-12 seconds to open the simple calculator app!!!!!

    I say that’s too slow, and I use an HTC Universal… so I know slow!

  • sandra

    what about blacberry support. does e61 cover you?and what about the e61 keyboard compared to the communicator’s?

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