In Part 1 of my Nokia E63 review, I covered the hardware, the UI and Email. In this, part 2, I look at the E63's multimedia capabilities, I look in detail at how the bundled Files on Ovi subscription works in practice and I sum up the device - never has the term 'workhorse' been so accurately applied to a smartphone. The E63 is terrific value though, at the end of the day, with the cost considerations dominating our opinion of it.
Following in the footsteps of the N79 Active comes another N79 variant, the N79 Eco, which is available for pre-order through Nokia's UK online shop and ships without a charger. Customers are expected to retain the charger from their previous Nokia device. The concept is part of a trial to save energy and reduce waste and is part of Nokia's power of we: strategy. Read on for stats and the full scoop.
Nokia's having a productive 2009 so far on the firmware front. v300.34.56 is now available for some product codes (previous was v220.34.37). No idea on changes at this stage, comments welcome. And usual backup/sync precautions apply, the E51 does not have UDP.
Nokia has announced the N79 Active, a "healthy twist on Nokia's smallest Nseries". The standard N79 is being bundled with a Polar Bluetooth WearLink heart rate belt, arm-band case, and a brand new version of Sports Tracker (which will also be released independently). The N79 Active is expected to ship shortly in "selected territories".
The Nokia E63, at £200 (SIM-free), is one of the cheapest S60 phones (at RRP) on the market. With its QWERTY form factor it looks, at first glance, very similar to the popular, but more expensive, Nokia E71. In the first part of his Nokia E63 review, Steve looks at the hardware and explains the differences between the two 'sister' devices, before covering the Nokia Email experience and discussing highlights from the on board applications.
In All About Symbian Insight 55 (AAS Podcast 108) we look at the UK launch of the Nokia 5800 MusicXpress, talk about the 'Curse of Silence' vulnerability (stops SMS messages from being received on some S60 handsets), before discussing our first impressions of the Palm Pre. You can listen to AAS Insight 55 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
A major firmware update for the Nokia E71, version 200.21.188, is now available. The new firmware adds the Internet Radio and My Nokia application, adds two new themes, adds a number of usability improvements and contains a large number of stability and functionality updates including improved WLAN support, more power efficient 3G and improved camera performance.
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas Nokia has announced that the Nokia E63 will shortly be available in the US. The Nokia E63 is a QWERTY-equipped S60 phone and is effectively a budget version of the Nokia E71. It has a 2.0 megapixel camera, WiFi and 3G connectivity, and runs S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. It will have an esitmated retail price of $279 (unlocked) and will be available in the 'coming weeks'.
Ewan finishes his look at Nokia's OLED-screened N85 by taking it online. He also sums up his impressions, concluding that "underneath these colours is a thoroughbred". He does concede that some of the software in the N85 is "old" but recognises that this also brings maturity and stability. There are plenty of positives in the N85's package, it seems.
Probably a quick bug fix (in view of the numbers sold) to make darned sure that noone gets caught out by the 'nuisance' CurseSMS bug in S60 3.1, but N95 'classic' owners should try Nokia Software Update: v31.0.017 is available for unlocked devices in many countries.
In the first AAS Insight (54) of the year we look back on 2008 and share our hardware highlights, rant about our lowlights, make a few daring predictions and waffle on our favourite pieces of software from 2008. You can listen to AAS Insight 54 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.
Steve continues looking at the Samsung i7110, this time turning his attention away from the performance and onto the software and user interface. With the caveat that this build is still an early version, he finds a lot to be impressed by, but it still needs a little bit more polish before the i7110 can really shine.
Many people are now reporting that the North American variant of the Nokia N96 has now got its own v12 firmware update (see here for our earlier post), including, according to Gearlog, compatibility with the new Mail on Ovi service. Can anyone upgrade and report back on how this works?
Not wishing to sound too much like a 'fanboy', but in anecdotal praise of Nokia's build quality and following on from my own brush with death (oh, ok, a pavement), we have a bunch of crazy Russians trying to destroy a 5800 XpressMusic (long text version here) and CJ's 'dad' hammering an N95 for a year. Just rounding off 2008, you know...
In this, part 10 of my (ahem) long running series, I look at the difference sensor and aperture size can make in phone cameras, for both stills and video. As real world examples of both good and bad, I use the Nokia N95 8GB and the 5800 XpressMusic. See below for links to other articles in the series.