Nokia N91
Encyclopedia
The Nokia
N91 is a mobile phone
that was released to the public in April of 2006. It is part of the Nokia Nseries
range of mobile phones. At the time of release, it was the most advanced music phone ever launched by nokia. N91 also won the 'Most Innovative Product' award in recognition of its true multimedia music experience. It features a 2 megapixel camera and a 4 GB (8 GB in a revision released later that year) hard drive to store approximately 3,000 songs encoded in either AAC
, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3
, mp3PRO
, WAV
, MIDI, or Microsoft's
WMA
format. It is generally considered the benchmark in the music department, simply for its unparalleled sound quality through headphones. It also features 3G
and Wi-Fi
connectivity. The phone features a 176 x 208, 262,144 colours TFT LCD
display and dedicated music functionality buttons (XpressMusic
) that slide down to reveal traditional mobile phone keys. Battery life when solely playing music has been estimated at 12 hours.
In advertisements for the phone, Nokia recommended Bose
and Sennheiser
headphones.
An 8 GB variant, internally known as N91-2, was also released. This upgraded model features some minor improvements in addition to the extra storage space. The most prominent feature on the N91-2, apart from the increased memory, was the inclusion of A2DP Bluetooth Profile. This profile enabled wireless music playback over Bluetooth, in full stereo (2 different channels, L+R). Compatible Bluetooth headsets were already available in the market by then.
N91-2 had a distinct black color, that added to its face value.
N91-5 was a version of the N91 with the 4GB memory, but without Wifi (WLAN) and 3G Network support. It was produced by the Chinese Plant of Nokia Corporation. This model retailed for about 50 Euros less than the regular N91-1.
The N91 was discontinued late 2007 with the emergence of other N series audio convergent devices.
. It was the first phone with the Symbian OS 9.1 operating system to be released.
computer. This will often cause the phone to crash as the two units are disconnected and music files are often not recognised despite being loaded into the phone's hard drive. Also, in old firmware versions, when you install a new theme, it will reset itself back to the default theme. Users can update the firmware using Nokia's PC Suite.
In the Philippines
, there was an incident involving an N91 being used with one of Nokia's 46 million recalled BL-5C lithium-ion batteries, and exploded as a result.
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
N91 is a mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
that was released to the public in April of 2006. It is part of the Nokia Nseries
Nokia Nseries
Nokia Nseries is a multimedia smartphone product family which is engineered and marketed by the Nokia Corporation.The Nseries devices are known to commonly support multiple high-speed wireless technologies, such as 3G, or Wireless LAN....
range of mobile phones. At the time of release, it was the most advanced music phone ever launched by nokia. N91 also won the 'Most Innovative Product' award in recognition of its true multimedia music experience. It features a 2 megapixel camera and a 4 GB (8 GB in a revision released later that year) hard drive to store approximately 3,000 songs encoded in either AAC
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding is a standardized, lossy compression and encoding scheme for digital audio. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves better sound quality than MP3 at similar bit rates....
, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
, mp3PRO
Mp3PRO
mp3PRO is an audio compression algorithm that combines the MP3 audio format with spectral band replication compression methods. It claims to achieve transparency at lower bitrates than MP3, resulting in a file nearly half the size of standard MP3...
, WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
, MIDI, or Microsoft's
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
WMA
Windows Media Audio
Windows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs...
format. It is generally considered the benchmark in the music department, simply for its unparalleled sound quality through headphones. It also features 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
and Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
connectivity. The phone features a 176 x 208, 262,144 colours TFT LCD
TFT LCD
Thin film transistor liquid crystal display is a variant of liquid crystal display which uses thin-film transistor technology to improve image quality . TFT LCD is one type of Active matrix LCD, though all LCD-screens are based on TFT active matrix addressing...
display and dedicated music functionality buttons (XpressMusic
XpressMusic
XpressMusic is a brand name for a line of Nokia phones that are specially designed for music playback.All of Nokia's XpressMusic come with expandable MicroSD memory slots, so these phones can also be used as MP3 players....
) that slide down to reveal traditional mobile phone keys. Battery life when solely playing music has been estimated at 12 hours.
In advertisements for the phone, Nokia recommended Bose
Bose (audio)
The Bose Corporation is an American privately held organization, based in Framingham, Massachusetts, that specializes in audio equipment. Founded in 1964 by Amar G. Bose, the company operates 5 plants, 151 retail stores and an automotive subsidiary at Stow, Massachusetts. With respect to sales in...
and Sennheiser
Sennheiser
Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG is a private German audio company specializing in the design and production of a wide range of both consumer and high fidelity products, including microphones, headphones, telephony accessories, and avionics headsets for consumer, professional, and business...
headphones.
An 8 GB variant, internally known as N91-2, was also released. This upgraded model features some minor improvements in addition to the extra storage space. The most prominent feature on the N91-2, apart from the increased memory, was the inclusion of A2DP Bluetooth Profile. This profile enabled wireless music playback over Bluetooth, in full stereo (2 different channels, L+R). Compatible Bluetooth headsets were already available in the market by then.
N91-2 had a distinct black color, that added to its face value.
N91-5 was a version of the N91 with the 4GB memory, but without Wifi (WLAN) and 3G Network support. It was produced by the Chinese Plant of Nokia Corporation. This model retailed for about 50 Euros less than the regular N91-1.
The N91 was discontinued late 2007 with the emergence of other N series audio convergent devices.
Operating System
The phone features the Symbian Series 60 Operating SystemOperating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
. It was the first phone with the Symbian OS 9.1 operating system to be released.
Audio Quality
The Nokia N91 has been praised with an impeccable reputation of the best sounding mobile phone ever produced (the majority of stand alone portable music players can hardly compete with it either). N91 uses a special DSP-33 chip set made by Toshiba and a powerful in-built Harman Kardon amplifier to boost up its volume while using acoustic, resulting in louder, deep bass and rich sound with perfect low and mid range frequency which has not been achieved by any iPod or Sony Walkmans. Test conducted, the N91 wins over iPod Nano in its signal to noise ratio, output power at full volume, and output at 10–100 Hz.Problems and Criticisms
There have been a few problems with the N91, namely connecting the phone to a MacintoshMacintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computer. This will often cause the phone to crash as the two units are disconnected and music files are often not recognised despite being loaded into the phone's hard drive. Also, in old firmware versions, when you install a new theme, it will reset itself back to the default theme. Users can update the firmware using Nokia's PC Suite.
In the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, there was an incident involving an N91 being used with one of Nokia's 46 million recalled BL-5C lithium-ion batteries, and exploded as a result.
In popular culture
- The N91 was the phone used by Bryan Mills (Liam NeesonLiam NeesonLiam John Neeson, OBE is an Irish actor who has been nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and three Golden Globe Awards.He has starred in a number of notable roles including Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, Michael Collins in Michael Collins, Peyton Westlake in Darkman, Jean Valjean in Les...
) in the 2008 film TakenTaken (film)Taken is a 2008 action thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Famke Janssen. The screenplay is written by Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, and was directed by Pierre Morel...
. - The N91 was also used by François BerléandFrançois BerléandFrançois Berléand is a French actor.Berléand was born in Paris, France of . He plays Gilles Triquet, the officer manager and equivalent of David Brent in Le Bureau, the French version of The Office, produced by Canal+. He released a book about his childhood in 2006, Le fils de l'homme invisible...
in the film Transporter 3Transporter 3Transporter 3 is a 2008 French-English action film, and is the third installment in the Transporter film series, as well as the first not to be distributed by 20th Century Fox in the United States. Both Jason Statham and François Berléand reprised their roles, as Frank Martin and Tarconi,...
. - This phone was used in film Never Back DownNever Back DownNever Back Down is a 2008 action film starring Sean Faris, Amber Heard, Cam Gigandet, and Djimon Hounsou. It was theatrically released on March 14, 2008. The film's respective tagline is "Win or lose.....
by a character. - Emraan Hashmi was shown using this phone in the Bollywood movie named Awarapan
External links
- Official Nokia N91 product page
- Nokia N91 Press Release
- N91 Specifications from Symbian and Nokia
- Nokia N91 at WikiSpecs
Reviews
- Camera-Phones-Spot
- All About Symbian N91 review
- InfoSync World
- N91 Reviews and specifications roundup
- Howard Chui brief Nokia N91 review
- The Smartphones Show – N91 video review
- Mobile Today – Retailer Review
- Fonebiz – Nokia N91
- Mobile-Review - http://www.mobile-review.com/review/nokia-n91-en.shtml