While physically smaller than the N97 the mini pretty much packs the same features with the only part being economised on is the storage space. The mini only sports 8gb of space while the full sized N97 sported a whopping 32gbs.  Don’t let this put you off though as it still has a Micro SD storage slot which at this point in time will allow you to add another 16gbs.

This phone would make an ideal alternative to those who don’t want to look like an iphone clone or those who want the best of both touch screen and QWERTY keyboard worlds without the bulk of the original N97.

The only disappointment with the mini is that it’s still using Nokia’s S60 5th edition touchscreen operating system which quite frankly looks like touch was an afterthought.

The N97 is available now on Vodafone and Three (3).

Techradar have pulled together an amazing in depth review of the mini so head on over there to learn more.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

One of the most asked for features – kinetic, or flip scrolling has now been enabled device wide. Making the overall experience a smoother one.

Other new features include updates to Ovi Maps, Nokia Email, Ovi Contacts and the Ovi Store.

They’ve also freed up more memory to improve performance especially when multi-tasking.

The way Nokia are constantly updating N97 is a welcome departure from Nokia’s typical approach of releasing a phone. Only making fixes available and keeping all the new features for the next model.

The update is free for all N97 owners. Head over to www.nokia.com/softwareupdate to find out how to update your phone.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

The orginal Storm was heavily criticised for its Suretouch technology which meant the whole screen moved when the user pressed the screen. This system has been replaced by an electronic feedback system.

The updated Bold should sport enhanced screen and camera resolutions.

Whether businesses and professionals will take these phone up in droves is still to be decided. The iPhone and even to some extent Nokia’s E-series phones which have many of the email features of the Blackberry have stolen a huge chunk of the Blackberry market in Australia. Although both phones, especially the iPhone lack many enterprise features outside of the ability to synchronise with Exchange.

[Via APC Magazine]

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

There’s also free ringtones, screen savers and wallpapers up for grabs if they tickle your fancy more than games.

To get your free goodies visit the GameLoft special page or load up the Ovi store on your handset (installation instructions and here) and filter the listings for free only.

[Story via iTWire]

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

Crazy John’s, who is a Vodafone reseller now has the E72 listed for purchase on their website and according to rumours on Whirlpool (one of Australia’s biggest online forums) Vodafone will be offering the phone in a couple of weeks. Crazy John’s has the phone listed with an outright price of $719 or for “free” on a $69 per month cap.

The major improvements of the E72 over the E71 include the following:

• An optical D-pad
• Standard 3.5mm headphone socket
• 5 megapixel camera
• Builtin compass to provide heading on mapping applications
• Accelerometer. Which apart from making for some fun games will also open the phone up to Augmented Reality applications
• More memory and a faster CPU
• S60v3 FP2 operating system which means improved graphical effects like transitions
• Even greater battery life than the amazing battery life of the E71

The phone itself is not a huge improvement over the E71 so if you already have one you might be hard pressed to find a reason to upgrade but anyone who was thinking of buying an E71 should head straight for the E72 unless looking for a bargain.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

Related posts:

1. Nokia E72 headed to Australia later this year

In order to take advantage of the upgrade you will need a phone that operates on the 900mhz 3G band of which Vodafone already offer 18 handsets for a wide variety of prices on both contract and prepaid.

Previously coverage was limited to metropolitan areas and was available to approximately 80% of the population. The extended coverage areas are listed below and have been taken from the official press release:

NSW: Sydney and surrounds, North Coast (from Newcastle to Evans Head), the Hunter Valley Region, Byron Bay, Lismore, Ballina, Kiama, Central North (including Tenterfield, Moree), Northern Rivers (including Lismore and Grafton), Northern Tablelands (including Armidale, Glen Innes and Inverell), the Blue Mountains, west to Orange, Bathurst and Parkes, Albury, the South West (around Goulburn and Yass), Snowy Mountains (including Comma and Perisher Valley), Central South (including Wagga Wagga, Yass and Young), Far South Coast (stretching from Sussex Inlet to Eden), Wollongong, Bowral, Nowra and Broken Hill

Victoria: Melbourne and surrounds, Geelong, Phillip Island, Mornington Peninsula, South Coast (around Colac, Lorne and Apollo Bay), Gippsland (around Sale, Traralgon and Stratford), Central West (around the Grampians, Horsham, Stawell and Nhill), West (around Warrnambool and Portland) and Central (around Shepparton, Seymour, Bendigo, Wodonga)

Queensland: Brisbane and surrounds, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, from Noosa to Gladstone, Caboolture, Ipswich, Cairns, Port Douglas, Townsville, Toowoomba, along the coast from Mackay to Cairns (including Rockhampton, Emerald) and Central Queensland (around Roma and Mt Isa)

Western Australia: Perth and surrounds, including Mandurah, south including Bunbury, Busselton, Dunsborough, Margaret River, Augusta, Albany and Esperance, east including Narrogin, Northam, Merredin and Kalgoorlie, north including Geraldton and West End, Kalbarri, Carnarvon, Karratha, Dampier, Port Hedland, Broome (including Cable Beach) and Kununurra.
South Australia: Adelaide and surrounds, the Barossa Valley, along the coast (from Mt Gambier to Victor Harbor), around the Spencer Gulf (including Whyalla), the Riverland (from Berri to Mildura) and the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula (including Port Lincoln)

Tasmania: Hobart and surrounds, Launceston, Wynyard, Devonport, Ulverstone, Exeter, Ross, Burnie and Deloraine

Northern Territory: Darwin and surrounds, Alice Springs, Uluru, Katherine and Jabiru

Australian Capital Territory: Canberra and surrounds

Vodafone has an excellent set of coverage maps and they show a huge increase in the number light up regions.

Remember, if you want to take advantage of the extended coverage you will need to make sure your phone supports 3G on the 900MHZ band.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

Many are questioning Nokia for making a move on a market that they see as already overcrowded. While it is true that there are a lot of players in this area, there is also a lot of room for growth with industry pundits forecasting huge growth figures. Others just see it as a move to beat Apple to the punch.

Whichever way you look at it the consumer can only be a winner. Far from just announcing some re-badged netbook the Nokia Booklet is full to the brim with Nokia’s software and services including: Maps,  Music, the Ovi service (email, file sharing etc). Details are light on the tech specs but the unit is looking like one of the slimmest out there at less than 2 cms.

Nokia really best sums up why they made the move into netbooks:

“A growing number of people want the computing power of a PC with the full benefits of mobility. We are in the business of connecting people and the Nokia Booklet 3G is a natural evolution for us. Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling. In doing so we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful and more personal.”

Expect to see this baby out in Australia before the end of the year. Nokia will most likely team up with one of the big 3 (Vodafone, Optus or Telstra) to provide it on contract. I think we can expect a similar price to the current deals – around $60 a month over 24 months with included internet data.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

Related posts:

1. iPhone helps Optus create subscribers out of thin air

The reviews so far are very positive. With most reviewers agreeing that you get a real bang for your buck. This is what one reviewer had to say:

We’re very impressed with the 5530 overall. It offers a very good feature set for a mid-range phone, and everything works smoothly. A better camera would have been the icing on the cake, but remember that this is being marketed as a music phone, so we’d say that it fulfils its purpose very well indeed.

The only problem is, it’s not 3G. So if you’re waiting for it in Australia you’re either going to have to buy it outright or wait for Telstra to pick it up for use on the Edge network. Here’s hoping they do offer it as it looks like a cheap but cheerful alternative to the N97 or iphone. If you’re on one of the other networks then you’ll have to hold out or spend a bit more on the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.

Optus are reporting an 11% rise

Australia already has over 100% penetration of mobile phones. It seems highly unlikely that quarter on quarter growth of 11% (which would be almost 50% annually or over a million new subscribers) would be possible. Especially when main rival Vodafone has reported modest growth and Telstra’s mobile revenues are up.  These subscribers have to come from somewhere and it looks like Optus may be making them out of thin air.

If Optus held exclusive rights to the iphone and offered some very good reasons to switch then you probably could expect sales figures for the iphone to be somewhere around the 200k mark per quarter but Optus neither hold exclusive rights or have compelling price plans.

Take a close look at the wording of the article by the AAP and you’ll see where the real boost came from:

The telco’s parent, SingTel, which reports its first-quarter financial results today, said 213,000 new mobile and wireless broadband customers signed onto Optus in the June quarter, including 139,000 post-paid customers.

The key word is wireless broadband. Netbooks are the latest cash cow for Optus who sell them on contracts with no upfront costs in a similar method to the way mobiles are sold.  In fact all the telcos are discovering a major source of new subscribers to 3G and that is not people using phones but people who want wireless Internet wherever they are.

So, it looks like the iphone has been used as a nice gimmick to sell a lot less interesting statistic.

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

Related posts:

1. Nokia gets into the Netbook game

With this new deal most ads in Pac Mags titles such as Men’s Health, New Idea, Marie Claire etc will include a call to action and a QR code.  Hopefully this will be the start of the QR code revolution in Australia. I find them really easy to use and although you look like a twat trying to scan a code on a bus ceiling I can see huge potential for them to bridge the print to digital gap.

If you can’t wait for the next edition of Men’s Health and want to try out QR codes now then the one above will take you to the front page of this site. Whip out your Telstra QR enabled phone and go to the Myplace menu. If you’re not with Telstra a lot of phones have a reader built in already. Look for barcode reader, multiscanner or something similar. Nokia, Apple, Win Mo and Android all have free applications available to download for their smart phones.

Story via Australian IT News

Tweet This Facebook Reddit Stumble

No related posts.