With the release of the 2.4"-screened, QVGA E71, some naive bloggers were shouting down Nokia for not putting in a VGA display. Here's why the bloggers got this one wrong - in my humble opinion, of course! Comments welcome. And at what point in the future do you think VGA will become practical and affordable in 'phones'?
The E71 may be first and foremost a business messaging tool, but the Nokia E71 also manages to packs in a lot of multimedia functionality too. In this addendum to our original review Steve has a detailed look at the multimedia capabilities of the Nokia E71. There are camera performance comparisons and a focus on video capabilities.
Rafe and Ewan are joined this week by Ricky Cadden as they take on the week's news and hot topics (recorded before Monday's announcements, but don't let that put you off) in Insight 29, a.k.a. AAS podcast 80. They cover the 'Evening with S60' in Boston, the LG KT610 clamshell, iGoogle and the new Google Reader for S60, Cloud Computing and Social Services, plus more N-Gage musings. Oh and they covered some new update from an American manufacturer in Cupertino...
Echoing many of my own thoughts in recent months, Nokia Duck has come out with an N95 retrospective, looking at the device (in video, text and pics) with latest firmware with fresh eyes, concluding that "The N95 has metamorphosised from over-priced geek fodder into a reasonably-priced quality product. After a year and a half on the market it's no longer the cutting-edge headline maker it once was, but that glamour has been replaced by competency." Well worth a read.
My review of the Nokia E71, after a week with a production device, still left a few questions in the air, apparently. Rounding up everybody's comments so far, I've attempted (below) to try and answer all the questions about the E71, with Rafe (who also has a production device) pitching in to help. [Heavily updated - again]
Having been using the Nokia E71 for a little while now, Steve Litchfield delivers his verdict - what's new compared to its predecessor, the E61i? And how close does the E71 get to being the perfect smartphone for the modern professional? With predictive text and a wealth of other tweaks to S60, the E71 certainly delivers more than you'd think at first sight.
The Nokia E71, the latest addition to Nokia's Eseries line of enterprise focused S60 devices, has been formally announced. It features a full QWERTY keyboard (thumboard style) packed into a device that is just 57mm wide and 10mm thick and has a 2.4 inch QVGA screen (in landscape orientation), a 3.2 mega pixel auto-focus camera, integrated GPS, a full family of connectivity options (WiFi, quad band GSM, dual band WCDMA (with HSDPA), Bluetooth, Infrared, and microUSB) a FM Radio and a microSD memory card slot. There's also a full software suite of business applications and tweaks to standard S60 applications. Read on for more.
Nokia today officially unveiled the E66 enterprise focused smartphone. It has a slider form factor and is a follow up to the Nokia E65. It has the usual array of connectivity options: quad band GSM, dual band WCDMA (900/2100), WiFi and Bluetooth. There is also an integrated GPS, a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, microSD card slot, accelerometer, FM radio, 2.5mm audio jack and IrDA, USB and Bluetooth for local connectivity. Read on for pictures and the full details.
Rafe's been taking a long look at the Nokia N78, the recently released 'entry-level' handset into the world of Nseries. Intended as a replacement for the N73, the N78 brings together many of Nokia's Ovi elements, alongside the latest software in S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2. In this first part of an extensive review, he examines the hardware and connectivity options in the monoblock handset.
Mobitubia developer Sittiphol is a ruddy genius. A genius. Not that his new project NeuScreen is terribly practical - you'll have to watch the video on his Forum Nokia submission to see what I mean. Essentially he turns a humble Nokia N95 into a full-size classroom-style Smart Board, armed with some sticky tape, a film negative, two light pens and a big TV. Jaw droppingly impressive, if incredibly niche!
Over on All About N-Gage, we've just published a special in-depth article looking at the pros and cons of touchscreen phone gaming, and we ponder whether Nokia should start making touch-based N-Gage games. Is touchscreen gaming the mainstream future or just a niche market? And does it matter either way?
Nine months ago, Steve looked at the then-new Apple iPhone, pitched against the also-new Nokia N95 8GB flagship - with the release of the iPhone 3G, it's high time for a rematch. It's evident that the iPhone 3G has closed the gap and wins in some areas, but there are still holes in its functionality that you could drive a motorhome through, leading to another overall N95 8GB victory.
Gartner have released figures for worldwide smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2008 - about as up to date as you and I get to see. There are no real surprises - Nokia top the table with 25% year-on-year growth of its S60 smartphones, with Q1 market share of 45%, healthy by any standards, but the biggest surprise is RIM's Blackberry range posting 107% growth, up to 13.4%. Apple's iPhone is already up to 5.3% of the smartphone market, somewhat ominously given their next-gen launch tomorrow (Monday) evening, UK time. The full stats/table is shown below the break.
Despite being sold off by Nokia at clearance prices, I thought you'd be interested in this detailed and very positive review of the Nokia N93. And, with N-Gage compatibility surely just around the corner, I can't help but feel that Nokia are going to send a little update love in the N93's direction soon...
Don't you just love garage sales? Nokia is having one, selling off its N93 (original and best design) stock at silly prices. It's the golf edition, too, which means it comes with an extra miniSD card that you can wipe and use. At £100 inc VAT it's the bargain of the century. Just don't mention firmware updates...