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3GSM World Congress - Roundup 1
The first day of the 3GSM World Congress is traditionally the busiest day of the year for mobile phone announcments. In this first roundup, we give a glimpse of some of the devices to be announced. We'll follow up with more details later. Nokia Nokia will announce the Nokia E90 Communicator later today - the very long-awaited 3G successor to the 9500. The rumour are that it will have a bigger screen, possibly 800 pixels wide, a 2.0 or 3.2 megapixel digital camera (although we hope this will be an option), and perhaps HSDPA support. There are also rumours of a Nokia N77 device with built-in DVB-H TV capabilities. Samsung As usual, Samsung have announced a huge number of devices. The Samsung SGH-i520 is a 3G Symbian smartphone with a QVGA 2.3" screen, HSDPA and a 2 megapixel camera and microSD memory weighing just 99 grams.
VIDEO from Medialink and Nokia: Nokia Transforms Mobile Communication With New Mapping and Navigation Technology
The Nokia 6110 Navigator is the manufacturer's first smartphone optimized for navigation and built-in GPS. Equipped with a dedicated navigation button, the Nokia 6110 Navigator can be used in a car to navigate its user to the desired location with voice commands and maps. Unlike a standalone GPS -- and thanks to the phone part -- the Nokia 6110 Navigator can easily link up to the wireless network and download additional maps, share user position with friends, or simply place phone calls. (See video from Nokia at: http://media.medialink.com/WebNR.aspx?story=33049) The Nokia E90 Communicator introduces similar navigation functions to an audience of business users. Not only do both devices inform their users about their exact position, but thanks to the GPS satellites, they can also provide helpful information about their surroundings.
The E90 Communicator - Previewed!
Rafe Blandford looks in detail at the Nokia E90 Communicator. A legend reborn? It's undoubtedly feature packed and technically impressive - but is there still a market for the qwerty clamshell form factor? Rafe and Steve include plenty of hands-on observations, photos and screenshots of this, Nokia's upcoming flagship. The E90 is Nokia's new top end enterprise-focussed device. However, as with the multimedia-focussed N95, Nokia have packed in an impressive number of features. The connectivity options include quad band EGSM, 3G connectivity (WCDMA and HSDPA), WiFi (802.11g), Bluetooth (including stereo audio support), infrared and USB (2.0 full-speed). There is also a 2.5mm audio jack for headsets, a FM Radio, a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus and DVD-quality recording, and an integrated GPS chipset.
Nokia E90
General
|
Network |
HSDPA / GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| Announced |
2007, February |
Status
|
Available
|
Size
|
Dimensions |
132 x 57 x 20 mm, 140 cc |
Weight
|
210 g
|
Display
|
Type |
TFT, 16M colors |
| Size |
800 x 352 pixels |
|
- Second external 16M colors display (240 x 320 pixels)
- Full QWERTY keyboard
- Downloadable themes
|
Ringtones
|
Type |
Polyphonic (64 channels), MP3 |
| Customization |
Download |
Vibration
|
Yes
|
Memory
|
Phonebook |
Yes |
| Call records |
Yes |
| Card slot |
microSD (TransFlash), hotswap |
|
- 128 MB shared memory
- 330 Mhz ARM processor
|
Data
|
GPRS |
Yes |
| HSCSD |
Yes |
| EDGE |
Yes |
| 3G |
HSDPA, 3.6 Mbps |
| WLAN |
Wi-Fi 802.11b/g |
| Bluetooth |
Yes, v2.0 |
| Infrared port |
Yes |
USB
|
Yes, v2.0, miniUSB
|
Features
|
OS |
Symbian OS v9.2, S60 rel. 3.1 |
| Messaging |
SMS, MMS, Email, Instant Messaging |
| Browser |
WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML |
| Games |
Yes + Java downloadable |
| Colors |
Red, Mocha |
| Camera |
3.2 MP, 2048x1536 pixels, autofocus, video(VGA 30fps), flash; secondary QCIF videocall camera |
|
- GPS receiver (built-in maps)
- Push to talk
- Video calling
- Java MIDP 2.0
- MP3/M4A/AAC/eAAC+/WMA player
- FM radio
- Voice command/dial
- PIM including calendar, to-do list and printing
- Document viewer
- Photo/video editor
- Integrated handsfree
|
| |
|
| Battery |
|
Standard battery, Li-Ion 1500 mAh |
| Stand-by |
Up to 330 h |
| Talk time |
Up to 5 h |
Truphone Supports Newly-Announced Nokia Wi-Fi-Equipped Handsets
Truphone today confirmed that its mobile VoIP service is supported on three new Nokia handsets announced today: the Wi-Fi-equipped Nokia E61i, Nokia E65 and Nokia E90 models. Truphone enables Wi-Fi-equipped mobile phones to make internet-rate phone calls (VoIP calls) over Wi-Fi connections. When the handset is not in Wi-Fi range it reverts from being a 'Truphone' to being a normal mobile handset, so people need only one device. "The new Nokia E61i, Nokia E65 and Nokia E90 phones will be very popular and Truphone works on them from day one," said James Tagg, CEO of Truphone. "With other manufacturers also starting to put Wi-Fi on handsets, 2007 is the year that mobile meets the Internet - and that means Truphone VoIP," he added. The Truphone client software has completed the Symbian signing process and is available for all new and existing Nokia Wi-Fi VoIP handsets.
Nokia E90 - does the keyboard live up to expectations?
Oh dear. Initial reports on the Nokia E90 are trickling in, and like a warm rivulet of liquid down your inner thigh it's not particularly great news. A bone of contention - and demonstrating just how subjective smartphones really are - is the keyboard. My Symbian readily heap praise on it: "Only good words can be said about the keyboard. It has the same height as the keyboard of the 9500 and the same width as the keyboard of the 9300(i). And, just like with the dimensions of the device, it's a PERFECT combination. What's more, in contrast to 9500's and 9300's flat keys, the keys in the E90 are slightly convex and shaped in the way that makes you clearly feel where each key begins or ends" This, however, stands distinctly at odds with The Register's hands-on report, where they find the keyboard to be too small to touch-type on and perhaps too broad to comfortably thumb-type with: "Alas, unless you have very small fingers indeed, you're going to be disappointed."
It gets worse, as their reviewer finds that accuracy when using the thumbs is sub E70 or E61. So far I've seen plenty of excited links to the My Symbian review - people really are happy to see a return of the Communicator styling, and there's no denying that the handset is a powerhouse - but very few second-opinions on the keyboard, and my worry would be that after the initial flurry of excited buying there'll be plenty of letdown-complaining that won't help Nokia one bit.
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