The Hindu Business Line : Nokia plumps for productivity

Singapore June 17 So now we know. The world’s biggest handset player is not about to rush out and hit the market with its offering in response to Apple’s new 3G iPhone.

At its annual product showcase, “Connnection 2008” held here on the sidelines of the CommunicAsia technology event, the Finnish mobile phone leader appeared to plump for productivity, at least in the near future.

It unveiled two new products in the smart phone E series, one with a conventional keypad, while the other claims the record of being the world’s thinnest phone with a full Qwerty keypad.

Identically priced

Interestingly,both offerings that are identically priced at the equivalent of 350 Euros ( approximately Rs 23,000) in all geographies, serious business devices with fun features.

The E 66 makes up for its standard slider design and keypad, with some orientation-sensing technologies.

It adjusts the screen from portrait to landscape mode when the user turns the phone around.

The same sensor switches the phone to noiseless vibration mode when placed face down on any surface – a great boon for users who want to momentarily silence their handsets. For instance, during a meeting.

True successor

The E71 lacks this last feature, but its fuller keypad makes this a true successor to Nokia’s iconic Communicator, now a decade old, the world’s first handset that mimicked the PC keyboard... but led to embarassing bulges when kept in pocket by its owners.

Also a sign of the times, the E 71 allows the user to switch seamlessly from work mode to play mode, stopping the live prompts of incoming e-mail and features leisure tools such as movie or music players.

Both phones have a 3.2 Mega pixel auto focus camera and GPS capability.

Other offerings

While Nokia offerings seemed to build on the company’s strong presence in the enterprise arena, other handset makers who chose to coincide their launches at Communicasia, seemed to take a broader view of their market.

LG followed its Chocolate phone -- a surprising trend setter -- with a new model with strong multimedia features called Secret.

And for the other Korean player Samsung, this was the time and place to challenge Apple with its own similarly functional smart phone, the Omnia.

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