THE MOBILE HORNET … for those who get turned on by mobile devices

Neonode today announced the availability of Neonode N2, its highly acclaimed touch screen phone, in a NEW RANGE OF COLORS on the company’s web shop.

The new color portfolio holding the lively mix of the colors Lime (green), Azure (blue), Rubine (red) and Roza (pink), will initially be available through the company’s web site, www.neonode.com, and is expected to be rolled out to current markets during the course of the year.

The Neonode N2 has been available in black since its launch in August 2007 and sold 31,000 units in Q4 2007. Due to increased customer demand, Neonode decided to move up the launch of a new specially designed color portfolio.

“The color portfolio is an important part of our strategy to spread the brand and product awareness as well as ramp up the production and reach our sales targets,” said Daniel Stålbo, Director of Marketing at Neonode.  “These new colors will be a natural part of several upcoming promotional campaigns and we also expect them to be a powerful tool when entering new markets.”

Neonode, the Swedish mobile communication company that develops touch screen technologies and designs mobile handsets, has just announced that the Japanese Patent and Trademark Office has approved the issuance of a patent, No 4046689,  for  its OPTICAL TOUCH SCREEN technology, zFORCE™.

“Several of the world’s leading consumer electronics manufacturers are based in Japan. Not only are they often first to market with innovative mobile products but Japanese consumers spend the highest amount per capita on consumer electronics of any nation in the world” said Mikael Hagman, President & CEO. “We expect to fully capitalize on the opportunity to license zForce in this market.”

zForce was initially patented in 2002. Currently Neonode has a range of patents and patents pending globally, all centered on the finger-based input touch screen technology.

zForce is based on infrared LEDs and photodiodes that work in sunlight and enable navigation by finger movements and sweeping motions - no stylus, keys or hard pressure needed.

The technology is cost efficient in terms of components, as well as having a very simple manufacturing process compared to the expensive layered capacitive and resistive touch screens currently dominating in the market. 

The zForce technology presents a significant licensing opportunity for Neonode as it may be licensed to third-party companies for incorporation into diverse touch screen products such as digital cameras, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and ultra-portable laptops. Zforce is also used in the company’s touch screen mobile phone, Neonode N2 (image below).

“As a strategic step in line with our dual business model; the combination of technology licensing and branded product sales, we have recently recruited Chief Patent Engineer Joseph Shain to ensure the further protection of our proprietary technology,” Hagman continued.    

I did some investigation on my own and managed to find the Malaysian manufacturer of the Neonode N2.  It is none other than BALDA SOLUTIONS SDN BHD.  And they are located in Lahat, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia.

According to their website, here is an overview about their operations:

“We are part of the Balda AG group with headquarter in Germany. We offer unique one-stop solution to global brand-name customers who are looking into lowering product cost without sacrificing product quality and performance.

Our in-house services span from product design to high volume manufacturing of electronics products with special focus on radio frequency (RF) and acoustical electronics products.

Our strong emphasis on product quality and reliability has won accolades from our customers and helped them achieve demanding requirements from their end-customers.

Our relentless effort to enhance knowledge and upgrade facilities enabled us to keep up with technological requirements to produce the latest products and gadgets.

Being based in Malaysia serves well for our offerings. We can tap into the highly skilled and knowledgeable manpower, competitive labour rates, wide-base support industries, excellent infrastructure and conducive manufacturing environment backed by our pro-business Government policy With multiple manufacturing sites in Europe, Brazil, China and India. We as part of the Balda AG group, stand to leverage world-wide resources to support our customer’s need for global market reach.”

Judging from their list of customers, I believe their quality should be up to mark.

INSIDE THE NEONODE N2

When I opened the N2, I could not believe my eyes what I saw printed on the inside :

“DESIGNED IN SWEDEN
MADE IN MALAYSIA”

The awesome N2 is Made in Malaysia.  How about that?  Even the N2 battery bears the Made in Malaysia mark.  Hope the manufacturer read this and let us know their identity.  They should be proud of what they had done.

The N2 has WINDOWS EMBEDDED CE 6.0 PRO inside but the interface is purely Neonode.  If you go to the Neonode website, they do not emphasize the fact that it was Windows Mobile 6 Professional inside.

It comes with the 1GB TRAXDATA MINI SD memory card but has the Neonode logo printed on the card face.

As I only had the N2 for 2 days, I was not able to give you a more detailed review.  If I had the opportunity to have the device for a longer period the next time, I should be able to give you a proper review.

You guys must be wondering about the price of the N2.  Here it is, about RM2,188 (US$677).  A rather high price to pay for a Made in Malaysia phone.  But then, by the time they launch the N2, they may have to surrender to market forces to sell at a lower price.

This is a scoop for The Mobile Hornet as nowhere was it reported that the N2 was Made in Malaysia!

Note: “Malaysia boleh!” is Malaysia’s national catch cry. It translates to “Malaysia can!”

Read about my first impression of the Neonode N2 HERE.

I RESPONSE ONLY TO YOUR TOUCH !

I have touched numerous touch-screen devices, including the iPhone but none can beat the NEONODE  N2.

It was said that “Apple’s iPhone and several other manufactures” are just “following the lead set by Neonode.”   This statement was made when the N1 was launched.  In my hands is the N2 which has superior touch capabilities over its predecessor.

The device is so small that you will be wondering how you are ever going to navigate around.  But that is not so, as you can navigate so easily with your thumb.

It takes you less than a minute to learn how to navigate the touch screen. The image above show you the parts of the screen to move.

One interesting point about the touch technology is that it includes a button vibration mode.  So when you press a number you can feel it vibrate.  You can change the level of the vibration to suit your preference.

I must say the selling point for the N2 is its superior touch technology making it so easy to use.

To be continued … Inside the N2

This is the interesting part as you will know what drives the N2. DON’T MISS THIS PART!

Yesiree, I have the NEONODE N2 with me right now.  And this is one awesome device.  Its touch navigation is fantastic!

I was very surprised when Mr Yeap from Gadza World (the leading PDA phone reseller in Penang, Malaysia) called me up yesterday to collect the NEONODE N2 from his shop.

I wasted no time and rushed over to his shop at Queensbay Mall to get hold of the N2 to do a review.

I promised to return the set by tomorrow so I will make do with the small window time I have with this awesome device to tell you what I can.

MY FIRST IMPRESSION…

The N2 is rather small.  It is as big as the size of the HTC Touch screen.

When you look at it the first time, you will have a hard time locating the memory card slot as well as the way to open the device up.  The design is so sleek that you cannot detect where is the opening to insert your SIM card.

The N2 has a rubberly sort of feeling (maybe it’s made of silicone rubber) which gives it a non-slip effect.  Overall it looks very solid giving the impression that it can easily withstand a fall from the table.

The limited number of buttons on the device indicates that the N2 is controlled by its touch-screen.

To be continued…The TRUE touch

Follow my review as you will be surprised what I found out about the N2.

Engadget reported:

” We’ve just gotten out of a meeting with Thomas Eriksson, co-founder and CTO of Neonode, and we’ve learned some very exciting information about the company’s newest, as-yet-unannounced phones. We were shown designs of the mobile-maker’s next lineup of devices, including an iPhone-esque model called “Earth” which has been confirmed for production (though Thomas insisted that some features and design would change, of course). The phone will feature a 2.9-inch, true 16:9 ratio infrared touchscreen (an updated version of the Neonode N2’s touch surface), HSPA connectivity, and will operate on five separate frequency bands (a first as far as we can tell), allowing 3G use in both Europe and the US. However, the most interesting thing that we were shown was a live prototype of the company’s latest OS, which blows the doors off of previous iterations. The new interface is a much more robust platform, featuring a homescreen made up of a number of small widget-like icons, all updating live with things like RSS feeds, phone logs, weather, and mail. The UI is still meant to be operated via one hand, though Thomas confirmed that the device would sport a virtual QWERTY keyboard, and would deliver more PIM / smartphone features than we’ve seen from them in the past. The design of the interface is still being tweaked, but it looks very contemporary to current and future phone OSs we’ve been seeing, with lots of nice shading and alpha layers. From the little we peeped, this platform could be a contender if handled correctly — Thomas told us that Neonode had plans underway to partner with carriers in the US, so stay tuned to this space for more info. “

NEONODE N2 TO NEONODE 2.5

” While most of the US is just getting their first glimpse of the Neonode N2, we’ve got the Neonode N2.5 for you dear readers. We were assured that this engineering prototype features a heftier battery to offset complaints raised by N2 owners. The other complaint — lack of 3G data — is also solved. It will also feature A2DP-enabled Bluetooth 2.1 (yes, 2.1) when its ships (no time specified) and a big fat 3G radio of unspecified type. Thing is, this time, the N2.5 is specifically targeted at the US market with Neonde already starting to sort through the carrier quagmire in order to bring it to market. WiFi? Maybe, that all depends upon the carrier’s demands. Other than those changes, it features the same UI and touch screen technology of the tiny N2 which is fine by us. The only question now is how consumers react to it’s new chubby profile.”

You have to watch out for Neonode.  These guys are rather innovative.  According to them “Apple’s iPhone and several other manufactures” are just “following the lead set by Neonode.” Of course, they are referring to their N1 which stuttered.   onto the scene back in 2004.