The nice people at Nokia have a special valentine’s offer – Free Phone From Nokia

Buy one of 10 handsets, like the N97 or the N900, or even the rather expensive 8800 Golde Arte at £1088, and get a free Nokia 1661 or Nokia 1208. Other phones in the offer include the new messaging phone, the E72 and the Nokia X6.

Your loved one will thank you

Nokia have announced that their proprietary navigation and mapping product, Ovi Maps, will be made available free on selected handsets. This is to include free voice navigation both on driving and walking trips.
Previously, certain handsets were pre loaded with Ovi Maps, and came with a limited trial for the turn by turn voice navigation services.

The handsets that are currently able to download the full package for free are:

• Nokia X6
• Nokia N97 mini
• E72
• E55
• E52
• Nokia 6730 classic
• Nokia 6710 Navigator
• Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic
• Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition
• Nokia 5230

Once the maps application is downloaded there are a selection of both male and female voices to choose from, available in a number of different languages and these can be downloaded as required. Maps are available to download for free for over 70 countries.

Ovi Maps has the features you would expect from a satellite navigation solution, including a number of different views from 2D to 3D style road views, options to favour motorways, or not, and the option to choose real time traffic information. Data download charges will apply for some of these options, so if you are on a data limited plan, you should bear this in mind.

Perhaps not unsurprisingly, the 12 mega pixel Sony Ericsson Satio received some good reviews and is riding high in Vodafone’s list of most popular camera phones of the moment.

This is despite reports that because of certain issues, both Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U took the decision back towards the end of November to withdraw the handset from their shelves and are also offering to replace the handset for customers who are not happy with it.

Reported problems include issues with the interface, as well as freezing, crashing and battery problems.

Sony responded to the issues with a statement to the effect that

Sony Ericsson confirms that it has been made aware that a small number of consumers have experienced software issues with its Satio handset when using certain applications

There were hopes that these issues could be resolved however it would seem that these earlier problems heralded a premature end to the Satio as Vodafone UK have also now advised that the handset is to be discontinued. It is still showing on the Sony Ericsson list of current devices, and available with a number of retailers, but if the Satio was your most desired phone, and you are yet to get one, time may be running out.

The driving laws across Australia now see drivers having to put down their mobile phones whilst driving their cars. Although different states will have different implementations of the law, certain states, including Victoria, now see a marked change whereby phones need to be in a holder fixed in the car with calls being answered without the driver physically touching the phone in any way.

The actual wording of the legislation states that drivers “will only be able to use mobile phones if they are placed in purpose-made cradles and operation is entirely hands-free.”

This law therefore also extends to using the built in GPS systems within mobile phones and means you have to have a holder for your mobile if you want to use the GPS navigation features, for example.

In the Sate of Victoria, possible fines are AU$234 and the loss of 3 demerit points, however mobile accessory manufacturers have been quick to produce fixing cradles that should enable the legal use of phones.

A similar ban on talking and texting is in effect in New Zealand, but carries a lower fine of NZ$80.

Of course this is nothing new to drivers in the UK and many States in America where drivers have been used to reducing or eliminating the calls they make whilst in the car, and making those calls with the aid of a fully fitted car kit or hands free device. In the UK, the law can be seen to cover GPS, if the use of the device could lead to driving without due care or attention.

The idea of having to have the device fixed is however more draconian and as drafted, the Australian law prohibits hands free calling even with a hands free kit, if your phone is left on your lap, or connected with Bluetooth wireless technology to your hands free kit, but left in a coat pocket, for example.

Vodafone yesterday announced the exclusive availability of the Nokia E72. Available for free on £30 per month contracts this faster, enhanced version of the E71 is a real Blackberry alternative packing many of the best features that an email heavy mobile user would require.

You can get the Nokia E72 from Vodafone or direct from Nokia in a SIM free version

The Nokia E63 is a full email solution mobile, with a QWERTY keypad underneath a 2.36”, 320 x 240 pixel TFT colour screen. Like other similar E-series mobiles (particularly the E71 and new E72), the E63 has a central D pad style navigation button with 2 quick access buttons either side.

With a 2.36”, 320 x 240 pixel QVGA TFT colour screen and two customisable home screen modes, you can set up your E63 to work the way you want it, both for business and at home. Available in Ultramarine Blue and Ruby Red the E63 is possibly slightly less serious looking than the E71, but with many of the same features should still impress.

The camera has a 2 Megapixel resolution, (1600 x 1200 pixels), with digital zoom and LED flash. This camera will also record video at 20 x 240 (QVGA) with 15 fps and has a digital zoom feature. You can also use the LED flash as a flashlight by holding down the spacebar.

Connect the Nokia E63 to your pc through the micro USB connector, or use Bluetooth or the built in Wi-Fi. Get to your music with the standard sized 3.5mm av jack (something the E71 does not have), and enjoy the built in FM radio, or up to 18 hours of music playback with each battery charge.

There is 110MB memory, which is expandable with 8GB MicroSD cards.

There is no denying that the E63 is not as feature rich as the E71 (or soon to be released Nokia E72), but this is compensated in terms of affordability. You don’t get as high a resolution camera, or auto focus, and the GPS has been dropped. But there is the 3.5 mm av port for headphones that the E71 does not have the lovely blue or red colours and the same emailing capabilities that make the E63 a good choice whether you are considering a Nokia or a Blackberry.

HTC have a fine range of mobiles under their belt, but could the HTC HD2 be the best one yet?

The first thing you notice is the large 4.3” 480 X 800 WVGA capacitive touch screen. The HTC HD2 is the largest HTC so far, it runs of Windows Mobile® 6.5 Professional, the updated operating system from the world’s largest software company that has been surprisingly well received, and has HTC Sense control system overlayed for the same smoth experience that made the HTC Hero such a great phone. Add the super fast 1GHz Snapdragon™ processor and the HD2 packs a real punch.


But HTC phones have previously had lousy cameras, so has this been addressed in the HD2? Well this phone has the best camera yet fitted into a HTC phone – 5 megapixels with a dual LED flash and autofocus, bringing this into the same realm as the competition.

Connectivity includes Bluetooth® 2.1 with Enhanced Data Rate, there is a standard micro USB and 3.6 mm AV jack for your headphones. FM Radio, GPS and digital compass.

The HTC HD2 is to be released on 20 November, but you can pre order HTC Touch HD2 Windows Mobile 6.5 Sim-Free Mobile Phone from Amazon right now and get a free HTC Mono Bluetooth Headset if you order before 30 November.

Although the Sony Ericsson Satio is a phone where the specifications for the camera really shine through, the Sony Ericsson Aino still has impressive camera features not least the 8.1 megapixel resolution, with auto focus, flash and 16 x digital zoom.

There is touch focus through the main touch screen, face recognition and photo fix to enhance your photos.

There are additional sound features including Clear Bass and Stereo features to enhanced the quality of music through the bundled music player, and there is compatibility with A2DP Bluetooth headsets.

The PlayNow film, music and games download service is also included.

Other features include the slide out keypad, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS with Google Maps and full email support. The full colour touch screen has 432×240 pixels and incorporates auto rotate and animated wallpapers and for gamers there are dedicated gaming keys as well as the ability to connect remotely to your PSP 3. There is 55 MB on board memory which can be expanded with MicroSD memory cards.

Although slightly heavier than the Satio, The Sony Ericsson Aino is about 10% smaller in overall dimensions at 104.0 x 50.0 x 15.5 mm and has an estimated eight and a half hours talk time (300 hours standby).

If you use email on the go, then you will appreciate the features and specification of the Nokia E72. Whilst principally an upgrade to the already popular E71, the Nokia E72 is a business mobile to give Blackberry a run for their money.

With a full QWERTY keypad with screen above and monoblock form, the E72 is very similar to the Blackberry devices. There are one touch keys to get you straight into your email, contacts, calendar and Home, as well as volume and mute keys.

The battery will give twelve and a half hours talktime on GSM networks with 492 hours standby, so it should last on even the busiest business days. Connectivity options include WiFi (with VoIP capabilities), Bluetooth, the ability to act as a mobile modem, and GPRS and HSDPA with a maximum speed of 10.2 Mbps for lightning fast data download.

There is an integrated A-GPS with compass and Nokia Maps 3.0.
Email options include standard POP/SMTP email, support for MS Outlook synchronisation of contacts, calendar and notes, and Exchange server synchronisation with Nokia’s proprietary Mail for Exchange.

The camera is a significant step up above other email phones currently on the market, providing a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, a five times digital zoom and video capabilities to VGA (640 x 480 at 15fps). The camera will record in JPEG or Exif formats, there is a panorama mode and features such as red eye reduction as well as the ability to edit your pictures straight on the E72.

Entertainment features include a music player with sound enhancement features, FM radio and a 3.5mm audio jack so you can use your own headphones.

As with other Nokia phones, the E72 has voice dialling as standard, a text to speech reader, voice recorder and two home screen modes, business and personal.

In the box you can expect to get the Nokia E72, charger, USB cable and a 4GB Micro SD card to supplement the 250 MB free user disk space. The only thing left to decide is what colour you want – Zodium black, Metal grey or Topaz brown.

At Camera phone review we first reported the possibility of pico projectors, small enough to fit inside your mobile phone back in July 2007.

Now it looks like they are becoming a reality with specialist electronics companies such as Texas Instruments now producing the technology on a commercial basis and with consumer products now available from Samsung and Nikon. Nikon have incorporated the device into a digital camera, the Coolpix S1000pj and Samsung included a projector in the W7900 smart phone launched for the South Korean market (expected to be badged as the Samsung i7410 in Europe).

Part of the problem to date has been managing the power requirements of the projector, to maintain overall battery life on the mobile phone, but with consumers unwilling to carry an additional piece of hardware around with them this is a hurdle that needs to be overcome if the technology is to go mass market. If projectors in camera phones was to expand as cameras in mobiles have done, the potential market is quoted as growing to 1 billion pico projectors a year by 2015.

Texas Instruments, whose DLP or Digital Light Processing technology is within the Samsung i7410 are optimistic about the prospects but they are not the only company in the marketplace. One thing is sure, that if this takes off, those people who love to have loud annoying conversations on their mobiles in public places (think train carriage) will now be able to inflict their choice of movie on to their unfortunate passengers as well