Nokia to launch E7 and N8 smartphones next week
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07 Sep 2010, Khidr Suleman , V3
Nokia is to unveil its E7 and N8 smartphones at Nokia World in London next week in a bid to gain a foothold in the high-end mobile phone market.
Details of the E7 are thin on the ground, but it will come with a large touch screen and a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, according to a Reuters report.
It is unclear which operating system the E7 will run, but reports suggest that it will be Symbian^3 or Nokia's own MeeGo.
V3.co.uk contacted Nokia to get additional details on the E7, but the manufacturer declined to comment.
The N8, meanwhile, is a high-end handset designed to compete with Apple's iPhone 4 and Samsung's Galaxy S.
The 3.5in capacitive touch screen has a 640 x 360 pixel resolution, and the handset comes with a 12-megapixel camera which N8 product manager Esa Alonen claimed will be the "best camera in a phone".
The N8 can play and record in 720p HD, and has two dedicated speakers which Alonen said allow "greater ambience and cut out wind noise".
The phone supports Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound, which could be very handy when watching movies from the phone on a larger screen.
Nokia is still the market leader in worldwide phone sales, but has fallen behind Apple, HTC and Research in Motion, among others, in the high-end smartphone market.
It remains to be seen whether Nokia's decision to concentrate on its own MeeGo platform and ignore the popular Android mobile operating system was a fatal mistake or a wise investment.
© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2010, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093
Do you agree?
I'll never buy another Nokia
In that I am probably not alone given the comments on Nokia's own web site. When my Samsung D900 eventualy gave up the ghost I bought an E72 as I need a business phone and for that it is useless. The bluetooth system won't connect to my car (or any other that I've tried). The phone often hangs when making a call so you have to re-dial. The touch sensitive button sometimes works as it is supposed to but mostly it is either to sensitive or doesn't work at all. To lock the keypad you have to press the 'off button' briefly. Quite often the phone is slow to recognise this so you press the button again just as the menu comes up with 'switch off' highlighted as default and it doesn't ask for confirmation if you really want to or not. On the other hand deleting old items where you have to navigate an arcane menu to find the delete function ask every time.
In trying to make a phone to suit modern fads, Nokia seem to have forgotten the basics.
Posted by Paul, 11 Sep 2010