Nokia E66 | Lifestyle Modern Phone
A straightforward replacement for the Nokia E65, the new Nokia E66 is a 3.5G, WiFi enabled Symbian slider with built-in GPS.
The Nokia E66, as with the E65, is really aimed at business users. But the old E65 was a surprise hit with consumers too.. so can the Nokia E66 follow suit?
This is not the only GPS-enabled slider phone in Nokia's range, and the E66 is very similar in specification to the Nokia 6210 Navigator that was announced a couple of months ago. More of this later.
Nokia E66 open A quick run-down of the features show that the E66 is a pretty capable device. There's a 2.4" QVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, video calling, HSDPA data (with download speeds of up to 3.6 Mbps), WiFi, microSD expandable memory, it comes with an FM radio, Bluetooth, USB and infra-red connectivity and on top of that it runs the Symbian S60 operating system which gives the E66 a number of useful applications.
The main differences between the Nokia E66 and the 6210 Navigator are that the E66 has WiFi and the 6210 does not, but the 6210 is a little lighter and more colourful. The software on the E66 is more business oriented, and it has a longer battery life. Both handsets are roughly the same price. So.. it seems that the E66 competes very well with the 6210 and it might well out-compete it in the consumer market.
The usual E-series applications are on the E66: push email support (including with Microsoft Exchange), a capable web browser and a set of personal information management functions. The E66 doesn't appear to have a document viewer as standard, although there is a large amount of S60 software available for download. As with the old E65, it is possible to integrate the E66 into a corporate PABX system.
Internal memory is 110 MB, expandable up to 8GB with microSD cards. Maximum talktime is 3.5 hours on 3G, 7.5 hours on GSM. The E66 has Bluetooth 2.0, USB and infra-red connectivity. It's nice to see some handsets still have infra-red!
There are only a few drawbacks that we can see with the E66 - one of them is that any kind of GPS / SatNav system is pretty miserable if you don't have a touchscreen. Talktime is a little short for a business phone, and it's not all that cheap at around €350 (£280 / $550) before tax and subsidy.
There will be three UMTS variants depending on region, in two colours (Grey Steel and White Steel). Nokia indicate that the E66 should be available from July 2008 onwards.
Nokia E71 | Lifestyle Modern Phone
The new Nokia E71 follows in the footsteps of the E61i messaging phone, one of only a very small number of Symbian handsets to come with a QWERTY keyboard.
It is significantly more compact and lighter than the E61i, it comes with faster networking, a better camera and GPS too. But on the negative side, the E71's display is smaller and the keyboard looks altogether more cramped.
Measuring 114 x 57 x 10mm and weighing 126 grams, the Nokia E71 is certainly larger than most contemporary 3G phones, but this is mainly due to the wide 2.4" 320 x 240 pixel display, keyboard and large 1500 mAh battery. At just 10mm thick, it will be easy to slip into a pocket, unlike its bulky predecessor.
On the back of the Nokia E71 is a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and there is a secondary video calling camera on the front. We do hope that Nokia will make a camera-less version of this phone, as they did with the Nokia E51. Nokia's launch information is inconsistent about video capture resolution, but as far as we can tell it is 640 x 480 pixels at 22 frames per second, which is pretty good.
The keyboard is a full QWERTY arrangement plus some navigation keys, but they are bunched quite closely together where the E71 had spacing in between them to help prevent multiple keys being pressed down at the same time. Bear in mind though that the E71 is 57mm wide, and the E61i is 70mm wide, a whopping 13mm difference.
Built into the Nokia E71 is A-GPS with the Nokia Maps application, which is free for basic functionality but requires a fee for full satellite navigation. The 2.4" screen isn't particularly large, and the E71 will suffer because it lacks touchscreen capabilities.
This is an HSDPA capable device, with a maximum download speed of 3.6 Mbps (where supported). The E71 will come in three dual-band WCDMA variants, 850/2100 MHz [E71-3], 850/1900 MHz [E71-2] and 900/2100 MHz [E71-1] depending on region, plus quad-band GSM with GPRS and EDGE data. On top of that, the E71 has 802.11b and g WiFi.
Local connectivity is via a microUSB connector, Bluetooth or infra-red. The Nokia E71 also has a 2.5mm AV output for wired headphones.
The E71 has a pretty typical suite of enterprise-class applications, including a document viewer, push email support and the usual array of S60 functions. Nokia say that the E71 has "two home screens", presumably a "work" and a "home" one. Of course, the E71 also has a multimedia player.
Internal memory is 110MB, expandable to 8GB using microSD cards. The large 1500 mAh battery can drive the E71 for up to 4.5 hours talktime on 3G, 10 hours talktime on GSM and 18 hours of music playback.
Nokia say that the E71 should be available from July onwards in "grey steel" and "white steel" colour combinations for around €350 / £280 / $550 before tax and subsidy.
Nokia 7310 Supernova | Lifestyle Modern Phone
Supernova a few weeks ago when Nokia accidentally leaked the complete specifications for the device.Just to recap - this is a lightweight fashion phone with a 2" 240 x 320 pixel display, 2 megapixel camera, FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, microSD expandable memory and an optional TV output cable.
One key feature with the 7310 is the exchangeable covers. Supplied as standard is a "Steel Blue" Xpress-on cover plus either "Wasabi Green" or "Candy Pink". Some of the other colour combinations available (depending on region) are "Espresso Brown", "Plum Jam", "Mushroom Silver", "Yellow Mellow" and "Electric Blue". You can also change the colour schemes in software, so there's quite a bit of scope for personalising your 7310.
It's not a very expensive phone, at €155 (or £120 / $240) before tax and any carrier discount.. so it should appeal to prepay customers as well as those on contract. We understand that the 7310 Supernova is already available in certain markets, and it should have a more widespread release in the next couple of weeks.
Sony Ericsson K660i | Lifestyle Modern Phone
Sony Ericsson have had a buoyant 2007 - sales have been good, helped by strong brand recognition and quality products. So, Sony Ericsson probably have high hopes of this latest K-series camera phone, the Sony Ericsson K660i.
Yes, we've seen K-series devices from Sony Ericsson lots of times before, and the K660i doesn't even qualify as a Cyber-shot phone, but it does have a few interesting tricks up its sleeve.
The most significant feature in the K660i is the inclusion of HSDPA high-speed data. This makes web browsing and multimedia downloads much quicker than standard 3G, and it also means that the K660i can be used as a broadband modem for a laptop. The other important feature is an improved web browser, designed to be much more like a PC browser, complete with a pointer and scroll bars, along with a screen that can be used for web browsing in either portrait (tall) or landscape (wide) modes.
These two features aside, the Sony Ericsson K660i is otherwise pretty standard fare. It's a 3G phone with a 2" 240x320 pixel display, 2 megapixel digital camera, video calling, stereo Bluetooth, a multimedia player, FM radio, email client, web browser and R.S.S. feed reader. There's a mapping application too.
The K660i's memory is expandable using Memory Stick Micro (M2) cards with 256Mb included in the box. Underneath is a quad-band GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz phone with UMTS 2100 MHz, plus GPRS, EDGE and HSDPA data. The K660i measures 104 x 47 x 14.7 mm and weighs 95 grams, which is pretty light for a 3G phone.
This phone won't change your life, but it certainly has some nice features. Sony Ericsson say that the K660i should be available during Q1 2008 in Lime on Pink and Wine on Black colour combinations.