Russell Beattie Notebook

Nokia 3230 Initial Reactions

Posted on Friday, April 1st, 2005 10:24 AM

David Adams came down to the valley from Seattle the other day with his shiny new Nokia 3230 to show off. I hadn't had a chance to fondle one yet, and I have to say, I was pretty surprised at how small it was. Thin and relatively light, with *great* styling and beautiful buttons. Well, the left and right soft buttons could've been a little better placed, but in general I think it's a really well done phone. I can't wait for it to be on sale here in the U.S. (probably by Christmas).

From what I understand, this is going to be Nokia's consumer-level Series 60 phone. It's going to be priced more cheaply than their 668x family of phones which will be aimed at the high end. This is pretty great - the 3230 has some great features and is well designed. It could be what Series 60 needs to really take off.

Soooo. Enough people I know are getting S60 phones again (it's like a second wave after the 3650) and asking me what apps to put on it. I'm going to have to make a list like I did *two years* ago. When someone tells you that the mobile industry moves a lot slower than other industries (i.e. the Internet) believe them. I've been talking about S60 phones for years now and I'm *still* waiting for them to become mainstream.

-Russ