One-upping the 6680, Nokia's N70 smartphone offers up 3G, a stereo FM radio, music player and 2 megapixel camera. Editor-in-Chief Jørgen Sundgot reports from Amsterdam.
|
Nokia N70
| |
 |
|
Score: 75% When: October 2005 Worth: $430
|
|
|
Jørgen Sundgot snuggles up to the Nokia N70, the latest stab at a do-it-all smartphone from a certain Finnish handset maker. Bells and whistles abound - but what about substance?
|
|
|
Read » Gallery »
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a 6680 in disguise. Unveiled today here at the Destionation Multimedia event hosted by Nokia in Amsterdam, the Nokia N70 is the spitting image of the Finnish handset maker's current top-of-the-line smartphone - harbouring a few, important differences that sets it apart.
A dual mode, tri-band GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 MHz smartphone with 3G, the N70 mimics the feature set of the 6680 closely. For instance, it retains the dual camera setup found in the 6680, yet ups the resolution of the main camera to 2 Megapixels as opposed to 1.3 Megapixels in the 6680. The front mounted camera remains unchanged at 0.3 Megapixels, and fortunately so does the sliding cover on the back which protects the lens and automatically opens the camera application when opened.
Also to be found in the imaging department is an integrated flash with anti red-eye, along with a range of applications for editing and processing both still images and video on the N70 as well as on the PC. Similar to the N90 and N91 smartphones also launched today, the N70 is also capable of playing back both audio and video in a range of formats, including MP3, AAC, RealAudio, H.263 and MPEG4.
Local connectivity is also well taken care of in the N70, which will be the first smartphone from Nokia to support Bluetooth 2.0; infrared is long gone, which quite frankly is about time. As for wired connectivity, the N70 offers up USB 2.0 via the proprietary Pop-Port connector located at the bottom, whilst the 30 MB of non-volatile memory of the device can be expanded courtesy of RS-MMC cards.
The N70 is also equipped with a stereo FM radio, as well as support for Nokia's interactive Visual Radio concept. Remaining software remains standard for the most part, with the N70 offering up SMS, MMS and e-mail support along with the classic Series 60 PIM suite and the Opera browser for improved surfing. One item in particular stands out, however, and that is speaker independent voice dialing - a first for Nokia phones, if I'm not entirely mistaken
To be Nokia's smallest smartphone with a 2 Megapixel camera, the N70 measures in at 109 x 53 x 18 mm and weighs a - as compared to the N90 and N91 - featherweight 126 g. It is slated for availability in the third quarter of 2005, and according to Nokia the handset maker will follow up with an EDGE compatible version at a later date.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Archive