14 DAY TRIAL // During the 3GSM conference, every mobile phone manufacturer out there has launched cellphone after cellphone. Most of them got a lot of attention (this is the case of the Nokia E90 Communicatior, HTC's Vox and Love handhelds, etc.) but there were others that are still to be discovered.
Probably the avalanche of handset releases we experienced in such a short time was the main reason a hand full of them never got under the media spotlight. The same fact may be the one thing that got all the technology related blogs and websites on the Internet to enter into a state of trance and accidentally skip out in their listings a few, or even more, of the devices launched at the 3GSM fair.
One of the phones deserving to get a closer look is the N2 from Neonode, an extremely small cellphone and one with a lot more qualities than you would think of at a first glance.
Besides being the smallest phone launched at 3GSM, the N2 is also a device that will surely end up on the wish list of many mobile phone loving people due to its spec sheet.
This quad-band GSM/GPRS midget sized phone works on 850, 900, 1800 and 1900 MHz networks and features a 2 inch 65k colors LCD display with a resolution of only 176x220 pixels (which in my opinion can be considered a serious drawback in the eyes of the potential buyers), wireless Bluetooth connectivity with Headset, Obex and FTP profiles support, Neonode WRR software to record music from Internet radio channels, a miniSD memory expansion card slot, a music player with MP3, WMA and WAV compatibility and a 2 megapixel digital camera capable of recording video clips using the MPEG4 format.
If you thought this is only a toy, it turns out you were wrong, to say the least, because this Lilliputian mobile communication device can fulfill every task you can think of in a snap.
If you want to connect it to your personal computer to transfer some files or update all the information available on the handset, you can use the USB cable which comes with the phone. When the phone is turned off, it will appear on your PC as a removable disk and the handset acts like a mass storage device.
The N2 uses an open platform so you can have access to the software and the features you want. Even better, if you are a skilled programmer and feel the software that comes with the device doesn't quite suit your necessities, you can develop your own to get complete gratification using your newly bought mobile phone.
Also, in the Neonode Friends Zone, on the manufacturer's website, free of charge updates are regularly released so you can upgrade your N2 and, even more, find out information on how you can develop your own software for its open platform.
The interface available on Neonode's N2 cellphone is named Neno and, in some people's opinion, it is a little tough to use. Well, it probably is at first but after using it a little, you will find out that it can make this phone a very easy to use device.
To access the main menu, you just have to sweep your finger up from the bottom left of the display, a sweep up from the middle of the start page will let you access the integrated keypad and by sweeping up from the bottom right side, you open a menu which gives you access to the tools bar.
Conclusion? A nice looking cellphone running on an open platform, with enough features on the spec sheet to satisfy even the most pretentious mobile user and the smallest handset at 3GSM (it measures 77x47x14.7 mm and weighs 70 grams).
Those things aren't something to find in your average cellphone, don't you think?
