Customer Avenue

Volume: 95.9 cc
Weight: 126 g
Length: 108.8 mm
Width: 53 mm
Thickness (max): 21.8 mm

Display: 240 x 320 pixels display with automatic brightness control

Price: $325.50 to $593.74

The N70 Music Edition supports SMS, MMS and e-mail messaging with T9 predictive text input as well as Java, voice recording and dialling and a load of PIM features such as calendar, notes and to-do list. We were extremely impressed with the quality of voice calls, and their high volume means they will rarely go unheard, even in noisy environments.

The N70 Music Edition has an excellent display; a large, clear and crisp 2.1-inch screen with 262,000 colour support. Images were a joy to view, video calling was clear and video playback using the supplied RealPlayer software was also displayed well. The N70 Music Edition features Nokia’s ‘active standby screen’, which allows users to easily select their most frequently used functions without having to navigate through the phones menu. The default items on the N70 Music Edition include Contacts, Log, Profiles, Gallery and Image Print. Below the row of menu items on the standby screen is a convenient space which displays any calendar entries for the current day. Date and time, currently active profile, unread messages and missed calls are also displayed on the active standby screen.

Up to 1GB memory, the Nokia N70 Music Edition gives you more music in your pocket. You can personalize your music with a choice of digital music tracks and press the music key for direct access to them. Also, use the music-optimized headset with remote control for easy access. With these enhanced music capabilities, this compact package has high-performance multimedia at its core.

The Nokia N70 Music Edition and Nokia N73 Music Edition are expected to become commercially available in October 2006 and the Nokia N91 8GB by end of 2006, with estimated, unsubsidized sales prices of approximately 350, 450 and 550 euros respectively.

Key features:
Dedicated music key
2 megapixel and up to 20x digital zoom
Create slideshows complete with music
Send and receive emails and attachments
Transfer data wirelessly with Bluetooth connectivity or connect via USB

Multimedia:
Visual Radio*: Listen to music and interact with your favorite radio stations
Find out what song is playing, who sings it, and other artist information
Enter contests and answer surveys, vote for your favorite songs
Download the songs you buy direct to your phone
RealPlayer Media Player

Download and play multimedia files (video and music)
Stream media files from compatible media portals
Full-screen video playback on the device to view downloaded, streamed or recorded video clips in larger size
Played formats (decoding): MP3, AAC, Real Audio, WAV, Nokia Ring Tones, AMR, AMR-WB, AMR-NB, AU, MIDI, H.263, JPEG, JPEG2000, EXIF 2.2, GIF 87/89, PNG, BMP(W-BMP), MBM, MPEG-4 and eAAC+

Browsing:
WAP* 2.0 xHTML/HTML multimode browser
Supports HTML 4.01, including support for elements such as image maps, background images, and frames
Small screen rendering option including a faster page-up/page-down scrolling style
Full-screen mode, download progress bar, and adaptive history list
OMA Digital DRM 1.0 - including forward lock for content protection, combined delivery, separate delivery and superdistribution

Imaging:
2 megapixel camera (1600 x 1200 pixels) with 20x digital zoom
Second VGA camera (640 x 480 pixels) with 2x digital zoom
Dedicated shutter key and camera activation slide
Settings for night, brightness adjustment, image quality, self-timer, white balance settings, and color tones
Flash modes: on, off, automatic, anti red-eye
Advanced camera modes: still, sequence, video
Real time video sharing
Download and upload images and video sequences
Integrated flash LED
3GPP video streaming
Video and still image editors

Messaging:
Multimedia messaging: MMS for creating, receiving, editing, and sending videos and pictures with AMR voice clips
Automatic resizing of your megapixel images to fit MMS (max 300 KB size depending on the network)
Text messaging: Supports concatenated SMS, picture messaging, SMS distribution list
Instant Messaging
Predictive Text Input: Support for all major languages in Europe and Asia Pacific including Indian dialect variants

Nokia nokia 70 music edition

lume: 95.9 cc
Weight: 126 g
Length: 108.8 mm
Width: 53 mm
Thickness (max): 21.8 mm

Display: 262,144 colors, 176 x 208 pixels with automatic brightness control

Price: $315.00 - $399.95

The N70 unit we tested with was supplied to us by Vodafone, and naturally enough, it works on Vodafone’s 3G network under the Vodafone Live! banner. Outside 3G coverage areas, that’ll drop down to standard GSM coverage and a limited subset of the Vodafone Live! offerings. From a technical perspective, it’s a GSM 900/1800/1900 phone. The N70 also comes with integrated Bluetooth and supports Pictbridge printing for ease of photo printing.

The Nokia N70 aims to try and bridge the gap between the business class smartphone with something you’ll be happy to place on the bar next to your pint. Firstly the N70 is now a useable size measuring 09 x 53 x 24 and weighing just 126 grams, it’s a smartphone that’s been on a sensible diet. Its style is best described as professional chic but some may say it’s only part way along its evolution and you can still see the slabiness of the outgoing Nokia 6680. Good use of materials makes the N70 feel good in the hand and the silver bezel around the large screen focuses the eye.

This slightly dubious design is due mainly to Nokia wanting to get a good screen and also a useable keypad on the front of device without resorting to sliders or flips. The only side action on the Nokia N70 is the cover for the camera on the rear of the handset, but we’ll get to that later. The 262k colour screen has a respectable resolution of 176 x 208 and its clever ambient light sensor means that the N70 can adjust its backlight so you should always get the best view in all lighting conditions. To see the power of the backlight you’ll need to take manual control in a dark room and use the screen as a torch, it’s very powerful and there are a number of freeware applications which allow you to do small tasks like this easily on the Series 60 platform.

It should be noted that the 2-megapixel camera on the N70 is a standard CMOS camera, not the same as the Carl-Zeiss-equipped N90. However, picture quality remains good for both still and video captures. The shutter lag has been reduced compared with previous Nokia phones, but the camera still doesn’t take too well to movements during a shot.

The N70’s display is good and clear in both bright and dark conditions. The inclusion of Realplayer, combined with 3G downloads allowed us to test video quality on the display as well. While it’s not quite up there with the Sony PSP or Apple iPod Video (and that’s partly to do with the Realplayer codec as much as anything else) video trailers and music clips were clear to view, albeit a little noisy at full volume.

Key features:
2 megapixel and up to 20x digital zoom
Create slideshows complete with music
Enjoy FM radio and MP3 with support for Visual Radio
Send and receive emails and attachments
Transfer data wirelessly with Bluetooth connectivity

Multimedia:
Visual Radio*: Listen to music and interact with your favorite radio stations
Find out what song is playing, who sings it, and other artist information
Enter contests and answer surveys, vote for your favorite songs
Download the songs you buy direct to your phone
RealPlayer Media Player
Download and play multimedia files (video and music)
Stream media files from compatible media portals
Full-screen video playback on the phone to view downloaded, streamed, or recorded video clips in larger size
Played formats (decoding): MP3, AAC, Real Audio, WAV, Nokia Ring Tones, AMR, AMR-WB, AMR-NB, AU, MIDI, H.263, JPEG, JPEG2000, EXIF 2.2, GIF 87/89, PNG, BMP (W-BMP), MBM, MPEG-4 and eAAC+

Browsing:
WAP* 2.0 xHTML/HTML multimode browser
Supports HTML 4.01, including support for elements such as image maps, background images, and frames
Small screen rendering option including a faster page-up/page-down scrolling style
Full-screen mode, download progress bar, and adaptive history list
OMA Digital DRM 1.0 - including forward lock for content protection, combined delivery, separate delivery and superdistribution

Imaging:
2 megapixel camera, 1600 x 1200 pixels with 20x digital zoom
Second VGA camera, 640 x 480 pixels with 2x digital zoom
Dedicated shutter key and camera activation slide
Settings for night, brightness adjustment, image quality, self-timer, white balance settings, and color tones
Flash modes: on, off, automatic
Advanced camera modes: still, sequence, video
Video call, real time video sharing
Download and upload images and video sequences
Integrated flash LED
3GPP H.263 video playback and streamlining
Video and still image editors
Six possible capture scene settings including scenery, portrait, night and sports

Messaging:
MMS for creating, receiving, editing, and sending videos and pictures with AMR voice clips
Automatic resizing of your megapixel images to fit MMS (max 300 KB size depending on the network)
Email: Supports SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, and APOP protocols. Support for attachments (view jpeg, 3gp, MP3, .ppt, .doc, excel, and .pdf files)
Text messaging: Supports concatenated SMS, picture messaging, SMS distribution list
Instant Messaging
Predictive Text Input: Support for all major languages in Europe and Asia Pacific

Nokia nokia n70

Volume: 140 cc
Weight: 210 g
Width: 57 mm
Length: 132 mm
Thickness (max): 20 mm

Display: Inner: Active matrix color display (800 x 352 pixels), 16 million true colors
Outer: Active matrix color display (240 x 320 pixels), 16 million true colors

Price Range: $1094.95 to $1214.20

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. All this in the standard Communicator clamshell form factor, which this time boasts an external QVGA screen with number keypad and a wide (800×352 pixels) internal screen with full QWERTY keyboard.

The build quality is also excellent for this Nokia. However, the faceplate at the back of the E90 didn’t gel very well at the top where the speakers are, but we’re nitpicking and it could be just our review unit. When we’re using the directional pad, delete and enter buttons on the QWERTY, we can feel its hollowness.
On the outside, the E90 is like any other candy-bar phone. In fact, most of the functions are accessible from the 2-inch screen save for a front-facing camera for 3G video calls. The beauty of the E90 shows up only when we open the clamshell and let it sit on the table like a mini laptop.

The E90 is effectively two phones in one, but with a common data store and computer between them. With the clamshell closed, the E90 is an a fairly standard, if rather large, S60 smartphone. There are the usual control keys and number keypad, and 16 million colour QVGA screen. The external keypad is perfectly usable, although it doesn’t measure up to that found on the N93. The usual S60 applications are present and it is possible to carry out every function of the phone in this mode, from writing emails and watching films to making phone calls. However, opening up the device reveals a decent sized QWERTY keyboard and a gorgeous 800 x 352 pixel screen. The inside also runs S60, albeit with the UI appropriately reconfigured for the screen size. The impressive part is that the phone will switch seamlessly between the two screens and maintain application state. This means you can, for example, beginning to compose a message in closed mode, but decide to continue it using the full keyboard without the need for any user interface intervention. The switch generally takes about a second, although I would expect this to get better nearer the release date.

Setting up the E90 to connect to our Exchange server was also a breeze. We used the Mail for Exchange program which can be downloaded for free from Nokia’s Web site. The application allows us to sync our calendar, contacts and email on our server to the mobile device. There’s also an option to set how often the synchronization should happen, although we left that to manual most of the time. The E90 also supports other popular messaging clients such as RIM’s BlackBerry Connect and Intellisync Wireless Email.
The other component of the Communicator which we were rather impressed with is the LCD. The screen is crystal-clear and text on it appears razor sharp. It also held up well under sunlight and has a wide viewing angle.

Key features:
Browse the Internet and transfer media-rich files via HSDPA (up to 3.6 Mbit/s enabled) and 3G high-speed mobile broadband
Increase mobile productivity with applications for viewing and editing documents
Talk on every continent with quad-band GSM and automatic switching between bands
Access voice and data functions quickly and easily with convenient shortcut keys
Locate meeting venues, restaurants, and places of interest with the integrated GPS
Send images captured with the integrated 3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus

Multimedia:
Video calling
FM radio
Music player (MP3, AAC)
Realplayer (streaming audio, video and MP4 video files)

Browsing:
Web browser (x)HTML
JavaScript 1.3 and 1.5 supported
Flash Lite 2.0 supported

Imaging:
3.2 megapixel camera with flash and autofocus
QCIF camera for video calling

Messaging:
Supports POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP Support for mobile email, including Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email 8. and a variety of third-party email clients: Mail for Exchange 1.5 (delivered via Nokia Downloads! Application), Visto Mobile v5.5, and RIM BlackBerry Connect v2.1
designtimesp=”18928″>View, open, and edit email attachments with Quickoffice (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations), Zip Manager, and Adobe Acrobat Reader
Instant messaging –>
Text-to-speech message reader
MMS and SMS

Nokia

Weight: 127 g (with Nokia Battery BL-6C)
Dimensions: 117 mm x 53 mm x 22 mm (closed), 102 cc
Full messaging keyboard with fold open design

Display: Active matrix display
Supports up to 16M colors within 352 x 416 pixels
Up to 6 lines (Latin) in message viewing. Two display modes: portrait when flip is closed, landscape when flip is open
Zoom enables enlarged view of content in office applications and the browser

Price: 489.35 to $594.95

At first glance the Nokia E70 doesn’t look like a PDA phone at all: It’s an unassuming candy bar-style handset, with a smallish 2.1-inch screen and a tiny numeric keypad. But flip the keypad up, and the E70 reveals its charms-namely, a unique and very roomy QWERTY keyboard. The keyboard is split in two, half of it on the right of the screen and half on the left. When the unit is open, the screen automatically changes orientation from vertical to horizontal.

When closed, the E70 is about the size of an average cell phone-measuring 2.1 by 0.9 by 4.6 inches (width by depth by height)-but slightly heavier, at 4.6 ounces. Its shape is somewhat ungainly, though, because a large hinge included for opening and closing the keyboard makes holding the phone next to your ear somewhat uncomfortable. Overall, audio quality is about average, and dialing with the miniature buttons on the keypad can be tricky. Talk-time battery life in our tests was quite impressive, at 9 hours, 52 minutes.

At heart the E70 is a fairly standard S60 3rd Edition Eseries smartphone, with the full set of PIM and Enterprise-focussed applications, including the new S60 Office suite and licensed versions of Handy Expense, Zip Manager and WorldMate. See our E61 review for all the gory detail of the platform, hopefully most people reading this will know the drill by now - S60 3rd Edition is slicker and prettier, with better support for different screen sizes, but has a slightly more limited range of third party software available (though in practice this mainly means less games). The display’s impressively high resolution at 352 by 416 pixels and all S60 screen elements are nicely drawn and smoothly finished off.

The first thing that went through my mind was how boxy and brick-like the E70 looks. The Nokia 6820 had smoother curves and sleeker lines, though it was just an S40 phone, without the high tech gadgetry featured in the E70. The flip on the E70 is very square and has sharp edges. The plastics used for the phone also felt cheap, and did not match the high price tag slapped on the phone. However, the phone was solidly built, and I experienced no creaks or squeaks.

The kicker comes when you open the device up. As you’ll have spotted from the pictures, the numeric keypad lifts up and over the screen in ‘gull-wing’ fashion, creating a two-part qwerty keyboard that’s surprisingly useful. The ‘flip’ hinge is very sturdy indeed and the keyboard locks nicely into the flat position, ready for holding in both hands and thumb typing. As soon as the keypad is lifted, the display starts to change, and after a couple of seconds delay the S60 interface appears again but this time in landscape mode, as appropriate for keyboard text entry.

Key features:
Full keyboard and wide, high-resolution color screen
Native email client (POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP)
Text messaging (SMS and MMS)
Instant messaging
Email attachment viewers (documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDFs and .ZIP manager) and editors (documents, spreadsheets, presentations)1
2.0 megapixel camera benefits businesses and industries by providing innovative ways to incorporate images into the everyday workflow

Organizer: contacts with images, calendar with accept/reject a meeting request, to-do list, applications synchronize with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes
Office applications: documents, spreadsheets, presentations (both viewers and editors) 1
Internet Connectivity: Nokia Browser, JavaScript™ 1.3 and 1.5 support
Car enhancements enable flexibility of communicating while on the road

Up to 64 MB of built-in memory provides high capacity for storing add-on applications, email attachments, photos and MP3 music files
Supports hot swapping - the ability to swap out one memory card for another without having to remove the battery
Ability to store 2 gigabytes of data with miniSD (secure digital) memory cards 2

Navigation:
Two soft keys with five-way scroll, power key can be used as profile key
Configurable right and left soft keys
Full keyboard with fold open design
List and grid menu
Active standby: Provides fast access to applications with 5 items user configurable
Symbian operating system OS 9.1
Series 60, 3rd edition

Connectivity:
Pop-Port™ interface
USB 2.0 full speed supported via Pop-Port™
Connect to a compatible PC wirelessly or with Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-53
Integrated infrared module (IrCOMM, IrOBEX, IrTinyTP)
Bluetooth wireless technology 1.2
Install applications with Nokia PC Suite for the Nokia E70 phone
Video and audio streaming (3GPP and RealMedia)
WCDMA (3GPP Release 4)
WAP 2.0
Multiconnectivity
WLAN connection can be shared by multiple applications at the same time. For example: email, browser and synchronization
Possible to use WLAN, Bluetooth technology, USB and infrared at the same time
Max 6 Bluetooth technology connections in use at the same time 4

Nokia

Volume: 74 cc
Weight: 115 g
Length: 105 mm
Width: 49 mm
Thickness (max): 15.5 mm

Display: Active-matrix QVGA color display (240 x 320 pixels) with color support for up to 16 million colors
Display contrast and brightness control

Price: $429.99 - $540.99

The E65 comes equipped with every connectivity feature you could ever need. There’s support for quadband GSM, 3G, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g with VoIP support), EDGE, USB, infrared and Bluetooth version 1.2. Nokia has stuck with the S60 Symbian operating system, and this latest version is easy to navigate and has most functions located in the menu items you’d expect them to be.

The E65 is a ’slider’ and, with dimensions of 105×49×15.5 mm and a volume of just 74cc, is one the smallest S60 devices announced thus far. The styling and design of the device add to this feeling; with rounded edges and soft materials, the E65 feels (subjectively) small in the hand. This is often more important than the actual physical dimensions of a device. The E65 is as small, if not smaller, than many of the standard feature phones that it might be competing against. It also compares favourably with the E60, which was a good device but was a little larger than many standard phones.

Marketed as a business phone, the E65 comes with several office-based applications such as Quickoffice’s document reader or Nokia’s Team Suite organiser, plus you’ll always stay connected with the instant messaging feature. You can’t create Word or Excel files on the go, but this would be frustrating given the limited 2.2-inch display and lack of a full QWERTY keyboard.

The E65 is an attractive smartphone and shows a lot more style that the first generation of Eseries devices (the boxy E60 springs to mind). The front is a mixture of a rubbery-feeling plastic (on the sides) and a plastic housing (on the front) for the screen and control keys. The back features leather-like material (battery cover) and the same rubbery plastic from the front (camera housing). These materials add up to a phone that is easy to grip and which feels comfortable to hold.

Another front button mutes the E65’s microphone, while a third you can set up to do anything you like and simply pressing it calls up the configuration software.
A very important aspect of the Nokia E65 is built-in Wi-Fi. This is increasingly common on handsets and smartphones, and in Nokia’s E series handsets it is a staple. But this time around there is a twist. You can get the phone to search for networks in the vicinity at regular intervals and report its findings on the main screen. Or you can manually search for networks by selecting an option on the screen. Once you’ve found a network and are connected, Voice over IP calls and Web browsing are a couple of button presses away.

Key features:
Get more out of your workday with a range of business features: conference calling, voice recording, notepad, integrated handsfree speaker, talking ringtones, and Nokia Team Suite
Send messages using an extensive range of options: SMS, MMS with distribution lists, instant messages, and email
Access business functions quickly and easily: One Touch keys for conference calls, mute/unmute, and contacts
Talk around the world with quad-band coverage on up to five continents
Show your sense of style with the slim, stylish slide design
Work hard, play hard – listen to your favorite tunes or watch video clips with the music and media players
Take snapshots with the 2 megapixel camera

Multimedia:
Video and audio streaming (3GPP & Real Media)
RealPlayer (MP4)
Music player (MP3/AAC) and media player
Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) digital rights management (DRM) 1.0 with forward lock

Browsing:
HTML Nokia browser
xHTML browser (HTTP stack)

Imaging:
Take snapshots with the 2 megapixel camera

Messaging:
Read email with attachments: Supports POP/IMAP, SMTP, IMAP4 with idle protocols, Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email 8.0 and a variety of third-party email clients: Mail for Exchange 1.5 (delivered via Nokia Downloads! Application), Visto Mobile v5.5, RIM BlackBerry Connect v2.1, and Good Mobile Messaging (email clients are dependent on operator variant)
Instant messaging client (OMA IMPS 1.2)
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS, ver. 1.2) for text, voice clips, video clips, and still images
SMS and MMS with distribution lists
Predictive text input T9

Nokia