Posted by Scott Laird
Wed, 15 Mar 2006 18:53:23 GMT
It looks like the Nokia E-series phones are going to ship in Europe within the next couple weeks. It’s not clear when they’ll ship in the US, but it won’t be this month. Probably May or June.
I’m still planning on picking up either a N80 or an E70 as soon as they’re available in the US. It looks like they’ll be able to take 2 GB flash cards, and that pushes my earlier favorite, the N91, out of the competition. The N91’s 4 GB hard drive made it really attractive in a world of 512MB flash cards, but its lower-resolution screen and months of delays make it a lot less attractive then the newer N80 and E70 designs. Frankly, I just wish that one of them would ship–my T616 is getting really long in the tooth, and I’m getting fed up with the Palm T|X that I’ve been using for months.
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokian80, phones | 3 comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Mon, 06 Feb 2006 20:23:00 GMT
The FCC was polite enough to post the users manual for Nokia’s upcoming E70 phone on their web site, and it makes for fascinating reading. The manual doesn’t go into a lot of details about features, but there are a few fun tidbits hiding in there. First, the phone clearly supports SIP-based VoIP services. There’s a SIP configuration section in the setup menus. The manual explicitly states that the phone will attempt to make 911 calls via the cellular network whenever possible; I’m not sure what this implies about other calls–is there a way to explicitly choose which network is used for each call, or is it implicit somehow?
Surprisingly, the N80’s manual also lists a section for configuring SIP settings, but I didn’t see any details in the manual on actually making SIP calls.
Page 67 has another surprise: the phone includes an RSS reader of some sort. The manual explains how to subscribe to blog feeds.
There are a few more E70 documents on the FCC’s website, including internal and external pictures.
My current phone contract has expired, and I’m just waiting for the right phone to come along. I’ve been tempted to order a 6682 and be done with it, but the N80, N91, and E70 are all approved by the FCC now, and I’d be much happier with any of them then I’d be with the 6682, so I’m willing to wait another month or two. A couple shopping sites online claim that the N80 will ship at the end of February, but I don’t know how believable they are. No matter how you slice it, though, the US models of these three phones are getting closer, and Nokia is clearly making an effort to promote them in the US market.
Mind you, I doubt that T-Mobile or Cingular will actually be shipping any of these phones any time in the next month or two (or three, or four).
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokian80, nokian91, phones | 15 comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Fri, 18 Nov 2005 20:58:00 GMT
It looks like the Nokia N90. Ritz is going to be the first US dealer with it–it’s a high-end cameraphone, so apparently it goes to the camera stores first. Ritz will be selling it for around $400 with activation. That’s cheaper then expected–I heard rumors that the N90 would be in the $700+ range, even with activation. I’m still waiting for the N91 or E70, but I’m feeling a bit better about them. If Nokia can get the N90 into US consumers’ hands in a reasonable timeframe, maybe the other two won’t be too far behind.
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokian90, phone | no comments
Posted by Scott Laird
Wed, 12 Oct 2005 16:43:00 GMT
Nokia announced a new block of phones today: the E60, E61, and E70. Unlike the earlier (and still pending) N-series, these are aimed towards corporate users. All three run Series 60 3rd edition and include 802.11g and Bluetooth. They also come with a SIP client so they can interact with business VoIP systems. The low-end model, the E60 is yet another Series 60 candybar phone, like the 6682 and N70, but with WiFi. The E61 is a Blackberry-like model with a QWERTY keyboard and landscape display. Finally, the E70 is a “handlebar” style phone that flips open to reveal a keyboard, half on the left side of the display and half on the right.
After playing with the Nokia 6682 and 9300 yesterday, I’m starting to think that a keyboard would be really nice. I might actually be more interested in the E70 then the N91. Here’s how they compare:
Same:
- 802.11g, bluetooth, 3G
- Series 60, 3rd edition
- 2 MP camera
- Scheduled for 1Q 2006 release
- Similar sizes: (N91: 113.1x55.2x22, E70: 117x53x22)
N91’s favor:
- 4 GB hard drive
- 3.5mm headphone jack
E70’s favor:
- built-in SIP client (might be on N91 also)
- high-res display (352x416, 4x the pixel count)
- QWERTY keyboard
- miniSD slot (1 GB for $75, partially counters the HD on the N91)
- lighter (127g vs 160g)
I’m not sure if the E70 includes the video player that comes on the N91. It’s possible that it includes a 3.5mm headphone jack–the specs list a MP3/AAC player application. The pricing rumors that I’ve seen put the whole E-series around €500 or so, which means that they may actually be cheaper then the N91.
Of course, availability is the key. The N91 was announced months ago, while the E70 is new. However, the E70 isn’t quite as innovative as the N91, so there’s a chance that they’ll arrive on the market (in Europe at least) in a similar timeframe. I have no idea which one will make it through the FCC first. I’m not particularly concerned about US carriers carrying the phone, now that Nokia is selling directly to US consumers. With any luck, our local Nokia demo kiosk will have both and I’ll be able to compare them in person.
Tags nokia, nokiae70, nokiaeseries, nokian91, phones | 7 comments
