Ok their not smartphones by any means but Samsung and Nokia have two new budget phones for the pay as you go market, the cheapskates and the technophobes. Smartphones they are not but they certainly do the job of ringing people and texting with the added bonus of some basic features.

Firstly we have the Samsung Corby II.

• 3.14” Touchscreen
• EDGE connectivity
• microSD up to 16GB
• Bluetooth 3.0
• WiFi
• Samsung TouchWiz UI
• Social Networking Functions

As you can see it is pretty basic but obviously the price will reflect it’s lack of “smartness”. Available first in Germany of all places first we should see it appear on our shores soon afterwards although we don’t have a retail price for it just yet.

Secondly there’s the Nokia X1-00. Nokia are really good at making the ultra-budget phones and have made some in the past cheaper than anyone else but still with that Nokia build quality you expect from the Finnish mobile makers. This is even more basic than the previous phone however. It doesn’t even have a touchscreen It does have its own stand out features though although i think the market they’re aiming for are the annoying kind that make public transport unbearable

• Colour screen
• Series 30 software
• microSD support to 16GB
• Speaker on the reverse (increased frequency range so the sound quality is better than your average phone loudspeaker, “it’s for your chooooons innit”)

The upside to this phone is that it will be available next month at a super cheap £29 SIM Free.

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Couple of Budget Phones for you

Nokia, the top dog in mobile phones for so long, finally seeing it’s majority hold on the market slumping with the successes of Apple, BlackBerry and Android mobiles. Many have put this down to the fact it stuck with it’s Symbian mobile platform which didn’t improve as greatly as the other 3 companies operating systems. It took Intel on board to create the MeeGo operating system which hasn’t really surfaced despite being talked about some time ago. All this finally came into perspective a few days ago when figures showed how much Nokia’s market share had slumped. Still up there with the big boys in terms of numbers but the others about to overtake a senior exec within them sent a damning memo which got out around the internet saying Nokia staff were “standing on a burning platform,” and were falling away from it’s rivals

So what can Nokia do to sort it out. As said MeeGo was supposed to be the start. An OS for Nokias new smartphones and even Tablet PCs but we haven’t seen anything of it. Nokia have said they still plan to release a MeeGo smartphone by the end of this year but mainly aiming it at a certain market as Nokia have said that MeeGo will only be “an open source mobile operating system project. So swallow some pride Nokia, what about Symbian? Nokia says it will become, “…a franchise platform,” saying it wants to, “…retain and transition,” existing users. That sounds to me like the once popular OS will be dying out.

So from there what’s next? FINALLY they’re going to bite the bullet and have entered a strategic partnership with Microsoft so that their future phones can turn to the ever growing Windows Mobile operating system. Nokia have said “Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy.”, opting for Bing search options, Xbox Live compatibility and Zune media playback functions. However Nokia will be keeping it’s very successful and great Nokia Ovi Maps.

Soon as the first Windows Mobile phones by Nokia get announced, we’ll be sure to let you know

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Nokia and Windows 7 get friendly.

Mobile phone’s used to big. That couldn’t be helped, the technology in it’s youth could only mean that phones had to be big. Then they got small, real small. You can get a phone in your watch. Recently however it seems ok for phones to be big again but the new Nokia E7 is more than a big phone, it’s a big “business” phone.

Like the old Nokia business phones the E7  has a slide out QWERTY keyboard which makes the phone a portly number like it’s brother N8. Again this a new Symbian 3 operated phone and has a 4-inch screen with the same Clear Black Display as the C6. It has an 8MP camera, again capable of shooting 720p video but also has HDMI out and Dolby Digital Surround sound just like the N8. It will also have 16GB of onboard storage. For the people who actually will use it for business, the Nokia E7 has full Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support for all your business needs and no doubt when Symbian 3 is in full flow, there will be plenty of new apps for you to sink your teeth into.

In a way you could say the E7 is the mature version of the N8 with less of a camera. Available by Christmas it should be just over £400.

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Nokia E7 : Four Inches of Business!

On first glance the C6 seems a lot like the C7 but Nokia is pulling out some more stops for this phone. With iPhone 4’s Retina Diaplay and the Super AMOLED of the Galaxy S it’s Espoo’s turn to get our eyes onto something better than the rivals.

This will be achieved via what Nokia is calling CBD. ClearBlack Display to you and me. Basically what it is, is a top end touchscreen which provides much better contrasts than current screens on the market. How does it do this, well here’s what Nokia said “the background of the ClearBlack Display is blacker than black, because we have used a polariser to remove unwanted reflections for important outdoor visibility. It has lower power consumption too. It’s not only blacker, it’s also greener.”

The phone itself is housed in a sleek stainless steel casing and is small in comparison to the giant smartphones like the N8 or Xperia X10. Again another Symbian 3 phone, it will have an 8MP camera and will be bundled with a new and improved Ovi Maps. No information on an exact release date just expect later this year probably around the same price as the C7.

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Nokia C6 : New screen to match Retina Display

Nokia this week has had a conference (Nokia World 2010) held in London and from it have come a few new phones. With the delay on the N8, Nokia haven’t been busy with other phones, but it appears secretly they have and so have announced 3 new phones that we at MightyGadget will talk about today.

The C7 appears to be slimmed down version of the N8. The N8 certainly is a brute of a phone and Nokia have scaled it down. The C7 is a Symbian 3, 3.5” AMOLED screened affair which is a tiny 10.5mm thick. On the flipside is an 8MP camera, ok not as good as the N8’s 12MP camera but like the N8 this will shoot 720p video. You’ll get 8GB of onboard storage which can be expanded via microSD by a further 32GB. What’s interesting is that Nokia has added Active Noise Cancellation to the phone, to deliver clearer calls. The other interesting point to make is the battery life…….. 27 days on standby, crikey!

The main thing Nokia is pushing with this phone is it’s social networking capabilities. Obviously the new OS should improve things but they’re adding support to several other “foreign” networks that a used more in other countries. It’s obviously not all about Facebook and Twitter. Available in Blighty later this year it should retail around the £280 mark or most likely a fair price on a subsidised contract.

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Nokia C7 : Slim and Sociable

Well its been on the cards for a while and now we have the news. The N8 is coming and lets hope and pray Nokia have realised the mistakes they’ve made with the N97 and N900 and get back to being the top dog at smartphones, and looking at the specs, this shouldn’t disappoint.

• First Symbian 3 mobile from Nokia.  Will still look and feel like a Nokia phone yet add extra features like multi-touch yet still keep its functionality with social networking and Ovi store.
• AT LAST A CAPACITIVE TOUCHSCREEN!!! With stylus support, the pinch zoom and everything else Nokia phones of old have lacked.
• The first phone to bundle a 12MP camera : Capable of 720p video the camera features the largest camera sensor on a Nokia device, improving the quality of images and light received. not to mention the speed of the lens capable of taking pictures faster than most digital cameras.
• N-standard WiFi. Yes thats right increased range and increased speed making streaming, surfing and sharing all that much quicker.
• HDMI output with the ability to output surround sound with Dolby Digital Plus technology.
• Full Flash Support – nuff said
• Web TV – pre-loaded feeds from CNN, National Geographic and E!, hopefully BBC iPlayer will return.
• A brand new music player with improved UI and cover-flow interface not to mention an improved sound quality.
• 16GB of internal memory upgradeable to 48GB via microSD
• Improved battery life : 50 yes 50 hours of music playback and apparently it’ll last 16 days on standby(will have to see that to believe it)

Due out in Q3 it’s believed to cost around £320. Check this video to see the N8 in action.

Nokia N8 YouTube video

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PhoneFest continued : Nokia N8 revealed

Yes that’s right Espoo revealed yesterday 3 half decent phones that are very friendly on the old pocket so if you’re a scrooge or just don’t want a top of the range phone then look here. What they have revealed are the E5(cheaper version of the popular E72), the C6 (an N-series-esque slider)and the C3(a super cheap Blackberry style messaging phone).

We’ll start with the E5. Running Symbian S60 3rd edition on a 2.4” QVGA screen it lacks the style of the E72 but still packs the connectivity. HSDPA, WiFi and a-GPS are all available. It has Exchange support so is a great little emailer, a 5MP camera, microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone socket. Not bad eh?? Well how about all that for £160? Bargain.

The C6 is a lot like the N series phones but on the cheap. 3.2” 640×360 touchscreen this time with Symbian S60 5th edition this phone has a slide out, landscape, 4 line keyboard to type away those texts or update your facebook status. It also has a 5MP camera and a front mounted camera. Connectivity wise it’s got HSDPA, WiFi and a-GPS and also has an FM Radio. Memory comes in the form of a microSD slot. Price? £195. Again a bargain.

The C3 is the cheapest of the three and as it comes in beige, black/blue and bright Pink we’re guessing its aimed at the Pay as you Go market mainly due to the measley price of £79(yes thats right). Unfortunately though its specced at £79. Running Symbian S40 on a 2.4” 320×240 screen. Again microSD is the memory although it will playback music and has the usual 3.5mm jack. With a full QWERTY though you should be able to fly those messages out and it also has WiFi for hotspot surfing.

All 3 will be available over the next few months.

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Looking for a half decent cheap phone : NOKIA!!!

The hotly anticipated N900 phone from Nokia has been unveiled on the Vodafone website under the coming soon bracket making it the first network to be selling what will hopefully be Nokia’s comeback phone against the iPhone, when it hits our stores in January.

The sequel to the N97 and what looks to be a more robust, better working phone(gutted because i got the N97…..typical)  had been rumoured to be on Vodafone Ireland recently but now its got the “officialness” now on Voda UK. Similar to the N97 in looks and size this powerhouse of a phone can multitask like no other. using the Maemo 5 OS which is based on Linux this will allow the phone to operate with ease and speed, add to that an ARM Cortex-A8 processor and 1GB RAM you can really see this phone will work wonders.

Usual features like a 3.5” high res(800×480), resitive touchscreen(which although not as good as a capacitive one like the iPhone, but Nokia really has got this one working quite well), 32GB of internal storage, 5MP camera, WiFi, Firefox based browser with Flash 9.4 support and Ovi connectivity for all those apps.

Not too sure of any price ranges as of yet as it’s still “coming soon”

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Nokia N900 : On Vodafone in January

With next weeks Nokia World Expo looming, the Booklet 3G, Nokia’s product announcement are going full steam ahead with the new N900. First reports were that it was a phone similar to the N97, using the Linux based Maemo OS. Now its an internet tablet.

It will pack the ARM Cortex-A8 processor the same as the Palm Pre and iPhone 3GS.It’ll also pack 1GB of memory for the running of applications such as full Adobe Flash 9.4 for all them online videos you want to watch. OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics will make the phone, i mean tablet powerful in the visual department probably for the games and media content.

Whats gutting is that I got an N97 a month ago and now Nokia who normally announce stuff 10 years in advance so by the time its released its out of date (just like my N97 is now) this is looking at an October release but nothing is definite yet as there’s no price or network carrier as yet.

Full Specs : -

• ARM Cortex-A8 processor
• Maemo Linux-based OS
• 3.5-inch QVGA touchscreen
• QWERTY keyboard
• HSDPA
• Wi-Fi
• 32GB of storage (expandable to 48GB with microSD)
• 5MP camera

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Nokia N900 Phone or Tablet : You Decide!

Nokia have left entering the netbook market for some time but here’s their first foray into the market with what they prefer to call a “mini laptop”. The Finn’s netbook(should I call it that??) appears to have the specs of a high end netbook but offers a lot more. You wouldnt expect anything less from Nokia though would we.

• The first advantage is this Netbook is made by a “Mobile” company. Nokia knows what people want/need on the move which computer specialists Dell and Acer still havent seemed to get 100% right.
• Most netbooks don’t do HD graphics on their small screens, THIS DOES!!!! 720p – No problemo
• Nokia Claims its battery will last 12 hours. Now I know some of their phones batteries last forever but in my experience some havent so i’ll reserver judgement on this comment till I see one.
• The Nokia netbook no doubt will come bundled with a 3G broadband subscription but it has a SIM slot allowing you to put your phone SIM in to continue surging if your 3G broadband has no signal.
• Nokia have bundled GPS into the Booket 3G, no need to upgrade like other netbooks. Add Nokia Ovi Maps to the equation and you can find your way around like on your mobile.
• It works with all of Nokias online services (Ovi etc)
• Only 2cm thick, but built by Nokia. We all know you can drop your Nokia in the toilet(not recommended in reality) and after a dry out they work. No doubt the 3G booklet will be built of the same solid stuff. Its got an aluminium chassis and a thin Glass Screen frame, just like the MacBook, so it’ll look real nice too
• Nokia have said it’ll sync with your mobile too although full details on how or what it’ll do entirely arent sure but it can only be good …….right??
• It has HDMI out.  Plug into your TV and watch your HD video…….Simples!!

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Nokia Booklet 3G The “mini laptop”