A new book on S60 phones From the brief description, it doesn't seem like there's a lot here that I don't know, but I might have to get it just for curiousity's sake.  ¶ 8:07 AM 0 comments

  Rebranded Series 60 website As All About Symbian pointed out, the Series 60 website has gotten a nice facelift. I agree with AAS: this is clearly an attempt to develop a known consumer brand.

One new feature: the Series 60, I mean s60, quiz.  ¶ 7:56 AM 0 comments

  6282: first sign of US UMTS phone No, it's not a Series 60, but it's still darn exciting that UMTS in the US is seemingly just around the corner. Props to Symplification for uncovering this one.  ¶ 1:27 PM 0 comments

  Nokia push email is on its way for Symbian Devices   ¶ 7:59 AM 0 comments

  Father of Symbian speaks In an Electronic Engineering Times interview. A lot of interesting thoughts on the Symbian OS and the future of technology.  ¶ 7:52 PM 0 comments

  Canalys: S60 selling big, 6600 still shipping! Canalys released a report today on Q3 smartphone shipments. Of note: "Nokia maintained its huge lead, with year-on-year growth of 142% being almost twice the market average. Particularly successful were its 3G Symbian Series 60 based smart phones, including the Nokia 6680, 6630, N90 and N70, but older devices, such as the 6600, continued to contribute to shipments, particularly in developing regions. Nokia's overall global market share position remains supported by its strength in EMEA, which Canalys estimates accounted for just under 70% of the vendor's smart phone shipments in Q3."  ¶ 7:29 PM 0 comments

  N71? Nokia is killing me with all these phones. A nice brushed aluminum flip that wasn't grotesquely large could be a massively huge seller for them. The kind of thing that could make me switch to Cingular when they roll out their UMTS network if they were to get this phone(did I really say that?).  ¶ 8:33 PM 0 comments

  6630 love Great post by _Karim on Mobile Review forums about why the 6630 is perfect. Close, but no cigar, but neither is the 6681.  ¶ 8:29 PM 0 comments

  Gsmarena's N70 review is up Wow. I love this website and their reviews are always spot on. Get a load of this: "According to our test results, (N70) is also the best current mobile phone in the world. (Note: MobilMania has a complicated system for phone evaluation by assigning a rating in percents in eleven categories and then calculating the average rating. Nokia N70 is currently in the first place by rank from more than 200 evaluated handsets)." How long can I realistically hold out??  ¶ 8:03 PM 0 comments

  CommWarrior not a significant issue Here's finally some quantification of the seriousness of the S60 CommWarrior virus issue... 200 messages per day. No biggie imo, given the universe of issues users might face.  ¶ 9:23 AM 0 comments

  Nokia N70-5 gets FCC approval The non-UMTS version does exist, says Uncle Sam @ the FCC. Being someone who really hates the ugly front camera of the 6680 and the N70-1, I say amen.

(Credit to Phonearena.com)  ¶ 3:47 PM 0 comments

  6630 and 668X to the rescue Two S60 phones are a big seller for Nokia, according to this article.  ¶ 8:03 AM 0 comments

  Good + Series 60 = happiness This is definitely the best thing about the E series - compatibility with Good. I have been stuck using a Blackberry 850 (so old someone just asked me if I won it in a Cracker Jack box) as my work data device because the only alternative was a Treo or a windows mobile device. Now I can have a nice Nokia device and have work pay for it.  ¶ 7:24 PM 0 comments

  N80 to be announced in Barcelona Nov. 2?
A new article in Fortune indicates that Nokia will be rolling out the N80 "next month" in Barcelona. Given there is a developer's conference coming up on Nov 2 in Barcelona, that's my guess for when we will see this "transformer-like N series" phone "featuring high-quality video and music capability will be announced.

(photo of rumored N80 originally published last month in Ubergizmo)  ¶ 10:27 AM 1 comments

  N90 and N70 video quality While some of the still pictures from the Nokia N90 are underimpressive (not consistently better than the Sony Ericsson K750i), the video I've seen is amazing. Here's a very funny ad for the N90 that claims to use video from the phone; here's a blog post from Blazers4ever showing terrific video - clear with no stutters or significant distortion.  ¶ 5:21 PM 0 comments

  Unbranded 6682 available again on Nokiausa.com They yanked the phone off the site to give Cingular a brief exclusive, but you are now able to order an unbranded 6682 for $499 from Nokia's US site as a non-Cingular subscriber.  ¶ 12:53 PM 0 comments

  My Nokia 6681 Review
Given the news this week of the E series phones, I really feel like a throwback writing about a Nokia 6681, which is so yesterday's news. But I followed my own advice, which is wait three months or one firmware update until buying a new Series 60 phone to let other people discover the bugs and kinks. As this phone was released in spring, it was definitely time to take the jump from my Nokia 6630.

These phones are very similar except for three areas: flash, form/slider, keypad, and active standby.

Flash: the flash is an excellent addition- it allows you to take serviceable photos in total darkness, and may help you while shooting in low light conditions where night mode just leaves you with a grainy mess. However, sometimes use of flash in mid-level conditions, such as under incandescent lighting indoors, will lead to an overexposed, bright yellow coloration of the photo. I think this varies by situation, and you just have to try using the flash setting in various conditions to see what works for you. But the bottom line is that it is a very useful feature. Here are three photos: no light, regular mode, no light, night mode, and no light, flash:





Form/slider: The physical form of the phone is excellent. I find it fits better in my hand than the 6630, and I get a better grip on the phone while talking (I've dropped my 6630 several times, and I'm convinced the shape has something to do with it). The sliding door is definitely on the flimsy side -- it is plastic and is not a tight fit when in the closed position. If you are a 10 on the obsessive compulsive scale when it comes to solid feeling phones, you probably won't like it. But I'm a seven and can deal with it. If Nokia had made this phone with an aluminum case, they would have solved this problem. But it does keep lint and other dirt off the lens (my exposed 6630 lens would get pretty skanky from day to day usage). Unlike others, I've never had the slider open up in my pocket -- it requires a little more resistance than the normal sliding around in a pants pocket to open it up. The functionality of the slider is excellent -- you open it up and the camera application almost instantly appears on the screen.

Keypad: I had a rough time with the 6630 keypad. I'm a fast T9 tapper but often hit the wrong keys on the 6630. I have normal size hands - not a fat fingered type. I found myself missing the keys on the 7610, which were firm plastic with a decent amount of resistance. The 6681 keypad is much like the 7610 in terms of tactile feel, but obviously laid out in a normal display. I like it much more than the 6630's keypad; I find I can type a lot faster and more accurately with the 6681 than the 6630; it's better than two of my other fave keypads, the 6600 and the 6310. Of course, do a search on Howard Forums and you'll find people who will differ.

Active standby: I'm just getting used to having a start page that has five icons for programs at the top, and your next appointments from calendar below that, and a list of uncompleted to dos below that. But it definitely presents greater ability to customize the look of your phone and it is a net plus.

Other comparisons 6681/6630:
- The signal strength is on par, maybe a bit better, than the 6630 and significantly better than the 6600; maybe almost as good as my 3650.
- The earpiece sound is very good -- cleaner than the 6630, but not quite as loud, though loud enough.
- The round directional pad is the best I've used on a S60 phone.
- Receiving call quality: there is tonal improvement over the 6630 -- callers sound less tinny to me.
- Sending call quality: sounds similar to the 6630 when I leave a recording on my work voicemail, potentially a little louder than the 6630.
- The picture quality: outdoors seems slightly better with the 6681 over the 6630. Sharper and slightly better colors, and night mode gives off less noise on the 6681.

Rating:
6681: 4.75/5. If the slider was tightly fitted to prevent any wiggle, it would have been a 5. Flash, lens protection, and keypad make it a worthy upgrade from the 6630, which remains an excellent phone in its own right. Advice for new buyers: for $40 US more, it's worth going for the 6681 over the 6630. For current 6630 owners: you won't regret the upgrade, but if you are cost conscious, try and hold out for the E70, which will give you wifi, 2mb camera, and a qwerty keyboard. For all other Series 60 owners pre-6630, go for it!  ¶ 10:57 AM 0 comments

  Three new Series 60 Devices!
This is news. A traditional phone, a blackberry-like qwerty device, and a fold out keyboard running S60 instead of S40. All with wifi. And compatibility with Good email, finally. The Nokia innovation train rolls on! Release date is 1Q '06, meaning likely talking end of March - almost six months away. Glad I bought a 6681 to tide me over...

Press release

Photos

E60 specs(triband, edge, 3g, no camera, 30 meg internal memory)

E61 specs(quadband, edge, 3g, no camera, blackberry-style qwerty keyboard, 75 meg internal memory)

E70 specs(triband, edge, 3g, 2mp camera, fold out keyboard, 75 meg internal memory)  ¶ 5:41 AM 0 comments