Well, not exactly the best design I have ever seen, but they are indeed "Thinking Different" with its design, and I think it's kind of brave. According to Nokia's press release, this model does not represent the high end spectrum of their product line. It's meant as a basic/entry model that will entice existing cell phone owners to upgrade to newer technologies (color). They will definitely release a more expensive model that won't be viewed as a "joke" to you. But this one is really brave, considering the market segment they are targeting and the revolutionary keypad design. (honestly, when was the last time you see freaky keypads like that?) [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]
The circular keypad reminds me of a personal critic I had about UIs of mobiles. When I saw iPod for the first time, I thought the mobiles should really
get rid of the UP/DOWN keys and instead adopt a wheel like iPod to scroll though the menus with. The UP/DOWN keys was a design mistake, in my opinion.