Nokia has announced three new Symbian-based smartphones models including a new model of its popular Communicator device it claims was the worlds’s first smartphone.
Two of the new models – the Nokia C6 and Nokia C7 – are pure touchscreen models, while the third has a slide-out keyboard. All three run on the newest version of the Symbian mobile operating system which Nokia says has been rewritten to be “faster, easier to use, more efficient and more developer friendly”.
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The Nokia C6 is a “compact” 8Mp cameraphone with a 3.5in AMOLED touchscreen and a CBD – ClearBlack Display. Nokia’s answer to the high-resolution screen of the Apple iPhone 4 or perhaps the AMOLED display on the Samsung Galaxy S, Vanjoka says the CBD screen marks out the Nokia C6 as a “premium touchscreen” model.
Nokia executive vice-president and general manager mobile solutions Anssi Vanjoka said the ClearBlack Display offers a higher-than-standard contrast and has a polarising filter that cuts out the reflections that interfere with legibility. As a result, it is more suited than most smartphones for use outdoors. Vanjoka described the screen as having “blacks blacker than black” and said one of the results was that the screen drew less power than it would otherwise require, making the display “green as well as black”.
Specifications of the Nokia C6 include quad-band WCDMA, GSM and Edge connectivity, Symbian 3 operating system, 340MB internal memory and the ability to accept microSD cards up to 32GB. The 131g (with battery) 3G smartphone can capture 720p video footage as well as 8Mp still photos and display them on its 640×360-pixel capacitive touchscreen. Flash and 2x digital zoom are included in the camera setup. Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, assisted GPS and Nokia Ovi Services are included with all the new Nokia models.
The Nokia C7 was the next smartphone to be announced. Also fitted with an 8Mp camera and Ovi Services, the Nokia C7 is “the slim one” in the new Nokia line-up. It has a stainless steel body and is designed for effortless photo sharing. Despite this, it has a slighter smaller AMOLED display than its C6 sibling, at 3.2in. The 8GB device can also accept 32GB microSD cards – ideal for storing video shot at either 25 or 30 frames per second.
The third and final new model announced at Nokia World 2010 is an overhauled version of the Nokia Communicator. The Nokia Communicator 9000 launched in 1996 and was the first mobile phone with a full slide-out Qwerty keyboard. In 2007 Nokia launched the Communicator E90. The new Nokia Communicator E7 is a 4in touchscreen model with an angled display. Vanjoka delightedly acknowledged “it’s big”, before going on to tout its “sleek, anodised aluminium casing” and its support for “real multitasking.”
The Nokia Communicator E7 was shown running 25 apps at once at today’s launch event. The device is a business-grade smartphone that supports Microsoft Exchange Server and other secure email platforms. It is intended for mobile workers to be able to access their documents and to read and edit them “on the go”. PowerPoint was cited as one of the Office applications that will be supported on the E7.
In addition to launching the three new handsets, Nokia executive vice-president markets Niklas Savander announced that the previously announced Nokia N8 is now available in selected territories and will be offered by more than 100 operators globally. In the UK the Nokia N8 is already being offered for preorder by Vodafone.
The Nokia N8 is a 12Mp cameraphone that Nokia says is the best of its kind. Primed with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash, the N8 is also an impressive video player and entertainment smartphone. Attendees at Nokia World 2010 in London were shown a trailer of the forthcoming Tron Legacy movie on the Excel conference centre’s vast keynote screen that was played directly off the Nokia N8 and connected to the screen via a standard HDMI cable.
However, Nokia disappointed some of the 3000-strong attendee list at this week’s Nokia World 2010 developer event in London by having no news to share on the much-anticipated Meego tablet. Instead, Nokia fans were told to expect further announcements about Meego before the end of the year.
Source: PC Advisor