Is it a phone, a digital camera or a PDA? Nokia's 7650 tries to be all three.
Computeract!ve, 15 Nov 2002
Larger ImageThe day of the Smartphone has definitely arrived with the launch of Nokia's 7650.
Powered by a similar operating system to that used in Psion handheld computers, the 7650 has a built-in calendar, to-do list and contacts database which can share information with your PC.
A large colour screen makes it easy to view calendar data in particular, and there are week and month views on offer.
Describing the 7650 as a diary with voice call capability is to miss the point entirely. Nokia has tried to make a 'one size fits all' phone.
The digital still camera is activated by sliding the number pad out of the main body of the phone to reveal the lens at the back. It takes pictures at 640 x 480 pixels and you can send images to another phone using multimedia messaging services (MMS).
It's a clever system but it has its snags. You need to send images to an MMS-compatible phone, and the only models currently compatible are the 7650 and SonyEricsson's T68i.
You can also only send messages to phones on your own network, and only T-Mobile and Orange are offering the service as we write. T-Mobile charges a flat rate of £20 per month on top of your contract while Orange charges 40p per message.
But the 7650 has other plus points. There's built-in Bluetooth wireless networking and 3.6MB of memory in which to store images, diary data and new applications.
The phone supports both high-speed circuit switched data and general packet radio service alongside global service for mobile comms. There is no web browser but the Wap browser is one of the best we've seen and you can save pages for viewing offline.
The user interface is superb. Two selection keys and a five-way joystick allow navigation between on-screen icons. Once within an application, the same buttons call up menu options and make selections easy.
The Nokia 7650 is definitely packed with features. However, it isn't as capable as a handheld computer and it is large for a mobile phone.
It is clever, but not really the best of all worlds.
DETAILS
Contact: Nokia 0870 500 3110
www.nokia.co.uk
Takes digital photos and supports MMS
You can add extra applications
Bad points:
Not a lot of internal memory for data and applications
Large for a phone
Fewer features than a PDA
Overall:
A separate phone and handheld computer might prove more useful
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