Windows Phone Thoughts: Checking Out This Fall's Gadgets: Pepcom's Holiday Spectacular Press Event

Figure 63: Altec Lansing 5.1 in 3.1 speakers

Altec Lansing had a set of 3.1 speakers that were built such that (they claim) they're able to produce 5.1 surround sound with just a 3.1 design. The idea is to have the main speakers produce sounds for both the front and the rear channels and the physical design (i.e. broken up with two perpendicularly angled faces) on each speaker apparently produces the desired effect.


Figure 64: Altec Lansing inMotion MP3 player speaker sets

Altec Lansing was also showing off their compact foldable speaker sets. While they're primarily designed for the iPods with dock connector, they can also be used with a third-party MP3 player with the auxiliary input jack in the back (but of course this setup is far less convenient). They are actually planning a release of a speaker set that will connect with other top portable MP3 players, by the beginning of Q2 2005 (the hope is that said top players will be the Creative, iRiver, etc.). Time will tell.


Figure 65: Nokia's 9300 Communicator

Next up was Nokia. The first device we played with was the 9300 -- this is planned to be released in the US, and features most of the features of the 9500, but lacking Wi-Fi and a camera. The unit is surprisingly smaller than their older Communicators and can be pocketed without too much effort. Suhit found the 9500 to be quite usable in terms of size, however the price (around $1K, presumably without contract) was prohibitive. The 9300 is rumored to sell around as much as a top of the line smartphone so it would solve that problem, although it's still going to be a substantial monetary investment.


Figure 66: The 9300, sideways view and closed

The unit is designed to operate in two modes: as a phone with the unit closed, and as a clamshell PDA. It doesn't have a touch screen, but does feature a full keyboard and a small joystick. The colors are vivid and very clear. Apparently, it's also quite readable in bright sunlight.


Figure 67: The 9300, opened

Opening it yields a very high-resolution 640x200 screen. The keys are not perfect, but certainly comfortable. The joystick is a little too sensitive. Janak's biggest nit was that it's not a touch screen, unlike his Pocket PC Phone. Suhit liked the unit very much, but as we'll describe later, the Blackberry 7100t takes the cake.


Figure 68: Close-up of the 9300 opened

Nokia had a few other cameras on display, but they were less interesting and have been discussed ad infinitum on other sites. It was also getting late, so we moved on to Pentax's booth.


Figure 69: Pentax's new Optio X

Pentax recently announced this compact camera, which has created buzz particularly because of its split screen/LCD design, enabling one to easily take pictures at a variety of angles and for self-portraits. The device is light, and the spindle feels very sturdy.


Figure 70: The Optio X, with the screen rotated to the lens side

Too bad the Optio X doesn't "fold closed" with its spindle setup. ;)