Steve Litchfield made a new part of his very famous Phones Show.

Programme 66 covers:

• Hands-on review of the Nokia N85 prototype, looking at the OLED screen
• full review of the HTC Touch Pro
• News and musings on iPhone gaming

First of all let’s see what we have on the back of the N96. The N96 features a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, Carl Zeiss optics, a Dual LED flash for better pictures in low light conditions and records videos with VGA ( 640 x 480 pixels) resolution and 30 frames per seconds. This are good conditions to become a real partymonster.

Taking videos in low light condition, which we can find for example in a nightclub, was really hard or even impossible with a N95 or just another device. However, since the N96 has a Dual LED flash which works also when taking a video it is possible to take videos in the club or even in total darkness. Here you can see a video taken on the dancefloor:

Click to play

(click to enlarge)

As the objects are further away than 3 meters even the Dual LED couldn’t light up the picture. Just a Xenon-flash could solve the problem here.

Both pictures have been taken in macro mode with the flash. The left picture isn’t that sharp but you still can read the most. The right picture however, is really sharp and bright enough.

Well, both pictures are more or less sharp but unfortunately the colours are due to the bright flash and the little light really weak. Nevertheless you can see all the details.

In my opinion this is the best picture I’ve taken this night. These two guys stood still and so I could take a awesome picture. Remember, we’re still on the dancefloor, still there is almost no light. Here we can see how good the Dual LED really is.

Verdict:

To come back to my question:  Is the N96 a partymonster or just a boring multimedia computer? In my opinion the N96 is indeed a partymonster. Using the Dual LED in video mode is pretty useful and really improves the videoqulity. Pictures are in general good and in the right distance really good but of course not perfect or not as good as pictures taken with the N82 or 6220 which have a real Xenon-flash.

N-Gage:

The N81 8GB has two main focuses. One of them is the gaming focus. Already when I was waiting for the flight, which delayed 2 hours, I used the N81 and the N-Gage application to play FIFA 08 and Call of duty. The two dedicated gaming keys above the display make in some games like in Brother In Arms really sense and make it more easily. During the week I played pretty much FIFA and Brother In Arms whether on the daily bus drive, or lieing in the bed.

Music:

As I already mentioned the N81 has two main focuses. The second focus is the music focus. Having a 3.5mm audio jack, 8GB storage and dedicated music keys listening to music is a real pressure. Almost all time I listened to music - either via my Bluetooth headphones, my 3.5mm headset or via the really loud stereo speakers.

WiFi:

As a blogger I don’t want to miss a day in the cyberworld. So, I have subscribed to a bunch of RSS feeds. Fortunately I had access to a WiFi access point during the week. Using this WiFi access point I refreshed my RSS-Feeds, retrieved E-mails, checked the internet and kept the contact with all my friends via MSN. More over, I downloaded several podcast which I watched every evening on the good 2.4” display.

Now its time to mention the bad thing:

Camera:

On the back of the N81 you find a poor 2 megapixel camera without autofocus. This may be enough for snapshots but not for good pictures. I used to take a lot pictures when I’m in an other country but unfortunately the N81 isn’t made for this task.

Verdict:

The Nokia N81 is indeed a great device for a trip, in this case to Sweden. It helps to make waiting much interesting or even funny. Listening to music, playing N-Gage or surfing the web are really its advantages. However, if you take pictures and you like to have good quality, you shouldn’t use the N81.

Today I received the Nokia N96. The N96 is Nokia’s latest flagship device featuring a 5 Megapixel camera, DVB-H, WiFi, GPS, 16GB internal memory and a lot more. Today I want to show you a unboxing video and some pictures. More over, I show you the N96 and a few features of this device in the unboxing video. So, first you see the unboxing and after that the hands on. Enjoy!

Unboxing & hands on video:

In the box you can find:

• Nokia N96(RM247)
• Battery with 950mAh (BL-5F)
• Stereo-Headset (HS-45)
• Control (AD-54)
• Charger (AC-5E)
• TV-out cable (Ca-75U)
• microUSB cableCA-101
• Car-charger (DC-4)
• CD
• Manual
• OVi sheet
• Tetris sheet withactication code
• Get started manual

Unboxing pictures:

The in-game control works mostly with the d-pad, as shown in the video. The B-key is also very important. The game is very much fun, but if you think it’s easy you’re wrong - the higher the level you are, the faster you must enter the patterns and the enemies are more. All in all the game is very nice and if you’re interested in it you definitely should install the trial version, and if you like it buy it - it’s worth the money.

Previous N-Gage reviews:

1. Asphalt 3

Today Nokia will have a Press Conference in London. Of course you can watch the ”Nokia Remix London Making A big Noise” Press Conference via the webcast on events.nokia.com/remix_event/ . The Press Conference starts at 17:30 UK (16:30 GMT) time. Join Nokia to hear big news that looks set to mash up the world of mobile music.

What can we expect? New services or even a new device? Maybe the long awaited Nokia 5800 aka Nokia Tube? Well, time will tell!

]]> http://symbianworld.org/965-tonight-nokia-remix-london/feed/ http://symbianworld.org/947-review-nokia-6210-navigator/ http://symbianworld.org/947-review-nokia-6210-navigator/#comments Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:45:05 +0000 Norman John http://symbianworld.org/?p=947

The Nokia 6210 Navigator is the successor of the 6110 and is, like the name already hits, a device optimized for navigation. So, is it just a navigation tool for travelers or can it offer more? This review will answer this questions.

Main advantage:

• Great navigation experience
• Form factor, size and weight
• Comes with 6 months of free voice navigation

Main disadvantage:

• Built quality

Sales package:

The orange box looks almost like every other box. Looking into it you’ll find following content:

• 6210 Navigator (RM-369)
• Battery with 950mAh (BL-5F)
• 1GB microSD card
• microUSB-cable
• Charger (AC-8E)
• CD
• Manual

Here the unboxing video:

There aren’t neither big amount of accessories nor to little. All in all it’s all you need for the start. The 1GB card should be enough for some songs and maps. The headset for the 2.5mm audio jack actually surprised me since other 2.5mm headsets from Nokia look rather odd and boring. The soundqualty however is rather bad. However, using an adapter and a other headset you can improve the soundquality a lot.

Built quality:

Taking a look at the Nokia 6210 you will notice that it is built just out of plastic. No doubt, I have seen many better built devices. However, holding it in the hand it feels a little bit cheap but nevertheless really solid. Despite its glossy front and keys it doesn’t attract fingerprints at all. The transition between the display and the keypad is rather big and I’ve already found some dust between the gab. More over, the frame of the lower part of the slider is a little bit lose and you can move it several mm. The 6210 Navigator is obviously a slider device. Opening and closing it with one hand is really easy. Unfortunately, the slider has also its downsides. So you can press down the slider several mm (whether in closed or in opened mode). The batterycover is really solid and there is no way to move it. However, if you would like to open it, it will take you some time and some efforts to open it.

Size:
With 103 x 49 x 14.9 mm the Navigator is pretty thin and not as big as other GPS devices. During my trialing period I also had the N81 8GB which is compared to the 6210 ( 117g) heavy as a brick. Overall the 6210 feels good in the hand, is handy and light.

Keys:

Under the bright 2.4″ display you can find following 12 keys:

1. Left soft key
2. Right soft key
3. Red-end key
4. Green-answer key
5. Home/Menu key
6. Up on the d-pad
7. Down on the d-pad
8. Left on the d-pad
9. Right on the d-pad
10. OK, the middle of the d-pad
11. Clear key
12. Dedicated navigation key

The navi-key, clear key, menu-key and the d-pad stand a little bit out. Due to this the keys are well separated and good to use. The keys have a clear pressure point and give good feedback. Opening the slider you can see rather big numeric keypad. The keys are well separated and offer for every thumb a good usage.

On the right hand side you find the volume keys and the dedicated camera key. Although the volume/ zoom keys are smaller than the other keys it is still good to use and has a clear pressure point. If you’re using the camera key the first time you will have some troubles. So I wanted several friends to take pictures with the 6210 Navigator and most of them had troubles to hit the camerakey in the right way. However, after some time you can take pictures without problems. Pressing the camera key you can open the camera application, focus and capture a video or picture.

Multimedia:

The 6210 has 120Megabyte internal memory and comes along with an 1GB microSD card which is enough for some musictracks, pictures, videos and other data. Of course you can also use other microSD or even microSDHC cards if you need more memory. On the front you see a 2.4” QVGA (240×320 pixels) TFT display. This really bright screen displays 16 million colours and is good readable also against sunlight.

Camera:

On the back you can see the 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus along with the little LED flash for bad light conditions. However, since the 6210 is a normal mid-tier device and no N-Series device it doesn’t offer as much imaging features as for example the N96. Nevertheless, the 6210 Navigator is a good mid-tier camera device.

The camera application is rather simple but still offers some settings in its tool box or in the options. So you can adjust the white balance or colour tone, activate night mode and the flash, set a self-timer or sequence mode. Here some image samples:

(click to enlarge)

The best function, at least in my point of view, is the panorama function which allows to take even 360 degrees pictures or to ”glue” 2,3 or more pictures together. It works really easy but also good. Here some samples, which didn’t become well:

(click to enlarge)

Of course, the 6210 Navigator can record videos as well. The resolution is full VGA ( 640 x 480) and 15 frames per seconds which looks really good on the 2.4” display and also on the PC. So the quality is suitable for YouTube or Ovi.

Music:

The 6210 Navigator comes with a normal music player where you can find 6 folders like ‘All songs’ or ‘Albums’. Unfortunately, the 6210 has only a 2.5mm jack, thus you can’t use your favorite headphones. However, using an adapter you can fix this problem. The music quality with the provided headset isn’t that good but if you use other headsets e.g. a Sennheiser headset (with the adapter of course) , the music quality is much better. Just like on your Computer you can create easily own playlists of all your favorite music on your 6210.

The usage of the music-player is really easy. All you need is the d-pad and the volume keys to adjust the volume. To improve the music quality, you have an equaliser with 6 modes - Default, Bass booster, Classical, Jazz, Pop and Rock. You can also playback the music through the mono loudspeaker sitting on the back of the 6210. This one isn’t the loudest but loud and good enough for the living room, bath, class room or car. The music player supports following audiofiles: AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, MP3, MP4, M4A, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, Mobile XMF, SP-MIDI, MIDI Tones (poly 64), RealAudio 7,8,10, True tones, WAV.

Connectivity:

In terms of connectivity the 6210 Navigator offers almost everything. From Bluetooth, GPRS, HSDPA, GPS, A-GPS and EDGE it offer mainly everything. Some may miss WiFi for faster internet access and the infrared port. As the name already hints the 6210 Navigator is mainly all about bringing you from A to B. Besides build in GPS it also offers A-GPS for even faster connection.  In the test it took just some seconds.The GPS works either when the slider is opened or when it is closed. Maps 2.0 is already pre-installed and comes with 6 months of free voice navigation (at least my version). The navigation software works quite well and exactly. You can set a route by car or by feed with great animation and information.

Usage:

The 6210 Navigator runs on S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 which offers a lot improvements and addition in terms of usability and personalisation. Thus this is the perfect platform for a device like the 6210. As a result of various polls S60 totally improved the Task-manager. Either you open it via the traditional way (long press on the menu-key) or you go to the menu, click opinions and choose ”Show open apps”. More over, it’s more obvious now that you can open application by clicking on the central soft key. I have to confess, that I can’t judge this category that good because I’m a S60 user for some years. However, for a new user it’s pretty tricky to find into the menu. I’ve seen a lot user pressing the navigation key to get access to the menu which is the wrong way. After pressing the home key you can find plenty of icons and some folders. The icons already say what they stand for and furthermore you can read the application’s name. If you don’t like the menu structure you can create new folders, delete some, move the application as you like or change the menu view from Grid, Horseshoe, V-shaped or to List. Furthermore, you can choose between several standard themes and hundreds more which are in the World Wide Web. For those with bad eyes you can also change the front size. The 6210 has a ARM 11 369 MHz CPU and about 18MB RAM after a fresh boot available for the user. Unfortunately, the 6210 doesn’t bring all the advantages S60 3rd Edition FP 2 actually could offer. So you’ll miss the really cool looking transitions which you may know from other Feature Pack 2 devices. For new S60 user you can find a application helping you finding you through the menu and its features. This is indeed a great feature.

Business and Organizer:

Its obvious that the 6210 isn’t a devices targeted to the business market. Nevertheless, it still offers some useful business and PIM applications. In a folder called ”Office” you can find following content:

• Calendar
• Quickoffice
• Wlss. keybd.
• Zip
• Active notes
• Clock
• Converter
• Calculator
• Notes
• Adope PDF
• Dictionary

Quickoffice enables Word, Exel and Powerpoint files. Unfortunately, you can’t create files or edit them without upgrading your version. So you have to upgrade your version or search for an alternative.To don’t miss any meeting you have the calendar entries on the Stand-By-Screen. You can create a to-do list, a memo and also some more. The calendar, the contacts and your bookmarks you can sync with the PC using the PC Suite. In the test it worked also pretty well.

Verdict:

The 6210 Navigator puts a full navigation system and a full S60 device in a handy but unfortunately not that good hood. From a music player, a great web browser, GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera it offers almost everything you need.

A few months ago we reported the first time about the “Nokia Pilots”-project, a project to find people for testing new services and devices. Since today the Pilots-project is live and now you can start becoming a Nokia Pilot! Just click here and get into it!

Over at YouTube I found a video of the upcoming Nokia N85 by Mobile-Review. The video is showing a size comparison with other devices such as the N95 and N96 and it also shows a quick walkthrough of some main-features, enjoy!

[original article]

googlee41a9cf30bec168a.html

The Nokia N96 is not even mainstream yet but got a new firmware. This new firmware is the first update for this very new device which originally comes with the firmware v10.065. The new firmware is version 11.018 and there’s no changelog yet.

Source: p@sco

(click to enlarge)

What’s new:

• Better integration with Share on Ovi
• Maps view and geotagging: your photos and videos on the map
• More supported devices
• Import pictures from also from your digital camera
• Ovi look and feel

(EXE, 55 MB)

Important! If you are a Windows XP user, you must first update your computer with the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 from here. This update is not necessary if you are using Windows Vista

Source: Nokia Beta Labs

Steve Litchfield just shot a new episode of his legendary ”The Phones Show”. Enjoy the show!

Programme 65 covers:

• News
• Hands-on review of the Samsung Tocco iPhone competitor
• Musings on Xenon flash-equipped phones
• Hands-on review of the very latest Nokia N79 mid-tier star

The Nokia N78 is more than a midtier-device by Nokia. It’s a successor of the very popular N73 and it also features a 3.2 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss Optics and a LED-flash. A few weeks ago I received a trial N78 and now I want to share some camera-shots taken with the N78 with you.

If you want to show the following image-sample’s in full resolution, just click on them:

Conclusion

The N78’s camera is a very good for taking pictures which don’t need to be perfect. Nevertheless there is too much noise in some of the pictures. The flash is just a LED-flash but it’s very bright and good for taking pictures also in bad light conditions. If you want a good mid-class camera you can take the N78 without bad thoughts, I’m sure that the camera-performance will be updated in the upcoming next firmwares.

[original article]

The manuals of the new Nokia N79 and N85 are now online.

• Nokia N79 Manual
• Nokia N85 Manu

Actually, the 6210 Navigator  uses the Accelerometer in 3 features:

Rotating screen:

By flipping the 6210 90 degrees the display turns into landscape mode. This is really useful especially for browsing or watching videos.

Silence call or alarm:

To silence an incoming call or alarm turn the 6210 Navigator face down. This is much handy than pressing a button.

Jelly Chase:

This really funny game, which I actually cannot play properly, can be controlled by moving the 6210 Navigator. This is much more fun than using the d-pad. However, this requires a lot practising.

Here the video showing all features powered by the Accelerometer:

Luke, I’m your father. Yes exactly, I’m talking about Star Wars. Since today ‘Star Wars The Force Unleashed’ is available for N-Gage and be downloaded through the mobile client or via the desktop site. As always it is possible to trial the game before buying which is really nifty. Head over for further information or pictures.

The Star Wars saga continues in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed Mobile, which casts players as Darth Vader’s “Secret Apprentice” and unveils new revelations about the Star Wars galaxy. The story is set during the largely unexplored era between Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. In the game, players will assist the iconic villain Darth Vader in his quest to rid the universe of Jedi – and face decisions that could change the course of their destiny.

Source: N-Gage

Today I’m unboxing the 6220 Classic which was launched at the MWC 2008 in Barcelona. On its featurelist we can find a 5 megapixel camera with super bright Xenon-flash, GPS, geotagging and much more. Here a unboxing video and some pictures.

The box contains:

• Nokia 6220 ( RM-328)
• Battery with 900mAh ( BP-5M)
• TV-out cable ( CA-92U)
• Stereo-Headset ( HS-47)
• micro USB-Cable
• 1GB microSD card
• Charger ( AC-5X)
• CD
• Manuals

Here some pictures:

(click to enlarge)

Here the video:

After all the v30 firmwares in the last days and weeks (for the N95-1 and N95-2), now the Nokia N82 also receives a new firmware. It is version 30.0.019 and is available via the Nokia Software Updater. One thing I want to mention is that the firmware is not hackable - so don’t update your phone if you do want to hack it or already did. There’s no changelog yet.

Source: Symbian-Freak & S60 inside

[original article]

Tomorrow there’s the Nokia Open Lab virtual event, you can find everything about this event here.

Nokia Open Lab, held in Helsinki, is an event with the aim of provoking global discussion on a mobile future.

The event is the first of its kind hosted by Nokia, where an invited set of social media participants from bloggers to forum members and everyone in between will be taking part in workshops that will focus on the future of mobile and co-creation of media.

The event’s benchmarks of learning for both the attendees and Nokia include how social interactions and technological interactivity affect us.

[original article]

As you maybe heard since a few days there is a new firmware available for the Nokia N95-1 “classic”. The new version is 30.0.015 and it has some nice improvements, e.g built-in screen-rotation. I have installed this firmware on my device just today and now I want to bring a short hands-on video of it to you.

Sorry for the bad videoquality, especially the sound - I have made it with a Nokia N78.

]]> http://symbianworld.org/936-nokia-n95-1-hands-on-with-the-new-firmware-v30/feed/ http://symbianworld.org/928-nokia-6210-navigator-unboxing-video-and-pictures/ http://symbianworld.org/928-nokia-6210-navigator-unboxing-video-and-pictures/#comments Wed, 10 Sep 2008 08:03:26 +0000 Norman John http://symbianworld.org/?p=928

A few days ago I received Nokia’s newest Navigator handset, the 6210 Navigator. It features of course built in GPS, A-GPS, Nokia Maps 2.0, a 2.4” QVGA display, 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and more. As always I start with a unboxing post which contains several pictures and a full unboxing video.

Here the unboxing pictures:

(click to enlarge)

Here the unboxing video:

The Nokia E71 is the successor of the Nokia E61(i). There are also huge changes being the new sexy hood, GPS or the improvements in the UI. However, can the E71 convince or is it just a boring business smartphone?

Main advantages:

• Build quality
• Battery life
• GPS
• WiFi
• Size

Main disadvantages:

• No camera key
• Heavy

Sales package:

The E71 comes just like the E66 in a rather small and handy box. However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any accessories. I think that this box represents the compactness of this device.

The box contains:

• The Nokia E71 (RM-346)
• Battery with 1500 mAh (BP-4L)
• Carrying Case
• UK Charger (AC-5X)
• microUSB cable (CA-101)
• Headset (HS-47)
• 2GB microSD card
• CD and manuals

I like the carrying case which looks pretty nobly and which protects the E71 really good. The charger and the headset fit perfect into the E71 whereby the headset isn’t the best. All in all, the deliverer is pretty generous, especially with the 2GB microSD card and the carrying case. Here a unboxing video showing the device, the box and the accessories.

Built quality:

Holding the E71 in the hand you’ll be absolutely blown away. It feels really good in your hand and you will not give this little beast away. Expect the keys, top, button, a little part of the back and the sides everything is made out of really good looking stainless steel. Everything, being the protection for USB, microSD card or the battery cover sit pretty solid and good. Unfortunately, the shiny front and the back really attracts fingerprints like nothing else.

Keys:

Since the E71 is a QWERTY device it has obviously a lot keys. First of all we find under the 2.36” display following keys:

1. Left soft key
2. Right soft key
3. Red-end key
4. Green-answer key
5. Contact key (one-touch-key)
6. Calendar key (one-touch-key)
7. Messaging key (one-touch-key)
8. Home/Menu key
9. Up on the d-pad
10. Down on the d-pad
11. Left on the d-pad
12. Right on the d-pad
13. OK, the middle of the d-pad

Due to the keys are arched they are really good to use, also when they’re looking rather small. They have a clear pressure point and aren’t noisy. Besides this keys you will find the whole compact QWERTY keyboard on the front too. In fact, they are really small and I had really problems using it the first days. However, the more you’re using it the better you will use it. After a while you can write emails or other text really fast and sure.

The one-touch-keys are indeed pretty handy and useful. So you can jump immediately to the calendar or your contacts. But what to do when you don’t use the calendar or contact book? No problem, you can edit the entries and personalize the keys. So you can use the calendar key as the ‘music key’ or ‘clock key’. You can even select two functions for one key ( short and long press).

Multimedia:

The E71 has 110MB internal memory and comes along with an 2GB microSD card which is enough for music, pictures, videos and other data. Of course you can also use other microSD or even microSDHC cards if you need more memory. In the test my 4GB microSDHC card worked without problems and even 16GB cards should work too. E71’s 2.36 ” QVGA ( 240 x 320 pixels) screen displays the 16M colours very well. It’s really bright and you can read it also against sunlight. Looking at the screen you can’t even see a pixel.

Camera:

On the back of the E71 you can find a 3.2 Megapixel camera with autofocus. Next to the camera you can find a little LED and a little mirror for self-portraits. Although the E71 is a business device it still offers a bunch of camera preferences. After you opened the camera-application you can see a toolbar on the right side. In this toolbar you can find a bunch of icons - switching from camera to video mode and back, scene modes, flash mode, self timer, sequence mode, colour tone, white balance, exposure compensation and viewfinder grid.

The icon “scene mode” offers you six pre-defined modes - auto, close-up, portrait, landscape, sports, night, night portrait. Furthermore, you can create your own mode and adjust and keep your favourite settings. So you always have the right mode for a certain moment. The close-up mode for example is the best mode to capture intricate detail of small objects. Unfortunately, the E71 doesn’t has a dedicated camera-key so you have to open up the camera application by using a shortcut or by open it via the menu. As the E71 doesn’t have a camera key, you need to focus by hitting the ”T” key. This works surprisingly well. Here some pictures taken with the E71.