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Nokia at MWC 2009

Earlier today Nokia unleashed some of their new products and services, and I’d say it was a very, very cautious presentation with only a couple of fresh E-series devices, a bunch of other phones and OVI store.

Nokia E55

This smartphone boasts an “extended” keypad, while housed in a pretty much standard candybar form-factor and retailing for a very modest 265 Euro. However it seems the E55 won’t be available in Russia, as it’s aimed to take on Blackberry and the likes, although would hold true for any other Eseries-branded device. One of the E55’s distinctive features is its quirky keypad that bears some resemblance to the Sony Ericsson M600 and Blackberry Pearl; the difference is that the Nokia E55 doesn’t employ rocker-like buttons, here you only need to press a button one or twice depending on what specific letter you need. While I feel compelled to mention that the E55 supports Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, these two features aren’t something out of the ordinary these days. On top of all it packs in Nokia’s trademark navigation software with a free three-month subscription plan. The rest of its feature pack is completely standard.

S60 3rd edition software

While it’s pretty thin at around 10 mm, the E55 is quite tall, mainly because of its 2.4-inch display. As far as other bits and pieces go, it boats dual microphone setup that makes for crystal clear calls even in the loudest environments, also there is a 3 MP camera onboard.

Nokia E75

There shouldn’t be much you don’t know about this phone by now – we even have a review of its music-centric edition (the 5730 XpressMusic), so you might want to read it as well to get a better idea of what the E75 is capable off.

First look at Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

So, the E75 is pretty pocket-friendly side-slider that comes with a pair of stereo headphones and a remote control in the box, which something new for the Eseries, since it’s a bunch of business-minded phones in the first place. Although the latter doesn’t hold true anymore, as the recently released E71 made it clear that even phones of this class can be fashion-conscious and even be as good at playing music as Nokia’s own XpressMusic range. Here is a run-down of the E75’s specs:

Cellular module: GSM/EGSM 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz; WCDMA 850/1900/2100 Mhz or WCDMA 900/1900/2100 Mhz
Size: 111,8x50x14,4 mm
Weight: 139g
Platform: S60
Displayй: 2.4-inch TFT, 320x240 pixel resolution, capable of up to 16 mln colors
Battery: 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery
Camera: 3.2 MP with autofocus, VGA video recording
Connectivity: HSDPA class 6 (up to 3.6Mbits), WLAN (IEEE 802.11b/g), EGPRS multislot class 32, High-Speed micro USB 2.0, Bluetooth v2.0+EDR (including A2DP profile), 3.5 mm audio jack
Multimedia: music player, FM radio
A-GPS support
microSD memory card slot
Bundled VPN client

As you’ve probably noticed, it packs in a standard 3.5 mm audio jack along with FM radio, which aren’t the features that previous Eseries-branded smartphones were known for. I, for one, think that it’s a pretty neat phone with a fairly usable QWERTY keyboard (learn more about it in our review). Naturally, it doesn’t have any frills in its design, unlike the E75.

Both the E55 and E75 support N-gage, and this prompts the question – please, can someone from Nokia stand up and explain in all detail how Nseries phones differ from the Eseries now? Apart from camera resolution.

Nokia 6710 Navigator and Nokia 6720 classic

Personally, I liked the 6720 Classic better, primarily because of its no-nonsense, yet more elaborated design, and especially its brown color scheme. Maybe that’s due to the fact that I’m getting tired of snazzy designs, and the 6720 Classic is a nice change of pace on this front, as it looks exactly like a phone and nothing else. While it doesn’t look like much, it’s powered by S60 3rd edition, plus it houses a 5 MP camera and N-Gage, along with Nokia Maps 3.0, HSDPA and dual microphone setup for crystal clear calls. And it's more than affordable at 245 Euro.

As for the Nokia 6710 Navigator, it delivers exactly what you’d expect from a Nokia-branded navigation-savvy device, plus it comes boxed with a car cradle. Below is its brief spec sheet:

Cellular module: GSM/GPRS/EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 Mhz), WCDMA/HSDPA (900/1900/2100 Mhz)
User Interface: Symbian S60 3rd Edition
Display: 2.6 inches, 320 x 240 pixels, 16 mln colors
Camera: 5 MP, autofocus, Dual flash, Carl Zeiss lens
Bundled memory: 50 Mb
Memory expansion slot: microSDHC
A-GPS
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
microUSB 2.0
FM-radio with RDS
3.5 mm audio jack
Wi-Fi (802.11b/g)
Talk time: up to 4.5 hours in GSM networks, up to 7.5 hours in WCDMA networks
Standby time: up to 18.5 days in GSM networks, up to 18.5 days in WCDMA networks
Video player time: up to 8 hours
Music time: up to 25 hours
In-car navigation: up to 6.6 hours
Pedestrian navigation: up to 12.6 hours
Size: 104.8 x 50.1 x 14.9 mm
Weight: 117 grams

As Nokia claim in the official press-release, it’ll retail for 300 Euro or so, but if that’ll be the case, the 6710 Navigator will appeal only to a very narrow market segment, even though it looks much better than its predecessors.

Nokia 6700 classic

Ovi Store

I do hope that Eldar will find a minute or two to give us a lowdown on how Ovi Store is going to work, because the press-release we got our hands on is pretty dry, yet the idea behind this store is extremely far-reaching. As far as I understand, you won’t have to browse all its sections to find what you need – instead it’ll offer you the content you might want depending on your current location and previous orders, and even what your friends bought a while ago. This actually allows for a totally different level of categorization and flexibility of the search engine. For example, their AppStore has thousands apps on offer, but how can you pick exactly what you need? Say, you’ve just landed in Barcelona, so the Store will suggest that you buy a local guide, music from the tops of local charts, video tours etc. Or, you can opt to trust the choices of your friends and try out the same applications/content and see how it works out for you.