Nokia E61i
3GSM 2007
Our report from this year's 3GSM event in Barcelona. Hands-on with hot new phones from HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, and Nokia, plus Windows Mobile 6, roll-up displays, and LG's Prada phone.
Nokia Hits High End Hard
Nokia today announced 5 new high end handsets as well as their first mid-range smartphone with built in GPS. None of the phones are initially bound for a US carrier because they each feature HSDPA 2100, however all are quad-band GSM/EDGE, and may appear on our shores in a modified form later.
- E90: Nokia has shed the touch screen Series 80 interface of the communicator, using S60 inside and out. On the outside the E90 feature a standard keypad and S60 navigation keys with a QVGA screen. Once opened, the phone packs a full QWERTY keyboard and 800 x 352 screen. The E90 packs Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and a 3.2 MP camera into a much small form factor than previous models.
- E61i: Upgrades the E61 with a 2 Megapixel camera and a slimmer form factor that is only 11.5 mm thick. These two improvements will put the E61i head to head with Motorola's q9 announced today.
- E65: A slim S60 slider for voice-centric business users. Features GSM, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 2 megapixel camera. Also features dedicated keys for conference calls and other types of calling.
- N77: This S60 candybar looks similar to the N73 and has similar specs except that the camera is downgraded to a 2 Megapixel model while DVB-H mobile TV reception is added.
- 6110: A midrange S60 slider with built in GPS navigation and a dedicated key to access Nokia Maps. The 6110 also features a 2 Megapixel camera and Bluetooth.
Nokia E61 Update Shows Up On FCC
An update to Nokia's E61 QWERTY smartphone cleared the FCC today. The E61i will be a quad-band GSM/EDGE phone with Wi-FI, and Bluetooth, like its predecessor. It is not know if the device will be UMTS 2100 like the E61 as well, as no mention of that band is made in the filings at all. Though it is difficult to tell what improvements the E61i has over the E61, Nokia has been using the "i" designation to release minor form factor and software updates to existing handsets. It is rumored this update will add a camera to the QWERTY phone. The unusual erasure of part of the phone's schematics in the FCC filing lend some credence to this possibility.