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What will Nokia think of next?

I know there is a whole slew of cellphones out there to choose from. It is not uncommon that I get all sorts of questions about what the best cellphone in the market is. My standard answer is always, “It depends.”

On what? You ask.

Well, on the way you use your handy cellphone. I have met all sorts of folks who have a million and one reasons why a certain brand of cellphone is the only one for them.

If there is one thing that I have learned in the many years I have gotten to understand cellphones and their users, it’s never to question why or how a person uses his or her phone.

Each of us uses the cellphone in a way that makes it easy for us. In a way we have learned to understand how it works — and many times, there is not much logic that goes into how people use their cellphones, just habits they have formed through the years.

Let’s see.

I would categorize cellphone users into three main groups.

Blame it on my sociology background, which oftentimes leads me into studying how and why people function the way they do.

There are the most basic cellphone users. I can classify lots of people I have met through the years in this category. These are the folks who use cellphones for the reason they were made — to stay in touch. They don’t need fancy functions on their cellphones; they just need to be able to call.

Yes, there are some cellphone users who only know how to call but don’t know how to answer the cellphone if their lives depended on it. And that goes for those who know how to text, too. Yes, dear readers, there are still many cellphones users who have yet to master the art of text messaging.

There are the semi hi-tech users. They get a different high when their cellphones have a five-megapixel camera and can play MP4 tunes, too.

Although they may not have ever used their cellphones to take photos, the feature still comes in handy during impromptu “paparazzi shots” in a mall when their favorite artista makes an appearance. These people are the ones who know how to text, call and answer the cellphone. They also know how to use their phones’ camera should the need arise.

And then there are the really hi-tech cellphone users. The techies who look for cellphones that can make the real connections: to the Internet and also to keep them updated on the YM or a cellphone with which they can send photos to their sites in one go.

These folks normally form the younger set and want their cellphones to have EDGE, be Wi-Fi capable, take cool photos, play MP4 melodies and be used as a recorder when in a pinch.

Will the wonders of the cellphone ever cease? Maybe not.

Going for bling

There is another set of cellphone users who do not fall into the standard categories stated above. I would like to call them fashion, hip or stylish deviants. These are the folks who look at cellphones more for the bling values they bring rather than for any function they may perform.

In a trip I took recently I met one of these deviants

— mind you she was really rather cool, but she was using a cellphone which she told me cost her a few thousand Singapore dollars.

“What can your cellphone do?” I ask.

“Does it matter? It looks great, don’t you think.”

“Does it have Bluetooth? Can it send business cards? Does it have large memory?” I continue to ask.

“I don’t know. But don’t you just love that it’s studded with diamonds and rubies. And listen to how classy the sound of it is when it slides close,” she replies.

“Can it take photos? Is it insured?” I continue on with my questions.

“Look, it looks great. I can receive calls. I don’t really send SMS so I am not too concerned about that. And, above all I am the only one I know who has one of these.”

‘Nuff said.

There are so many people that make up the world we live in. And cellphone users are a sample of just what the society at large is all about.

I did take a Nokia 8800 Arte Sapphire for a test use recently and I was impressed.

I am told that this beauty also costs a small fortune. A little above the P50,000 mark. Now, that may not seem like such a hefty sum against the more hi-tech, can-do-almost-anything cellphones.

But the Nokia 8800 Arte Sapphire is a high-end cellphone that is definitely not tech-heavy.

It was late last year that the Finnish company introduced the 8800 Arte series in the market. There were two variants: the 8800 Arte and the 8800 Sapphire Arte.

The crowd that Nokia targeted for these two bling cellphones is one that is excited by style. Call them the “style-conscious” cellphone users.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte is 3G-capable, good news since this means that the cellphone can be used in places like Tokyo and Korea, where cellphone users are also known to be quite fashion-conscious about their phones.

Yet, just with the feel of the cellphone I knew that it is made for people who like cellphones that say class whenever they are seen in public. The 8800 Sapphire Arte features an elegant and sophisticated design theme that takes inspiration from nature and sets it apart from the crowd.

“These two new handsets set the benchmark for quality and craftsmanship,” said Heikki Norta, Nokia senior vice president for mobile phones. “The high-end materials and seamless surfaces are pleasing to touch while the sophisticated, minimalistic design is equally satisfying to the eyes. An obsessive attention to detail means that the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte is engineered to last.”

Jewelry piece

Call it a jewelry piece. How often I have heard from people who collect jewelry that it is better to buy something that might be a little more pricey but will last a lifetime and can be handed down to our kids and their kids, rather than get something that will fade as soon as a new trend comes along. I am not sure whether this thinking goes for cellphones, too.

So what is it about the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte that makes it one of the most coveted cellphones of the fashion-savvy users? For starters it combines elegant appearance and uncompromised functionality. The seamless metal and glass body gives the 8800 Sapphire Arte an incomparable sense of style. There is that wonderful function that allows you to tap the steel surface below the display, and voila, an analog clock appears. The clock that appears tells the time in a most classic clock. I have a friend who says that she gets really irritated by loud ringtones. The 8800 Sapphire is just for her, as it has that function that turns incoming calls silent by simply turning the cellphone over. The turn-to-mute feature lets you silence your cell by turning over the phone, screen-side down.

Lest you think that the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte is all form and little function, here’s a breakdown on some of the other stuff that the phone has and can do.

There is the two-inch QVGA 240x320 pixels, OLED display with up to 16 million colors. A 3.2-megapixel auto focus camera with 8x digital zoom. It has quite a hefty built-in memory at 1GB. And I just love that it stays smudge-free with its anti-fingerprint coating on metal and glass.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte features a high-end metal and glass composition, creating a classic, iconic style. A smooth slide mechanism, which is made of state-of-the art ball bearings, and a unique spring mechanism ensure that this cellphone is a pleasure to touch and hold.

The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte adds to the sense of exclusivity by further enhancing its polished steel case with a genuine sapphire gemstone and an accent of soft leather, creating an even more rich, sensual feel.

Bling on the Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte. In life, there is no substitute for class and style.