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NOKIA 9290 - The greatest or what?
October 11, 2002 - By Grant W Laird Jr.

Yes, I have Nokia Communicator 9290 (see pciture below) for few month. Here what I’ve finding so far. They are in same category (sort of) as another type like HandSpring Treo and RIM BlackBerry.

NO VIBRATION MODE?

Unfortunately, this device is not what I expect. No vibration mode!

I've reported to Nokia to add it on next model because I am not interested to carry and not able to know when someone tried to call me. Now, I am not sure if older model which they widely used in Europe (non-color version) have vibration mode or not.

Loopset is not support either. (designed to aid people who wear hearing aids)

TTYs

I’ve been talking with a company called Aspiro from Europe who has been successfully setup and running for deaf community there with older model of Nokia Communicator. They informed me that they’ve been working with FCC to get approved then they probably will try to market their Aspiro TTY software to US in 1-2 years. This is for TTY software ONLY.

About TTY, (hardware) I believe it offers headphone plug which can be used for connecting to TTY hardware but unfortunately it is not support yet according to T-Mobile and Nokia representative.

In case you did not know, you can make phone call directly, it have 10-key pad on front of the phone (it looks exactly like regular Nokia cell phone) and I was told that audio system is very good.

INSTANT MESSAGING

I was unable to setup instant messaging (IM) such as Yahoo or AOL in any format under Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) or internet itself. Since Symbian operating system (OS) and Opera browser are not compatible to Microsoft applications which make it difficult to find one. With WAP, I was unable to connect to wim.aol.com (for AIM) like it should work with another like T-Mobile or Nextel phone. Instant Messaging (IM) is now big part of deaf community these days.

However, I learned that there is third party software called Mercury Instant Messaging (Jabber-based) that allow you to connect to any IM on this product at additional one-time cost. I haven’t tested it yet.

RELAY ONLINE SERVICE

About relay service online, I was unable to go Sprint Relay Online or MCI IP-Relay online via internet at all. I kept getting errors while trying to connect to them. I was told that those relay service online are compatible to Microsoft Internet Explorer only. So, we need to push all relay service provider to make it more compatible to all browsers including Opera. It may involved more than just browsers itself - not sure why its not working correct

INTERNET

Yes, you can go straight to Internet instantly with Nokia Communicator 9290 but it is pretty slow with dial-up service. You can do whatever you want to surf internet generally.

MORE FEATURES

There are so many features that offer from this product such as email, short messaging system (SMS), games, documents, PDF reader, power point presentation, mp3, real player, etc. It may be too advanced for consumer population. Email can be configured to corporate email, pop3, other type of email system. The color and resolution are awesome.

BATTERY AND SIZE

Nokia have extended battery at additional fee for longer life and it works real well. It can last 3-4 days without charging. About size, it’s kind of bulky and requires using leather-made holder for carrying however I don’t like it. I prefer clipper-type and they don’t have anything like that. Oh well...

COST

It cost $599 plus monthly fee under T-Mobile provider. My company is paying for it but as far as I know that it will charge you every minutes you are on line plus you must use your own dial-up provider such as Earthlink or MSN. AOL dial-up will not work according to Nokia web site. So, you can see how expensive it can be. If you have high-speed internet at home, you are out of luck unless you’re willing to pay another $20 a month for dial-up service.

COVERAGE

In Dallas, Texas where I live have pretty good coverage and I have no problem getting online most of the time. You can look up T-Mobile coverage on their web site if you want to know if they have good coverage in your areas. I am not crazy about T-Mobile but as far as I know they are only one that supports Nokia Communicator at this time.

LAST COMMENT

There are so many important features that deaf and hard of hearing people needs are being left out. Apparently it is still not mature yet. Please feel free to share information with your people and share your opinion with me. Bottom line, I do not recommend it to anyone at this time.

To learn more about Nokia and Nokia Communicator 9290, go to http://www.nokiausa.com/communicator/

Any question or comment, email to Grant W Laird, Jr. at grant@deafnetwork.com