Nokia
3410

The Nokia 3410 was released in 2002 as a replacement for the Nokia 3310. It was notable for the ability to alter the external appearance of the phone using Nokia's Xpress-on changeable covers. It had a 96 x 65 pixel resolution monochrome graphical screen that was capable of displaying animated 3D screensavers. The phone book could store telephone numbers and associated names on both the phone's internal memory and the SIM card. A specific ringtone could be assigned to phone book entries and speed dialling was provided for nine entries using the 1-9 keys. Voice dialling was supported for up to eight entries. In addition to a range of pre-loaded ringtones, owners could also create your own using the composer function and there was a vibrate option too. The Nokia 3410 provided SMS text messaging, including the use of T9 predictive text, picture messaging using basic graphical images, a range of message templates for commonly used message and support for smiley icons. A picture editor allowed users to create their own graphical images or edit those preloaded on the phone. The call logs recorded the ten most recent missed and received calls and the last twenty dialled calls. A set of call timers recorded the duration of calls as well as cumulative totals. Other features included an calculator, a clock with alarm, a stopwatch, countdown timer and a reminder app which displayed short text messages at pre-defined times. Five games were also included: Snake II, Space Impact, Bumper, Bantumi and Link 5. Games could be linked to the ringtone generator to add sounds or a a vibrate option used. This capability was used in the Snake game. It was also possible to upload high scores to the Club Nokia service. Arguably the most interesting technical feature of the Nokia 3410 was that it was Nokia's first Java-enabled mobile and offered Internet access using a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) 1.1 browser. Internet access was provided over a circuit switched data (CSD) service which is a dial-up connection that is made to a WAP gateway service offered by network providers. This allowed the Nokia 3410 to be used for browsing WAP compatible websites, downloading Java games, ringtones and pictures and accessing special services such as Club Nokia. The phone was also the world’s first dual-band/tri-mode GAIT (GSM ANSI Interoperability Team) compliant handset. This phone is also one of the few Nokia phones to have the number 4 in the model name. This was due to the fact that number 4 was considered an inauspicious number in Asian markets. The number 4 四 , in pinyin sì is very similar to death 死, in pinyin sǐ. The only difference is the tone, which in the number is a lowering one, and in the word for death is a dipping one. The challenge is that the two are easily confused as it is a word that is already hard to pronounce. Some consider it to be a myth that Nokia's avoided having the number "4" in a model name. There were in fact, many models numbers that included the number "4". Often, but not always, they were sold outside Asia. Some examples include: Nokia 114, 2040, 2042, 2046, 2140, 2142, 2146, 2148, 2148i, 3410, 4310i, 450, 5140, 5140i, 5146, 540, 6124, 6234, 6340i, 640, 8146, 8148, 8148i, C5-04, Cityman 450, nk402 and several others. In contrast the number 8 was one of Nokia's favourite numbers. Some information courtesy of Nigel Linge & Andy Sutton, the authors of 30 Years of Mobile Phones in the UK (Paid Link) Front Photo: Erik Baas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons