N78 Ships To The States

New York, NY, USA – Starting today, convergence craving consumers across the United States can set their sights on the newest Nokia Nseries device to hit American store shelves, the Nokia N78. Combining advanced mobile features such as integrated A-GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and high-speed HSDPA connectivity on North American 850/1900 MHz networks, the Nokia N78 is perfect for enjoying new Nokia services such as Nokia Maps and Share on Ovi. Along with this full suite of data features, the Nokia N78 has also been engineered for maximum voice and messaging performance as well. Now available through select consumer electronics and wireless retailers, online retailers and at the Nokia Flagship Stores in Chicago and New York, the Nokia N78 retails for approximately USD 560. Specific information on retailers offering the Nokia N78 and other Nseries devices can be found at www.nseries.com.

Comes with Music, but when?

It was about 6 months ago now that Nokia announced comes with Music, but when will it actually come with music? 

The question on my lips at the moment is, what is actually going on with it? When I went to Nokia World in December with WOM it was all people were talking about, and I have to admit I was really quite exited about it. However, shortly after Nokia World finished, it wasnt mentioned again, and hasnt been for a while. Obviously they are still working on it, presumably getting more record labels signed up to it and im actually quite surprised im still looking forward to it. there has been alot of change in the mobile world recently, with the introduction of the new iphone mainly, and one has to think that they are holding out of that.

Another question is, which is still going on, what device will it be released with? Obviously there is the N96, but with that being released in the next month or so, I cant really see it being that, and Nokia haven’t said anything about the N96 “Coming with Music” however the heaps of storage you would think it would be the perfect companion. There are also a lot of rumors floating around about a touch screen Nokia, the first touch screen Symbian phone in fact, the 5800. This would seem like the ultimate iphone “beater” for Nokia, putting the itunes music store to shame with their all you can eat unlimited music, both on the go and at your computer. However, unless this has shedloads of memory like the N96, then who knows what it could be. 

Personally I CANT WAIT for comes with Music. It just seems like the only think around at the moment that could touch itunes music status in the UK, and even the world. One thing is for sure, all the millions of people who use Nokia phones out there downloading their music for free rather then from itunes is going to be a real issue for Apple, both for itunes in general and the iphone. Personally I would like to see the first “comes with Music” phone to be an Nseries. In the recent years all the Nseries devices have been the leaders in technology with Nokia, the N91 with the memory, the N90/93 with the video recording, the N95 with the GPS and 5MP camera, and it would be great for Nokia to continue the run with Nseries and continue to make them to leaders of technology. Personally, i think that we will be hearing some more news from Nokia about Comes with Music over the next 2 or 3 months, even being released sooner then we all expect, but only time will tell.

Nokia E66 Hands On!

Only a few days ago Nokia announced 2 brand new E-Series devices to the world in the E66 slider and the ‘blackberry killer’ E71 both of which are to go on sale in July over here in the UK.  Both phones had specs leaked in the past with some expected photos so it was nice to finally see the 2 new phones officially announced
 

“The Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 were designed for people who lead a mobile lifestyle and want quick and easy access to their personal and work email. With both of these devices, we have responded to consumer feedback by making calendar and contacts available at the touch of a button,”

So imagine my surprise when I walk in the door and there is a package waiting for me containing a Nokia E66 for a 2 week trial!.  This post is to give you my initial impressions after a few days of use and a more detailed full review will follow shortly.
First of all a big thank you to the team over at WOM World for supplying this device for the trial.  The Nokia E66 is a metal cased slider handset with upgraded features from the original E65 which was a big hit last year both Sim Free and with most of the UK networks deciding to include in their range

The new features include

• 3.2 Megapixel camera (with Auto-Focus)
• HSDPA (up to 3.6mb data speeds)
• VGA Camera for video calling (a big feature for me!)
• Premium design casing which makes the phone feel great in the hand

E71 and E66 Announced

Nokia N76 Review

With times changing in the mobile market and manufacturers fighting it out to have the thinnest or lightest phone, straight away you think of the Motorola Razr which has been a huge success worldwide in it’s various formats.

When attending CES I was lucky enough to get my hands on a brand new device from Nokia, the N76 which is a razr thin handset but packing a very impressive version of the Symbian Series 60 operating system which will give it the edge over other thin devices.

The N76 will be available in Black and Red with more designs due over the next few months. Looking at the phone (as seen above) you get a nice sized external colour screen which can be used for incoming calls, any missed calls / texts. it also displays the signal, network and battery life. There are 3 external buttons for music playback so you don’t have to open the phone to play music.

The side buttons are what you would come to expect these days with volume up and down buttons and a dedicated camera button. If pressed you can also use the outer screen as a viewfinder.

On the back of the N76 there is a camera light which to be honest is reasonable but not a patch on the K800 Xenon flash. There is also a 2.0 megapixel camera which also has an auto focus feature for those close detailed shots you might want to get.

Battery life is pretty good with this phone. On reasonable use I got 2 days out of it but when you consider this is a thin 3G phone packing Series 60 and a 2 megapixel camera.

A really good feature of this phone is the very large, bright screen internally. Having a 320×240 QVGA screen showing 16 million colour’s was a real pleasure when viewing photos and video clips. Also don’t forget that the screen is 1 thing you keep looking at no matter if you are sending a message, on the internet or checking emails…. so having such a nice screen in a thin package was very nice. The screen was my favorite part of the phone, it just stood out over all other features for me.

Many people are worried by flip-top phones that it will snap off after a while, and when you look at the N76 you will see that the top is only held on by 2 thin hinges. However don’t worry!!! they are very strong and after using the phone for a week, any worries you have will just vanish. The N76 is a very well built phone. And if you don’t believe me check out the YouTube video here and I have to say before you watch it it is NOT a trick… this REALLY DID happen when I attended CES as I was in the hummer and got out to record the video also (you might even see me there in black shirt and holding a Nokia N93). Now if that’s not a strong phone i don’t know what is!

Overall i had use of the Nokia N76 for 3 weeks and i really enjoyed my time with this amazing handset. Having both a 3 USIM and a T-Mobile SIM with internet on it I was able to install many additional applications to help me day by day. These were applications like Agile Messenger for chatting via MSN to friends or family. I also installed a application called Mobizines which allowed me to download electronic magazines straight onto my phone. Also Widsets which if you have used Vista or a Mac you will think of them as Widgets. Ceafax was a particular favorite of mine being able to check any BBC Ceafax page on my mobile.

There were of course some things I did not like with the N76, with the main problem being the keypad design. I have used a Razr phone before and got on fine with that but there was something about the N76 keypad that just did not agree with me. Now that is more of a personal opinion and there will be many of you who love the keys but I felt it was important to put my view over on the keypad as it was something that i found to disagree with.

Nokia N81 8GB Review

First of all a big thank you to the team at WOM World for letting me loan a review Nokia N81 8GB so quick after it’s official release.

The N81 comes in 2 different formats depending on your price range and what you want your phone for. The basic model offers a small internal memory with a MicroSD memory card slot for adding cards when and if you need them. Then there is the other model which lacks the memory card slot but packs in 8GB of internal flash memory meaning right out of the box you can transfer over 1000’s of your tracks for when you really need them. This is a huge plus for the 8GB model but does come in at a higher cost.

Device with slide open

Ok so a quick overview of the handset. When you look straight on at the N81 8GB there is a lot to get used to with the buttons, so many in such a small space. At the top of the slide you get the video calling camera, the speaker and 2 buttons which are to be used when in gaming mode. You then have the large, bright QVGA screen which is easy to read in sunlight too (another big plus). Now comes the hard part. You have a green (call) and a red (end) button as normal now on Nokia N-Series devices, 2 softkeys, a menu key, cancel key, back, forward, play and stop buttons for the music player, a silver square which can also be used like a scroll wheel like on an iPod, a middle select button and a new ‘Ovi’ key….. phew!. Cutting a long story short that is a huge amount of keys packed into a small space and this can sometimes cause a problem.

Slide the phone and you get a normal traditional keypad layout as you expect. The left side of the device is pretty plain with only a speaker there, the right side has another speaker (for stereo sound), the volume keys and a camera button for 1 touch access to the camera feature. The top has the on/off button, a 3.5mm audio jack for standard headsets and also a slider button to lock the keypad when not being used. And finally on the bottom you have the standard thin Nokia charger and a mini-usb used for the data cable in the box. The back is pretty plain also with a standard 2.0 fixed camera lens and a photo light for slight improvement of shots.

From my personal view there seems to be way too many buttons on this 1 device and this will cause many people to get frustrated very quickly.

Where the N81 8GB seems to excel for me is in the battery life. Using as my only phone I was making about 30mins of calls on average a day, sending 50-60 texts, checking for my emails and using the camera and somehow still managed to get 2 days and a bit battery life. Those of you who read my original N95 review know how bad that battery was so the N81 8GB was a breath of fresh air not having the same worry.

Close-up of the 16 main buttons

Another outstanding feature of this phone was the audio quality when on either speakerphone or on a headset listening to music. Even at top volume the sound was crisp, clear and sounded very good. Plugging in a decent noise cancelling headset was a real joy and brought out the best in the music player. Talking of Music, Nokia have announced a online music store you can access from your N81 to buy tracks and download straight onto your phone. The range is pretty average having just launched and the 80p a track tag is only 1p more than iTunes charge but with many networks offering their own download service whether the Nokia Music Store takes off if yet to be seen.

As I mentioned in the overview, this phone packs a 2 megapixel fixed camera too. Captured images are clear and good contrast but will never be compared to the N73, N95 etc… mainly due to the lack of megapixels and the fact the camera has no auto-focus so images are not as clear. It also lacks the Carl Zeiss lens but this phone was not built for the camera, it is all about the music.

It is true the N81 lacks HSDPA of any sort, however it does make up for this by including 802.11b WiFi internet and with McDonalds now offering free WiFi in their stores there are now even more places to get hooked up to when you need. There is 3G of course on this phone which does it’s normal job and allows for music to be downloaded pretty quick from a network, although the Nokia store over WiFi is defiantly the quickest way. There is Bluetooth 2.0 support also for your connectivity needs which seems to be a standard now.

Side of the device

Nokia also has 1 more trump card to pull out when needed and that is the brand new N-Gage platform they are working on with many devices from the N95 to the N82 but this also includes the N81 both normal and 8GB models. Do you remember the original N-Gage platform?.. What can only be described as a cornish pasty shaped device that was not practical for using as a mobile at all, games that had to be bought on memory cards and put in UNDER the battery meaning a reboot was needed to change games, slow data speeds at only 2.5G and the games were not cheap either often costing around £20 a time. And then of course you have to carry them around with you!. Not ideal but at the time was a near ground-breaking device (and I admit I owned 1). Then came the N-Gage QD which fixed the memory swapping problem and the pasty look but everything else was a problem.

Now Nokia have their eyes on the gaming market by building in great 3D graphics into their latest phones and allowing N-Gage downloads. Games get downloaded over the air using either WiFi or your 3G connection and get saved straight onto your phone. These 3D games include Fifa 2008 which is very addictive and on the N81 due to the stereo speakers the sound quality is really cutting edge.

N-Gage is due to go live in December as a download on latest phones but until then there are some demo games available for free to give you a small taste of what to expect. I tried 3 games and think once this service launches the N81 will be even better than it is now with nearly unlimited possibilities.

The 2 megapixel camera

I have been using the Nokia N81 as my only handset to really test how good it is and have had mixed results.

After using the Nokia N95, my last N-Series device I was let down with it’s very poor battery life. However it was not the same case with the N81 and I found this phone to have an outstanding battery life. With average call use, email and texting I got at least 2 days of of the battery when I would then top it up just to make sure it does not run out when I need it most. Another great feature was the graphics used on the N-Gage games which were very addictive and a great way to use any spare time. Without doubt the feature I was most impressed with was the music player & speakers. I have never heard audio so clear from a mobile phone and at times with the right music it was better than an Apple iPod it was that clear!. Great work from Nokia.

However the biggest letdown of this phone is the amount of buttons under the screen. 16 in total to be exact which is way too many for such a small area. It was also disappointing that the phone felt too plasticy and some of the buttons made a horrible clicking noise when pressing them (not to mention the rattle in the phone). If these were addressed and Nokia threw in HSDPA for good measure the N81 8GB would be 1 of the best phones on the market and a sure iPhone beater but these small yet nagging issues effect what could have been a great Nokia device.

Anyone want to place bets on a N81i?

Nokia N95 8GB Review

Nokia also has 1 more trump card to pull out when needed and that is the brand new N-Gage platform they are working on with many devices from the N95 to the N82 but this also includes the N81 both normal and 8GB models. Do you remember the original N-Gage platform?.. What can only be described as a cornish pasty shaped device that was not practical for using as a mobile at all, games that had to be bought on memory cards and put in UNDER the battery meaning a reboot was needed to change games, slow data speeds at only 2.5G and the games were not cheap either often costing around £20 a time. And then of course you have to carry them around with you!. Not ideal but at the time was a near ground-breaking device (and I admit I owned 1). Then came the N-Gage QD which fixed the memory swapping problem and the pasty look but everything else was a problem.

N-Gage is now live in Beta Stage for the N81 8GB and is expected to be available on the N95 8GB within a few months as a free download direct to the handset so be sure to keen an eye out for that.

Will the iphone 3G be the Biggest N96 competitor?

Now we have seen the launch of the iphone 3G, the whole process of “Which phone is better?” begins. The same thing happened a year ago with the N95 and the iphone, and I can see it re-occurring with the iphone 3G and the N96. Although the iphone has now taken a huge leap closer with the iphone 3G, it still leaves one wondering, how good will it actually be compared to the N96?

It now sports things like HSDPA and GPS, but, Apple still say they have listened to the public with 3G, GPS, however they still don’t seem to see what is important to people. For instance, they have completely ignored the Bluetooth issue in the iphone, and instead gone and made the calculator “Scientific” which lets be honest, not a huge amount of people care about. MMS is another example, it still doesn’t have the function to send pictures, only Via email, which doesn’t really appeal to the majority of the public. I for one very rarely send photos by email and I dont really know anyone who does in their day to day lives. Yet, they havent looked at this. Instead of taking the time to develop MMS, they have made it “Easier and Better” to send photos via email by letting you save them! WOW, thats something ive always wanted to do? Wait, wanted to do that? I can already do that on the PC!

Although I do like the iphone, it does slightly annoy me how people cant seem to see how Apple are TELLING people want they want, rather then LISTENING to what they want. When 

was the last time you sat there and looked at your N82 or N95 and thought “wow, I wish it had that!”? I dont know about you, but I never have.

Can I see myself getting a iphone 3G over a N96? Only time will tell, but one thing for sure is the ONLY reason I would get one is for the internet browser. I own an ipod touch at the moment, and I do love it, but has it got enough substance to be my phone? I don’t think so. I get irritated with the keypad, especially since im a big texter. One think that would certainly annoy me is the lack of Bluetooth. I use Bluetooth alot of the time, in fact every time I drive anywhere I use the Bluetooth, and to not be able to have the freedom of streaming music to my car stereo from my phone, which the iphone wont be able to do, as it doesnt support A2DP, which pretty much all of Nokia High end (Nseries and Eseries) devices can handle.

We will see on the 11th, and when the N96 comes out, which one will win the battle, but the real war will really begin when Symbian touch is released. Bring it on!

Welcome to the World of Nokia!

Welcome to the newest Nokia related website on the web! World Of Nokia is part of the ever growing online community which is dedicated to Nokia devices and services which is also ever growing! Our aim here at World of Nokia is to bring you the latest news, reviews, rumors and gossip from the world of Nokia, but the main thing is to remain impartial. 

The creators Dan Carter and Myself, Christian Haslam, both have years of experience running various websites, blogs and forums, so we hope to give you the best possible experience. We are always open to suggestions, and can be contacted anytime at either daniel@worldofnokia.co.uk or chaslam@worldofnokia.co.uk. 

Thanks, 

Chaslam

Nokia N96 Advert

Here is the advert for the soon to be released Nokia N96.  This advert was 1st shown at Mobile World Congress where the N96 was announced to the world

The OVI Experience

At Mobile World Congress OVI was a huge part of the lineup which is quite strange as OVI is not a device, it is a service on a range of handsets.  Since then I have been using the Photo Share part of OVI to be able to share live event photos with other people and also to backup all my old photos just incase my computer decided to crash on me.

Below is a brief video from YouTube about what OVI is and does and please be sure to check back in a few days when I publish an article on how OVI can help you share your life with friends and family around the world

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