I'm off to what even Nokia are grudgingly admitting to being the N-Gage 2 press release on Wednesday, I'll be representing All About N-Gage along with Ewan Spence who's also carrying the flag for the new Gaming Headlines site. Live coverage should (GPRS willing) be taking place in the #mobitopia irc channel, unless the free lunch is too good to miss...
Ewan and I have had slight differences of opinion on what will be in the new version of the N-Gage, but not on anything substantial. The pictures seem to bear out some of the rumours, farewell to the Taco's infamous sidetalking, and hello to hotswap MMCs. The screen images hint at Nokia Series 60 version 2 software (as on the 6600, 6620, and 7610 with Symbian OS 7.0s), and maybe a camera, the overall looks are cuddlier and less aggressive, so far so good, looks like Nokia are playing it reasonably safe (but not going too bland like the 3660 and 6600). How do the improvements fit in with my N-Gage 2 wishlist?
- Sidetalking banished - Check
- Camera - Maybe
- Series 60 version 2 - Check
- Hotswappable MMC games - Check
- Slightly smaller - Maybe
- Huge amounts of internal memory - Unlikely
- RDS on the radio - Fingers crossed
- Python pre-installed - Kneels, prays to the snake gods
- A freebie NG2 for everyone at the press launch - Laughter from Finland
- More games, let's hope this device is why a load of games have been held back.
- Detail improvements to the device, like bigger battery, better headphones (the phones themselves are fine, the two plugs are fiddly and get in the way when plugged in).
