Nokia E90 Communicator
By Nick Mokey
July 9th, 2007
The dust from the iPhone launch is finally beginning to settle, and while the final product lives up to consumer expectations in many ways, there’s no denying that its focus on entertainment might leave corporate users (hopeful that it would replace their Smartphones) out in the cold. After all, picking your own in-flight movie and tunes is great, until it comes time to type out a 500-word e-mail on that cramped touch-screen keyboard. Then the iPhone is no fun.
But suit-and-tie types need not return to their Blackberrys just yet. Another convergence phone is on the horizon, and this one has the look and features that might make it right at home in the boardroom. Nokia’s E90 Communicator offers a more conventional take on the Smartphone, but beefs it up with some add-ons that make it more than just another mobile office.
Image Courtesy of Nokia
Looking at the E90, your first clue that this phone wasn’t built for taking jams along on the subway should be Nokia’s styling. Available only in black and red, the phone’s boxy exterior isn’t going to win any awards for design innovative. But it’s what’s inside that matters: The Communicator’s left-hand hinge allows it to fold open like a book, revealing an extra-wide 800 x 352 pixel screen and QWERTY keyboard. All that interior real estate doesn’t come without sacrifice, though. The phone weighs in at a pocket-sagging 210 grams, with dimensions of 132 x 57 x 20 mm, making it both bigger and heavier than almost all rival Smartphones.
Under the hood, the tried-and-true Symbian OS 9.2 provides all the classic smartphone features, such as a phonebook, office suite, calendar, e-mail, and web browser. But it’s the less-standard features that make this phone so fascinating. For one thing, built-in GPS means never getting lost, or more importantly, never having to call someone else and admit you’re lost. A 3.2 megapixel camera also provides high-quality snapshots and video conferencing, a Jetsons-esque feature that is just now beginning to find its way into cell phones. As for connectivity, the E90 has both a 802.11b/g WiFi radio and support for HSDPA (3G) or EDGE data transfer.
On the multimedia side of things, the E90’s offerings are scant. With only 128MB of memory built in, most of the Communicator’s space for multimedia will have to come by way of its MicroSD expansion slot, which can only accommodate an extra 2GB. In addition, the extra-wide screen that’s so useful for browsing lines of text will prove to be a drag for watching movies, which won’t fit nicely onto it without some significant rescaling and bands on the side of the screen. Perhaps the only unexpectedly included entertainment feature on the E90 is the built-in FM radio, which even the iPhone lacks.
Unfortunately for North American readers, the Nokia E90 is only available in Europe for the time being, but its quad-band GSM radio means it could easily skip across the pond in the future. Also, if the feature set and styling didn’t make it abundantly obvious that Nokia was targeting the corporate elite with this phone, the price will: It’s only available from specialty importers for around $1,099 USD. At that price, you might as well take the company jet (which you undoubtedly have access to) and head over to Europe to pick one up in person.
For most of us, the Nokia E90 will remain a dream of a lifestyle we only wish we could support. For the multitasking business mogul with both the need and the means, it should prove to be one of the most capable Smartphones available.
Image Courtesy of Nokia