Quick Review - Nokia E6

I bought this phone, right after it was launched (July 2011). This is one decision that i donot regret.

Pros -
1)Superb battery life (especially when compared to any Windows phone or any Android device or for that matter any Blackberry device)-easily lasts through a day with very heavy usage (approx 4 hours on calls, 2 hours 3g internet usage, whatsapp-24x7, continuous emails, etc) and would stretch for 2 days (48hours) on medium usage
2)Superb touch screen with qwerty keypad (No other touch & type phone comes even close, Black Berry 9900 is good, but then lacks FM and TV out, Blackberry 9790 is a poorly built handset which can set one back by 24,000 INR and still give you a 5 megapixel camera with no tv out and a plastic body)
3)One of the brightest screens - easy legibility even in sunlight
4)High Resolution Screen - 640 x 480 pixel resolution (higher pixel density than iphone4)
5)Mail for Exchange - default mail client is superb - easily syncs Microsoft Exchange server emails in corporate setup and setting up Gmail/Yahoo works like a charm
6) Ability to set up upto 10 email accounts - unmatched
7)Great build quality-all metal body
8)Decent 8 MP Camera which can record HD (720p) videos @ 25fps
9)Symbian Anna pre-loaded to be replaced by Nokia Belle (amazing UI upgrade, with promise of performance boost) by Feb 8th 2012 will make it even better

Cons -
1)Screen could have been bigger, probably on the lines of Black Berry 9900
2)Symbian Anna-current OS has a lot of glitches
3)Fewer apps because of high resolution display

Go for this phone if you are a heavy texter/office-email receiver-sender/social network updater. Superb value for money and will easily last a long time.

You can find the User guide here:

• Nokia E6-00 User Guide (3.36 MB)

Support downloads

• Nokia Suite (101 MB ) Nokia Suite is a free software that connects your Nokia phone and Windows PC, and helps you transfer content between the two. With Nokia Suite you can use your PC to get software updates for your phone, back up your data, get new street maps and synchronise your music, photos and contacts. Compatible with PC Windows 8, 7, Vista, or XP. The application is multilingual.
• BBC iPlayer licence plugin (12 KB ) Catch up on your favourite BBC programmes: download the BBC iPlayer Licence plugin.
• Microsoft® Apps user guide  (318.0 KB ) Microsoft® Apps brings business apps such as Lync and Office Mobile to your phone. Get the user guide in PDF format.
• iSync for Mac OS (249 KB ) Mac user? Download the iSync plugin to sync your calendar and contacts.

 I dont knonw if we will see a QWERTY from Nokia again. It does seem like a dying proposition. I swear by a physical QWERTY and nothing can replace that.

BBM for Android and iPhone – will it affect BB sales?

I wonder how soundly thought the strategy of launching BBM (Black Berry Messenger) on non BB phones is. Apart from the few remaining BB loyalists (like me) who swear by a type phone with a physical QWERTY keypad, most of the others have already moved on to either an android phone or an iPhone or a Windows phone or to anything but a Blackberry.

In today’s less than ideal world there are few of us who are still deciding on whether to move on from BB. For such people one sticky factor apart from the keyboard is BBM and the tons of groups and friend lists one has made. Isn’t launching BBM on other phone platforms equal to showing the path to walk on for most undecided BB users as well as few BB loyalists?

I understand that for BB ‘services’ such as BBM will be a big business driver. Also with the launch of numerous similar messaging platforms especially WhatsApp, WeChat, etc and their growing popularity does signify future challenge for the BBM’s. However, since such ‘services’ revenue is very small for BB;It ,may have chosen to ignore that. In this case BB has not ignored it. I can only speculate that it will lead to more people moving away from BB platform to others.

Lets see what happens!

Largest Nokia Lumia phone yet – the Lumia 625 gets launched

So after a lot of leaks and predictions Nokia eventually unveils Lumia 625 in a recent event. Here are the specifications:

Specifications

• Dimensions
• Height: 133.2 mm
• Width: 72.2 mm
• Thickness²: 9.2 mm
• Weight: 159 g
• Volume: 87.6 cm³
• Display and User Interface

• Display size: 4.7 ''
• Display resolution: WVGA (800 x 480) 
• Display features: Brightness control, Curved display, High brightness mode, Color boosting, Refresh rate 60 Hz, Corning® Gorilla® Glass 2, Lumia Color profile, Wide viewing angle, Sunlight readability enhancements
• Display colors: TrueColor (24-bit/16M) 
• Aspect ratio: 15:9 
• Pixel density: 201 ppi
• Display technology: IPS LCD 
• Touch screen technology: Super sensitive touch 
• Sensors: Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, Proximity sensor
• FM Radio
• Photography
• Main camera sensor: 5 MP 
• Flash type: LED flash 
• Main camera focus type: Auto focus with two-stage capture key 
• Camera digital zoom: 4 x
• Secondary Camera
• Video
• 1080p (Full HD, 1920 x 1080) @ 30 fps
• Power management
• Battery capacity: 2000 mAh
• Maximum 2G talk time: 23.9 h
• Maximum 3G talk time: 15.2 h
• Music playback time: 90 h
• Maximum Wi-Fi network browsing time: 8.7 h
• Processor
• Processor name: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 
• Processor type: Dual-core 1.2Ghz 
• Memory
• User data storage: In device, Memory card, SkyDrive cloud storage
• RAM: 512 MB 
• Mass memory: 8 GB 
• Expandable memory card type: MicroSD 
• Maximum memory card size: 64 GB 
• Free cloud storage: 7 GB

Powered by the latest version of Windows Phone 8 and including the Nokia Lumia Amber update, the Nokia Lumia 625 delivers a richer and easier to use smartphone experience at a competitive price. Live Tiles update direct to the home screen, and People Hub makes it easy to stay connected with friends and family. Windows Phone 8 also includes Xbox Live, Microsoft Office, and 7GB of online SkyDrive storage to simply make life easier.

The Nokia Lumia 625also provides many innovations found in the recently announced flagship Nokia Lumia 1020. These include a range of integrated camera applications like Nokia Smart Camera, offering handy features like removing unwanted objects from pictures, and Nokia Cinemagraph, which turns photos into living memories with added movement.

The Nokia Lumia 625will be available in a range of colours including orange, yellow, bright green, white and black with an array of changeable shells enabling easy personalisation. With an estimated retail price of 220 Euros before taxes and subsidies, the Nokia Lumia 625 is planned to begin selling in China, Europe, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East, Africa and Latin America in Q3 2013.

These specs do look impressive. However, in a market like India, pricing is going to be critical. Whether this gets prices lower than Nokia 820 and higher than 720 will determine its success as a phone in India. Your turn Nokia, we are watching.

About Nokia
Nokia is a global leader in mobile communications whose products have become an integral part of the lives of people around the world. Every day, more than 1.3 billion people use their Nokia to capture and share experiences, access information, find their way or simply to speak to one another. Nokia's technological and design innovations have made its brand one of the most recognized in the world. For more information, visit http://www.nokia.com/about-nokia.

Nokia Teases “Big” Announcement for Tomorrow 23rd July 2013

This is as per the “Nokia Conversations” link which says “Something BIG landing here tomorrow”.

 

Source: Nokia

Speculations are rife that it may be a Nokia phablet. However, nothing can be said for sure. Some speculate it may be an ‘Asha’ range of breakthrough device, while others hope it is a revolutionary app, still others point to the possibility of a product roadmap.

The image on Nokia’s website is ‘Orange’ in color. Is it something to be launched together with ‘Orange Telecom’?  Let us wait and watch this space and see what Nokia wants to create the buzz for.