Nokia N95 8GB: The All-In-One Wonder

When Nokia first introduced the first version of the Nokia N95 late last year, they dubbed it a mini-computer as it was simply packed with applications that could not be found on any mobile phone in the market at that time. The price, unsurprisingly, was a little bit too expensive. Users also experienced some setbacks, primarily on the processing side of the phone.

Those problems, however, have been addressed, and now its successor, the N95 8GB, has been packed with twice the processing power. The increased RAM means you can actually feel the fluidity of the speed as you go through the many functions and applications of the phone.

The phone has also been given a slight make-over too; the N95 8GB boasts a beautiful 2.8" widescreen display, which can even be viewable under direct sunlight. The navigational button area has shrunk as a result, but it's still easy to use.

Nokia hasn't seemed to make any noticeable changes to the phone's 5 megapixel camera (with auto focus and Carl Zeiss optics), as it's still one of the best you'll find on a mobile phone. The obvious difference though, is the lens cover.. there isn't one. Therefore, you might have to be a little extra careful and be sure to have it in a case when you're carrying it in your pocket.

In terms of funtionality, the call quality of this phone is unsurprisingly flawless, as you would expect from a high-end Nokia model.

Here's an overview of the key features:

• 2.8" 16M color QVGA display
  
• 5 megapixel camera with auto focus and Carl Zeiss optics
  
• Massive storage capacity and increased RAM
  
• Wi-Fi with UPnP technology
  
• Built-in GPS receiver and A-GPS functionality
  
• Nokia maps application covering over 100 countries worldwide
  
• Dual-slide design with dedicated multimedia keys
  
• Standard 3.5mm audio jack
  
• 3G (with HSDPA), EDGE and GPRS support
  
• Symbian OS 9.2 Series 60 3rd edition Feature Pack 1 user interface
  
• TV-out functionality
  
• 1200 mAh battery

There's one downside in terms of accessories though.. Nokia N95 owners will unfortunately realise that the 8GB version doesn't come with a leather case as it did with the previous model. Nonetheless, we think the features on this phone well makes up for it, making it an upgrade well worth getting.

Photos taken with the 5 megapixel camera (click for actual size)

Overall, we think the Nokia N95 8GB is one of the best feature packed phones in the market at the moment. With its N-Gage capabilities, high-quality camera and media playing controls, the Nokia N95 8GB will surely be the ultimate device to have in your hands today.



The Nokia N95 8GB is available at Incomm for B$1168.00, with further discounts when you present your DST Card.

Sony Ericsson K850i: Taking camera-phones to another level

If you're an aspiring photographer, or simply just love taking photos, then the K850i will bring sparkles to your eyes! The K850i is Sony Ericsson's new flagship Cyber-shot mobile handset which features a 5.0 megapixel camera, a 16x digital zoom and Xeon flash, an Automatic lens cover and a beautiful 2.2” crystal bright display. The phone also boasts an innovative auto-rotate feature which lets you display your photos in the correct aspect - portrait or landscape – irrespective of the orientation it was taken in.

The K850i comes in a choice of two colors - Luminous Green and Velvet Blue, which in both models, the plastic the front face is coated in is black, while the navigation key’s rim and side-mounted inset varies in each color. The glossy surfaces on the phone might be prone to fingerprints and smudges, but it's nothing a quick wipe with a cloth can't handle. One thing's for sure, the glossyness sure makes the phone look super sexy.



One cool feature is the touchscreen function which lets you navigate your way through the menu. It takes a while to get used to, but after a few hours, we're sure you'll get the hang of it.

Another feature which will definitely make local Bloggers take notice is the "post to blog" option. Simply take a picture and you'll be able to send it via MMS directly to your designated blog on Blogger. You can read more about that here.

Easily switch between Camera, Video or View function, just as you would do on a digital camera.

Overall, Sony Ericsson's K850i excels as a camera phone with innovative features that make it very desirable to both normal and the more photo-savvy users. Perhaps, more important for those who want to be up-to-date with their mobile technology, the phone's HSDPA (3.5G) connectivity will ensure you have broadband mobile Internet speeds once the service is available in the near future.


The Sony Ericsson K850i is available at Incomm for B$898.00, with further discounts when you present your DST Card.

Sony Ericsson W910i: Shake to the music

Sony Ericsson's latest addition to their Walkman Series line is the W910i, an impressive 'slide' phone which sports a new media-browsing interface, built-in sensor motion for both music and games, backed by a strong suite of cellular connectivity features.

The W910i comes in two colors - Hearty Red and Noble Black, and thanks once again to our friends at Incomm, we got the chance to play around with this smart-looking piece of gadgetry.

The design and curves of this phone are unsurprisingly sleek and easy on the eyes, following the likes of other recently released Walkman phones. The large 240x320 pixel 2.4-inch display makes the look of the phone even more sexy, being able to display up to 262,144 colours.

One of the phone's sexy features, it's slide function, opens & closes ever so smoothly, which makes picking up a call or accessing the main menu enjoyable to say the least.

Sony Ericsson phone owners will be familiar with the phone's shortcut key button, a regular on almost all recent Sony Ericsson phones, which helps you access your most frequently used functions such as creating a new message and turning on the Bluetooth function. It even lets you assign any other function you want to the menu with ease.

As a Walkman phone, the W910i undoubtedly delivers great quality music. The cool new motion sensor built into the phone lets the user not only control playback by shaking the handset, but also changes the orientation of the screen automatically in the media browser. We wonder if anyone would really make full use of this function really as we always ended up using the normal button controls most of the time. But it is, without doubt still a quite impressive feature. The built-in games also make use of the motion sensor, letting you play in a Nintendo-Wii-type of manner.



The W910i only comes with 40MB of built-in memory, but music lovers will be happy to know that the sets available from Incomm come with a 2GB Memory Stick Micro M2, so you can easily store hundreds of your tunes.

The phone's 2.0 megapixel camera however, seems quite insufficient as there is no autofocus, no LED flash light for shooting in darker environments, and no way to do self-protraits, possible minus points for those snap-happy users.

The rated battery life of the W910i is 9 hours of talktime (3.5 hours using 3G) and approximately 14.5 days of standby. We surprisingly managed to not have to charge the battery for two days worth of texting, gaming, and the occasional music playing when we used the phone over the weekend.

Connectivity-wise, the phone supports GPRS/EDGE, 3G, and even HSDPA (3.5G); which lets you make full use of high-speed broadband connections when they become available.




The super-smart-looking, and impressive Sony Ericsson W910i is available at Incomm for B$828.00, with further discounts when you present your DST Card.

Nokia 6500 Classic & 6500 Slide: A fusion of form & functionality

Nokia 6500 Classic
You might have seen this TV ad for the new Nokia 6500 Classic. It shows you just how desirable the phone is. The phone's slim, sleek design is eye-catchingly gorgeous, and thanks to Incomm, we were able to try out the phone for a couple of days.

Before we get into the phone's features & details, lets take a quick look at the beautiful curves on the Nokia 6500 Classic..



So is the phone as good as it's hyped up to be? We personally think it is, and we have to say that it surely made an impression on us. We were especially very impressed with the weight of the phone, and believe us when we say that it felt good in our hands! The phone wasn't too heavy or too light, and the weight surely gave it a touch of class, making it seem more expensive than it really is.

Here's an overview of the main key features of the Nokia 6500 Classic:

• Very sleek and slim
• 1 GB of internal memory
• Great 16M color QVGA display
• User friendly & quick interface
• 3G network support
• Rich preloaded content (Opera Mini, Golf Tour, Rally 3D, etc.,)
• Bluetooth with A2DP support

A major set back for some users might be the lack of an additional external media slot, but we personally think that the 1GB storage is good enough for the average user, letting you store more than a hundred of your favorite tunes.

Unfortunately, the phone also lacks an FM Radio, a standard in current phones, and the phone's somewhat 'mediocre' 2.0 megapixel camera would slightly disappoint a few enthusiastic shutterbugs.

Image taken with the Nokia 6500 Classic's 2.0 megapixel camera

Music lovers, however, will surely enjoy the stereo speakers and stereo headsets provided. The crisp sounds are a joy to listen to.

Overall, the Nokia 6500 Classic impressed us with it's sleek, sexy looks, and more importantly, ease of use.

The Nokia 6500 Classic is available at Incomm for B$588.00, with further discounts when you present your DST Card.


Nokia 6500 Slide
If the lack of memory and quality of camera on board the Nokia 6500 Classic is not to your liking, then your other option would be the Nokia 6500 Slide. The slide version boasts:

• a 3.2 MP camera; 2048x1536 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA 15fps) and flash.
• a microSD card slot
• an FM radio with RDS
• stainless steel casing
• TV out option

The picture quality of this phone is really impressive and doesn't disappoint. The photo below was taken using the phone's 3.2 Megapixel camera.


The Nokia 6500 Slide's brushed and scratch-resistant stainless steel housing makes it exceptionally gorgeous despite the phone's minimalist design. Its hard to find a fault in this phone, but it would be great if Nokia incorporated wireless (WLAN) capabilities to it. But then again, they'll most probably keep that option strictly for its N & E Series.

The Nokia 6500 Slide is available at Incomm at B$668.00 and comes with a 256MB microSD card. You can get further discounts when you present your your DST Card.

Links:

• Official Nokia 6500 series website
• Nokia 6500 Slide review by GSM Arena
• YouTube videos on the Nokia 6500