NEW LG KT610

LG KT610 GPS Smartphone Review and ReleaseAugust 29, 2008
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An all inspiring GPS-enabled Symbian S60 smartphone with a Qwerty keyboard, similar to that of a PC, and 2.4 inch TFT display, the LG KT610 also has the added advantage of a secondary 4 line external 1.45 inch display.
The LG KT610 is HSDPA enabled with 3G connectivity in addition to GPRS and EDGE and the presence of bluetooth wireless with A2DP stereo support and USB connectivity is always a plus.
Multimedia features include a 2 mega pixel camera, video capture & playback, MP3 player and a secondary videocall camera.

LG KT610
Photographic features include photo and video editor and as mentioned above the LG KT610 comes with GPS Navigation capabilities plus, WAP browser and a wide range of messaging solutions that go as far as to include Instant Messaging and Push Email.
The 64MB internal memory is plenty to get started with but should you require more LG have included a microSD card slot for just such occassion.
Other features of the LG KT610 include JAVA support, voice command/dial, integrated handsfree, unlimited entry phonebook with photocall ID and an essential document viewer.

SONY ERICSSON J132

Sony Ericsson J132 in Blue or Black - Review and ReleaseAugust 30, 2008
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The Sony Ericsson J132 is more than anything a radio orientated phone and a really easy to use one at that. A straightforward no nonsense mobile phone equipped with an FM Radio and RDS support, the Sony Ericsson J132 is the ideal present for first time mobile phone users.

Sony Ericsson J132 Heaven Blue
Pick up the Sony Ericsson J132 in either Heaven Blue or Night Black and keep in touch with friends and family and up to date with the latest news and sport headlines in your area. Find out what the latest chart toppers are and what the weather is or isn’t doing over the weekend plus preset your favourite stations. Whether texting or calling, the Sony Ericsson J132 couldn’t be easier and with such a small price tag, it couldn’t be more attractive either.

Sony Ericsson J132 Night Black
Although the Sony Ericsson J132 has not been packed out with all the latest gizmos and gadgets it does offer some useful additions, some of which are the torch functions, loudspeaker with audio quality sound and great power management with 9 hours of talktime and an incredible 450 hours on standby.
A Dual Band GSM mobile phone that weighs 76g and measures 103 x 45 x 15mm, an ideal weight and size for carrying around with you without it getting in the way or being too small that it’s easily lost.
The dust resistant keypad keeps the Sony J132 looking smart and the alarm clock will get you up on time while the vibration alert will ensure that you never miss an important call.
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SONY ERICSSON F305 SHYNING

Sony Ericsson F305 in Black Review and ReleaseAugust 30, 2008
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Boasting motion based gaming, the Sony Ericsson F305 allows the user to control gaming functions with a flick of the wrist or swing of the arm using advanced motion sensor technology. And because actions are replayed on screen in an instance games such as bowling, tennis or even fishing are ideal.
Mobile gaming at its best is what the Sony Ericsson F305 is about. More than just a mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson F305 is a games console and camerphone. Aimed at a younger audience, the Sony Ericsson F305 extends their current F range of gaming phones putting them back in the headlines.

Sony Ericsson F305
Maximising gaming pleasure, the Sony Ericsson F305 comes with a 2″ TFT screen display, 11 pre loaded games, stereo loudspeakers, dedicated gaming keys and a 512MB Memory Stick included in the package which comes with an additional 50 games. But the Sony F305 is not just about gaming, sporting a 2MP camera with video record, MP3 player, stereo FM radio with RDS support, Email and Internet Explorer plus TrackID music recognition, PlayNow for downloading games and music direct to your phone and picture blogging, its full to the brim with exciting features.
The Mystic Black Sony Ericsson F305 slider can still be given a make over of your choosing with style-up covers. A Quad Band GSM phone with GPRS support and EDGE technology, power management has been optimised to provide as much as 8 hours of talktime and 400 hours on standby.
And with all this onboard, Sony have still managed to keep the dimensions of this mobile phone to a minimum measuring 96 x 47 x 14.6mm and weighing an incredible 97.5g..

Sony Ericsson K750i : More Than MUSIC

Yes it's true.... But first, a brief note. Mobile manufacturers are wont to make handsets dedicated to at least one key feature. So, camera phones evince advance imaging capabilities and music phones sound. Business phones have better organizational skills and youth phones games. Packaging all features in one phone is deemed quixotic and perhaps suicidal by manufactures. It mars marketing and affects reputation. The story told hitherto is from the point of view of mobile phones companies. The story told hence will serve your interest.

If you want to buy a phone you would expect nothing less than everything. Sony Ericsson K750i is one phone that offers more than what you need. It has a fully operable 2 mega pixel camera. The camera can take still pictures and videos. Autofocus guides the camera to shoot a specific object. 4X Digital Zooming ability helps sharpening the image quality.

Sony Ericsson K750i uses the QuickShare technology to let you share your pictures with cherished ones instantly. The hallmark of Sony Ericsson phones is that they deploy innovative and user friendly technologies. The handset allows you to maintain a picture phonebook and picture wallpapers and screensavers. Picture phonebook is extremely utile. In a scenario where you know two or more people with the same name, you can distinguish their profiles by storing their pictures along with other details.

The Sony Ericsson K750i is also a music phone. It has an MP3 Player and an FM Radio. PlayNow gives you access to songs that are not registered on the phone's Playlist. Music Composer allows you to compose your own melodies. Music DJ renders the freedom to mix and blend tracks of your choice. This last feature would make you immensely popular at in-house dance parties.

The Sony Ericsson K750i phone offers multiple messaging options. You can exchange SMS, MMS, EMS, and Emails via this handset. You can browse internet to find information, or, play games to amuse yourself. The choices the phone accords are numerous. After all it's more than a camera phone.

review of Sony Ericsson Xperia X1

It’s not upon us yet however there is a good review of the device over at Smape. Pictures and facts galore. Is it worth reading? Very much so. There is an alarming moment when one discovers the lack of hardware 3D acceleration, horrible thoughts of Tytn II sluggishness spring to mind. the GUI looks nice and the hardware does seem to deliver the goods. Best of all it contains a comparison with the Touch Pro, even down to a table of specs. Check it out.

O2 XDA FLAME SPECIFICATIONS

O2 XDA FLAME

2G Network -GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network -UMTS 2100
Display -TFT touchscreen, 256K colors (65K effective),

480 x 640 pixels, 3.6 inches
Card slot - microSD (TransFlash),
- 128 MB RAM, 2 GB ROM- Intel XScale PXA 270, 520 MHz processor
GPRS -Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
HSCSD -No
EDGE- No
3G -Yes, 384 kbps
WLAN -Wi-Fi 802.11b/g
Bluetooth -Yes, v2.0
Infrared port -Yes
USB- Yes, miniUSB
Other Key Features:
OS- Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 PocketPC
Messaging- SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging
Browser -WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML (PocketIE)
Camera - 2 MP, 1600x1200 pixels, autofocus, video, flash; secondary VGA video call camera

- Video call- Pocket Office(Word, Excel, Outlook)- FM Radio with RDS- Java MIDP 2.0- Voice memo- MP3/AAC player- Video/audio album- TV-Out - Built-in handsfree

PRICE - $948 appx

Nokia N75: An Amazing Entertainment Device

Mobile phones are one of the essential communication tools in the world today. Your choice of mobile phone depends on your personal taste and budget. Today, you can easily acquire a mobile phone from the attractive rental deals and tariff options on offer. The latest mobile phones from Nokia, LG, Samsung and Sony Ericsson can be acquired quite easily with the dropping prices. All the latest mobile phones are coming up with in built digital cameras, MP3 players and other entertainment features.

Nokia N75, the smallest multimedia computer offers excellent features like high-quality photography, music playback, telephony and internet communication. This thin clamshell phone has 16x digital zoom, an integrated flash LED, stereo FM radio, web browser and digital music player. The digital musical player supports MP3, M4A, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA, formats and also includes an equalizer, shuffle, playlist and repeat. The built-in digital camera provides ready to print 2megapixel photos. The 3G Nokia N75 clamshell music phone keeps you connected with a single device combining a music player, digital camera, PDA and a phone. The FM radio allows you to listen to your favourite music through integrated 3D stereospeakers. With all these exciting features, the Nokia N75 keeps you connected with just one all-in-one device you can carry around.

The amazing mobile phone deals have made use of mobile phones quite affordable. Attractive rental deals and tariff options with the latest handsets are available from leading network operators. Getting the latest handset is no more a hassle. You can enjoy all the latest features without paying excessive bills. These contract free mobile phones are coming up with cost-effective tariffs and this has made them popular among the mobile phone users. Just browse through the variety of offers featured in the online mobile shops and select the one that suits you best.

Nokia N-series: With the latest technologies

In this amazing world of mobile phones, Nokia comes with the best cool gadgets. The popular Nokia N series are the latest gadgets keeping you connected with your friends, family and loved ones. With the Nokia 3G phones, you can make video calls, send emails and do many more things. The stylish and versatile Nokia N-series phones are making their present felt with their distinctive designs and amazing features. Other appealing features include superb photography features, amazing connectivity, crystal clear voice reception and integrated stereo speakers with 3D sound.


Mobile phone deals are getting better day by day. These days, everyone can enjoy the advanced features and sophisticated functions of the latest Nokia N-series handsets. You get maximum value for your money with the attractive deals. The affordable line rentals and cost-effective tariff structures are features that consumers are always looking for. So avail latest deals on handsets like Nokia N93, Nokia N76 and Nokia N80 and flaunt your personality. the sleek looks and the elegant sophistication of the latest Nokia N Series phones.

The Nokia N75 is the smallest multimedia computer offering brilliant features such as 2 megapixel built-in digital camera, music player, PDA and a phone. The FM radio lets you to listen to your favourite music through integrated 3D stereo speakers. The secondary camera helps in making face to face video calls. This well designed handset that comes with XHTML and HTML browsers, USB, Infrared and Bluetooth. With all these outstanding features, the Nokia N75 is sure to keep you connected with just one device that carries all the features you need. The handset is an excellent combination of technology and style and are here to appeal you with its eye catching appeal.

NEW Nokia E71 new business phone with A-GPS

Nokia E71 is the newest E-series member. The stunning Nokia E71 3G Smartphone comes in a stylish solid casing which is available in either a white steel coloured casing or a grey steel coloured casing. The style of the handset is solid & slim with a full QWERTY keyboard situated below the high resolution screen. The overall size of the casing is very slim for a 3G Smartphone which measures 10mm in depth, 57mm in width by 114mm in height & its overall weight is 127 grams.
The Nokia E71 has many special features. The Voice Over IP Internet Call is one of them. You can get free internet calls without using special software. Another important feature is A-GPS navigation system with Nokia maps application. It’s very similar to Nokia N95 GPS interface. Nokia E71 has good music features and FM radio with RDS. It has quite good music quality with built-in speakers. And you can capture it’s favorites with its 3.2Mp auto focus camera.
In a business phone, the web browser is very important. E71 has a great RSS and HTML enabled web browser with many special features. It supports java scripts, flash videos and CSS styles. And you can enjoy high-speed internet with 3G HSDPA and WLAN Wi-Fi Technology.

3.2Mp camera



live pics




More features of Nokia E71

3G HSDPA Technology
WLAN Wi-Fi Technology
Advanced Contacts
Voice Over IP Internet Call
A GPS Navigation System
Full QWERTY Keyboard & NaviTM Key
3.2 Megapixel Camera with Digital Zoom & Auto Focus
FM Radio RDS

Sony Ericsson C702 New mobile phone with A-GPS

Sony Ericsson C702 is a cheapest GPS mobile phone. It has many other business functions and very attractive design. The Sony Ericsson C702 is a tad on the bulky side. It's thick and as a result looks quite cumbersome.
It has a 3.2Mp digital camera with LED flash. You can record unlimited video recordings with C702. it has enough 160 Mb internal memory and supports up to 2GB SD cards.
This handset came bundled with Google Maps, Wayfinder Navigator and Tracker - a useful application that uses the GPS to monitor how far and fast you are running (or walking). Wayfinder Navigator allows you to search for local amenities, plan routes and even view your progress on a 3D-style map. Its accuracy in pinpointing our location was excellent, although we did need to be outside or in a car for it to work.
Sony Ericsson has taken the disappointing step not to include a 3.5mm headphone port, or even an adapter. It means that you won't be able to use your own Sennheiser or Bose headphones, although the C702 does support A2DP Stereo Bluetooth. This omission is compensated somewhat by the joyous internet experience, however. HSDPA means fast downloads and quick web access, while web content can be viewed in either landscape or portrait - but this will have to be adjusted via the settings, as there are no accelerometers.

3.2Mp Cyber Shot camera




A-GPS Function




working with Google Maps




More Features of Sony Ericsson C702

3.2-megapixels camera
RSS, WAP and HTML internet browser
Quad-band
Built in A-GPS function and Google Maps

NEW Nokia N96, The best GPS phone with 5Mp camera

After Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia introduced Nokia N96. The N96 is a dual slide opening 3G Smartphone which has been wonderfully designed by Nokia. The Nokia N96 is a member of the popular N series which includes the highly capable Nokia N95 3G Smartphone. The N96 comes full of everyday useful features & other amazing features which will assist its user on the move. This outstanding 3G Smartphone comes with a clever dual opening slide mechanism which allows the user to slide open their handset to suit their needs. The casing is a little larger & slightly heavier than its predecessor but when considering the advanced technologies the size is still compact & highly useable.
Nokia N96 has more functions than N95. When considering the GPS feature, N96 has A-GPS navigation and Nokia Maps Software. 150 countries maps included to the software.
Unlike N95, N96 has Live TV broadcast function which called DVB H.also a simple stand inclueded for watch TV easily. Wi-Fi , 3G HSPDA are also included. The 8GB internal memory is similar to N95. And it supports up to 4GB memory cards. As other recent phones the media player is very attractive. It has landscape mode video browsing facility and many other functions.
The 5Mp camera is another important part which has Carl Zeiss Optics Tessar™ Lens. It allows you to unlimited length DVD quality videos.

New TV stand




Landscape media player



glossy finish

New Sony Ericsson C905 8.1Mp camera phone with A-GPS

ONY ERICSSON PREVIEWS
The Sony Ericsson C905 can be the best camera phone in the world. Because it has a 8.1Mb Cyber-Shot™ Camera with 16 x Zoom. The Sony Ericsson C905 is a beautiful 3G camera phone which comes with high quality imaging & communication features. The C905 is a member of the Sony Ericsson C range which includes other camera focused handsets such as the Sony Ericsson C702i & the Sony Ericsson C902i. The C905 is a slide opening handset complete with a large colour screen which works as a perfect viewfinder when using the camera feature & the user can slide open the handset to reveal the neat keypad which is well spaced out for easy text & numeric enter.
C905 has a good photo editing software. You can edit your photos and even remove red eye error. Also it supports 3G HSDPA technology. You can enjoy best internet experience with its HTML web browser.
It allows to record high quality .avi format videos and edit them. C905 has many functions with its excellent camera like camera image stabilizer.
Not only camera, C905 has high quality A-GPS navigation with google maps application. The media player is also important because of its album art display. It is very similar to windows media player 10 but it is a mobile player. You can play many file formats like .wmv MPEG4 and many more.
Actually the Sony Ericsson C905 is world farmhouse because of 8.1 Mp camera. But it as all other smartphone functions. It will be the best mobile phone ever.

8.1Mp Camera




More pictures






More features of Sony Ericsson C905

8.1 Megapixel Cyber-Shot™ Camera with 16 x Zoom
Camera Image Stabiliser & Red Eye Reduction
A GPS Navigation
3G HSDPA Technology
Exchange ActiveSync®
Media Player With Album Art Display
360 Hours 3G Standby

APPLE IPHONE

Apple has finally announced the release date for the UK Apple iPhone. It will be coming out on 9th November, will be carried by O2, sold via O2, Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores on an 18 month contract, and the 8GB model will cost £269 (or £69 more than it costs in the US).

Despite rumours suggesting the UK iPhone will come with 3G, in fact it won't - it's the same iPhone sold in the US, with just EDGE mobile connectivity.

To help offset this lack of speedy connectivity, O2 have created an agreement with Wi-Fi provider Cloud to provide 7,500 free Wi-Fi hotspots around the country.

In addition, you get unlimited EDGE data for a fixed monthly tariff of £35 (other tariffs of £45 and £55 a month are also on offer, and feature more free minutes and free texts), so at least you don't have to worry about paying for the content you download.

However, there is, of course, a catch...

More details on the UK Apple iPhone after the jump.

The so-called "unlimited" EDGE data does, in fact have a limit - according to the CEO of O2 UK, Matthew Key, "There is a limit: 1,400 internet pages per day would break the deal as part of fair usage agreement."

1,400 web pages - is that a lot? How do you know how many web pages you've surfed? Why put a limit on the number of Web pages you can view (assuming, of course, he does mean Web pages - maybe 'Internet page' is something different!)?

Explaining the rationale behind the lack of 3G, Steve Jobs said "The 3G chipsets are real power hogs. Handset battery life cuts power to 2-3 hours...Our phone has a talk time of 8 hours and that's really important when you want to use your phone for internet and music. 3G needs to get back up to 5+ hours, something we think well see later next year. ... WiFi is way faster than any 3G network. Energy efficient EDGE with better, faster WiFi. That's why we chose it."

Which is odd, as many other smartphones come with 3G, HSDPA and Wi-Fi (such as the Nokia N95), and none of them seem to have a problem. Certainly the users buying them don't have a problem putting up with shortened battery life for much faster downloads.

There's also another problem in that O2 has had to upgrade its network to support EDGE, and it hasn't exactly been able to roll it out nationwide.

Key said "We're investing in EDGE. As many people have noticed, hey I have EDGE! By launch we'll be north of 30% and build from there."

...only 30%?! So you have a slow service that's capped to 1400 web pages that only 30% of the country can use! And forget about trying to use it across the rest of Europe, as most other European countries don't support EDGE either.

So, O2 have secured themselves a 3 year contract with Apple to sell a phone with three year old features that won't be sold for free, with an unlimited data download rate that isn't, that has no 3G, an EDGE service that will only work across a third of the country, and for that they're prepared to give Apple 40% of all network revenues from the iPhone, plus Carphone Warehouse a cut for selling it through their stores.

Combine this with the fact that the iPhone now has a competitor in the shape of the Apple iPod Touch (same device, but without the phone), and you really have to question the logic of this deal. I can see people queuing up to buy it for Christmas, but after that, it'll be as cool as the Motorola RAZR now isn't.

Steve Jobs is one bad ass negotiator! Either that or O2 are simply one bad negotiator!!

Nokia N80 review

The much-delayed Nokia N80 is finally coming close to being released, and Sogi.com have managed to get their hands on one for a full-featured review. The N80 is a stunning technological show-stopper from Nokia, cramming in an extraordinary array of features. WiFi, Bluetooth, UPnP, 3 megapixel camera, 3G, VGA video camera, MP3 player and support for up to 2GB of storage are just some of the features of this amazing phone.

Read more on the Nokia N80 review after the jump.

Of all the features the Nokia N80 supports, UPnP may be the most exciting. With UPnP, the N80 can be used to stream music and video directly between hi-fis and TVs, making the N80 the ultimate remote control.

At the click of a button, you can stream your music files through your hifi (as long as it too supports UPnP), or display your pictures and videos on your TV.

Nokia N80's camera

As can be seen from the photo above, the N80's 3 megapixel camera gives superb results, and even manages to take good photos at night (a feat unheard of with current camera-phones). It also sports a useful macro mode, taking shots as close as 15cm, whilst the video capabilities of the N80 are unusually smooth.

Connectivity

The Nokia N80 is a 3G phone, enabling users to browse the web, transfer files and use email using a high speed mobile connection. More impressively, though, is the N80's support for WiFi, enabling the user to do the same over a high speed WLAN connection when within range of a hot spot.

Web browser

The Nokia N80's web browser is pretty special to. Rendering web pages on a mobile phone has always been tricky, but Nokia's latest browser sports Mini-Map, a neat feature which renders the whole web page on the mobile phone, and lets the user scroll around and zoom in to whichever area of the site they like the look of. This enables the user to see the whole screen at once, as they would on a desktop, so they can get a feel for which part of the site seems interesting. Once the user's found the part they want to read, they simply press '8', and the site zooms in to the area of interest.

And so much more!

If all this doesn't whet your appetite for the N80, then how does Microsoft Office support sound, or a GPS add-on with full sat-nav functionality. The Nokia N80 is one amazing mobile phone, and may just be my next mobile phone!

Nokia N73 released

Nokia have released the Nokia N73 'multimedia computer'. The N73 comes hot on the heels of the Nokia N93, which was also released today. Obviously Nokia feel the summer's been far too boring, and need to liven things up with a brace of N-Series phones!

The N73 is not quite as all-singing all-dancing as the N93, but it's still a superb phone. 3.2 megapixel camera, stereo speakers, great browser, support for Flickr, and Amazon Anywhere all come as part of the package.

From the press release:

Nokia is proud to announce that shipments have begun for the Nokia N73, a stunning multimedia computer with excellent photography features and integrated stereo speakers for optimized audio pleasure. The Nokia N73 includes a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and support for social networks on the Internet like Flickr, the world's leading online photo sharing community. This is truly a connected camera for the digital shutterbug.

The Nokia N73 is estimated to retail at roughly 400 euro without tax and subsidies and is available in three beautifully designed color combinations: silver grey/deep plum, frost white/metallic red and frost white/mocha brown.

"We are very excited to bring the Nokia N73 to the world, it's the ideal companion for any digital camera lover or simply anyone who appreciates stunning print quality and multimedia just a slide and a click away," said Pekka Pohjakallio, vice president, Multimedia Computers, Nokia. "At the core of the Nokia N73 is a camera that is truly ready for the Internet age, enabling people to share their photos on the Web in an instant on Flickr or other photo sharing communities."

The Nokia N73 meets a multitude of the everyday user's needs - in one pocketable device. Available in 3G or quadband EDGE/GSM networks, the Nokia N73 has all the diversity of a multimedia computer enabled with the S60 3rd Edition Software on Symbian OS. Combining powerful photography features with support for browsing, email and Internet communities renders the Nokia N73 the ultimate connected camera.

Smile for the Camera

A high-quality 3.2 megapixel (2048 × 1536 pixels) camera with Carl Zeiss optics, the Nokia N73 provides 'real' photo quality up to 10" × 8" (25 × 20 cm). Thanks to the mechanical shutter and advanced auto-focus, photos are sharper, boasting crisp detail with reduced movement distortion, even in low light conditions. Once you've snapped your photos or videos, viewing them is a simple pleasure on the large, high resolution 2.4 inch full screen landscape viewfinder.

Share the Moment

Display photos instantly on the beautiful screen, edge to edge, by simply pressing the dedicated review key. The powerful and intuitive active toolbar interface provides a one-touch selection to effortlessly send photos via e-mail, Bluetooth connectivity or MMS, print or upload them onto an Internet community. Impress your friends by creating a slideshow, complete with your own stereo music soundtrack - simply select your favorite images and digital tunes, and enjoy the show.

Intuitive and Intelligent

Less than 90cc, the high-performing Nokia N73 not only travels with you, but also has intuitive functionality for additional ease-of-use. In fact, every aspect of the Nokia N73 has been designed to make photography easy. The dedicated controls for capture, zoom and review, together with the active toolbar interface provide intuitive and fast control of key camera functions.

Nokia N73 users will also be able to use Amazon's Mobipocket® Reader and Amazon Anywhere™ features, which will be preinstalled on the device in certain areas. With Amazon Anywhere shoppers can get immediate access to Amazon's expansive selection and search customer reviews, receive personalized recommendations and shop right from their Nokia N73. Mobipocket Reader transforms your multimedia computer into a universal eBook reader with access to more than 25,000 eBooks from major US, German, French and Spanish publishers.

LOOK Nokia E90 Review

Writing a Nokia E90 review is something I've been meaning to do for a while now, ever since I first bought one! The Nokia E90 Communicator is Nokia's flagship smartphone, and with its unique blend of mobile office applications and multimedia wizardry, it perfectly mixes both business and pleasure. Its feature list is long, and includes 3.2 megapixel camera, VGA-quality video recording, GPS, HSDPA, a glorious 800 x 352 screen resolution and proper full screen Web browsing. In addition to its multimedia marvels, you can also read and edit Microsoft Office applications, which, when combined with its full-QWERTY keyboard, makes it the perfect business phone, too.

But a long list of features is all very well. The real question is are they any good? Do they actually work as intended, and can you use the E90 as a laptop replacement? Well, I've had an E90 for the past six months, so grab a cup of coffee and read on for my extensive Nokia E90 Communicator review to find out.

Overview of the Nokia E90 Communicator

The Nokia E90 is the latest in a long line of Nokia Communicators, a range of smartphones that have been developed by Nokia for use mainly in business environments. Previous Communicators, though, were hampered by their huge size, which meant they were difficult to carry around with you, and looked ridiculous when you tried to use them to make a voice call.

The Nokia E90 is different. It's not a small phone by any means, measuring 132 x 57 x 20mm and weighing in at 210g. But it looks more like a phone than previous Communicators, and its size is such that you can make a voice call without looking like a berk!

The reason it's so big isn't the huge range of features it offers; it's due to what's hidden inside. The E90 looks like a candybar when closed, but is in fact a clamshell phone, opening sideways with a gloriously engineered hinge that should last for years, to reveal a superb full-QWERTY keyboard and huge screen. The screen isn't a touchscreen, unfortunately, but the E90 is so intuitive that it doesn't need to be.

The E90 from the Outside

When closed, the E90 looks like a mobile phone from about 2002: large and not particularly attractive! Actually, it looks more like a large phone with a smaller phone's fascia stamped onto it, which does make it look a bit odd. However, this is no bad thing, as when you have the phone out in public, it looks so huge and unwieldy that no-one is likely to nick it!

There's a small screen on the front fascia together with a standard mobile phone keypad and a navigation button directly beneath the screen. Round the back is the lens for the 3.2 megapixel camera, and there's the usual array of ports (USB, InfraRed, MicroSD card holder, etc.) that you'd expect to find on any top end phone, plus a 2.5mm headphone jack.

Opening up the E90

Opening the E90 reveals its piece de la resistance: the huge screen and the glorious QWERTY keyboard. It's worth stating at this point that the keys on the keyboard are small, and also quite stiff. You won't have problems using them, but unless you have the fingers of a pointy-fingered 3 year old, you'll find yourself using it with your thumbs alone: you certainly won't be doing any touch-typing with it (unless you quite like the thought of RSI!)

Above the main QWERTY keys are several hotkeys to the most-used main functions of the phone. These include:

• Desk (to take you to the main desktop),
• Contacts
• Messaging
• Web
• Notes
• Calendar
• My own (user-definable - I've set this to Nokia Maps)
• Menu Symbol (for instant access to the phone's main menu)

The keyboard is actually a joy to use, particularly when texting or writing emails. I've even written blog posts with it, although I wouldn't want to use it for long periods of time. The only niggle is the annoying navigation pad in the top right corner. The silver square lets you move the cursor around while the black inner button acts as a mouse's left button. Unfortunately, although easy enough to use, it's too easy to accidentally hit the black button, particularly when navigating upwards or downwards.

That aside, though, it's an easy way to navigate, and although touchscreen would have made this the perfect smartphone, you don't actually miss it.

Imaging on the Nokia E90's

The E90's Camera

The Nokia E90 comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, and a huge range of different camera-oriented options to help you take the best pic. These include:

• several different flash modes (including one that reduces red-eye)
• a self-timer
• sequence mode (mike - wtf?!)
• exposure compensation, which adjusts the pictures for bright light, for example
• adjustable white balance, colour tone and ISO settings (high, medium, low and automatic)
• contrast
• sharpness (for soft-focus portraits, if your subject's getting on a bit!)

You also get a number of different scene modes, which set-up the camera according to the conditions in which you're shooting. The scene modes include the following:

• Automatic
• User defined
• Close-up for macro work (between 10 and 60cm)
• Portrait - foreground is perfectly focused while the background fades
• Landscape - Distant objects are sharpened, and you can also focus through glass
• Sports - captures fast moving objects
• Night - takes photos in low-light conditions without a flash
• Night portrait - take pictures of people without red-eye

All in all, there's a huge range of different options to help you take the best shot, which shows how the E90 is not simply a business smartphone - it's designed to be used for both business and pleasure.

I've used the E90's camera in a number of situations, and I have to say I'm impressed. Obviously it's not as good as a digital camera, but it compares well with digital cameras of a few years ago, and as you can see from the shots below (mike), the results aren't exactly bad. You can find a more in-depth review of the E90's camera over at Mike

The E90's video recorder

The E90 actually comes with two video cameras: an extremely good one, which takes video at 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution at 30fps; and the obligatory poor one for pointless video calls. I've tried the video calling thing, and it works exactly as you'd expect a video call would: you see the face of the person you're calling together with a smaller version of your own face, leading you instantly to drop the phone in fright, and then cancel the call and carry on chatting away using voice alone!

Video calling is a nice marketing gimmick, and the E90 executes it as well as any other phone, but it's just a crap service that never took off.

Of far more interest is the video camera. You access this using the same menu as for the normal camera, with an option in the camera menu to switch between still photography and video photography. Switching to the latter gives you more options, including:

• Scene mode (just Auto and night this time)
• White balance
• Colour tone

When you've finished recording your video another menu pops up on the right hand side of the screen giving you options to save the video, delete it or send it. Unfortunately, you can't post it instantly to a video aggregation service such as YouTube, but you can at least send it via Bluetooth, InfraRed, email or MMS (though get a flat-rate data plan if you're going to do the latter, otherwise you'll be charged per byte for a file that can end up being megabytes long!)

The video can be played back instantly by going to the Gallery (available from the main video menu when you stop recording). This takes you to a list of videos you've previously taken (see above), with the latest videos displayed at the top. Playing a video takes you to the RealPlayer application, which does a good job of playing the video directly on your phone.

As you can see above, the video quality is really good (although as this was shot indoors at night, it looks a bit fuzzy. It's much better outdoors, so I'll post another video soon. Forgive the sniffling, by the way, I was suffering from man-flu!). Not as good as your average video camera, obviously, but more than good enough for catching the odd exploding oil refinery on your camera phone and doing a bit of citizen journalism.

The only downside is the speed of the video when the camera's set to night mode (above). Although the picture quality's much better, the picture itself becomes so jerky as to be almost unwatchable.

A far as video formats are concerned, the E90 can playback video encoded in 3GPP(H.263), H.264/AVC, MPEG4, and RealVideo formats. Unfortunately, it doesn't support Flash Video, so you won't be able to view YouTube vids via its browser.

GPS and location-based services on the E90

The E90 comes with an aGPS unit built-in together with Nokia Maps. Both of these work extremely well, with the aGPS device finding your current location easily, and Nokia Maps being so comprehensive as to display your location anywhere in the world. I've tried it both in the UK and in San Francisco, and it had no problems finding me (although it may take a while if you're using it for the first time.

You can even use the E90 as a Sat-Nav, as it'll calculate a route for you and then guide you to your destination using voice (although you have to pay extra for this).

There is, though, a big but with the GPS feature. It's slow. Horribly slow, in fact. You can use Nokia Maps either on the small screen with the E90 closed or the large screen when it's opened, and although the performance is acceptable on the small screen, it's so slow on the large screen as to be unusable. This is a real shame, as the amount of detail in the maps is perfect, and you can add overlays such as restaurants, ATMs, petrol stations, hotels and all sorts of other Points of Interest onto the standard map.

I've found I've used the GPS feature to help me find the location of shops and hotels, but only once I'm near them in the first place. It's useful, but nowhere near as useful as it would be if it worked at an acceptable speed.

Navigation aside, one nice feature of the E90's location-based services is the ability to geo-tag your pictures. You need to download a Nokia Geo-tagging application to do this, but it's free and extremely easy to install, and fast, too, as the E90 supports HSDPA.

Connectivity

Which leads me nicely onto the E90's connectivity options. I've already mentioned Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0 and InfraRed, and of course you'd also expect a plethora of mobile phone connectivity as well. And you won't be disappointed: the E90 is a quad-band GSM phone with HSDPA for super-fast downloads (theoretically up to 3.2 Mbps, and in practice I've managed a tasty 2 Mbps). It also acts as a mobile modem, which is extremely useful when you're out and about with your laptop but don't want to pay the hotel's outrageous Internet connection bill (like now, for instance!)

You also get Wi-Fi, which works extremely well, and both Wi-Fi and HSDPA will provide an extremely good web browsing experience no matter where you are.

You absolutely must get a flat-rate data plan, though. I use T-Mobile's Web n Walk, which, for £27 a month, gives me unlimited (well, capped to 1GB) data downloads, plus a decent amount of free voice calls and 400 free texts. All the other networks now have similar offers. Unless you live in an area with almost continuous Wi-Fi hotspots, you'll need to use your HSDPA connection frequently (otherwise, why else would you have bought such a powerful smartphone?!), and you don't want to be hit with paying for your data by the megabyte.

Web Browsing

One of the key reasons that I bought the E90 was for its ability to browse the Web. At the time, it was by far the best mobile Web browsing device on the market. The combination of HSDPA, VGA screen and QWERTY keyboard made it sound almost as good as a standard desktop Web browsing experience, and I'm delighted to say I haven't been disappointed.

Actually, that's not strictly true: it doesn't support AJAX or Flash videos, meaning your average Web 2.0 site and YouTube are of no use. Fortunately most Web 2.0 sites that you'd want to use on a mobile phone also have mobile offerings. RememberTheMilk, for example, lets me update its ToDo list using a mobile version of its web-based service, while my Google Calendar is synced with the E90's built-in calendar via the excellent GooSync (Note: this is an affiliate link, but I've got a lifetime subscription with them, and having used them for over 7 months now, I'm extremely happy to recommend them).

When I bought the E90 (November 2007), its biggest competitor as far as Web browsing was concerned was the Toshiba Portege G900. However, this had the disadvantage of running Microsoft Windows Mobile, which inevitably meant using the appalling Mobile Internet Explorer. Given the amount of complaints that people have had about the G900, I think I made the right decision with the E90.

Office Applications

Let's not forget the E90 is a Business phone as much as it's a multimedia phone. Accordingly, it comes with a wide range of business-oriented applications, including the usual ToDo lists and calendar, both of which have saved my professional life on many occasions, multiple alarms, contact book and messaging applications. These include standard email, Exchange - I've even hooked up with Google's GMail (which, given the amount of email I get for that account, maybe wasn't the best idea!)

In addition the messaging applications, you also get QuickOffice, which not only lets you read Microsoft Office documents, you can also edit them as well. Don't expect to write a lengthy document using QuickOffice though - you don't get much screen real-estate, and the formatting isn't exactly comprehensive. But if you need to open up a document or even make a last minute edit, QuickOffice is more than good enough.

The E90 also sports ActiveNotes, which is like notepad on steroids. Not only can you add text, as you'd expect with a notebook, you can also embed media, such as pictures, videos, sound, a business card, bookmark or file into your note, and then send it off to someone via email, text message, MMS, Bluetooth or InfraRed.

In short, ActiveNote is an easy way to jot down your thoughts and embellish them with media from the world around you, and then send them to yourself for later use.

Music on the Nokia E90

Last, but not least, we come to the E90's music abilities. It has an MP3 player, naturally, and can also play M4A, AAC, eAAC+, and WMA-encoded tunes as well. The interface for the media player is nothing special, but the E90 wasn't built as a music phone. It's very intuitive though, and as you can see from the vid below, the sound from the E90's built-in speakers isn't exactly bad