Nokia E90

I've always admired the Nokia Communicator series from afar, waiting for the right time to switch up to the beasts. As I see it, there are two necessary requirements for owning one of these phones. Firstly, you have some need to check your emails on the go - maybe you travel away from your computer a lot - and secondly you need to wear a suit for work. For some reason these phones just seem perfect to fit into a suit pocket.

Sadly it doesn't seem as though I will be fitting either of these criteria in the near future. The umbilical link between myself and my laptop shows no sign of being severed any time soon and I work in shorts and a tee-shirt. Woo hoo! The joys of working at home.

The latest installment - the E90 - is one of the most advanced, feature-packed mobile phones ever released. Interestingly, the phone uses a Symbian S60 operating system as opposed to the S80 used on the 9500 and 9300. This may seem like an unusual step, but S60 offers E90 users access to a much wider range of applications. A quick straw poll suggests that S60 is every bit as easy to use as the newer system and ultimately more flexible. Good work Nokia.

This is a business phone. Smart features include onboard GPS and a high-resolution screen. The system can handle PDF files and read documents in Microsoft office. Unlike the previous generation of Communicator, the E90 comes fully-loaded with 3G, which can only be good news.

Features which you may be surprised to find on this phone include an FM radio and 3.2 Megpixel camera. Many businesses do not like to have cameras onboard business phones (however employees generally love them). I imagine the phone is there for those long, dull train journeys from London Euston to the Midlands to meet clients. Hmm... maybe that's fair enough.

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Prada Phone - LG KE850


After mentioning the LG KE850 in my last post, I thought it silly not to give you some information about this handsome beast.

First off... a word on the looks. Prada is known for understatement and this continues into the design of the new phone. While the iPhone is pretty tasteful itself, Prada's creation, with it's technochiaroscuro, is very subtle indeed. There are none of Apple's 'garish' colours - just black and white. LG have also released a non-Pradafied version of the phone, which will undoubtedly carry a far more reasonable price tag but isn't so chic.

You could be forgiven for thinking the LG KE850 is a knock-off of the iPhone but that would be incorrect. The two phones have been in development simultaneously and both manufacturers clearly shared a desire to push mobile design forward, removing the need for the wands which have always come with touchscreen handsets (and generally gone missing at an inopportune moment).

For me, the most attractive thing about the KE850 is the onboard camera - a Schneider Kreuznach lens ensures high-quality optics (they make Kodak's lenses). In addition to the fancy-sounding lens, the KE850 has an LED flash, making it possible to take high-quality photos late at night. Tabloid gossip columns are said to be delighted.

Other good news is that the handset weighs just 85 grams - 50 grams less than the iPhone. The KE850 measures 99 x 54 x 12mm which is a bit smaller than Apple's offering.

Unsurprisingly for such a compact, stylish handset, some features have had the chop - namely 3G (of which I am a huge fan) and wi-fi (which is also pretty damn useful).

All in all, this is one of the most desirable handsets on the market in 2007. Now start saving!

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