Tag: Price

Nokia fights back with E7, C7, C6-01 and much more – Part 1

So, finally the big day came for which we were waiting since many months. Many expectations, many rumors, a few set backs and much excitement around, it was great to see #NokiaWorld trending worldwide finally. The big day really shown Nokia in a fighting shape-n-senses and we loved the way that they said they are no Apple or Samsung, they are Nokia and a Nokia will remain Nokia.

Like many other mates, I wasn’t lucky to be at home and sitting closely to internet watching all excitement minute by minute, but thanks to my lovely Nokia N82, MTNL 3G, Gravity and my awesome timeline, I was never out of the game and things happening right there at Nokia World 2010. Even took sneak peaks of videos as well over my really Smart phone and sure I was the first one to nod my head when they said its Nokia, who really made phones smart and invented smart phones. I was the example holding just my phone, dead busy in office routine and still connected with something happening in another time zone (different by four and half an hour).

Let’s bore you with my words on what happened there at Nokia World 2010 and what’s my Layman’s take on the new devices announced there on day one.

The keynotes Not only me, but many others were shaken by departure of two big names and removal of one of them from speaker’s list for Nokia World 2010. Many eyes were set that how Anssi will hold the stage, when he is here for six more months only, but when he took the stage, he took it with the same fire, the Nokia promised to fight back sometimes back.

It was probably the first time, when any Nokia World would have heard competitor’s name this much frequently. They went behind Apple for stealing their slogan of “Connecting People” in their event, mentioned that Nokia devices always performed best in every condition unlike others and most importantly they reminded the world that they are not going to follow any Apple or Samsung, they are Nokia and will be Nokia.

I really liked the way Anssi took the stage and taken people all over with his big voice that everyone forgot about the worries that what after him. What a great man!! we all will miss you Anssi and will hope to have you back till the last day.

For proving the point that Nokia is Nokia and will be a Nokia, nothing could have been better than showing off three new Symbian^3 devices, when most of the people expected some MeeGo there. That put an end over rumors that Nokia N8 is the last Symbian device and next Flagships will go MeeGo only.

Like many of us felt somewhere inside, Anssi made the point that people at Nokia and Symbian feel bad, when by just looking at the screenshots, people start saying that Oh!! its the old Symbian without even checking it out in their hands. Its just not the widgets and fonts that make some OS, its what it can do and what you can do with it. Symbian is still the biggest mobile OS of the planet and has every reason to continue the legacy being the only one with Multi-Tasking (I don’t count other’s shit as multi-tasking without any argument).

Lets meet the super stars of the show that are told to see the real sunlight by Q4 of the same year..

Nokia’s Slimmest C7-00 Yes!! like the tradition has became, none of the events coming with completely surprising devices due to leaks all around. We already have seen some views of this device sometimes back, but then there were many things, which were not noticed in details, let’s check out that what special about Nokia C7-00 (RM-675) …

Sometimes back, I talked that what’s going wrong about Nokia and what could have been done to bring them back and with Nokia C7, the slimmest of Nokia till date, they seem to be addressing many of the things.

Either people admit it or not, the very first thing to attract people was the slimmest design that they maintained even till now. The challenges behind that kind of design were the compromises that it takes… Like fixed battery, hard to integrate superior cameras and designing an Antenna that works flawlessly like the name of Nokia.

It was bound to take its time and when even Nokia N8 finally took the compromise of keeping battery and same was followed by Nokia E7 as well, it was Nokia C7 that emerged as pioneer to maintain 10.5mm width (11.8 mm around the camera area though) but removable batteries.

Lets know more about Nokia C7-00 …

Exteriors Many said that it reminds something of Samsung, but its just the curvy looks, otherwise when dimensions of 117.3 x 56.8 x 10.5 mm with 64 cc volume and 130 g weight come to hold the biggest of features like it has, then we call it phenomenon than just some look a like. Moreover, the stainless steel looks make you feel some premium thing for real.

Display 24 bit colors, 3.5” AMOLED screen, the latest Clear Black Display technology to beat retina display and I am still trying to figure out that which kind of glasses it has, Gorilla? When you know that it got graphics processor having 2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support, then sure there remains no reason not to be eager about its arrival. The resolution might be 360 x 640, but still the people out there posted very positive comments about comparison of this with Retinna display.

Update: got confirmed that Nokia C7-00 doesn’t has CBD in it

Processor, memory etc Same 680 MHz Single CPU ARM, 256 MB RAM, huge 1GB NAND, 350 MB maximum user storage and 8GB internal storage though greedy will still crave for 512 MB RAM, but provided that this thing gonna arrive in probably less than 20k INR, many would run madly behind it. Don’t forget apart from huge 8GB storage, you always have option of adding up to 32 GB microSD (not sure if hot swappable, but likely its not).

Connectivity USB OTG seems to be becoming core part of upcoming Symbian devices and I feel pity about Apple fan-boys as they are already unanswered about Bluetooth file transfer till now, when even $30 Nokia has it. OSB OTG would never come even in their wild dreams.

Pentaband frequency support, EDGE Class B, EGPRS, HSDPA Cat9 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA Cat5 2.0 Mbps, WCDMA, WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and TV-Out, you only miss HDMI here, otherwise what else you could have bargained for?

Other advanced features New socially aware Ovi Maps 3.06 backed by improved A-GPS unit on it, MicroUSB works for charging as well along with standard 2mm charger, special connectivity cable CA-179, 2 Microphones, Accelerometer Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Compass (Magnetometer Sensor), proximity sensor, you really run out of thoughts that what more to ask for a trimmed (?) down Nokia N8.

Like same video editor, Nokia Messaging and even better Social Integration as on Nokia N8, I am expecting them to keep Doc\ PDF viewer in the package that there seems no denial for the same.

Multimedia, Camera Must say, people feel disappointed here. It gets 8MP, it gets full focus, it gets 3264 x 2448 pixels, its gets 28mm focal length, it gets f/2.4 aperture, but what’s exciting, if you can’t get close to 100 cm? I am really confused about the post from @aas, where its marked as having Auto Focus, as it seems untrue to me. Will try to get it confirmed soon.

But yes! you are reading right. 100 cm. I checked  many times on their forum page. The focus range of Nokia C7-00 is 100 cm to infinity that seems to be an epic failure and makes its camera ordinary like any of iPhone or those Samsung Galaxy S. What about those Macro shots that I used to take with my Nokia N82 or took with Nokia N86?

But Nokia C7-00 is still strong when it comes to video. It doesn’t got Xenon and works with Dual LED means you could expect video light for sure and also it goes 30 fps with 640×480 recording and 25 fps with 1280 x 720, if anyone could beat it, then it would be Nokia N8 only.

Good thing is, we don’t miss any of Nokia N8 goodies like our Video Call, Video Editor, Video Sharing, Video Stabilization, Video Streaming or FM-Transmitter.

Special thing to be seen will be support for media like xVid, Divx and mkv etc, which will sure follow footprints of Nokia N8.

Power management With Nokia’s recent love with BL-5K 3.7V 1200mAh batteries, people really wonder that how big these devices gonna make in real life. Nokia C7-00 specs sure shows big promises.

GSM Talk Time up to 9.6 hours
WCDMA Talk Time up to 5.3 hours
GSM Standby Time up to 23 days
WCDMA Standby Time up to 27 days
Video Playback Time up to 6.4 hours
Video Recording Time up to 3.8 hours
Video Call Time up to 2.6 hours
Music Playback Time up to 2 days
Navigation Time up to 6.0 hours

Have you noticed the huge 2 days music playback? Definitely Nokia seems to have tweaked their OS big time under the hood, which making me very eager to hold one of those.

Price A price point of 427 USD or 20, 200 INR sure gonna boost some big sales figure for Nokia, when it brings almost all the promises made by Nokia N8 in a lower price.

They calling it a social device, let’s see some of it.

Nokia’s redesigned C6-01 This really triggered a big time confusion, when everyone on stage kept on naming it Nokia C6 and people were confused as Nokia C6 with qwerty already taking rounds of globe. Definitely this naming system gonna bring much confusion in the market and one of my friend rightly said, people will start calling it as C600 or C601 rather than calling C6 only. While none of people were sure that what are they talking about, things started getting clear, when they shown that its nowhere a variant of Nokia C6 and has much more features, brand new Symbian^3 and no qwerty with it.

Lets know some more about Nokia C6-01 (RM-624 or RM-718 not sure)

 

Exteriors Having a dimension of 103.8 x 52.5 x 13.9 mm with 65cc volume and 131 g weight, this 3.2” multi-touch device sure ahead of all budget touch smart phones presented by Nokia at this size. You might say that Nokia E7 is slimmer than it, but remember Nokia X6 or Nokia 5800 or Nokia C6… it will rule its segment with these looks for sure.

Display 24 bit colors, 3.2” AMOLED screen, the latest Clear Black Display technology like Nokia C7 and same time, it also got graphics processor having 2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support. Nokia really seems to have understood the worth of having GPU inside. Resolution is same 360×480, but remember again, its CBD display.

Processor, memory etc Surprisingly same 680 MHz Single CPU ARM, 256 MB RAM, huge 1GB NAND, 340 MB maximum user storage and no internal storage. It has the same up to 32GB support for microSD card, but this time, its sure hot swappable.

Connectivity USB OTG is again part of the magic bag and so it Bluetooth 3.0.

List goes exactly same with Pentaband frequency support, EDGE Class B, EGPRS, HSDPA Cat9 10.2 Mbps, HSUPA Cat5 2.0 Mbps, WCDMA, WLAN IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, A-GPS and TV-Out, again no HDMI for this mid-range device as expected.

Other advanced features Again the list goes the same with just a smaller screen experience here. New socially aware Ovi Maps 3.06 backed by improved A-GPS unit on it, MicroUSB again works for charging as well along with standard 2mm charger, same special connectivity cable CA-179, single Microphone this time, Accelerometer Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Compass (Magnetometer Sensor) and proximity sensor, Nokia really has raised the bar, when it comes to connectivity.

As Nokia seems to include its video editor for free in all of its coming capable devices like this one, it will sure mount big time pressure for iMovie to go free very soon and Google running for putting some real app for video editing.

Multimedia, Camera I must say, I am really feeling confused here in mid of terms like Auto Focus, EDOF and Full Focus etc as this one is just EDOF that stands below than but still it gets a better focus range of 50cm to infinity. It gets 8MP, it gets EDOF, it gets 3264 x 2448 pixels, its gets 28mm focal length, it gets f/2.8 (C7 had f/2.4) aperture, but again you are not going close enough than 50 cm.

Is it end of era for Macro shots on mid range devices? Is this will remain a premium feature for Nokia N82, N86, Nokia N97 Mini, Nokia N900 and Nokia N8 likes?

For videos, it again goes 25 fps with 1280 x 720, is anyone else thinking about a flood of videos coming soon on youtube? Google, if you listening it, then start working on upgrade of your Youtube servers.

No one was expecting FM-transmitter in this price and sure it doesn’t has that, but still video editor is included as I mentioned in last para.

Power management Surprisingly this device doesn’t has Nokia’s recent love BL-5K 3.7V 1200mAh batteries, but it finds BL-5CT 3.7V 1050mAh this time and as are the official promise, then you really feel hugely impressed.

GSM Talk Time up to 11.5 hours
WCDMA Talk Time up to 4.5 hours
GSM Standby Time up to 18 days
WCDMA Standby Time up to 16 days
Video Playback Time up to 6.0 hours
Video Recording Time up to 4.0 hours
Music Playback Time up to 2 days

Nokia started with 1 day music playback standards, when they announced XpressMusic series and now they are all set to make the standard of 2 days. Any Samsung or Apple fanboys daring to compete?

Price The price point this time is 260 EUR means 331 USD or 15, 400 INR at which Nokia C6-00 is expected to be sold. I am sure that till launch this price will go a little higher, but eventually when it will be selling in 15k INR, its gonna be another hot cake like Nokia 5800 been once.

Are the teenagers going to get another toy and wont bug their parents for iPhones anymore?

It was really going long, so I thought to make it in two parts. The next part will cover the best of these three, Nokia E7 itself, few words over new Ovi Maps, new Developer’s App signing process, new Ovi Store and finally what those 3D glasses were for.

Keep tuned in …

photo of Nitish KumarNitish Kumar

 
 
 

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Nokia C1-00 and Nokia C2 in India-the twin story begins

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Try to remember that which local brand has released a non-dual SIM phone recently? Leave it, we don’t even know that when they ‘launch’ their phones as everyday there seems to be a new copy of E71, 5800 or Blackberry look-a-like on the roads in just 3-4k with big list of features and prominently one thing that they claim that you wont find in your long trusted brand, the dual SIM feature. We all know that what quality they offer in their other features and as about dual SIM, yes!! now we have an answer …. Nokia C1 and Nokia C2 have arrived in India by yesterday itself.

After continuous rants from the bloggers, the pressure finally seems to be mounted on Nokia about their India operations. Though Indian Launch of two cheapest phones by Nokia’s Executive Vice President Mary McDowell should not be exactly taken as some big sign about change in preferences as the visit might be more related with ongoing issue of push emails as well. But still we should be happy that some Nokia device is finally launched here in India within three months of announcement.

I was aware of arrival of her, when one of my tweeps told me in morning that she has arrived on Chennai Airport and it was clear from recent device orders arriving to India that its gonna be C1 and C2 for sure. but the announcement was made in New Delhi.

McDowell’s official world were ….

As per our deep consumer insights, entry level consumers need dual SIMs for various reasons including economizing time and costs, improving efficiency and for increased convenience. To address these consumer requirements, Nokia has launched these two devices that offer multiple SIM capabilities with a balanced feature set and ‘relevant innovations’ at affordable price points.

Let’s know more about Nokia C1-00 and Nokia C2 ….

Nokia C1-00: With the very first line, let me be clear, its not a dual SIM phone as many might be confused about. But its sure marks the first ever ‘Double SIM’ phone from Nokia.

Now what a dual SIM and what a double meant to be?

A dual SIM or dual standby as per wiki comes with many kind of adapter and first of entry category was the kind of adapter that allows only one SIM active at a time means even if your phone has two SIMs inside, you can’t receive calls on both of them. One would be main SIM and other will remain as standby (not active unless you make that active manually). So, in actual, if you are looking for receiving calls on both of your SIM, then skip it, its not your choice.

Next spoiler is, its C1-00 that is launched in India, not C1-01 or C1-02, both of which as series 40 devices with better capabilities (C1-02 even has basic camera).

Its a very basic model with a price tag of Rs. 1, 999/- and a color screen, probably its more of targeting the users, who loved Nokia 2600 or Nokia 1400. Some other regions has it in price around 1k-1.2k as well, so you could expect the prices to go down here as well very son.

Now, for people making complaints about the price tag, lets see what are the offering with a brand value, reliability and best of the service from biggest mobile brand of planet.

 

It might be looking like old phones, got no GPRS\ EDGE means no MMS, just GSM 900 / 1800, No Bluetooth, No Infrared, S30 Interface and no memory card support, but other than Double SIM, it got many more things.

Design, T9 and Flashlight With dimensions of 107.1 x 45 x 15 mm, 63 cc and weight as 72.9g, its not a bad design at all. No one would be expecting metal here, but T9 keypad is as good as it can be and left bottom key works as shortcut for SIM change as well. The power down key is not at top as many might be used to and located under the cancel key. The five way scroll can be used as shortcut for Flash light as well. Scroll up twice,  Flash light on and scroll once, Flash light off.

It would be available in blue, red, light grey and green colors.

Dual SIM Yes! it has no capability to keep both the SIMs active at the same moment, but it has the capability to divert the calls means you can configure it in way that you wont be missing any call on the other number as well.

Display Interesting display of size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches this beast has. It got 16 bit colors means total of 65k colors like high end Nokia E5 is supposed to have.

FM Radio The cheap phone not only got a FM radio under the hood, but also got it with a 3.5mm jack means you could hook your phone’s FM with your PC’s speakers as well. Unfortunately there is no shortcut key for this radio though and you have to navigate through menu to find it.

Phone Book If I remember right, then older phones from Nokia at this price point never had more than 200 phonebook entries, but this one got 500 along with usual multiple fields\ numbers and image entries. Though call records are still 20 dialed, 20 received and 20 missed calls means very basic.

SMS I am not expecting S40 like smiley’s and icons here, but in place of usual 20 SMS space as we remember about our old phones, we have space for 250 SMS here, if you were discarding it at the first place.

Battery It seriously urges you that you buy this inexpensive one just for its battery. It uses the same Li-Ion 1020 mAh BL-5C batteries as were in its many leading models like Nokia 1100, but call it evolvement of technology, you received ever best battery life out of it.

Talk time for 13h straight and a standby like of Up to 1152h or around 7 weeks feels like some kind of dream. Think you will find your phone on after some summer trip, if you forgot that back home.

So, if you thought this is just a useless another double SIM phone, then think again.

Nokia C2-00: In a price tag of Rs. 2, 500/-, C2-00 actually stands as first ever real Dual SIM Nokia, not just that unique to Nokia, the second SIM is ‘hot-swappable’ means it could be changed/ removed while keeping the phone on. Note that its with only one SIM as the other one will be situated under the battery. So, obviously you got very good reason to spend some more than buying Nokia C1-00.

Let’s know what more it offers ..

Design and T9 Keypad Its plastic, but definitely much impressive looks wise than Nokia C1-00. Dimensions are a little slimmer with 108 x 45 x 14.65 mm and 67.9 cc, while the weight is slightly higher at 74 g. As you can see that keys are divided in four row with no separation in individual keys in a row. Must be a class experience to type on this grid key design.

Same way, the left bottom key serves as selection key for SIMs, while the right bottom one provide the convenience of mute button and shortcut to radio or Music player. The location of power key is again below the cancel key.

It will be available in grey, black, magenta, dark blue or white. I guess, white would be nice in hands.

Dual SIM As I already explained in first para, we got both the SIMs active here for calls, SMS, MMS or GPRS usages and very unique to Nokia, for the first time we got option of hot swappable SIM as well. I am really looking for knowing that how Nokia software will handle two SIMs together on a S40 interface as the Chinese ones and even Samsung ones freak me out sometimes.

Display The same display of size 128 x 160 pixels, 1.8 inches with 16 bit colors is included in the package, though I think a little higher resolution would have make better use of S40 interface, but anyway same 65k colors are here.

FM Radio Yes! it got Stereo FM RDS Radio with 3.5mm jack and nice to hear that it comes with Radio recording feature. You can say Hurray!!!

Multimedia You get a VGA Camera here with 4x digital zoom and ordinary 10fps video recording. Camera Image format would be JPEG, though the software will support viewing BMP, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, OTA, PNG and WBMP. Impressive for the price range.

Video recording resolution will be 128 x 96 and format H.263, while the device will be capable of playing 3GPP formats (H.263), ASF, MPEG-4 and WMV.

Same time, you could think this as complete music package with support for almost all common music formats like AAC, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AWB, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 24), Mobile XMF, MP3, SP-MIDI, WAV and WMA.

Memory It sure surprises you with the support of MicroSD card up to 32 Gb that too with hot swap feature. Maximum User Storage of 10 MB, SDRAM Memory 16 MB and NOR memory 64 MB must not be very less for such a device.

Connectivity It has not Wi-Fi or 3G, but it got GSM 900 / 1800 with GPRS\ EDGE support for both the SIMs. Bluetooth 2.1 is here for transferring your media files with ease, though I wonder if anyone will also think of connecting Bluetooth headset with it, but it supports.

Though USB charging is not here, but it has a microUSB as well.

Phonebook, SMS, MMS, Email, Chat and other features With the support of memory card, obviously the phonebook will be unlimited and SMS and MMS expected to do well with same ease as other S40 devices do. What real surprise here is inclusion of Nokia messaging Service v1.3  and Nokia Email Client means you can have Ovi Mail, Gmail etc and also chat options via Gtalk, MSN, Yahoo and Ovi Chat.

As a surprise, Ovi Contacts are not here, but this device supports  FOTA Firmware over the Air, Nokia Life Tools, Nokia Money and Themes.

Battery Don’t know what to say, but this part is a real let down for this otherwise amazing device for its price. We got the same BL-5C 3.7V 1020mAh here, but its told to provide only 4 hours of talk time that is not a very bad one, but still considering the performance of C1-00, people must have expected more from it. Standby time is also not a very higher side with 16 days only.

I wont say a disappointment here, but will say that expectations were raised by C1-00, which C2-00 misses.

We have a 2mm charger here as MicroUSB wont charge the phone.

So, this is all about Nokia C1-00 and C2-00 that would be available in India in 2k and 2.5k. Please remind me, if I missed something you might wanna know and also tell, are you buying anyone of these?

photo of Nitish KumarNitish Kumar

 
 
 

Are you waiting to buy Nokia E5 over Nokia E72? Think again

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It got many people excited when Nokia announced arrival of many cheap devices back in mid april. Nokia C3, C6 and E5. Nokia E5 was something people were most excited about and even me. I am sure that there are many, who waited this much long for E5 and pushed the purchase of E72. But when the dust gets settled, its time to analyze that how much it really is worth to wait for Nokia E5 over Nokia E72.

Call it success stories behind Nokia E71 and Nokia E72 due to probably best qwerty out there with best battery lives or the professional looks, but people still waiting for Nokia E5 to arrive in cost of 12k INR (as announced), which still stands decent 4.5k INR or around $100 below Nokia E72. But the question to ask is, if this wait worth?

Thanks to Forum Nokia, one could take a closer look over finer prints behind the specifications.

Lets see, where Nokia E5 looses points against Nokia E72 big time …

e5 Nokia-E72-Review

 

Design: It was a challenge to make a device in a lower budget keeping all the good points intact and one should praise the Nokia design team for keeping the same layout of qwerty. As I’d mentioned in my earlier post, it was more innovative to give colors to call end and receive buttons rather than keeping it strictly white as in E71 or E72 (business people don’t like colors?).

Now what have we lost in comparison to E72 here?

We lost that shiny metal surrounding the body, which was the core attraction of the Nokia E72. Also,, but the dimensions got bulkier. Nokia E72 had a 114 x 58.3 x 10.1 mm, while the Nokia E5 came up with 115 x 58.9 x 12.8 mm. Thanks to Nokia, that back cover is still metallic (plastic back covers scares me), but the extra plasticy bulk sure  doesn’t interest the user, who might have had his hands on Nokia E72.

nokiae5keypadright

More of it, we are back to D-Pad like Nokia E71 (already 13k nowadays) rather than the optical navi-wheel which was one of the biggest attractions to the E72. People who use Blackberry and cry after a year because of its bullshit trackball will surely understand  the losses.

Nokia E5 is sure 2g lighter than Nokia E72 (126g in place 128g), but absence of metal justifies that and don’t forget volume of Nokia E5 is 75cc, when that of Nokia E72 was just 65cc.

 

Display: Business devices till now, never been known for the great resolutions. Reason is, the focus always been on the text reading, which is crispier on a resolution of 320×240 only rather than bigger resolutions, so been a standard always. Same is here in Nokia E5 and Nokia E72, then what’s the catch?

A resolution is not only about the pixels, but also about the color depth. While with 24 bit colors, Nokia E72 was on the par with best of the devices, Nokia E5 took a step back with 16 bit colors means not those 16m color, but only 65000. If only these numbers doesn’t lower your excitement about E5, then next is the transmissive screen in place of transflective screen of Nokia E72, which was known to perform much better in sunlight, while E5 will go blank.

Connectivity, processor, RAM, Memory: Good thing about Nokia E5 is in this section, where its neck to neck with Nokia E72, at least as it seems on paper. It would be more reasonable to compare, when the actual unit will be in my hands, but still it got exactly same processor, exactly same level of all around connectivity.

What’s a win for Nokia E5 here is

With Nokia E5, we enjoys doubled RAM that is 256 MB now in place of 128 MB of Nokia E72. Sure one could expect this thing to be snappy when Nokia E72 was never a let down in performance. The reason for bigger RAM might be integration of Social services in contacts and home screen widgets, but the more RAM means more advantage for sure. Next is the support of 32GB memory card while Nokia E72 supported a MAX of 16 GB only.

While business people wont care much about extra 16 GB support as both the devices are never big about media playback and video recording, but sure 256 MB RAM makes a better deal for Nokia E5.

Note that without the extra RAM, I don’t think that better social integration as in Nokia E5 ever coming to Nokia E72, even if people kept asking for. Remember Nokia 5800, which never got the home screen widgets.

Battery: May be I never exactly got that how mAh works otherwise, I could have got some idea that how a 1200 mAh battery is being told to perform better (even if with minor margin) than a 1500 mAh. Though the improvements are minor in terms of talk time, which already at a great level of 13 hours straight in Nokia E72, but battery utilizations is greatly enhanced in case standby battery life, where it stands on 26 days in place of 16 days of Nokia E72.

I guess standby time doesn’t matter that much (at least doesn’t make a difference or me at all), but it would be interesting to see with actual unit that if the claims stand right with a 1200 mAh battery. If they have implemented some good things in their firmware, then those improvements may do more wonder with God battery of 1500 mAh in Nokia E72.

And yes!! both the devices have USB charging as well as 2mm port. Did I told you that I hate only USB charging option as was in Nokia N86?

 

Camera: Nokia E71 was one of legend from Nokia and people loved Nokia E72 for the reason that it brings fun to Business people as well. One of the biggest attraction was the competitive 5MP camera, biggest in Business phones. With Autofocus and LED flash, it was able to serve you not only for personal needs, but was serving you a good macro mode to get snap fine print on business papers due to its sensor that works from 10cm to infinity. But when you look over E5, then probably in cutting cost, Nokia forgotten that why people loved a 5MP camera.

nokiae5backpanel

Camera on Nokia E5 may be a 5MP, but its a camera of lower focal length 3.3 mm than that of Nokia E72 on 4.7 mm and aperture stands at f/2.4 as usual for Full focus camera in comparison to f/2.8 of Nokia E72.

Nokia E5 has just a full focus, which means 50 cm to infinity, no macro mode therefore. Not only that but with Nokia E5, if I am right, then you will be missing the still image editor as well (though I don’t believe on it, but their official forum page says so).Video and Still digital zoom will be reduced to 4x with Nokia E5, which were at 5x in Nokia E72.

Do you think that its enough to blow the excitement around Nokia E5? Here comes more ..

Nokia E5 doesn’t has a secondary camera. So forget about the video calling and those business video meetings. Sorry

Extra features: Sure cutting the price takes its toll and manufacturers try to cut it from where its least visible or may have a direct impact.

Did you knew that you are going to miss Compass (Magnetometer Sensor) and accelerometer in Nokia E5? Not only that but you miss Line Printer Daemon Protocol, Print to file option, Lotus Notes Traveller, stereo FRM radio with RDS (just a plain FM radio here in Nokia E5) and Bass Boost.

Sure, Nokia E5 might not be all, like you felt with Nokia E72. Yes!! it brings the same solid feel and performance to people, who didn’t wished to cross the 12k INR mark ever, but don’t you think that it was more worth loosing a better camera, a secondary camera, 24 bit screen, Compass (magnetometer), Accelerometer, optical navi wheel and metallic slim body for doubled RAM, better software and 4.5k INR?

Nokia E72 Black/ Chrome stands on 16.5k or less as of now and majesty white Nokia E72 now available in India for 17.5k. What you say?

Update: Make sure not to miss my full review on Nokia E5-00 for some of the great pictures and details about Nokia E5-00.

Update: The always great review from All About Symbian again adds up the confusion about E5 as the screen is sure not a good compromise, but snaps didn’t looked that bad and if people could live with a dull screen in daylights, then the recent video of multitasking, addition of more 128 mb RAM is more than enough tempting for making people buy it.

 

We will keep on crying that why it’s late or why Nokia doesn’t come up with E6 with same features as Nokia E72 without compromise, a better camera, 256 MB RAM at least, may be Bluetooth 3.0, USB OTG, but still will end up buying Nokia E5. Yes! it will make many happy to get a powerful thing in such a price, but still …

I must say that I tried to put an end over the confusions around Nokia E5, but it breaks on…

photo of Nitish KumarNitish Kumar
http://nitishkumar.net
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Nokia N8 finally seems to be on schedule

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Started with @Sirajsoft words and twitpic (given below), my timeline seemed to be buzzing about Nokia N8 release date all day long and what seems to be spinning out in the air was something we were waiting since long … Nokia N8 finally seems to be on schedule. Yes!! the worldwide release will include India as well and its all set to be released in first week of September 2010.

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There were words that some site claiming that it would be available within 4 weeks, if you order it now, but that seemed a fake as there are no official words from Nokia and anything such should come from Nokia officials first and four weeks?? Sounds too good to be true.

All of Indian bloggers started flooding Official Nokia sources like @NokiaIndia and finally we got something that we could call the official words ….

N8 Launch

Though pushing more over price point, they were in No Comments mode and replied ..

N8Launch 

So, officially we could say that Nokia N8 coming to India in first week September (that would be before my birthday September 23), though there are no official words over price, but its seems to be something around or little more than ` 24, 000 (otherwise, they would have commented over price for sure) and probably lesser than ` 27, 000.

Well!! that also make things more interesting about some other things like price of Nokia N900. In the same way, we are expecting a price drop for Nokia 5800 after launch of Nokia X6 8Gb, we should be expecting a price drop for Nokia N900 as well. That sure gonna make the confusion more interesting, what if Nokia N900 like open device on offer for ` 20, 000 ?

What you think?

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Nokia Booklet 3G-What I think about it

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As you know that I am with Nokia Booklet 3G since last saturday and even posted an un-boxing over the same. So, this came the time for a full review with complete specs and impressions I had in my mind about this thing.

A big opening review and you loose things remained to be spoken about. Talked a lot via pics and via words in my unboxing post about Nokia Booklet 3G and then a long silence of whole one week. It was works that completely taken over me, but still I feel like some guilty.

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Before some 20 days or earlier, even I made a post about “Do I need a Nebook? The concerns were what we really from a Netbook like device or why we want to travel with our Laptop? I wished to see more about the genre …

Wiki says “Netbooks (sometimes also called mini notebooks or ultraportables) are a branch of subnotebooks, a rapidly evolving category of small, lightweight, and inexpensive laptop computers suited for general computing and accessing Web-based applications; they are often marketed as "companion devices", i.e., to augment a user’s other computer access.”

Nokia Booklet 3G; Nokia’s surprising entry into the Netbook genre that is still something common people feel confused about, while its getting its pace in Businesses due to its compatibility and heavy duty battery lives. Its still remains to bring common users that much into it, lets take a look what it worth for them.

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Specs First:

  • ‘Aircraft grade’ Aluminum made super cool and slim body with very well built chassis.
    Am I feeling more affection due to its being the first of its size in my hands? This thing gives you a lock solid feeling like I had with Nokia N900 or my Dell XPS M1530 and the surface is such a shiny thing that you can’t help people getting attracted to it in first sight. Only place you could hurt this is on sharp edges only.

    You could feel the difference if you would have hands on those cheaper Netbooks around like Dell’s or Asus ones. This thing make them feeling total plasticy.  

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  • A glossy 10.1” 1280 x 720 HD Display (it has HDMI 1.2 out for HD video).
    Didn’t tested HDMI yet (my 22” LCD Supports DVI only), though extra-ordinary resolution is picture perfect for me. One must feel great about watching movies over it. Its glossy but still has some kind of UV protection layer in-built and even if its a shiny thing, I didn’t see any trouble working with it in much shiny outdoors.

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  • A Dimensions of 264 x 185 (with hinge) x 19.9 mm with a Weight: 1.25g 
    Just entirely different world that could be felt only after taking this thing in hands. I remember my super cool Dell XPS, which was lighter and powerful for me then was of 2.6 kg.

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  • Intel® Atom™ Z530 1.6 GHz, Intel® Poulsbo US15W fanless chipset, 1GB DDR2 RAM
    Processor numbers (48kb primary cache and 512kb secondary cache) are very good for a netbook and been a core reason for its long battery life, but like many I am much disappointed with the fixed RAM that can’t be increased. All of us kept on crying that what kind of grudge Nokia has against RAM size? I mean Nokia could have presented this thing with 1GB RAM, but at least should have left the option of increasing the RAM. After all, you have decided to go with the ‘worst’ operating system available, Windows 7 Starter edition. Nokia!!! this shows that you will take at least three four years more for making a serious market presence. Why I am that frustrated? Will show you in later part.

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  • Toshiba MK1235GSL 120 GB Super Silent HDD
    Good thing first, being technical I am ware of the fact that how HDD function and seen that however silent Laptops might feel, but still you feel some vibration in lap due to HDD movements. But this thing is damn silent. Probably due to its fan-less design. If you check     official specifications, then for this 1.8” and 5mm thick, if something disappoint you, then its only 4200 RPM (if I am right), may be technology limitations. But what’s favourable is its being most power conservative hard disk of today.

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  • Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500, high definition audio for HDMI
    Obviously you must not been expecting some nVidia or something, after all the priority is lowering power consumption and this thing does a superb job about the same. I really really wish to see some light weight operating system running over it, to measure the real potential of this thing.

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  • Built-in 3G modem (data calls only): WCDMA 900/2100 or 800-850/900/2100
    Yes!! this booklet could hold a SIM/USIM inserted inside directly into it. Probably the biggest selling point of Nokia Booklet 3G and so its even in the name “3G”. Believe me, this is something game changing for otherwise just another new product in market, a blessing to people like me, who were used to connect internet via their phones to PC. That was a double trouble, as even if you go via Bluetooth route, you will remain limited by Battery of Phone as well.

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    Nokia tackled this issue from double ways, first was the inclusion of CA-126 connectivity cable that was meant to keep on charging your phone, while its connected to your booklet, no matter it supports USB charging or not and second.. why you even need to attach a phone? Plug the SIM directly to the Booklet.

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    And let me tell you one more thing, against the popular belief, this SIM thing works over non-3G SIMs as well means over 2G too. I got Vodafone, Aircel, Airtel and Idea SIM working over it for connecting Internet. Obviously, what’s been the best is my MTNL 3G, not sure, but I felt this thing provided even more speed than I was used to get with tethering with N82 or E72.

  • Integrated GPS and A-GPS
    Its a great piece of hardware and locking capability is as good as Nokia  got in its Navigation Devices, but same, somewhere it seems that Nokia isn’t ready for Laptop market yet or may be our expectations are higher from Nokia. 

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    Well.. problem is that there is absolutely no way to make use of this feature. What you get is only a side widget, which shows the location and if clicked over it, then takes you to the Web Version of Ovi Maps with the same location in center. Though I found out that you could zoom-in and zoom-out over the widget as well by using Ctrl+ and Ctrl-. They should have at least added geo-tagging in their Social-Hub application.

  • Li-Ion 3840 mAh Nokia BC-1S battery for around 12 hours usages
    That’s what we love about Netbooks, longest battery lives, the thing that must have been of prime concern since Laptop genre born in first place. What’s point of calling a device mobile, if it cant go running for even 3 straight hours heavy usages? Though I have heard of MIS Wind and their claims of 15 hours or more battery life, but still 12 hours is longer than most of the netbooks out there. Don’t know that what’s count of cells mean here, but my Dell XPS 1530 has 6 cell battery, while this one is 16 cell.

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    For me, this goes the real deal as I could think of going out with this even if I see that the battery remained 20%  (I still have more than 2 hours in hands).

  • Frame keyboard with two physical layouts available: US (78 keys, 17 mm pitch, 1.8 mm stroke) and UK (79 keys, 16.7 mm pitch, 1.8 mm stroke)
    You might feel some troubles with keys locations due to our long term relationship with 101 keys, but still Nokia design team has done a marvellous job with this one. People like me with heavy typing habits knows that how important it is, if keypad is even a little bit uncomfortable, you just cant have a connect with. But this keypad was something like instant-connect to me. Well spaced keys and very comfortable typing. In fact, I loved the inclusion of ‘£’ and ‘¬’ like new characters (I got UK model).

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    The only complaint I could make is absence of backlit. True, we don’t see that thing in low priced Netbook of now days, but sometimes, its pointless to have a portable device without backlit keys.

  • Camera and microphone
    Tried a little here and there, but didn’t much over it except it got a normal front facing 1.3 MP Camera built in. Great use with Skype Video calling with inclusion of a micro  phone just above it. Nothing special to talk about this thing as its a standard now.
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  • Windows 7 Starter Edition
    I know I am just one more, who started having a grudge against Windows OS after legendary Windows XP era. Their Windows Vista was suicidal and after the same even their efforts with Windows 7 not able to bring back the same trust.

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    If some OS is taking 80% or more of you RAM without doing anything, then even in your wildest dreams, you not gonna get the performance you need. May be Microsoft assuming that everyone who can afford to buy their OS, can also afford at least 2-3 GB RAM. 1 GB won’t do anything good for the OS, which restricts you from even changing wall paper, not by being incapable of, but by  the license itself.

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    Being with such an operating system sure harming your potential and selling. Its keeping the system completely underpowered in comparison with other open source options like Ubantu. Hope Nokia will at least come up with MeeGo or something for Nokia Booklet 3G otherwise its a complete suicide for them with 1GB RAM. Its unacceptable for a decent user experience for otherwise a superbly designed Netbook.

    Note: Even if you wish to upgrade and go for premium etc, then you will face much decreased battery life than Starter one.

Software package: Remarkable is the inclusion of Nokia Booklet Software Updater, probably for the firmware updates, while the other noticeable software’s are F-Secure Internet Security 2010 Trial and Microsoft Office 60 Days Trial.

Nokia presenting a new app called Nokia Social Hub that could also be opened by pressing Hot Keys Fn+F11. A place where you could keep all of your Social updates synced and also could send receive SMS’s via your SIM. Note that you can’t make or receive calls via the SIM inserted in Nokia Booklet 3G. I tried to call, but it shows ringing on other side, but nothing happens on this side.

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Don’t know about other things, but for twitter, it disappointed me badly. Probably, I am used to Gravity or ChromedBird’s easy and intutive interfaces more, but Nokia has to understand that there are many things required in any application handling Twitter. You don’t have Tab for replies coming for you, no special place for yours only tweets and spoiler is even on being top of a GPS/ A-GPS enabled device, you can’t send a Geo-Tag tweet? Ridicules.. I understand Nokia that you are new for this domain, but that wont make me lenient over wrong thing. You must have thought of such things.

Why to buy Nokia Booklet 3G?

If you really serious about buying some decent Netbook, then Nokia Booklet is very much packed with all the things that will find an instant connect with you.

    • Amazingly superb build that assures you that you have real solid thing in your hand
    • Extra Resolution than opponents enables you to really enjoys the glossy display
    • A battery suitable for day long usages that makes you really mobile
    • Inclusion of SIM/ USIM slot ensures always available Internet connection on your demand
    • Its a Nokia so you never doubt the highest level possible of GSM or Wifi connectivity
    • GPS Unit coupled with Legendary Ovi Services helps you find info about place
    • Very well built and well spaced keypad that makes you comfortable with it in no time
    • One HDMI Out port and 3 USB ports sure it offers best of the things

    Why not to buy Nokia Booklet 3G?

    All of the praises crash down, when we look at the price tag that is ridiculously higher than one can afford for similar features. Even if we think of buying it on the same price then specs of Dell Alienware  M11x in exactly the same price 36k INR blows any chance for it.

      • A much high price tag for the features offered as same sized Netbook range starts from 15k INR.
      • Fixed 1 GB RAM that can’t be upgraded really makes it handicapped and a strict NO NO
      • Windows 7 Starter Edition I’ve shown that even this one is hog down all the memory and leaves an otherwise superb device with just an average performance. That too coming without any Windows 7 Installation DVD included (may be was missing from my trial device only)
      • No Backlit Keys and without scroll Touchpad I agree that most of the Netbooks not provided it, but you already asked for a premium price, so it’s justified to ask the complete high end package.
      • No inclusion of any carry case Nokia should have understand that its a Netbook not Smart Phone and you are expected to offer a carry case. You are not going to keep it in pocket. Its small but not that much small.

      Well… personally I loved the device a lot and if it wasn’t on trial and these busy days, then I sure would have gone for trying a Windows XP and Ubantu Install over it (or may be I will try in next days I already did). It really made me feel that how desperately I want to have a Netbook and what kind of changes a device like Nokia Booklet 3G could bring for me.

      But the biggest fall for the device is a price tag that I just can’t imagine for affording as I know better options are available, even if weaker from here and there. I might loose some of cons but still they will be more value for money than Nokia Booklet 3G as of now.

      I feel sorry for Nokia as could understand that they delivered a superb product, but lack of experience in this market and high expectations are a bit over them. Managing lower prices is easy for someone like Dell or Accer, who have years of expertise in this and have it as their core business. Nokia is still new for the market and keeping the price lower was a bit harder to them.

      Still all of us, believe that with upcoming MeeGo for Netbooks (can’t be installed over current Booklet 3G due to its Graphics chip), a next version of Nokia Booklet 3G could do wonder for Nokia in this new market. So, all I could say, better luck next time Nokia … this time its for pricy kids only as one of my friend sad.

      photo of Nitish KumarNitish Kumar

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      Nokia N900 released for India in Rs 30639/- ‘Only’

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      So finally the wait ended by today noon in Noida. As I was reporting since long back, predictions went true and Nokia N900 seen the sunlight of the lands of Tajmahal. Told to hit the stores by June 11, 2010 in a price Rs. 30, 639/- with the same configurations and updated software, the flagship and game changing device ended with a disappointing side here in India that is, due to legal limitations, Nokia not launching it with Skype integrated as we have known about Nokia N900 since long.

      Still my complaint remains that what’s the reason to release Flagships late in India that is biggest of the mobile market in the world? The question get highlighted again as Nokia not releasing any special version for India and price is still something India users not gonna absorb that much easily when Nokia N8 already one or two months away.

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      But at the same time, I think I should not  blame Nokia as on how much less price you could have bring for a device that has 32GB Internal memory, 3.5” Amoled Touch Screen and a Full Fledge QWERTY Keypad? Moreover, probably negotiations over Skype capability with Indian Officials might be the reason behind the huge delay of almost 8 months. But still… it was supposed to have a better reception three-four months back, when there was nothing like Nokia N8 was in air.

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      Anyway, leave the negatives apart, definitely Nokia N900 will be known as a milestone for the mobile history and its open source OS Maemo sure has potential to change the entire mobile scenario. For me, still MeeGo or Android aren’t that exciting on that ground as with Maemo, we start like we always knew it nothing looks unfamilier.. just like desktops. It was much easier to relate and apply their intelligence with it for people knowing Linux a little and sure MeeGo even on being open source doesn’t seem to make that much promises exactly.

      Many of us, still have reasons to believe that Maemo will survive even in presence of MeeGo and may be at some stage we will be able to install various OS’s on our smartphones ourselves like we do for our PCs or Laptops.

      Though eagerness for Nokia N8 launch might have faded this ‘New’ device’s launch a little, but it has to be seen that how much welcome this well awaited device will get. I still have my reasons to prefer it before Nokia N8.

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      Welcome Nokia E52 to the family- The unboxing

      As mentioned in last post, today become the day, when I got Nokia E52 in my hands finally. There were fears related to low memory, suspicions over camera performances but that high level of connectivity and battery life, I just experienced few days back with Nokia E72 finally became deal breaking and here am I, welcome Nokia E52 to the family.

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      I visited shops on last day as well, but got more confused about prices as they offered Nokia E52 in Rs. 11, 950/-, Nokia E71 in Rs. 13, 500/- and Nokia E72 in Rs. 17, 500/-. Definitely Nokia E72 was the best choice and price was at least Rs. 1, 500/- less than expected, same time Nokia E71 had a legendary reputation and also a close price tag with QWERTY. For me, connectivity was deal breaker as bro was to use the same only and so E52 won due to its upto 10 mbps download capability.

      Second trouble was related to Navigation Accessories. As per recent announcements, now many navigation devices are coming with Car Holder or Car Charger etc and Nokia E52 was supposed to have Car Holder in package, but what packages all the shop owners shown (including Nokia Priority Dealers) were without the same. I thought to confirm more shops today, but luckily one HotSpot got the Ovi Package by today morning only and saved me from doing a compromise.

      Coming back to Un-boxing.. I really think I should have gone for un-boxing all my devices with blog posts in past. I never did one for Nokia N70, Nokia N82, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic and even Nokia 5800. Thanks to my article over Nokia 5800 and later on trial devices from @WomWorldNokia that started this habit in me.

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      So, as shown the purchase location was local HotSpot and the price was Rs. 11, 905/-

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      Thought to add more spice in joy of brother with 8 GB Transcend Card.

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      This was a different blue colour package than the earlier available one for Nokia E52 on the same shop and as clearly mentioned, was going to include lifetime free walk and drive navigation.

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      While the sales package seems to be ordinary and I missed mention for any carry case, but the most strange thing was absence of any CD/DVD with the same. More strange was absence of any ear buds of the provided excellent quality headphones. I wonder why Nokia did this? Definitely all these things were no where costly.

      Anyway, leave the negative things apart, here comes the beauty … the opened package with all accessories inside …

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      Oh did I mentioned about the shiny Car Holder ..

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      Next noticeable difference was the charger and adapter ..

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      Rest are some usual accessories with missing ear buds

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      Now this is the time to present the pages and manuals with device …

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      A nice T9 Keypad, dedicated Camera key, hot plug but covered memory card slot, metallic volume keys and power key and no cover MicroUSB port like Nokia N82 that’s what exterior of Nokia E52 showcases for you. The solid feel of body with unique texture on back and near five way scroll key adds in to the quality that an E-Series device should posses.

      With any new Nokia Device, the first thing to be done always goes to be updates, got firmware update v34 and also an update for Ovi Suit. Also who was going to miss the famous 3.04 Ovi Maps and other my kind of basic apps (Chat, Fring, Skype, Google maps etc).

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      Interestingly, the screen size and resolution didn’t bothered me and I felt it like bigger than what I expected. Though technically I know its the same size as my Nokia N82 screen, but I didn’t expected that it will deliver exactly the same experience as I had with Nokia E72. Definitely, camera performed better than I expected, but I found myself complaining about the GPS (though didn’t given a full try under open sky which I will do tomorrow), its sure not like 5800 or N97 Mini or E72. Unhappy a little.

      Oh!!! didn’t I mentioned that this handset I bought for my youngest brother not for me, but even then I thought that it deserved my ‘own special test’. Downloading a big file within the Smartphone and as CJ mentioned, its indeed exactly like Nokia E72 in terms of software.

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      So, first impression of the device are pretty solid and definitely delivered the same experience like I had with Nokia E72. Thumbs up E52, I am sure my bro gonna love it. In all, its an impressive device with a powerful 600 MHz CPU and insane 15 mAH battery in such a little price.

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