Tech Bitch

The tipping point for widespread adoption of business mobility is upon us, and it will take new levels of performance, greater functionality and interoperability, and broad access to mobility solutions beyond the executive suite for customers and operators to realise the benefits of anytime, anywhere productivity and collaboration. Now is the time for business users to demand a new standard of intelligent business devices.

Designed exclusively for working titans, Nokia’s outrageously expensive E90 Communicator (£625) forms part of the company’s second wave of E-Series devices (there’s actually been eleven Communicators released over the last 10 years). Each E-Series device features a combination of relatively advanced technologies designed to enhance the way business users experience work in a mobile world, by allowing faster and better quality access to important information for greater collaboration and productivity.

Nokia’s E90 Communicator (132×57x20mm, 210g) is a brick compared to a regular mobile phone (even Apple’s iPhone), but it’s one of the most capable business devices in its class. Based on Symbian OS 9.3 (the latest release is version 9.5) and the S60 3rd Edition platform, the latest technologies at the core of the device bring business necessities and personal amenities to the hands of those looking for office autonomy. Fast and inexpensive connections over WLAN and HSDPA-enhanced 3G (up to 3.6Mbit/s) accelerate the mobile use of data- and transmission-rich applications, and integrated GPS helps finding routes and locating services.

Plus, two displays mean you can operate the phone however you wish - the inner active matrix colour display (800×352 pixels) is used for serious messaging, while the outer colour display (240×320 pixels) provides quick navigating of the phone’s most frequently used features. The E90 Communicator is also equipped with an FM radio, music player, video player and two cameras - a 3.2-Megapixel autofocus camera with flash and a second front-facing camera for videoconferencing (up to VGA at 30fps).

More important is its support for the most popular e-mail and business voice solutions, plus its ability to operate across different continents using quadband GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) and 3G network frequencies, in addition to broadband data connectivity with 3G WCDMA and WLAN. It supports POP3, IMAP4, and SMTP messaging protocols, as well as the ability to view, open, and edit e-mail attachments with Quickoffice (documents, spreadsheets, and presentations), create and open ZIP files, and read PDF files. There’s also a text-to-speech message reader.

Voice features include voice dialling, voice commands for menu short cuts, keypad lock, and profiles, as well as voice recording for making notes or recording conversations. Internet Call release 2.1 lets you make VoIP (Voice over IP) calls, there’s an integrated hands-free speaker for conference calling (or giving your arms a rest!), and Push to talk (PoC) is also supported.

Other key specifications include up to 128MB free memory for user data and applications, extendible up to 4GB with a microSD memory card, 802.11b/g, USB 2.0 port, Bluetooth, 2.5mm Nokia audio connector with ECI, and an infrared port. Nokia claims up to 5.8 hours GSM talktime, or up to 14 days standby from the fully-charged 1500mAh Lithium-ion battery (BP-4L). Despite the GPS aerial, the device does not come with pre-stored maps for UK roads. Instead, you get Nokia’s own Maps service, which allows you to download (using Wi-Fi or a 3G link) the cartography that you want for the part of the world that you are in or are travelling to.

Nokia’s E90 Communicator is bulky and butt ugly compared to most shiny handsets on the market today, but its no-nonsense features list makes it the easiest and most effective solution for business professionals to get mobilised. The keyboard is a joy to use, the device sits nicely on a flat surface, and the widescreen display makes browsing the Web and working with office documents a whole lot easier than other smartphones. Since the E90 Communicator’s Web browser shares similar code-base as Apple’s iPhone Safari browser, most iPhone Web Applications are accessible through the E90 Communicator’s browser as well.

Though it is pitched squarely at heavy SMS/MMS and e-mail users, the E90 Communicator is limited in significant ways compared to Windows Mobile 6 devices. Most noticeable, the device does not have native support for common HTML e-mail, nor does the supplied Microsoft Exchange client, Mail for Exchange, support folders. This means that you cannot access ‘Sent’ items created on other Exchange clients, or sort e-mail into folders.

However, it is the first device of its type to support the Blackberry Connect Version 4 software. Overall the E90 is a fantastic smartphone if you prefer its form factor over Nokia’s also excellent E61i. Its size and styling won’t appeal to consumers, but for no-fuss business users needing to stay in touch with the office and customers, it can’t be beaten. [9]

None of us know how much we’ll be charged to make a mobile call to friends abroad or to call back home from holiday. But we do know it’s expensive, which is why we don’t bother. Truphone, the mobile operator for the hippy Internet age has revealed a new pricing structure that means roaming charges have vanished completely for its customers.

From anywhere in the galaxy, Truphone customers can call countries in its ‘Tru Zone’, on their mobile, at the fabulously low rates of just 3p per minute to landlines and 15p per minute to mobiles.

The 40 countries in the Tru Zone together account for 60% of the world’s mobile phones and include most EU countries, Australia, Japan and Russia. Calls to some countries - including China, Hong Kong, U.S. and Canada - will cost even less, at just 3p per minute to both landlines and mobiles.

The potential savings can quickly mount up. At current prices, a 10-minute call home from your European ski holiday to a UK landline on Vodafone’s International Call Saver option (which attracts a monthly £2.50 charge just to be on it) will cost £3.80, while the same call with Truphone costs a mere 30p. Worse still, for those calling home from the U.S., perhaps from your Disneyland hotel, a 10-minute call on the same Vodafone tariff will currently set you back an eye-watering £11 - but the same call with Truphone still costs just 30p.

Truphone has also killed off roaming charges for receiving mobile calls abroad, something that routinely catches us all out as many don’t realise that we pay a high price for inbound calls. Receiving a call abroad costs absolutely nothing with Truphone - yet that same holidaymaker in Disneyland with Vodafone’s International Call Saver option is currently charged 75 pence per minute to answer a call from home. The same customer is only marginally better off accepting an inbound call in Europe, where accepting an inbound call costs 19 pence per minute.

So how does this magic work? Because it routes calls over Wi-Fi and the Internet, Truphone’s tariff structure relates solely to the destination being called, and whether that destination is a landline or a mobile. Where the call is made from becomes irrelevant, making roaming charges redundant. Truphone-to-Truphone calls remain free, no matter where in the world the two parties are.

Onyx is a new UK company that’s carving out a niche for unique lifestyle mobile products. The first device in its mobile phone range is the Liscio, a miniscule handset that’s actually a rebranded Haier Elegance. Liscio is one of the most compact and lightweight phones on the market. Heck, it weighs just 60g! Its design is totally original, and its rounded edges make it perfect for emos and their skinny jeans.

Beyond the plastic exterior it’s equipped with tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz), mirrored 1.10-inch OLED colour screen (96×96 pixels, 65k colours), 128MB built-in memory, Bluetooth v1.2, Micro SD slot, MP3 player and FM radio to blast out your latest tunes (the dedicated music buttons in the centre of the phone are useful), as well as a world clock, stopwatch, voice recorder and alarm clock. There are a couple of games too, though they are pretty basic.

The keypad is easy to use, but the jog dial on the side of the phone will take a little getting used to. Managing your contacts can also be a pain due to the size of the screen. Other grievances are modest call quality and a talktime of just 3 hours.

Sold as a SIM-free handset and available for £129, Liscio is worth a closer look if you’re looking to make and receive the odd call and don’t care too much about a large screen and tons of features. It doesn’t have a camera, or any data functions beyond SMS text messaging. For some, that should be enough. It’s totally gay for alpha males, but the chicks will definitely dig it. [6]