Funny how some things in electronics reach a ‘tipping point’ where technology, consumer demand and marketing brainwork all collide. Music-playing mobiles have definitely tumbled over their own tipping point, with more and more fairly serious music handsets, like O2’s new Cocoon handset, being announced each month.
The Cocoon boasts 2GB of on-board storage plus support for another 2GB via microSD (matching a mid-spec iPod nano), plus a 3.5mm headphone jack and MP3/ AAC format playback. Inside the flip you get a QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) screen; outside you get a two-megapixel camera.
Other specs include quad-band radio plus 3G data, FM radio with RDS (station name & other info display — and that’s another feature which has suddenly become all the rage), Stereo Bluetooth, stereo speakers, a docking station, and last but not least that reasonably funky external blue LED display. That display can show a range of info including caller ID, now-playing track, the time, and the beginnings of new text messages… Which could be quite embarrassing if the wrong text arrives at the wrong time…
Curiously, Cocoon is also ‘location aware’ of The O2, the gig and event venue formerly known as the Millennium Dome. Enter the venue and the phone undergoes a ‘transformation’, apparently, which actually means the wallpaper changes and you get a text message with information where the loos are. Or something like that.
Overall, this is quite an interesting newcomer from O2 — although we’ve seen and tried the interface we’re reserving final judgment. There’s no word on pricing yet but we reckon it could be surprisingly cheap compared to similarly-specced offerings from Sony and Nokia.
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