[3GSM] Welcome to the future - the Nokia E90 Communicator
Published by Steve Litchfield at 10:33 GMT, February 12th 2007
The most-leaked device in recent Nokia history finally sees the light of day. The E90 Communicator has been announced. In this illustrated article, I look at its ancestry, its specifications and who it's aimed at. See below for snippets from the press release and extra photos, some from the 3GSM show floor...
"Nokia E90 Communicator - the legend evolves into an all-inclusive Nokia Eseries business device

The Nokia E90 Communicator sets the standard for an uncompromised "mobile office" experience. The latest technologies at the core of the device bring business necessities and personal amenities to the hands of people independent of time and place. Fast and inexpensive connections over WLAN and HSDPA-enhanced 3G accelerate the mobile use of data- and transmission-rich applications. The interface to business and leisure applications and the Internet, the stunning Nokia S60 browser, with 16 million colors, is capable of displaying the full width of a web page at once.
The Nokia E90 Communicator is now based on the S60 platform, making a wealth of additional mobile applications available for its users. The Nokia E90 Communicator also has an integrated GPS and Nokia Maps application to provide help in finding routes and locating services. For increased personal convenience, the Nokia E90 Communicator is equipped with an FM radio, a music player, a video player and two cameras -- a 3.2Mpix auto focus camera with flash and a second camera for videoconferencing. "
with the E65 and E61i...
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Categories: Hardware
Platforms: S60 3rd Edition
News Discussion
Chrissybear
At last, a successor to S80.
I will miss a lot of S80s features but I have used S60 phones too and if this baby is as good as the hype, we will finally have as good a successor the the Psion 5mx as we can have at the moment, excluding keyboard. (I'm not a fan of touch screens!)
Now when can I get one? :)
ecotrojan
Cant wait for this release, definately my next phone (as long as Nokia have enabled SIP) else i will stick with my E60.
sovind
don't laugh - biggest qustion - does it vibrate?
jukkaeklund
Yes, it vibrates! :)
sovind
Wow! Great pics.
Finally Symbian has come through with a 5mx replacement.
All the harsh words are now retracted.
The Psion dream of mobile computing is fianlly realised!
Again don't laugh - as of today (now) I am down to my very last 5mx. The last Revo that I have has a charging problem (just found out today too). I certanly hope this is the last time I need to install Money and DCP!
What a relief.
Unregistered
I wonder what the price will be ..?
nj7
The E90 is something... The great problem is the price! Is possible to buy a good Core2 Duo Laptop and a good phone.
Chris Davies
As a long term user of the 9500, my dream phone has at last come in. The video calling camera is on the right surface, it has 3G and WLAN... I can't wait to get one. I'll miss the hard drive from my N91, but with 2GB flash cards now, perhaps it won't matter.
One thing I want to know, does the external screen take advantage of S60's scalable UI to give you access to S60 proper and all your applications, or is it another simulated S40 jobby like the older communicators?
UnregisteredAz
My-Symbian has a very long E90 review with pictures, screenshots and samples, check it out my-symbian.com/s60v3/e90_review.php
nj7
Quote:
Originally Posted by UnregisteredAz
My-Symbian has a very long E90 review with pictures, screenshots and samples, check it out my-symbian.com/s60v3/e90_review.php
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Already a detailed review:rolleyes:
N/A
Quote:
Originally Posted by sovind
Finally Symbian has come through with a 5mx replacement.
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Symbian didn't do the 5mx (Psion did) & they aren't doing the E90, either (Nokia does).
krisse
"One thing I want to know, does the external screen take advantage of S60's scalable UI to give you access to S60 proper and all your applications, or is it another simulated S40 jobby like the older communicators?"
According to Steve's review, the external screen now gives you full seamless access to your S60 applications. The external screen is a full 240x320 one, so you could use the E90 without ever opening it if you wanted.
Looks like the E90 has plenty of RAM, according to my-symbian's review:
"The total operating memory (RAM) capacity is 128 MB of which.... almost 80 MB is free!"
Hopefully they'll start putting 128mb into other S60 models from now on.
krisse
Small update: according to Nokia's press release "The unsubsidised retail price of the Nokia E90 Communicator will be around €750-800."
That's around the same price as previous communicators launched for, I think, and seems okay considering how much is packed into the device (for example one full size QVGA screen and an even bigger widescreen inside). Definitely not for casual users.
"Is possible to buy a good Core2 Duo Laptop and a good phone."
Yes, but you can't fit them in your pocket. :-)
The one and only reason why smartphones cost so much is their small size. If you don't want a pocket-sized device, it's always far cheaper to buy laptops and separate dumbphones.
nj7
I understand your point. But next generation of UMPC have Core 2 Duo processors, all windows software, and the price is lower than that E90, and can be on pocket! Those days, the convergence between functions and price is almost the same... Only two ways to choose. Better have some choice then none:rolleyes:
Bobagent
Will we finally see Outlook category sync?
krisse
"I understand your point. But next generation of UMPC have Core 2 Duo processors, all windows software, and the price is lower than that E90, and can be on pocket!"
They are amazing devices, but they're not pocket-sized. Most people would find carrying a UMPC very cumbersome, and prefer to have something smaller but less powerful.
Here's a UMPC:
http://www.pencomputing.com/images/umpc_update_q1.jpg
and here's the E90:
http://nds3.nokia.com/pressphotos/pu...e90_lowres.jpg
It's not a huge difference if you're using it at home, but the smaller size makes a big difference if you're on the move.
Also, I don't think the battery life on a pocket-sized duo processor UMPC running Windows is any good, Windows (the desktop one) wasn't designed to be mobile and neither were those processors.
But I'd love to get a next gen UMPC for under 750 euros, can you tell me where they sell them at that price?
HMH
Does it have a touchscreen?
Jeb's Boehner
It's not as good as the Psion Series 5mx and it doesn't run embedded Linux like it should but I hope they get these onto the High Street yesterday! The Series 80 devices had CPU clock speeds about half of what a power user would want. If you want longer battery life, switch to a superior black and white screen, but don't slow down the core CPU.
TomJ
@Jeb's: According to the only site where it's been extensively played with it's clocked as fast as the N95...
nj7
Quote:
Originally Posted by HMH
Does it have a touchscreen?
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No. Read the MySymbian.com review for more details.
sovind
Why now fax?
Here in Asia, the fax reigns supreme for the "real" business people i.e. for the real trade of goods and services. The 9300i has been selling very well because of it.
IMO a big mistake by Nokia, unless it's in the E90(f)
Unregistered
Quote:
Originally Posted by sovind
Why now fax?
Here in Asia, the fax reigns supreme for the "real" business people i.e. for the real trade of goods and services. The 9300i has been selling very well because of it.
IMO a big mistake by Nokia, unless it's in the E90(f)
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you can use install scanr.
FLGFLG
Greetings - It is my understanding that stateside many cellular companies do not want to provide CSD - FAX (Circuit Switch Data) feature due to switch technologies changes. It appears to be very difficult to get the CSD features from Cingular or TMobile in the USA. Thanks - FLG>>>
elaverick
Maybe it's just me but I really don't go for the whole digital convergence thing in a big way. A few years ago I was right there with it and thought it was the best idea going, however just recently I've been moving further and further away from this ideal. I would much rather have 3 or 4 devices that did specalised jobs, rather than 1 device that did everything only reasonably well. My real dream machine would be a Nokia PDA in the old Series 5 or Revo form factor WITHOUT a phone attached... I know it'll never happen, but I just can't reconcile myself to the idea of talking to the house brick that is the Communicator.
Maybe once Bluetooth technology matures a little and we can have good quality light headsets, with dialing capability the whole DC thing will start to make a bit more sense, until then I think I'll stick to buying suits with 4 pockets...
(Oh and is it just me or does the S60 interface look just a little lost on the larger screen? Things like active standby were designed to make use of a small screen, surely they could have come up with a hybridised desktop/menu system instead of just a simple port?)
Arjen
Really impressive device. I do like the convergence of almost everything in one device. This new E90 comes very close to a complete laptop replacement.
I'm very tempted, but missing fax support is a definite showstopper for me. Any updates on this? N/A?
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