Nokia tries to impress with floating inner tube

Hires Gary Oldman to promote N93 video camera

Nokia, the largest manufacturer of cameras in the world, has been trying desperately to convince the populus that its mobile phones have cameras worthy of taking both still images and video.

Its N-series, in particular, is pitched at this market. The N93 comes with DVD-burning software, just to make the point that it really is a "proper" video camera. However, consumers are still insisting that it's simply a phone with extra features.

So the idea was sound: hire a proper video director to make a film using a Nokia N93, then show everyone the film to demonstrate just how great the device is at making films. Gary Oldman was dutifully hired, and his short film Donut is available to download from the Nokia N-series website.

Donut opens with atmospheric music (not recorded on the N93) and a shot of the shadow of a rubber ring floating on a swimming pool, then... well... nothing happens...and that's it. A two-minute shot of a rubber ring floating on a pool which really says Mr Oldman was pushed for time, rather than: "the N93 makes a really great video camera".

The release from Nokia quotes Gary as saying: "Mobile video devices like the Nokia N93 allow us to capture the extraordinary moments in our ordinary days and share them with the world. The image in Donut is one such fleeting moment I happened upon that inspired me to grab my mobile video device out of my pocket and record it to share with others."

But that is just the point: most people use the camera in their phones to grab those unexpected moments, an always-there option for when your real camera is out of reach.

But Nokia want us to stop thinking that way and to start just taking our phone with us to weddings and parties, and leaving the camera at home. But to succeed it will need more than long moody shots of floating inner tubes.

Readers with a fast internet connection are invited to judge for themselves, and upload their own efforts, at the Nokia N-series website, but brace yourself for a site which values style. It took us half a lifetime and three crashed browsers to find and run Oldman's clip: the least we can do is save you the trouble ... Donut. ®