AT&T to launch the Nokia E71

AT&T is going to launch the E71 smartphone from Nokia, as the E71x, according to Boy Genius Report. The phone which is direct competitor to the Blackberry comes with a full QWERTY keyboard, like the current versions of the Blackberry. The phone is rumored to cost around $150 with 2-year contract.

Nokia E63 sighted in the wild

Last week at the Symbian Smartphone Show in London, there was the first sighting of Nokia’s E63 smartphone. At first blush, it looks just like the E71. However, E63 is different from E71 in several respect. First of the E63 is thicker than E71. Second, it does not have a front camera for video calls. And also it has an all-plastic body instead of the metal one.

The E63 will come in three flavors: E63-1 for Europe, E63-2 with more memory and no camera potentially, and E63-3 for Americas. Here are the detailed specs as currently known:

• GSM and GPRS + EDGE
• UMTS + HSDPA
• Display: 240 x 320 Pixel, 18bit
• Camera: At least 2MP. No Front Camera.
• WLAN
• Bluetooth
• Symbian v9.1
• S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1
• MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1
• Has 3.5 mm jack connector
• Is thicker than E71
• Has a flashlight function (which by pressing the space bar immediately activated and can be disabled)
• No metal construction (plastic only) except Navikey and camera module
• No side buttons
• Left side: microSD slot and micro-USB connector (with hard plastic closure)
• The microphone is on the lower side (not front as E71)
• 2mm mains next to the microphone
• Bottom right (on the corner) is an eyelet
• Menu’s like E71, looks like FP1

No pricing or release dates are known.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

Nokia E71 review

Here is a review of the Nokia E71 from D-Caf, a WMExperts discussion member. He likes the phone and impressed with user interface. He also likes the liberty to install any third party software on the phone he wants. He compares it to his old Palm Treo 680 with Palm OS and feels the S60 simplicity is as good as the Palm. The multimedia playback capabilities are way better than Palm’s and as are the camera and GPS capabilities. Above all, the 3G capabilities and battery life make it a very nice purchase for him.

AT&T sets Oct 2 launch date for Blackberry Bold

AT&T has confirmed today to BoyGenius Report that the Blackberry Bold will be available in stores starting October 2nd. As I had mentioned in July, this phone was slated to release in September. However, they launched it in Canada and Europe earlier than planned but the US launch is delayed.  If you need to a reminder of the features on the Bold, you can read them here and read the comparison to Nokia E71 here.

Another Blackberry Bold comparison

As I mentioned yesterday, now that the Blackberry Bold is out in the market, the reviews and comparisons are coming fast and furious. Today, BoyGenius Report compared the Blackberry Bold to Nokia E71. BGR is clearly blown away by the Bold’s screen like so many others who have feasted their eyes on it. Nokia E71 is sleeker than the Bold and both their battery lives are comparable. Beyond that, it is all Blackberry Bold. It is clear that BGR is enamored by the Bold. But, I have to agree with him when he says

This is a personal opinion here, but the BlackBerry Bold smokes the E71 out of the water in so many ways. The E71 is fine as a personal communication device, but once you enter into the realm of corporate email, or even small business, for that matter, the Bold is the reigning king, and will stay that way for a pretty long time.

So, read the comparison hereand let me know what you think. Is BGR right?

Nokia E71 now available in North America

Nokia E71

Nokia’s Blackberry-killer, aka the E71 is now available for North American consumers for $500. Yesterday, Nokia put out a press release in which it touted the E71’s features including support for corporate and personal email, VPN, VOIP, 3.2 Mpxl camera, entertainment features, A-GPS, etc. You can read about the features here.

“Despite its compact size, the Nokia E71 manages to integrate an
extremely comfortable and usable QWERTY keyboard. E-mail setup is also a
strong point for the Nokia E71. Whether using a corporate Exchange server
or a personal e- mail account, the built-in setup wizard makes setup quick
and easy for both IT professionals and end consumers alike,” said Andrew
Brown, Director of Wireless Enterprise Strategies for Strategy Analytics.

Based on Andrew Brown’s comments above, it appears that corporate IT departments might have an easier time supporting this device on their networks. Also, with the inclusion of VPN and encryption for both internal and external memory, the IT folks can rest easy that data on their users’ E71s will be secure.

Nokia takes on Apple and RIM

Yesterday, Nokia announced its 2nd quarter 2008 results. The results were impressive to say the least. The company sold over 1 million phones a day in Q2. Let me repeat, 1 million phones a day! Not over a weekend or 2 days. It made 1.4 billion euros in profit on revenues of 13.15 million euros for the quarter. It also increased its device sales forecast for the rest of 2008 stating that the mobile device market globally was up 10% over 2007.

However, the most exciting part of the presentation, if you can call it that given the nature of these calls, was the announcements of new devices for the remainder of the year.  First off, Nokia is working on several touch screen models aimed at all segments of the market that it plans on bringing out later this year. Secondly,  take a look at the devices below taken from the 2nd quarter earnings call presentation. There are a couple of devices that take on both Apple and RIM directly.

Nokia N96, which is an upgrade to the popular N95, will come with 16 GB memory, Mobile TV access, microSD card slot, and host of other features which put the iPhone 3G to shame. Granted, the N96 does not have touch screen, but it has a lot of other oomph that a lot of folks would consider and at a cheaper price-point than iPhone 3G. 

Nokia also takes on RIM with its E71 product which looks like the Blackberry Bold, but is sleeker, weighs less, has longer lasting battery and better 3.2Mpxl camera than the 2Mpxl camera in Blackberry Bold.

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