nokia 6760 review

One of a kind would be a massive overstatement but there's something about the Nokia 6760 slide that's clearly against the usual run of things. Full QWERTY keyboards are an increasingly common sight on Symbian smartphones so this can't be it. However, the Nokia 6760 slide is a generic messenger - noting to do with Nseries, Eseries or even XpressMusic.

Secondly, the 6760 slide was first seen and used in the US as Nokia Surge. It usually takes quite a while for Nokia handsets to cross the pond and that makes the 6760 / Surge concept interesting enough. Whether it was custom made for AT&T and then given a go at home is irrelevant. Nokia now have a smart messenger ready to roll in the lower midrange.

The new 6760 slide (we'll use its European name from now on) is ultra compact and the full-QWERTY keyboard is backed by no numpad on top. The Internet and Messaging shortcuts up front are quite handy though and make perfect sense in both portrait and landscape hand hold. The neat messenger is trying to balance features, looks and ergonomics to offer all-round experience within budget. The absence of Wi-Fi support is a letdown, but the rest of the features are from the top drawer.
Key features
Quad-band GSM support and 3G with HSDPA
2.4" 16M-color TFT display of 320 x 240 pixel resolution
Full QWERTY keyboard
Very compact, friendly weight and shape
Fast and responsive interface
Built-in accelerometer, UI auto-rotate, turn-to-mute
3 megapixel fixed focus camera, QVGA video recording @ 15fps
Symbian 9.3, S60 FP2
GPS with A-GPS support
Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, microUSB
microSD card slot with microSDHC support
Stereo FM Radio with RDS
Balanced audio output quality
Large capacity Li-Ion 1500 mAh (BP-4L) battery
Main disadvantages
Clattering slide hinge, loose battery cover
No Wi-Fi
No alphanumeric keypad: impossible to dial with the keyboard closed
Basic fixed focus camera, no extra features (not even geotagging)
No USB charging
No smart dial (3rd party solutions are available)

The Symbian-driven Nokia 6760 slide has a responsive and fast user interface and offers various social networking integration. The good web browser and robust messaging should be welcomed by users with a solid data plan.

We called it a generic messenger and there's nothing really impressive about the idea behind this device - unless you've never seen or heard of E75 or 5730 XpressMusic. Not to mention the N97 mini.

Still, an ultra compact Symbian smartphone with a full QWERTY keyboard seems to make sense. The 6760 slide certainly misses on some features but it does well to position itself as a typical carrier's handset. Fast data, solid messaging and friendly size will perhaps convince enough users they can live without WLAN. Plus, the 6760 slide styling seems to be trying to find middle ground between the too executive Eseries and too juvenile XpressMusic.

We called it ultra compact too and we mean it. It's hard to believe the 6760 slide is a Symbian smartphone to begin with. A formidable PocketPC like the Samsung B7610 OmniaPRO makes it look almost toy-like.

If you find yourself interested in the new kid on the block, go ahead and take our guided tour of the Nokia 6760 slide. Symbian has little to no surprises perhaps but let's see how this little messenger handles and what it can do for you.

NOkia E72 Review

SINGAPORE – The all new Nokia E72 boasts a host of new features including optical scrolling and a five-megapixel camera. Building on the success of the E71, the E72 takes the very best of Nokia’s most successful QWERTY device and makes it even better. The super-slim 10mm frame has been refined with some sleek design touches and inside the device is treated to a range of user interface improvements too.

The optical navigation key makes scrolling through emails a breeze and also helps bounce around the menus quickly and easily. The camera has been upgraded to a full five megapixels and heavy data users will love the support for up to 10.2Mbps connections over HSDPA. The audio jack has also had the upgrade treatment with 3.5mm jack now appearing on the top of the device.

Nokia Messaging is also on board (with a lifetime license) and now supports access and easy set up for Instant Messaging accounts including Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk and Ovi, amongst others. Email set up is even easier than before through Nokia Messaging, Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler.

Sound quality on calls is improved with the addition of active noise cancellation and navigation gets a boost with the addition of a digital compass. Maps is also integrated and comes with a lifetime walk and 10 days of turn-by-turn navigation, if activated within the first three months. You don’t need to be worried about getting caught in the dark either – a single press on the spacebar key will activate the torch!

The Nokia E72 is expected to begin shipping late in the third quarter of 2009 at an estimated retail price of €350 before taxes and subsidies. Find out more from Nokia.com.

sony ericsson SATIO review

Sony Ericsson has finally launched the Satio, the phone it showed off back in February under the guise of Idou, packing the best of all its brands into one phone. But can the sheer range of gadgetry and a new OS be enough to lure customers back to the brand?

Not content with being leaders in cameraphone and multimedia technology, Sony Ericsson has decided to put the two Walkman and Cybershot brands together in the new Satio. This means an industry-leading camera, a full range of multimedia playback options and it's based on Symbian S60 5th edition to boot.

The overall feel of the handset is odd. Thanks to the sheer range of camera-related gadgetry on board the rear of the phone has a massive camera section bolted to the back, which makes it a little chunky.

But weirdly the phone didn't feel heavy at all – in fact we thought the battery needed to be put in, it was so light, but the power pack was snugly under the cover, so this is pretty impressive.

The Satio feels OK in the hand – it's not snug, but the 3.5-inch touchscreen (although sadly resistive rather than capacitive) is well positioned, and most of the functions are within a thumb's reach.

The front of the phone is very minimal – it's got a call, hang up and menu key, and that's about it. We would have quite liked to see a cancel/back button too, but that obviously wasn't on Sony Ericsson's agenda with the new Symbian OS it's packing.



There is a front facing video camera on there too for all that video calling fun everyone has these days, but it's down the sides of the phone where the button frenzy really begins.

On the left-hand side is the slider for unlocking the phone (which is in just about the right place for most hands), the standard Sony Ericsson port for USB connection, charging and headphone connection (boo!). Below that lives the microSD slot, which is covered by a nice hinged flap.

Over on the right side of the phone we get the camera controls, with the zoom buttons doubling as the volume up/down keys, despite having the 'proper' zoom icons on.



Below this is the photograph playback key, allowing quick access to your snaps in both camera mode and standby. There's also a video/camera swap hard key as well, which we're trying to work out if it has another function in other applications. It appears not to.

And below that is the stylishly hewn shutter for the camera. This side of the phone is well put together, laid out in the right manner and given the Satio's penchant for touch operation, a welcome addition.



On the back we've already mentioned the massive camera section, and while the cover might be massive it still has a really pleasing action to it, uncovering the decent lens underneath.


It's not the most wieldy of phones, we'll admit, but given the sheer amount of technology under the hood we're happy to say this is pretty much the best job Sony Ericsson could have done.

In the box

The Satio is being tipped as a multimedia device, and to that end the box is filled with audio and visual goodies. We've already pointed out how very, very disappointed we are there's no 3.5mm headphone jack on the Satio, but Sony Ericsson has tried to temper that problem with a variety of headphone options in the box.

The connector also comes with a music controller, which works pretty well for both media and as a hands free unit. The bundled buds are of a slightly better quality than the usual pin-thick ones Sony Ericsson puts in the box, but we quickly changed these to some better options.



However, if you do want to use them, there's a variety of ear buds to fit your ears, which we liked.

Video-wise, Sony Ericsson wants you to see the Satio as more of a multimedia hub, and to that end has popped a video out cable in the box (and a pretty rugged, rubberised one at that). It connects using the standard port on the side, and allows you to pump whatever you want to the TV from the phone.

Beyond that, there's a charger, a USB cable and a stylus – you might as well have this if you're using a resistive screen, and handwriting recognition works better with it.

And there's no installation CD in the box – Sony Ericsson has placed that on the phone in the bundled 8GB microSD card. We like this idea a lot, as it just simplifies the process, so well done to SE.