Exterior
A lots of people have been talking about this handset as being the greatest concurrent to the iPhone – well, it’s everything but that, it simply doesn’t have to do anything with it. This is an incredibly small phone, weighing 60 grams and running a unique operating system based on the Windows CE 6.0 kernel. And in spite of this fact I still hesitate to call it a smartphone, as there are serious problems with the most important part, namely the software’s expandability, since the little machine is incompatible with programs written for the Windows Mobile operating system. Regarding its size, it is approximately as large as a candy box: 77 x 47 x 14.7 mm.
At first glance none can tell that this is a mobile phone, people usually said that it’s an MP3 player or tetris, but here were some who thought that it is a fridge-magnet. The use of materials doesn’t suggest the handsets price category as it is made of soft, rubber-like plastic, which ensures a firm hold but it collects fingerprint like hell. On top of the front cover we find a Neonode label, and underneath it lays the 2” diameter, 176 x 200 pixel resolution display. It is a touchscreen, but in a different way than the Pocket PC or the iPhone. The touch itself is not sensed by the foil, but by the system called zForce which is a "web" of infrared stripes of light.
The system works similarly like the automatic hand washers in the WC’s of shopping malls: the infrared light is broken and the sensor observes that something has happened. According to developers the system is fast and precise, but these are exactly the two things the zForce is weaker in, compared to the previous touchscreen systems. The lesson of the following picture is that this web has 10 stripes horizontally and 7 vertically, so it can sense touches in 70 different points, which cannot be compared to "normal" touchscreen solutions. It is very good however in two things: it is heavy-duty and does not need a stylus. Otherwise the developers compensated for the bit imprecise sensing with the user interface, but we’ll talk about this later. The idea, however, is quite good and we hope it’ll be developed, since – supposedly – using this technology a multi-touch interface could be created.
Around the display there is a 1.5 mm high border, this conceals the infrared sensors. Underneath the vividly-colored display we find a plastic stripe containing 3 icons and on the bottom there is the 4-way joystick and two holes. Yes, holes. A phone with holes. What is that good for? Well I don’t have the slightest idea, it might com in handy when fastening a neck strap, but that’s not for me, thanks. The main point is that it looks really ugly, and the impression is further ruined by the joystick bearing the company’s gas masked UFO-frog logo, which is a rare piece of crap, it can hardly be moved, and doesn’t function as an action button.
On its back, the N2 is quite desolate, on the top, centered, we can find the speaker, on its right there is the unbelievably tiny camera, in the middle the previously discussed UFO frog is located, and on the bottom are the two other ends of the holes. These heavily collect dust by the way, but this can be resolved easily with the help of ear-cleaning sticks.
On the top there is the small lock used for taking off the back cover, on the left the volume control buttons and the power switch are placed – the latter is used for bringing the phone back from standby. On the right and the bottom there are no buttons or anything.
A cikk még nem ért véget, kérlek, lapozz!
