09 September 2002

Wired says No to Nokia's new video phone Wired: it will hit the market late, and, as ever, the market won't buy it because current GPRS pricing structures are expensive, particularly for large data files like pictures and video. The Nokia 3650's keypad layout is circular rather than the usual grid of three-and-a-bit lines - a new idea for mobiles, though a confusing one for users making calls and SMSing, and a bit of a surprise from the usually highly user-centred Nokia. What's strange is that they haven't gone for the classic clock-wise number layout (maybe the target demographic has never used rotary dials on phones anyway), but instead run the numbers anti-clockwise with 1 at 10 o'clock and 0 at 2 o'clock. The interface decisions make it clear that the 3650 was designed for picture- and video-phoning primarily. Perhaps they should have looked to cameras for the interface? Rodcorp sez: it will tank, but is a signal of phones to come. Related: why are the numeric layouts of calculators and phones different? Two answers are at Straight Dope and ABS News' geek channel, but in brief the story is: tradition (calculator keypad design evolved from cash registers, while telephone keypad design evolved from the rotary dial), usability testing, plus the assignment of letters to numbers for alphanumeric dialling on phones meant that PRS7 made more sense on the third than the top row. 3:06:27 PM     comments

Orange Your Plan will offer DIY pricing From 1 Oct Orange is replacing its tariff plans with Your Plan - DIY pricing with inclusive minutes, access to info services, and free rollover of minutes and messages into the next month. In Orange's own words/PR: Orange today threw down the gauntlet to other operators by launching one all-inclusive package which allows customers to build their own service plan. Introduced to eliminate growing consumer confusion, Your Plan is designed to deliver a simple, flexible, transparent and value for money proposition. The UK mobile industry currently offers dozens of tariffs with many variations, leading to misunderstanding and uncertainty about service plans. Customers are presented with a confusing range of options rather then being able to choose the specific services that they want. It's an interesting idea, but its success will depend on how easy Your Plan is to manage: on its product interface. However customers may in fact prefer a less confusing choice of a few easy-to-understand pre-defined plans to a fully customisable plan, something that Virgin Mobile and One.Tel are trying. Elsewhere, in Orange-land... top up your mobile at the ATM. If you're an Abbey National customer with an Orange pre-pay mobile, from 9 September you'll be able to top it up at the ATM. A similar service in Belgium has 30% usage after 3 years. 12:01:45 AM     comments