Nokia E7 Will Be Out By December 10th 2010

The Nokia E7 was announced back in September, good news if you have been waiting to get your hands on one as the Nokia E7 will begin shipping on the 10th of December 2010.

The Nokia E7 features Symbian OS 3, which Nokia announced earlier today they will be taking over the development of the platform, it also comes with a 4 inch touchscreen display and a full slide out QWERTY keyboard.

Other specifications on the Nokia E7 include an eight megapixel camera that can record HD video in 720p, plus 16GB of built in storage, plus HDMI out and Dolby Digital Plus surround sound.

via TFTS

Nokia N8 Gets Unboxed

Earlier today we told you that the new Nokia N8 smartphone had started shipping, now the guys over at Engadget have got their hands on one of the first Nokia N8 smartphones.

The Nokia N8 has a 12 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a Xenon flash, the camera is capable of recording HD video in 720p and it also features HDMI out so you can playback your HD video on your HDTV.

The N8 runs runs Symbian 3 OS, and it features a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels, and it features 16GB of built in storage, plus a microSD card slot.

Nokia E73

Nokia E73 Mode's design is quite similar to the E72, not that we have any complaints, since we loved the E72's form factor. Nokia E73 is incredibly sleek at 4.5 inches tall by 2.3 inches wide by 0.4 inch thick, making it easy to slip into a pants pocket and comfortable to hold as a phone and messaging device. It's relatively light at 4.5 ounces but it has a very solid construction and feels like a device worth more than $70. The smartphone's display measures 2.4 inches diagonally and supports 16 million colors with a 320x240 resolution.

The size is on par with the one on BlackBerry Bold 9700, but it's not quite as sharp (the Bold's screen is 480x360) so images and text don't look quite as smooth on Nokia E73 as the Bold. Still, it's clear and vibrant, but tends to wash out slightly in bright sunlight. Like a number of Nokia's latest smartphones, Nokia E73 Mode lets you switch your home screen between two modes: personal and work. You can customize each mode with which apps you want accessible from the home screen, with the idea that you'll have work apps front and center in work mode, and more fun apps, such as the music player and photo gallery, in personal mode, so you can better balance your life.

Whether one can really "turn off" work mode is probably up to the individual, but nice a sentiment by Nokia. As for the general user interface, the Symbian based Nokia E73 runs on the S60 platform so the experience is much like the E72. The UI isn't particularly pretty, looking rather old actually, and requires some extra steps when navigating within an app, but it's fairly intuitive. Below the screen, you get a number of navigation controls, including Talk and End keys, two soft buttons, four shortcuts (home, contacts, calendar, and messages), and a combination optical trackpad or D-pad that Nokia calls the Optical Navi key.

To close an app, you much choose Options and then Exit. Nokia E73 Mode's QWERTY keyboard is, in a word, excellent. The rectangular buttons are a good size and have a nice domed shape, making them easy to press. The numbers share space with the letter keys in the middle of the keyboard. Though Nokia chose to highlight them in black against a dark gray background, they're actually not that hard to see. It's really one of the best physical keyboards we've used in recent memory, as we were able to type messages quickly and with little error. On the left spine, there's a Micro-USB port and a microSD expansion slot, both protected by an attached cover.

Meanwhile, you will find a volume rocker and a voice command button on the right side, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack and power button on top. The camera and flash are, as usual, found on back. Nokia E73 also has a front facing camera, but don't think this is in response to the HTC Evo 4G and iPhone 4. Most Nokia smartphones have had front facing cameras and video conferencing capabilities long before these two phones put it on people's radars. Though the interest hasn't necessarily been there in the past, you can, in fact, make video calls with Nokia E73 with an app, such as Fring, which is available through the Nokia Ovi Store.

Nokia bills the E73 Mode as a mobile to balance work and life, and the smartphone has a pretty well rounded feature set, though we'd say it skews a little more to mobile professionals than consumers, particularly with the messaging capabilities. The smartphone offers Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support (e-mail, contacts, calendar, and tasks) as well as IBM Lotus Notes and comes with a mobile VPN client if you need to tap into your company's intranet. The Nokia Messaging app can also handle as many as 10 personal accounts, including POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP, and comes with push deliver, an attachment viewer, search, filters, and HTML support. In addition to e-mail, T-Mobile bundles the E73 with a handful of instant messaging clients and social networking apps, such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

Nokia 7705 Twist (Verizon)

Nokia 7705 Twist (Verizon) uses Verizon's standard menu system. That means it's familiar, slow, and kludgy, and requires too many key presses for most tasks. The Polaris 6.1 browser displayed HTML pages well given the smallish LCD. But pages were stiff and slow to navigate using the on screen cursor, and the USA Today home page took more than two minutes to load fully. Verizon loads its instant messaging applications, which hooks into AIM, Windows Live, and Yahoo Messenger accounts, but counts each transmission as a text message on your bill.

For e-mail, the Twist connects to Web and ISP accounts, and offers RemoSync for corporate messaging; all cost extra monthly fees, which is a disappointment. The A-GPS radio works with VZ Navigator 4.5 for voice enabled, turn by turn directions. The Twist locked onto my position quickly and spoke loudly and clearly a surprise given the Twist's poor speakerphone performance. You can also use Nokia 7705 Twist (Verizon) as a laptop modem with the appropriate Broadband Connect plan.

The non-standard 2.5 mm headphone jack was a downer. At least there's a side mounted microSD card slot my 16GB SanDisk card worked fine, and there's 119MB of on board memory as well. Verizon's music player was difficult to navigate, with too many button presses required to cue up songs, and the usual annoying requirement that everything is in one specific folder on a microSD card. AAC, MP3, and WMA tracks sounded excessively bright and tinny on a paired set of Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth headphones.

Nokia 7705 Twist (Verizon) displayed album art when available. Sometimes, incredibly loud, ear piercing static occurred whenever it stopped or restarted tracks over the S9-HDs and .3GP videos played back OK, though I heard distorted audio on one pass. Stopping and restarting the video seemed to fix it, although it never quite sounded 100 percent clean. V CAST videos were poorly organized, tough to sift through, and looked pixelated, but played smoothly enough provided stucked with the standard thumbnail sized window.

You can also sign up for V CAST Music with Rhapsody for subscription and over the air music downloads. The 3 megapixel camera was a disaster. The slow shutter speed, poor resolution, and lack of detail contributed to a series of useless photos that were either too dark (flash off, or flash on in a dark room) or completely blown out (well lit indoor room, flash off). Recorded videos were useless at 176 by 144 pixel resolution. Moving pictures to and from an SD card was clunkier than it should have been, and changing the default storage location for pictures was buried in the phone's main settings tree instead of in the camera applications.

Nokia N86

The overall look of Nokia N86 8MP isn't too different from Nokia N series models of the past, but a closer examination of the phone reveals some nice improvements. For one, Nokia N86 has a higher quality build and a more solid feel than any of its other N siblings, thanks to new hardware refinements like metal edges and tempered glass on the face of the device. The one trade off is the phone is slightly heavier at 5.2 ounces (compare that with Nokia N85's 4.5 ounces). That said, we're willing to deal with those extra tenths of an ounce if it means having a more durable, sturdy handset.

Plus, Nokia N86 is still fairly compact, all things considered, measuring 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick in its closed state. Other areas of improvement include the slider itself and the phone's buttons. Starting with the former, Nokia N86 features a dual slider design just like N85 and Nokia N96. The difference is that the sliding mechanism on Nokia N86 is stronger than the others, so the screen doesn't fidget or move when you're simply trying to handle the phone or use the navigation controls below the display.

In fact, you have to give the screen quite a forceful push downward to access the dedicated multimedia and gaming controls. Meanwhile, sliding the screen up reveals the alphanumeric keypad. Nokia N86 8MP is slightly heavier than N85, but it also has a higher quality build. Speaking of which, both the dialpad and the media buttons are much easier to press, thanks to the fact that the keys are now raised above the surface and have spacing between them.

They're also easy to see in darker environments with the bright backlighting and lime green and white coloring. We have mixed feelings about the navigation controls below the display. The array consists of the standard soft keys, Talk and End buttons, a main menu shortcut, a back button, and navigation toggle, and like the others, the controls are now elevated instead of being flush with the surface, so they don't feel as stiff, and the phone doesn't creak when you press down on them as it did on N85.

Our only thing is we're just not huge fans of the tiny buttons. Nokia N86's dialpad is much easier to use than its predecessor's since the buttons are raised above the phone's surface. Above the navigation controls is a 2.6 inch Active Matrix OLED (AMOLED) nontouch display. While not a touch screen, the AMOLED display helps provide a sharper picture with better contrast and draws less power than regular LCDs. However, we wish it was slightly higher resolution since the QVGA (320x240) screen doesn't look quite as smooth as its competitors.

On the bright side, the smartphone has a built-in accelerometer, which was quick to change screen orientation when we rotated the phone. Like most Nokia handsets, you can customize the home screen with various themes and wallpaper, and also adjust the backlight. On top of the device, you'll find the power button, a 3.5 millimeter headset jack, and a Micro-USB port. The left side houses a slider lock switch and on the right, there's a volume rocker and the camera activation or capture button.

The camera is located on the back and the lens is protected by a sliding cover. There's also a flash and a kickstand that you can use to rest the phone on a flat surface while watching videos or slide shows. We thought the kickstand felt a bit flimsy, however, so take care not to be too forceful with it. Last but not least, you'll find the microSD expansion slot behind the battery door on the right side. Nokia N86 came packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, a wired headset and remote, a software DVD, and reference material. For more add ons, please check our cell phone accessories, ringtones, and help page.

Nokia 5130 XpressMusic

Nokia 5130 XpressMusic somewhat resembles the earlier 5310. It also sports a slim candy bar design, though it's bit larger (4.23 inches by 1.83 inches by 0.58 inch 3.10 ounces) and it features a glossier skin with a dotted pattern over its speaker one the rear side. The handset comes in two color schemes aqua-silver and red-black. We tested the former, but the features are the same on both models. The 5130 has a comfortable feeling in the hand, and it travels well. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic's two inch display supports 256.000 colors.

The resolution is decent (320x240 pixel), though some graphics, particularly the menu icons, weren't very sharp. On the upside, the Series 40 menus are intuitive provided that you turn off the transition effects. You can adjust the standby font color and the font size. The navigation array has a spacious, user friendly design. The square toggle is raised and shows a different color than the central OK button or the surrounding keys.

The soft keys and Talk and End or power controls are flat, but they're quite large. You can set the toggle as a shortcut to user defined features. They backlit keypad buttons are a mixed bag. Though they're sizable, they have a slippery plastic feel. Dialing and texting takes some getting used to, and the numbers and letters are rather small. On the rear side is the camera lens. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic offers neither a flash nor a self portrait mirror.

On the left spine are the dedicated music controls, which you can use to activate the player and scan through your songs. On the right spine you'll find the large accessible volume rocker and the microSD card slot. We were glad see a 3.5mm headset jack on the top of Nokia 5130 XpressMusic. Next to it are the proprietary charger connection and the Micro-USB port.

Features
Nokia 5130 XpressMusic's phone book size is limited by its shared memory (30MB). Each contact holds six phone number types, an e-mail address, a URL, a company name and job title, a formal name and nickname, a birthday, and notes. The SIM card holds an additional 250 contacts. You can organize friends into groups and pair them with a video and photo and one of 23 polyphonic ringtones.

Essentials include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to do list, a unit and currency converter, a world lock, a notepad, a calculator, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. For more advanced options you'll find stereo Bluetooth, a voice recorder, USB transfer and mass storage, voice commands, PC syncing, instant messaging, and Web based e-mail.

The microSD slot can accommodate cards up to 2GB one such card should come with the phone. Nokia 5130 XpressMusic offers the standard Nokia Xpress Music player. The interface is simple, but the controls are simple and intuitive, and the player supports album art. Features include an equalizer, shuffle and repeats modes, playlists, stereo widening, and an airplane mode for listening to tunes while you fly. The player supports a variety of file types, and you can use tracks as ringtones.

Nokia 3720 Classic

New Nokia 3720 classic, an IP-54 certified mobile phone designed to resist water, dust and shock. Following the footsteps of Nokia's highly popular 'rugged' cell phones of the past, Nokia 3720 classic handset is encased in durable materials and is entirely sealed to protect the inner electronics. The Nokia 3720 cell phone is expected to retail for approximately 125 Euro before subsidies or taxes and is expected to begin shipping this summer.

Nokia 3720 classic cell phone features a sealed, leak proof design and durable materials in a range of great colors. Nokia 3720 battery cover, which protects both the battery and the internal circuitry of the cell phone, is locked with a screw, making for worry free usage in wet, dusty or muddy environments. The rugged Nokia cell phone is easy to use in all weather conditions.

As to be expected, Nokia 3720 classic rugged cell phone also offers exceptional battery performance as well as an LED flashlight, to complement its rugged cell phone design. Additional add ons include Nokia Maps, which comes pre-loaded on the 1GB microSD flash memory card, and the large and bright 2.2" cell phone display is perfect for following the route even in unfamiliar terrain. Nokia 3720 rugged mobile phone will be available for sale in August for around 125 Euro.

Nokia Surge

Nokia Surge smartphone is an ideal device for active consumers who like to stay connected whether using instant messenger, text or e-mail, sending multimedia messages, AT&T Video Share, or updating and connecting via their favorite social networks. With a full slide out QWERTY keyboard in a slim, stylish design and Symbian S60 multi tasking capabilities, Nokia Surge is the ideal smartphone for today's customer who is always in touch with their social circle.

A recent survey commissioned by Nokia revealed that people are so hooked on staying in touch that they would rather give up coffee and sweets than live without their mobile for two weeks. In addition to an impressive suite of messaging capabilities, the Nokia Surge offers a powerful browsing experience, including Flash support to view most sites in full HTML or watch YouTube videos. The Nokia Surge smart phone allows users to post messages, images, videos, and comments to web sites like Facebook on the go with the pre-installed JuiceCaster application.

Nokia E75

Nokia E75 smartphone is expected to prolong the success of its predecessor, at which the Nokia messaging feature is very likely to help. One difference between this service and a comparable one such as that of BlackBerry, is that the latter settles for any company network, whereas the Nokia user is dependent on Nokia's network. "Designed for the way we manage our business" this is Nokia's message on the box of Nokia E75.

The visual messages on the box imply Nokia E75 is meant for all round communication. You can gain access to all your email accounts in three steps select 'set email' and start the program. Select manage email account and enter your password, whereupon you, as a Nokia E75 owner, are ready to communicate with the outside world. Nokia E75 has a high quality appearance. The handset features attractive curves and fairly compact dimensions.

Nokia E75 feels solid partly thanks to the materials used. When we slide the device sideways to open it, a QWERTY keyboard appears. In horizontal position, Nokia E75 lies safely and stable in your hand, providing easy operation. The equipment included with Nokia E75 comprises of a set of earplugs (HS-43), USB cable, battery charger, BL-4U Lithium-Ion battery, microSD memory card and an instruction manual. A voice recognition navigation system with maps for a period of 3 months comes with the E75 as a nice extra, although this may vary by region.

For the Nokia E75 review, we received a silver and black version, however the handset is available in several other colors (also depending on the region). Nokia E75 cell phone has a stylish design. Whereas before, the Nokia phone design used to be somewhat conservative, or in other words ordinary and certainly not trendy, Nokia E75 is an eye catcher.

It has a striking appearance and will look good on any desk. The weight of the device is considerable yet not too heavy. It provides essential stability. Compared to its predecessor, the E71, the Nokia E75 is somewhat larger in size. On the other hand, the E71 is wider than the Nokia E75. Altogether, it doesn’t make much of a difference as far as the total dimension is concerned, although personally I do prefer Nokia E75.

The back features a truly attractive finish, and seems to radiate pure luxury. The engraved pattern gives the phone a classic yet modern appearance. The form factor a slider phone with a keyboard that slides open sideways, is new for Nokia. Nokia E75's form factor may in fact signal a new generation of Nokia slider phones.

Nokia 7205 Intrigue

It's obvious that design was a main focus of Nokia 7205 Intrigue. The glossy black skin catches the light it's even somewhat reflective and the compact shape will endear it to slim phone enthusiasts. At 3.56 inches by 1.85 inches by 0.55 inch and 3.19 ounces, the 7205 travels well and it slips easily into a pocket or bag. Nokia 7205 Intrigue's sleek lines also are worth mentioning when the phone is open it takes the shape of a smooth arc.

It doesn't exactly cradle the head, but it's certainly a unique touch, and we like the silver trim. The 7205's external display is hidden behind the front face, which means it's invisible when the backlighting is off. Fortunately, you can control the backlighting time, but if it goes off, you can reactivate the display by flipping the volume rocker. In another uncommon touch, the display has a vertical orientation. Though that may not sit well with everyone, the arrangement allows the display to take almost full advantage of Nokia 7205 Intrigue's front face.

You'll find a clock and meters for the signal strength and battery life. The display also has touch controls for the music player. You can activate them by pressing the volume rocker. Though Nokia 7205 Intrigue is eye catching, the trendy design has its low points. The glossy skin attracts fingerprints and smudges to the point of being unsightly. Also, while the hinge is sturdy, the phone's plastic skin feels a tad cheap.

This is not a phone for the danger prone. You'll find a few other exterior features. On the left spine are the aforementioned volume rocker, a 2.5mm headset jack, and a micro-USB port. The latter also accommodates the charger. The microSD slot is located on the right spine while the camera lens and flash sit on the top end of the phone's back side. Unfortunately, that makes vanity shots difficult.

The 2.2 inch interior display supports 262,000 colors and 320x240 pixels. It's bright and vibrant with sharp colors and graphics. You can change the backlighting time, the clock format and the dialing font size. The menus have leftover hallmarks of Verizon's standardized interface, but they're intuitive and easy to use. The navigation array is mixed bag.

On the upside, it's quite spacious and you're offered a fair number of keys. But on the downside, it might be a little too stylish for its own good. The toggle ditches the usual square or circular shapes in favor of a cross. It's certainly unique, but it takes a bit of getting used to. What's more, it's almost flush with the surface of the phone. The remaining controls consist of two soft keys, Talk and End or power buttons, a speakerphone key, a back or clear control, and a camera shortcut.

All are flush with the surface of the phone. The keypad comes in two designs faded silver and faded pink. We reviewed the silver version, but the handsets are the same. Silver ridges separate the individual rows, but otherwise the keys are flat and a tad slippery. We didn't have any problems dialing or texting, however. The keys are lit by a bright backlighting, and the numbers and letters on the keys are standard size.

Nokia 6500 Classic

Nokia 6500 Classic blends classic Nokia design with current styles. One on hand, it has a basic candy bar shape with a durable metal skin. The phone feels great in the hand and we didn't worry about the occasional drop to the floor. On the other hand, it's got a thin profile. Nokia never jumped into the slim handset craze very deeply, but the effect works well here. At 4.32 inches tall by 1.77 inches wide by inches 0.37 inch deep, and weighing 3.31 ounces, the 6500 travels well.

The 2 inch display supports 16.7 million colors and 320x240 pixels. With such a high resolution, you can be sure that colors are bright and photos and graphics are sharp and vibrant. You can set the font color and size, but other options, like the brightness and backlighting time, are not customizable. The Series 40 fifth edition menus are intuitive and easy to use.

The spacious navigation array consists of a tactile toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, and the Talk and End or power buttons. We had no trouble using the controls, though we'd prefer a dedicated speakerphone button and a back key. You can set the toggle as a shortcut to four user defined functions, and you can activate shortcut icons on the display. The keypad buttons were rather cramped, actually.

Though they're tactile thanks to silver ridges, the black keys may be too small for users with large hands. What's more, the backlit numbers and letters on the keys are tiny. Users with visual impairments should definitely test this phone before buying. We fumbled at first when trying to dial and text quickly. We were also disappointed that the 6500 Classic didn't have a dedicated volume rocker on its side.

That means you have to control the audio with the toggle when you're on a call, which is rather inconvenient. The only other exterior features are the camera lens and flash, on the phone's back side, and a micro-USB port on the top end. Since the latter is also used for the charger and the included wired headset, you can use only one peripheral at a time and you must have an adapter to use your own headset.

Features
Each contact in the 6500 Classic's phone book holds five phone numbers, an email address, a URL, a company name and job title, a formal name and nickname, a birthday, a street address, and notes (the SIM card holds an additional 250 names). You can save callers to groups and you can pair them with one of 26 available 64 chords polyphonic ringtones. You also can pair contacts with a photo or video for caller ID.

Other 6500 Classic essentials include text and multimedia messaging, a vibrate mode, an alarm clock, a calendar, a to do list, a notepad, a calculator, a speaker phone, a world clock, a voice recorder, a countdown timer, and a stopwatch. Higher end options are respectable you'll find stereo Bluetooth, voice commands, audio messaging, USB mass storage, an internal search app, PC syncing, a currency and unit converter, and Web based email.

The 6500 also supports Yahoo Go, for direct access to email and Yahoo content, and it is equipped for 850 and 2100 3G (UMTS) bands. If your carrier supports the service, you can watch streaming video on the 6500.

Nokia E90 Communicator

The Nokia E90 Communicator is a mammoth. The handset measures a whopping 5.2 inches tall by 2.2 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighs 7.4 ounces, so you can pretty much forget about slipping this into a pants pocket, comfortably anyway. On the upside, the smart phone has a solid construction and looks like it could weather some rough treatment. It's also got a decidedly no nonsense, corporate look, which suits its intended audience of power business users.

Like its feature set, the Nokia E90 Communicator's design is quite large. The exterior of the E90 features a 2 inch diagonal, 16 million color display with a 320x240 pixel resolution. It's not a touch screen, but text and images are vibrant and sharp. Below the screen, you'll find a standard navigation array of two soft keys, Talk and End buttons, a shortcut to the Main Menu, a four way toggle with center select key, and the alphanumeric dial pad.

This is one area where the phone's bigger size is an advantage since the extra room allows for large buttons that are easy to press.

The extra room does allow for a roomy alphanumeric dial pad and navigation array. Aside from roomy controls, there's another benefit to Nokia E90's bulkiness.

The candy bar style phone opens up to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard and a 3.6 inch wide internal display.

The latter has a 16 million color output and 800x352 pixel resolution that makes for an impressive view. The wide screen also lends itself really well for browsing Web sites and reading documents and emails. Also, flanking the screen is another set of Talk and End buttons and two soft keys. Opening the candy bar style smart phone reveals a 3.6 inch internal display and full QWERTY keyboard.

The keyboard shouldn't give users too many problems as far as typing with ease and accuracy. The individual buttons are roomy, so it's not an issue that there isn't much spacing between them. They also have a tactile feel to them our only complaint would be that they're a bit stiff to press.

In addition, there's a dedicated number row, and right below the display, you will find shortcuts to various applications, including Contacts, Messaging, Web, and Calendar. On the right spine, there's a voice recorder button and a camera activation key, while the bottom of the device has a mini USB port, a power connector, and a 2.5 millimeter headset jack. On the back you will find the 3.2 megapixel camera and flash, and a microSD expansion slot.

Nokia 6650

The Nokia 6650 has an angular retro design that perfectly befits the thin explosion that started in 2004. It's not exactly eye catching, but we welcome the metal skin that gives the phone a sturdy feel in the hand. Our silver review model had an appealing polish but the handset also is available in red. The features are the same on both models. The hinge has a solid construction in fact, the phone closes with such force that it pinched our finger when it got in the way.

At 3.93 inches tall by 1.86 inches wide by 0.64 inch thick, the 6650 travels well. It's a bit heavier than we expected (3.95 ounces), but that's not a problem. The 6650 has a great external display it measures 1.36 inches and supports 262.000 colors (160x128 pixel resolution). Besides showing all the necessary information including the date, time, battery life, and signal strength, it also shows numeric and photo caller ID.

But the 6650's display goes a step further by allowing access to a variety of features without opening the phone.

You can access the camera, the calendar, the timer, the stopwatch, the ringer profiles menu, the music player, and the camera.

And when you're in camera mode, the display also acts as a viewfinder for self portraits. Even with all that functionality, the interface is intuitive.

Three touch controls just below the display are your primary controls. Above the display sit the camera lens and flesh.

It's a convenient location, as long as you don't place your finger over the lens when snapping a photo. On the right spine you'll find the micro-SD card slot, a 2.5 mm headset jack, and the charger port. A single Micro-USB jack sits on the left spine, below a thin volume rocker and a PTT button.

The controls are easy to use, but because the volume rocker is on the front flap of the phone, there is quite a gap between the rocker and the keypad when the phone is open. The 2.2 inch internal display is positively gorgeous. With support for a brilliant 16.7 million colors (320x240 pixel resolution), it's far better than almost every other phone display in its class.

Graphics and photos are extremely sharp and colors are bright and vibrant. The Symbian series 60, third edition menus are simple and easy to use. We could find features easily and quickly. The list and icon designs are the most intuitive of the four choices. You can change the display's brightness, the font size, and the backlight time. Just be aware that if the backlighting is off, it's very difficult to see the onscreen commands for unlocking the keypad.

Nokia 2600

The 2600 is a standard Nokia candy bar phone that's a salute to minimalism. It is clad in basic black with just an orange ring around the center column of keys to give it some individuality. The lines are straight and clean, but its tapered edges are a nice touch. The 2600 is 4.21 inches long by 1.84 inches wide by 0.79 inch thick and weighs 3.17 ounces.

It is compact and portable, but the plastic skin feels rather flimsy. The display measures 1.5 inches wide and supports 65,000 colors (128x128 pixels). Though that's a low resolution display when compared with most other current cell phones, it's fitting for such a low end phone. Graphics and photos aren't sharp, but colors are relatively bright and the screen isn't washed out.

What's more, the icon based menus are intuitive. You can change the standby mode font color and the font size and activate a power saver mode.

The 2600's navigation array consists of a square silver toggle with a black OK button. Though it is decently sized and raised above the surface of the phone, it's also a bit slippery with a plastic feel.

It didn't present us with any problems, though, and you can set the toggle to act as shortcut to four user defined functions.

Two soft keys and the Talk and End or power buttons complete the array. They have a spacious layout as well but they're flush and equally slippery. Also, we'd like a dedicated back key and a camera shortcut. The keypad buttons are hit and miss. They didn't feel cramped, but they aren't very tactile. Similarly, while we like that the central column of keys is colored in gray, the back lighting could be brighter. We didn't suffer from any misdials, but rapid texting did feel awkward.

Like T-Mobile's recent Nokia 1680, the 2600 doesn't have a dedicated volume rocker, which means you must use the toggle to change the volume level during a call. That's rather inconvenient. On the right spine, you'll find the charger port and a 2.5 mm headset jack. The camera lens and mirror rest on the phone's backside above the single speaker.

Nokia 1680

The Nokia 1680 has a standard candy bar design in basic black. It may not be much in the looks department, but it's an easy to use and accessible design. It's also compact (4.26 inches by 1.81 inches by 0.59 inch) and lightweight (2.6 ounces). We couldn't help notice, however, that the plastic skin feels rather cheap this is a not a phone for the accident prone.

The display measures 1.75 inches and supports 64,000 colors (160x120 pixels). That's a rather low resolution when compared with most other cell phones, but it's perfectly serviceable for a handset of this caliber. The icon based menus are simple and easy to figure out they should present no problems for the cell phone novice.

You can change the font size and color, but no other display options are customizable.

We'd prefer a brightness control, as the screen is rather washed out. The 1680 has a spacious and tactile navigation toggle and central OK button.

It is a tad slippery, but it served us will most of the time. The square toggle doubles as a shortcut to four user defined functions.

Surrounding the toggle are two soft keys and the Talk and End or power buttons. They're covered in a comfortable rubbery material, but we'd prefer to have a dedicated clear or back button and a camera shortcut. The keypad buttons are a mixed bag. Though they have a tactile feel, they're also a bit cramped and feel rather stiff. Dialing phone numbers wasn't an issue, but texting felt a bit cumbersome.

If you're a messaging addict, we recommend giving the phone a test run before buying. On the upside, the backlighting is bright. Unfortunately, the 1680 doesn't have a dedicated volume rocker, which means you must use the toggle to change the volume level during a call. That's rather inconvenient. On the right spine you'll find the charger port and a 2.5 mm headset jack. The camera lens and mirror rest on the phone's back side above the single speaker.

Nokia E51

Bluetooth allows your mobile phone to wirelessly connect, via low frequency radio waves, with external devices such as a headset for making calls. Many Bluetooth cell phones also allow you to exchange or sync data with other Bluetooth devices or to connect to stereo headphones to listen to music. For more information see CNET's Quick guide to Bluetooth.

Speakerphone
A speakerphone is useful for hands free calling when you're driving or multitasking. Consider getting a cell phone with a full duplex speaker phone, which allows both parties to speak at the same time.

Business travelers who need to set up impromptu meetings will want to look at a mobile phone or smart phone that supports conference calling.

Specifications

• Band or mode : WCDMA (UMTS) or GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900
• Combined with : With digital camera, digital player, FM radio
• Weight: 3.5 oz

Nokia N82

The Nokia N82 is just the latest Nokia N series model to come across our desk, and like the rest of the bunch, it's quite impressive. It has a feature set similar to the Nokia N95, with a couple of additions and omissions. Like the N95, the N82 has a 5 megapixel camera but it also includes a Xenon flash that makes a world of difference, as it produced amazing photos and videos.

The Symbian smart phone continues to offer Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS, and it's a solid performer to boot. With all that going for it, it's really a bummer that the N82 has such a horrible design.

The hardware feels a bit cheap, and the navigation buttons leave much to be desired. We're also disappointed by the lack of U.S. 3G support.

All that said, you can work around the design flaws, and if your main focus is getting a high end multimedia smart phone, the Nokia N82 fits the bill.

An unlocked version of the Nokia N82 is available through Nokia's Web site for $564, though you can probably find it for a bit cheaper with a little online shopping research. The N82 features a 2.4 inch none touch display that shows 16.7 million colors at a 320x240 pixel resolution, making for quite a pleasant viewing experience.

There's also an ambient light detector to automatically adjust the brightness of the screen based on your current environment, so screen visibility was quite good. For personalization, you can add various background images and themes and adjust the font size. On the right spine, you'll find two speakers (at the top and bottom), a volume rocker, a shortcut to your photo gallery, and a camera activation or capture button.

Meanwhile, there's a micro USB port, a microSD expansion slot, and a power connector port on the left side. We would have preferred a mini USB port since that's more of a standard right now. There is a power button and a 3.5mm headphone jack on top of the unit. Finally, the camera lens and flash are located on the back, and the lens is protected by a sliding cover. The Nokia N82 comes packaged with an AC adapter, a USB cable, video out cables, a 2GB microSD card, a wired headset, a software CD, and reference material.

Nokia E66

If we can put aside the disappointing camera, which many of you are probably appalled by now, then the gloom starts to fade and everything looks like clear skies. And let us not forget that there is probably just a bad batch that came out with this Inverted Camera, none the less that is simply inexcusable and if you have an E66 that is suffering from this, you might well return it ASAP for a replacement.

As already mentioned the physical appearance is that of elegant business phone. And it mean really hot and elegant.

The outer key as seen on the picture below which are the Shortcut Keys are completely blank when on standby, what symbols you see is just the Green Call Button which is as usual on the left, and on the right is the Hang up or End Red Button.

The rest is hidden (the symbols of the keys), until the backlight reveals what is in there.

This gives a very nice minimalist effect that adds to the elegance of the E66. Quite ingenious if I may, and kudos to the one who designed this. The actual keypad that is hidden if the slider is close is somewhat similar to the keys of the E51 as you can see from the photo below. They are flat, but not ridiculous Razr flat.

They are responsive, but not the same as those old rubbery, super responsive keypads that we used to have when many cell phones were still sporting those stubby antenna. Another nice touch is the battery back cover release latch or tabs shown below. These are small tab on both sides that looks like stereo speakers, I mean I wished they were stereo speakers, but are not and they simply serves as latches that opens up the stainless steel battery back cover upon pressing on it.

It’s like popping up the hood of your car or bonnet to some other English speaking chaps. And here is the stainless battery back cover with my palm as extra. Once the device is in standby, This nice huge digital clock will show once press the d-pad, again a very neat one. Other things to mention is that you need to remove the battery back cover to access the memory card, and beside it is the SIM Card Holder. You need to slide in the SIM card to affix it. The SIM card is a bit difficult to remove though, but that could just be my clumsy fingers.

Specification

• Quad band EGSM support same good RF from Nokia
• 2. 3G with HSDPA 3.6Mbps do note that there are 3 variants of the E66
• The Shortcut keys for Mail, Home or Menu, Calendar, Contacts
• Symbian 9.2 OS, S60 UI with FP1 with some FP2 like goodies
• 369 MHz ARM 11 CPU and 128 MB of SDRAM
• Wi-Fi , BT 2.0+EDR with A2DP, IR
• Built in GPS receiver, A-GPS
• 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash
• Accelerometer sensor for screen auto rotation
• 110 MB of user memory, microSD expansion, comes with a 2GB card
• Standard 2.5 mm audio jack
• Stainless steel casing and mirror like finish
• microUSB v2.0
• FM radio
• Good battery life (E71 is better though)
• Fantastic retail package
• Nokia Maps with 3 months free turn by turn navigation license
  

Nokia E65

The E65 is a slider device from the Nokia E-Series.Its a real beauty. You fall in love with the as soon as you see it. Its the first E-Series slider. Its a single way slider unlike the Nokia N95, N95 8GB and N96. The device is very small and hence comfortable to use.

Build Quality
The build quality of the device is absolutely brilliant.There are no creaks even though its a slider. The slider is very good.The slider is not loose and there is no gap between the slider parts. This was a problem in the Nokia N95. But in this device sliding makes you feel how good a device it is. But if you notice carefully, you can hear the slider pressing the keys while the device is being slid up. Though I havent used the device long enough as to say whether this gives any problems, I suppose it wont.

Materials
The materials used on the device are metal and plastic. The phone feels good in hand because of the materials used.

The back side of the device has a pattern which makes holding the device more comfortable and gives a better hold on the device preventing it from slipping.

Keypad
The keys on the device are very easy to press. The provide great feedback. The size of the keypad is perfect for normal calling purposes even with people with big hands (I have big hands).

The five way scroll key is very easy to use. On the top part of the slider, the keys are call key,end key, five way scroll key, menu key,delete key, personal key, phonebook key etc. It has keys on the right side like volume keys,stylus key and voice dial key but there are no keys on the left side of the device.

Display
The display on the device is very good however the screen is very small in size and hence it is not fit for watching videos.For daily use there would be no problem.

User Interface
The user interface as in all S60 phones is brilliant.Even new users can get used to it really fast.

Connectivity
The device offers a wide range of connctivity features such as HSCSD, EDGe, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS, Bluetooth, Infrared and USB.Surfing on the internet is at light speed.

Performance and Memory
The device is very fast with 128MB of RAM. Multi Tasking is not be a problem. It has a built in memory of 50MB. It has a microSD slot and supports cards upto 2GB. However it doesnot have hotswap. You have to remove the battery cover to insert or remove the memory card.

Camera
This is one of the biggest let downs of the E65.It has a 2 Megapixel camera and it supports video. But the camera lacks a flash, autofocus and camera cover. The lack of a flash makes taking photos in the dark a big headache even with the night mode switched on. The lack of autofocus mostly results in blurry photos but you can do quite well if your hands are steady. The camera lens also gets dirty since there is no lens cover.

Music
The sound quality is quite decent however it does not surprise you. The music player is the same. The volume is sufficient but it cannot be heard in noisy places. The speakers also distort at high volumes.

Call Quality
The call quality is brilliant. The audio through the earpiece is crystal clear. You dont have to keep the volume at max to hear the person unlike in some phone.

Nokia N81

The N81 8GB is a really good looking device and its one of the best from Nokia. The build quality is really good. The slider is very solid and does not wobble like the initial N95s. The phone is also quite heavy at 140g which is more than the N95 and N95 8GB which weigh at 120g and 128g respectively. But this is good as the phone feels more real. It feels better to hold than he N95 which is a bit too light. The phone has a glossy finish and it has a really good feel. Some people say that it’s a fingerprint magnet but the fingerprints are not much visible.

Display
The display shows up to 16million colors and has a resolution of 320*240. The pictures are crisp. But the screen size is a bit small as it is a Media Player.

The screen size should have been at least 2.6' instead of 2.4'. The UI is quite good. It’s the same as the N95 8GB. It’s easy even for beginners to navigate through the menus.

Music and Video
The music player is the same as on the N95 8GB. As usual, there is support for a huge number of audio formats including MP3, AAC, eAAC+ and WMA.

Tracks can easily be transferred to the phone via Bluetooth, USB or by simply downloading them from the internet. Upon completing a USB transfer, the phone automatically prompts scanning for new music tracks and, if allowed to do so, adds the new ones to the music library.

The quality of music through the speakers and the headphones is really good. The music player has five equalizer presets. The music player of Nokia N81 cannot be switched off once it is started. This is bad as this consumes more RAM. the phone also has a support for the A2DP Bluetooth profile. This means that you are able to play your favorite tracks on stereo Bluetooth headphones.

The Bose headphones are really good. The clarity through them is really amazing. Once you listen to music through them, nothing else around you can be heard. The N81 8GB has Real Player and a flash player. The phone automatically adjusts the orientation of the video. The clarity of videos are really great. But the screen is not useful for watching long videos or films.

Connectivity
N81 has a vast variety of connectivity features. It has a micro USB port. It has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other connectivity features are GPRS, EDGE and UMTS.

Camera
The camera on the N81 is only 2MP. I wish they would have put at least a3MP camera or at least made the picture quality better. The interface is the same as other new NSeries devices such as the N95. The picture quality is bad. There is a front camera for video calls also. The videos can be taken at a maximum of 15fps at QVGA resolution.

Web Browsing
Web Browsing is really good on the N81 and with a wide variety of connectivity options, it just makes the experience better.

Telephony and Messaging
The signal reception is high on the handset. Call quality is really god. There are no disturbances. There are virtually no limits to the number of phonebook entries. Messaging is just fine. But some may complain about the keypad as it is embedded into the phone.

Conclusion
The N81 is certainly a device aimed for the Multimedia Minded people. So if you want an N95 8GB but can’t afford one and still want the special feature then the N81 is the device to buy.This is a device with less disadvantages. I would surely recommend this device to anyone who wants a Media cenered device but can do without a good camera.

The N81 comes with three pre-installed games. All are N-Gage games. The N81 also has two dedicated gaming buttons. Gaming is quite fun on it. The N-Gage platform however has not been officially launched.