New Nokia 3310 will be practically unusable in many countries, including US
gadgets.ndtv.com
gadgets.ndtv.com
Nokia's were a rage when the mobile market was nascent (2004-2010), and carriers flooded the market with cheap SMS rates. With loads of cheap Android phones available, and no WhatsApp on Nokia devices, it's a DoA device. And it doesn't even look as durable as the original classic.
There is still a huge population which wants basic phones as a backup atleast. There are places in india where electricity is not so easy to get and the monthly salary is still under 100$ The senior citizens even though have migrated to smartphones stil are in the dire need of a durable small phone.
I feel apple may also jump in with a luxury feature phone,Just a matter of time
Might not be apparent in Silicon valley but in third-world countries its:
* Snatcher deterrence. It would be less likely targeted than say an iPhone when used in risky public areas.
* Ideal for people who'd only use a phone for texting and calling (eg. older people, farmers, laborers).
* A phone that does not need baby sitting: long batt life, doesn't care if it falls on the floor, when it rains just wrap it in plastic.
* And the one thing that I miss the most in smartphones: Texting without ever looking at the screen.
And voice dictation is very accurate these days, and probably faster than most people type.
I had to buy a cheap phone, and to be precise, the 3310 costs 3 times the cheapest (an Alcatel).
I don't just want a basic phone as a backup. I want real sim card portability/functionality. I want to have a smart-phone when I need it, and I want a lightweight, rugged, long battery endurance phone I can pop the sim card into for activities where I'm willing to compromise features for durability (or speed/ease of use).
> The senior citizens even though have migrated to smartphones stil are in the dire need of a durable small phone.
I still can't believe that nobody has done this. I attribute it to my cynicism about dealing with telecom middlemen (data providers).
Also, a phone has now become an indispensable tool for the modern man, a tool which augments your capabilities and allows you to expand them via new software.
There are plenty of cheap Android phones to choose from, that give you a better camera, proper connectivity, and a worldwide app ecosystem; with the new Nokia 3310 on the other hand, you get a 2G, 2 Megapixel camera, 2 inch screen phone with no software ecosystem. To me this seems like a no brainer.
Smartphones still sell less than feature phones or dumb phones in India.
3310 market is poor people in developing countries.
All the features of this new 3310, but even more authentic, and they're selling for 10-20GBP
Edit: did I mention that it only needs charging once a week?
There are currently phones that serve her well (e.g. Nokia 230). This is another one.
However, you'd think they would update the radio so it would work in more places....
That said, even my Wiko does support four networks. Seems shortsighted to be selling these nowadays, even in the markets they're targeting.
We have tried getting special phones for my mother but the UX is always worse than worse. They are unusable to people! So maybe if this Nokia actually worked on 3G it would be perfectly suited for her, a landline style phone that worked without the landline. There is definitely a market for such a phone that has a good brand, e.g. 'Nokia' is nice and shiny with lots of colours and just works.
The other feature I think is needed is mobile wifi hotspot. Ideally you just press a button and the display shows the SSID and access code, again that being some easy code.
Again, my mother can use a computer perfectly fine for online shopping, if she just had to press a button on the phone and that meant her computer was online then that would be something she could do herself. Her hands are too arthritic to do web surfing on a handheld device, she needs a keyboard and trackpad. The right Nokia could have enabled this.
In todays terms, for me that is like StarTrek technology.
Carriers that can get away with running GSM in their guard bands often do to support legacy M2M devices and international roaming customers.
Try buying an international phone with the correct band support and put it onto a US network, it'll kick down to 3G or 2G to make the call. No point really in having the extra data speeds a featurephone won't need (for most people). I personally would like to have a small, durable, and low powered featurephone I could also use as a usb modem.
The Kyocera Rally is another 3G candy bar feature phone with more of a budget price ($20 from Amazon but locked to T-Mobile).
I have a Sony Ericsson K850i that's quadband GSM and works on HSPA 850/1900/2100 (meaning it'll work on AT&T and T-Mobile's 3G networks as well as a good chunk of international 3G networks)
I'm in the DIGITS beta and have a sim that's basically a clone of my main smartphone line, I use the clone on a 2G featurephone cause the battery lasts a week. It's also funny to have the old ringtones go off.
That said, it's just marketing trick.
I have Nokia 108 (dual sim) phone I use in weekends. It's smaller and the battery lasts 31 days in standby mode.
So did the progenitor to T-Mobile.
I think on different frequency bands, limiting the usefulness of international phones.
The idea that the US somehow uniquely snubbed GSM is a tired myth.
They were using it up until the end of 2016. https://www.att.com/esupport/article.html#!/wireless/KM10848...
> So did the progenitor to T-Mobile.
T-Mobile still uses GSM1900 nationwide and GSM850 (not well known that they do) in Myrtle Beach, SC.
>I think on different frequency bands, limiting the usefulness of international phones.
You don't know what you're talking about, stop spreading misinformation. There are small rural/regional carriers that still use GSM1900 or GSM850 in areas, I can think of Indigo Wireless out in west PA as one of the companies.
>T-Mobile still uses GSM1900 nationwide and GSM850 (not well known that they do) in Myrtle Beach, SC.
I wasn't trying to establish that they had stopped, I was pointing out that they adopted it quite some time ago.
Perhaps "international phone" was the wrong term, my intent was to say that phones sold in Europe often wouldn't work in the US. Was that not the case? Oh, I see in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13792767 that you agree with that. Sorry if I used the wrong words.
Hasty interpretation of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands at least indicates that different frequencies were used in different areas.
My apologies, I wrongly assumed we were talking about the current network landscape. You would be correct.
> Hasty interpretation of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_frequency_bands at least indicates that different frequencies were used in different areas.
If memory serves. In the US it was GSM1900 up until the late 90's/early 2000's, AT&T Wireless decommissioned their legacy TDMA network at the time on 850mhz and shifted to using 850mhz for GSM due to better rural signal propagation.
Worldwide outside north america's 850/1900, there is 900/1800, and to a much lesser extent maybe 450 for siberia, and in other places likely better served by satellite.