Sliding up to the Nokia E75

TheSun: Sliding up to the E75
N. Shashi Kala


If you aren’t yet an iPhone convert, find the Blackberry charmless and the N series too bulky, the new E75 offers a plausible alternative to your smartphone needs.
The Nokia E series is a business-orientated smartphone with emphasis on connectivity and email. The E series has been around since 2005, and there have been several well-received models, including the E71 and the E90 Communicator.

This new quad-band 3G model’s claim to fame is the side-sliding QWERTY keyboard and screen that lies flat instead of tilting upwards like the E71. It also boasts advances in Nokia’s own email client that makes getting emails on the go absolutely easy.

The slimmed down design belies the myriad features in this 111.8 x 50 x 14.4 mm phone, which weighs 139g – not exactly light, but not a pocket buster either.

The metallic back gives a pleasing feel of sturdiness, and the smooth slide motion does bump up the cool factor. But the front of the unit is not nearly as pretty, and the keypad had this plastic-like texture.

The review unit was red – not the flashy, fire-engine version, but the more understated ruby red.

There’s a 2.4" TFT active matrix display on the front, and a full keyboard on the slider, with an accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate of content.

Design-wise, the front keypad is a bit cramped, especially the system keys beside the D-pad, such as Call, End, Calendar, Home and Backspace. I kept pressing the wrong keys by accident, and it was quite frustrating.

The E75 has a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, but I was disappointed with the image quality, which was generally poor, even in daylight shooting. Another gripe is the camera button on the side of the phone, which wobbles and doesn’t work very well. I was not impressed.

Considering its price, Nokia really should have done better.

On the plus side, the slide-out keyboard is a smooth operator, and despite the lack of raised keys, you can get used to it rather quickly. The keys are just large enough for typing out notes and quick emails without cramping up your fingers too much. The hotkeys can also be easily customised, and you can choose between active standby, basic or talking theme (yes, this phone talks back to you) to access the menu.

The Nokia E75 runs on Symbian 9.3 OS with the Series60 3rd Edition user interface. It is powered by a 369 MHz CPU, which in theory makes it faster than the E71. Yet, there’s still a bit of a delay when launching applications, but not enough to complain about.

The phone has WiFi capability with a built-in WLAN and it works well. But I really liked is the email client, which is a joy to use.

It’s straightforward and easy to get your email set up – just seconds, actually – by adding in your username and password and you are good to go. Encryption is also included, so really, this is neat.

Nokia has also included a music player in the E75, supporting multiple music formats. It’s easy to transfer files via the Bluetooth support, and the sound quality is good enough for most music lovers.

The phone also offers smooth web-browsing, video player, and the usual business applications.

In a nutshell, the Nokia E75 lives up to its billing as a premier communication device for business people. But a better camera function and front keypad design would really make it a must-buy item.


Updated: 11:48AM Mon, 27 Jul 2009

Nokia N97 3G smartphone

From The Star: 

‘N’ for Internet

Thursday July 30, 2009

We kick the tyres and peek under the hood of the N97 to see if its lives up to its billing as a powerhouse smartphone.

By STEFAN NAIDU

THE Nokia N97 has been keenly awaited since its worldwide introduction late last year as it was touted to be the next big thing in the mobile market by many observers.

The phone is laden with features and it is bound to be a Herculean task to condense all the features and functions in one sitting so there is little space to waste.

Sliding tilter?

The first thing you will notice about this model is what Nokia officials call a “sliding-tilt” phone. This means that you push one side forward and it tilts up to give you that mini-desktop look and feel, which I personally think is excellent for all kinds of situations.

A Qwerty keyboard has always been a requirement for me as I like to feel buttons beneath my fingertips when I am typing an SMS, e-mail or URL.

HANDY: The N97 comes with a slide out Qwerty keyboard.

This particular keyboard is a tad small for my big fingers but after a few days I was typing quite fluently. Beyond the Qwerty keyboard, the sole traditional button is the silver menu button. Side buttons include a lock button, volume control and camera toggle.

I was a little concerned about the wear and tear with the sliding-tilt hinge. Nokia have said that the hinge is made out of extremely sturdy material and that the phone has passed vigorous performance and drop tests.

I can say that it has passed my own accidental drop tests and the hinge does look and feel pretty strong.

The only real issue I had with the physical characteristics of the N97 was the back cover and battery, both of which are unrealistically hard to remove and replace.

Having tried this on a variety of people with different finger sizes and varying lengths of fingernails, I have concluded that it is near impossible to take out the battery without a prying mechanism. Tragic.

Online sensation

Built for the Internet, the N97 allocates the majority of its touchable home screen to movable and customisable widgets for quick access to your online needs.

Users are able to put their widgets in specific “rows” and there are around five rows in total. It was really useful having a link to online news and social networking sites.

Given the relative speed of fixed line broadband these days, many a time I was able to go online and check for updates faster on my mobile than on my laptop.

It is especially useful when you are on the go and need information quickly. Its always easier to prove a point or win an argument when you have Google embedded on the front screen of your phone.

It would be practical to consider a mobile broadband plan to get the most out of the N97 without slowly bleeding your wallet dry paying off the data charges.

Rocket science?

The resistive touch technology coupled with Nokia’s software makes for a very elegant combination. Navigating is by no means second nature, there are some hurdles in figuring out exactly how the web browser works.

One example is the zoom. There is a vertical tab that allows you to zoom in and out but, at least initially, you are not sure which part of the webpage it will zoom in to.

I still think that a Nokia phone is the one of the more user-friendly phones you can buy. This model has stayed true to that.

However as more and more functions get added to phones like this one, it just takes longer to find what you are looking for.

There were some bugs in the N97’s software post-release and I did ­experience some hanging and other minor glitches. According to Nokia officials, those imperfections were addressed in the first software update that is now available.

Wait, there is more

I took countless pictures and videos in the short time I had this phone with me. With 32GB of memory on board I never even thought about whether I had enough space for all of it.

The camera is just about as good as it gets on a phone and the video ­quality is quite impressive.

Given this, it was surprising that the voice recorder was not nearly as high end in terms of sound recording quality as I thought it would be. Some recordings turned out quite muffled.

The biggest disappointments were the speakers. The music output (specifically the bass) left something to be desired and you could barely make out what the other person is saying when you turn on the ­speakerphone at full volume.

My guess is that Nokia had packed far too much in this phone already and therefore the speakers were more of an afterthought (much like the removal process for the back cover and battery).

Conclusion

There is an inherent charm in the N97 that is inescapable. From placing it on a table and writing an SMS to surfing on a fantastically long landscape mode, it was all quite memorable as far as phones go.

Also, I thought the price was quite reasonable considering the usual trend with new releases of high-end and feature filled devices. That is not to say I consider it cheap though.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the phone and would recommend it to anyone looking for a powerhouse smartphone.

Pros: Unique sliding tilt; great to surf on; excellent fusion of Qwerty keyboard and touch technology.

Cons: Substandard speakers; cumbersome battery cover.

N97

(Nokia)

3G smartphone

Camera: 5-megapixels

Display: 3.5in (640 x 360-pixels)

Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail

Connectivity: WLAN, HSDPA, USB, Bluetooth

Memory: 32GB internal memory, MicroSD slot

Standby/talk time: 400 hours/360 minutes

Dimensions: 55.3 x 15.9 x 117.2mm (w x d x h)

Other features: Widgets, A-GPS

Price: RM2,480

Review unit courtesy of Nokia Malaysia, 1-300-88-1600.

Nokia E75 - untuk bisnes dan berhibur

Nokia E75 – for both business and pleasure NOKIA recently launched the new Nokia E75 that gives users a full email experience by allowing them to bring along their work and personal email accounts with them wherever they go. This latest Eseries device comes with an enhanced email user interface that includes folder and HTML email support, expandable views and sorting capability by date, sender and size, as well as most commonly used email functions – all just a mere click away. Designed for the best email experience via pre-installed email clients and an integrated full QWERTY keyboard, other key features in the Nokia E75 include two customisable home screen views for both business and persoanl usage supporting several email accounts; an easy three-step email set-up; a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, flash and mirror; and music player, media player and FM and Internet radio. This side-slider also offers an improved calendar capability as well as contacts and task management. Managing multiple email accounts is a breeze with the built-in Nokia Messaging Service. Users can easily add and access Gmail, YahooMail, Windows Live Mail or Ovi Mail accounts all at once from the Nokia Messaging application. On top of that, they can still gain access to their work email on the same device, making the Nokia E75 the one device that allows users to bring their multiple email accounts wherever they go. The device also comes with full Nokia Maps and assisted GPS with an integrated three-month licence for turn-by-turn navigation while the N-Gage on board offers great gaming experience. With Ovi Files included in the E75, important files stored on a PC can be remotely managed and shared, even when the PC is switched off! The Nokia E75 comes with a 4GB microSDHC card and 50MB internal dynamic memory. It is now available in either silver black or red at Nokia Stores in the Klang Valley at the recommended retail price of RM1,950. . Updated: 10:04AM Mon, 20 Apr 2009

Ulasan Nokia E63

Thursday March 26, 2009

E-mail on the go

If you like working your fingers on an e-mail while on the go, the Nokia E63 may just be the phone for you.

By CHONG JINN XIUNG

LIKE it or not, e-mail has become the most pervasive method to stay in touch be it for work or leisure.

For most, it’s hard to resist the urge to quickly check e-mail messages whenever we are in a WiFi hotspot.

Nokia is hoping to make it really easy for you with its E63, a business centric phone that will cater to your e-mail needs.

Looks

Lightweight and modest looking, the E63 is a compact candybar phone that weighs 126g. The outer plastic casing comes in two colours — Ultramarine Blue and Ruby Red.

Our review unit is the Ultramarine Blue which while still attractive to the eye, was a bit too conservative for my taste.

The E63 looks near identical to the Nokia E71, though it has no side buttons for controlling the volume or voice recording.

A 2.36in screen (320 x 240-pixel resolution) provides ample space for viewing e-mail, text messages and browsing the Web.

The front panel of the device is largely dominated by a compact Qwerty keypad that should come in handy for heavy SMS and e-mail users.

The Qwerty keyboard also doubles up as a number pad as several keys at the centre can be used to dial numbers when on the home screen, which felt a little weird.

Despite the rather cramped appearance, the keypad is surprisingly soft yet comfortable to type on. One benefit I can see in having a full Qwerty keypad is that it’s quicker to type symbols, just like on a regular keyboard.

Still, the keys are placed quite closely together so expect to make typos from time to time.

There’s definitely a bit of a learning curve for adjusting to the keys on the E63 as I had to constantly eye the keypad to make sure my fingers were hitting the right keys.

Even after spending sometime with it, I’m still not able to type without making mistakes. I have a feeling that users with larger fingers will have problems with the keypad.

Anyway, I still find that I could thumb type faster on a regular keypad with T9 text input while making fewer mistakes.

Above the keypad are the usual call and hang up buttons along with a few useful shortcut keys like the home, calendar, phonebook and text message.

These buttons are great for quickly accessing common functions easily and there’s even one to turn on the LED so that it can be used as a flashlight.

If there is one design flaw in the phone’s button placement it has to be the call hang up button that doubles up as the on/off switch.

If you press the button for too long, it will display the profile menu which also makes it very easy to accidentally turn the phone off.

Another issue that bugs me is that the lack of a side button to adjust the volume — instead you have to hold the function key while pressing up or down on the directional pad to adjust the volume.

This makes it inconvenient to adjust the volume, say, during a call.

Functionality

As a mobile phone, the E63 has decent voice call quality and the speakerphone function is easily accessible and sufficiently loud to be heard while driving.

Users familiar with the Symbian OS should feel right at home with the E63. On top of being able to install Symbian applications on the phone, it has all the familiar features of a smartphone.

The home screen serves as the main interface, housing important shortcuts for sending text messages, web browsing and notifying you of new e-mail messages.

If you like to keep your work and private life separate, the E63 has a handy feature that gives you the option to customise a home screen for each.

For instance, you can have shortcuts for your e-mail and business contacts on your work home screen, and songs and games on the other.

E-mail is certainly the E63’s forte, as it uses the Nokia Messaging application, which you can download for free off email.nokia.com.

It is relatively easy to set up an e-mail account on the E63, as all you need is your e-mail address, password and you are good to go.

While I was able to get my Yahoo! and Ovi mail up and running, I ran into trouble with my Gmail account which was troubling since it’s my main account. But after a few tries, I managed to connect to it.

The Nokia Messaging interface is clean, simple and easy to use. Upon launching it, you will be shown all your active e-mail accounts, of which you can have up to ten.

The app functions like a full fledged e-mail client where you can compose a message and add pictures or files attachments.

Also, Nokia Messaging is highly customisable as you can preset it not to fetch e-mail while roaming, set limits on file attachments and such.

One cool feature of Nokia Messaging is that you can set it to retrieve e-mail only during office hours if you don’t wish to be bothered after working hours.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the E63 has a rather long battery life.

I used it for two days straight with occasional web browsing and voice calls and the phone still retained half of its charge.

Definitely useful for long days out of the office and you wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to stay in touch.

Other features

The E63 comes with lots of other goodies that will come in handy for the typical business user.

You have two options for getting on the Net — WiFi and 3G connection.

The surfing speed was consistent when we tested the phone with a WiFi connection.

And as most websites have a mobile version, they were easy to view and navigate on the phone although you lose out on the full experience.

Moving on, the E63 doesn’t have an internal GPS, so you can’t use it to navigate. This is understandable as it doesn’t have a big enough screen for you to view maps comfortably while driving.

The phone has 10MB of built-in memory which is minuscule by today’s standards but you can easily expand it with a microSD card.

The phone has a 2-megapixel camera and it comes as no surprise that it cannot hold a candle to newer models though it still gets the job done.

Also, the LED flash doesn’t in anyway help in taking pictures in the dark. Although I could see my subjects clearly but the photos turned out awfully greenish when shot with the flash.

Video recording doesn’t fare any better but it still looks relatively smooth when compared with other camera phones.

Also, the E63 really isn’t a great music player. The speakers sound pretty awful so you are better off using earphones.

I certainly don’t see the E63 functioning as your primary music player, so it’s probably best to stick to a dedicated player.

Conclusion

The Nokia E63 is a mixed bag of goodies that does some things right and under performs in other areas.

Also, it’s a matter of preference whether you like or dislike the Qwerty keyboard.

For some, a regular keypad with T9 text inputis still the best way to type on a phone.

Possibly the biggest plus point of the E63 is that you can check your e-mail on the go as Nokia Messaging makes it easy to configure your e-mail accounts and stay in touch.

However, other additional features like the built-in camera and music player are just unremarkable.

Overall, the E63 is specifically designed for business users and mainly caters for those who use e-mail and SMS a lot.

Plus, for RM1,080 you are getting a decent phone with WiFi connectivity and a good e-mail client.

Pros: Excellent e-mail client; decent Qwerty keypad; WiFi connectivity; cheap.

Cons: Camera is average; speakers not good enough for music; lacks volume control buttons.

Nokia E63

(Nokia)

3G smartphone

Operating System: Symbian OS 9.2

Display: 2.36in QVGA LCD (320 x 240 pixels)

Camera: 2megapixels

Connectivity: GSM 900/1800/1900, EDGE, Bluetooth, WiFi 802.11b/g

Messaging: SMS, MMS, e-mail

Internal Memory: 110MB

Expansion slot: MicroSD

Stand-by/ Talk time: 480 hours/4 hours 40 minutes

Other features: Music player, organiser, stopwatch, calendar, voice recorder, Adobe PDF reader, Quickoffice

Dimensions (W x D x H):113 x 59 x 13mm

Weight: 126g

Website: www.nokia.com.my

Price: RM1,080

Review unit courtesy of Nokia Malaysia, 1-300-88-1600