Wooing enterprise users, the new Nokia E60 and E70 smartphones 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11b, Bluetooth, VoIP, broad support for mobile e-mail and - in one case - an unexpected form factor.
Nokia E70 hands-on impression
Taking a different route than any other business phone, Nokia's E70 achieves the unlikely with the inclusion of a plus size thumbboard in a petite form factor. A fold-out design reveals a comfortable means of data entry which combines with superb document management capabilities and decent groupware support to render this handset a good choice for size-conscious business users. Connectivity is extensive with 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth aboard, leaving the comparably small screen of the handset to be its sole truly limiting factor.
Specifications
Racking up a wealth of features targeted towards enterprise users, Nokia has unveiled the E60 and E70 smartphones as part of the company's newest line-up of business-minded devices along with
the E61, also announced today. Catering to users who prefer other form factors than the clamshell style of the company's Communicator series, currently comprised of the 9300 and 9500 models, the two new smartphones feature slimmer form factors - although not quite conventional.
 The Nokia E60 is a very modestly sized candybar style smartphone at 115 x 49 x 17 mm and 117 g, offering tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and WCDMA 2100 MHz. Wi-Fi 802.11b, Bluetooth 1.2 with support for up to 6 concurrent connections, Infrared and USB 2.0 are also present on the connectivity side in addition to RS-MMC for memory expansion.
Powered by the 3rd release of Series 60 running atop Symbian OS 9.1, the E60 is equipped with up to 30 MB of internal non-volatile memory and also incorporates a 16M colour display with a resolution of 352 x 416 pixels. Other highlights of the handset smartphone include enhanced voice control; push-to-talk; speakerphone; support for Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint formats; and broad mobile e-mail support with BlackBerry, Visto and Seven aboard.
 Meanwhile, the Nokia E70 offers an unusual form factor previously seen only in Nokia's 6800 series of messaging phones: its numerical keypad is hinged at the top of the handset, opening to unveil a landscape-oriented QWERTY thumbboard inside. Measuring 117 x 53 x 22 mm when closed and with a weight of 127 g, the E70 is slightly heavier than the E60 - most of which is due to the aforementioned keyboard.
Sharing the vast majority of the feature set of the E60, the E70 stands apart not only through its thumbboard but also through the inclusion of a 2 Megapixel camera on the back of the smartphone. Other differences include up to 75 MB of non-volatile memory in the E70, which also relies on miniSD cards for memory expansion as opposed to the RS-MMC applied in the E60.
As with the E60, the E70 also includes VoIP support and several business-oriented functions such as the ability to integrate the device into an enterprise framework allowing IT administrators to carry out application management as well as remote locking and wiping of device data.
Price and availability
Due out in the first quarter of 2006, Nokia did not disclose any information concerning the expected pricing of the E60 and E70.
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