The dome-headed boffins at Nokia have triumphantly put their multiple pens back in their white coat pockets as the new Nokia N73 and N93 phones roll out on the product slipway.
Both phones come with large 2.4″ QVGA displays and high quality, Sony Ericsson-challenging 3 Megapixel cameras (2048 x 1536 pixels), armed with powerful flashes and Carl Zeiss lenses.
There’s also a new Xpress Share client which is designed to make it easy for mobile snappers to blast off their masterpieces via MMS or email, or upload images to Flickr accounts.
Both phones are equipped with S60 3rd Edition operating systems, which comes with Nokia’s new full web browser and a brand spanking new camera interface.
Nokia N73. Amazin’ Raisin Aero Bar.
Being Brits, we refuse to describe mobiles as having a ‘candybar’ form factor, so how about we call the N73, ‘Amazin’ Raisin Bar’ shaped?
Too obscure?
Well, we would say Mars Bar shaped, but then some of you with smutty minds might start giggling at the back, so we’ll settle for ‘Chunky Aero Bar’ instead.
Now that that’s settled, we can tell you that the Chunky Aero Bar-shaped N73 is designed to replace the popular N70 model and offers Quadband GSM/EDGE connectivity, with some models also including include 2100 MHz UMTS.
Unleashed from behind its spring-assisted cover, there’s an auto-focus 3.2 megapixel camera boasting Carl Zeiss optics, with 42 MB built-in memory and a MiniSD slot for additional storage.
Rounding off the man-sized feature set is Bluetooth 2.0, a music player supporting MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA, video player with streaming support, FM radio with visual radio and a set of built-in pixie-sized 3D stereo speakers.
The Nokia N73 is expected be available from July 2006, in three colour schemes with silly names: silver grey/deep plum, frost white/metallic red and frost white/mocha brown.
Nokia N93. Like a lardy Curly Wurly. Sort of.
Sticking with our ill-thought out confectionary theme a while longer, we reckon that if the N73 is an Aero Bar, then the N93 must be like a bendy Curly Wurly with its flexible hingey thingy.
Modestly billed by Nokia as the “ultimate mobile device for spontaneous video recording,” the N93 features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, “DVD-like” video capture at 30 frames per second, and 3x optical zoom with video stabilisation.
The feature set is mighty impressive, with the N93 offering 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, MiniSD slot, video player with streaming support and TV-out.
The onboard music player can keep you rocking to MP3, AAC, AAC+ and WMA, and there’s a FM radio with visual radio for some Terry Wogan on the move.
Sadly, those looking to see the famous wig wobbling about on TV will be disappointed to learn that the there’s no DVB-H tuner onboard.
The Nokia N93 is expected to be available in July 2006.
Nokia waves around the wedge. Celebs flock for a slice.
Nokia have pushed the boat out on promoting these new phones, somehow persuading actor/director Gary Oldman to shoot a short film using the N93 as part of their “pioneering new mobile video initiative”, the Nokia Nseries Studio.
Apparently, Oldman has become part of an “international cast of creative visionaries who are shooting mobile movies for the Nokia Nseries,” with the results being posted up at www.nokia.com/nseries/studio
Come the summer, Nokia are going to open up the site so mere mortals craving to achieve ‘creative visionary’ status can slap up their own movies.
Telecom giants Orange have launched a new photography service that lets snapping mobile users back up and store their digital photos on the move. 
Alternatively, users can select the ‘upload photos’ option and browse pics from the phone’s gallery for sending to their online album. 
There’s also a £3 a month Photography 15 bundle available for Pay Monthly customers – this includes 15 photo messages but does not contain any inclusive data (for uploading photos and viewing album). 
Spurred on by the huge rise of original content being created for computers and mobile devices, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has decided to officially recognise the growing medium. 
Donning our best party frock, we’re delighted to stand up to the podium and announce the nominees: 
Live 8 on AOL – live feeds and on-demand footage of last year’s enormo charity gig. 
Don’t be fooled: natural language doesn’t mean speech; and Numéro isn’t referring to speech recognition, when it says it has found a method of “entering a new phase in shopping… an intelligent SMS technology for retailers that can understand unstructured text messages – or plain English – allowing customers to shop from their mobile phones.” 
You send a text, and it responds. “If a customer wants to ‘find stores in Manchester that sell DVDs’ or ‘find a hotel room for three nights in Manchester city centre’ then the system will read and understand the text and send back the information. It will also give them a choice of reserving or ordering the product or service they want, and organising a home delivery,” said Colclough. 
“The product, éSMS, has the ability to enact complex business transactions like product purchases, price comparisons, stock availability, or room reservations,” says the company – all from a text and a standard phone. 
Rolling off Sony Ericsson’s well-furrowed product slipway this morning is the W700i Walkman Phone, the company’s eighth addition to their Walkman range. 
Like the W800, the W700 comes with a full complement of onboard gizmos, including a two megapixel camera, 1.8 inch 262k 176×220 colour TFT display, dedicated music buttons and Bluetooth and Tri-band connectivity. 
Beardy rich bloke Richard Branson has picked up a baguette and waved it angrily at French telecom suppliers, accusing them of “ripping off” consumers as he launched his new Virgin Mobile service in France. 
To further tempt Frenchies, Virgin will be offering free SMS text to subscription customers signing up for 12 month deals (although Orange can review this later if its network subsequently becomes overloaded.) 
We didn’t think we needed a poll to find this one out, but a new poll in the States has found that just about everyone – including fellow mobile users – get annoyed by people talking loudly on their phones in public. 
Multimedia is for da kidZ
Details of a snazzy new range of Sony flash memory MP3 player/FM radios with a colour display have appeared on Sony’s Chinese site. 
Sporting attractively bijou dimensions of 75.5mm x 45.5mm, the CE-P is smaller than a credit card (but not as thin, natch) and is designed for carrying around your neck, gangsta-stylee. 
The CE-P series will come in three flavours, offering storage capacity from 256MB to a 1GB. 
The highly rated Palm Treo 650 smart phone has won the support of another major mobile phone operator in the UK. 
With Orange the sole Treo supporter up until now, rivals Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2 have preferred to offer a selection of Windows Mobile-based devices made by HTC – including the 
Palm – who are currently celebrating the tenth anniversary of the launch of the Palm Pilot – is reported to have shifted 564,000 Treos in the last quarter (and we’re soon to join the throng after giving up on the fiddly complexities of our Windows Mobile handset). 
UK Mobile company, Orange, is to abandon their numbered Talk plans to replace them with ‘types’ – Dolphins, Canaries, Racoons and Panthers. 
Orange has always been a pioneer in dealing with customers. This started with their name, which back in 1994, was extremely adventurous – as was tying it in with a colour and trying to associate it with emotion. 
On a personal note – I’ve been with Orange since they started and was highly impressed in the early days. Over the years I found that the quality has gone south a little – people you speak to there are a little less helpful; the flexibility that made you glad to be with Orange and started to atrophy shortly after Wanadoo (France Telecom) took over in 2001. 
Instead we will be categorised as Dolphins, Canaries, Racoons or Panthers. Here’s the explanation …