Touched again

The business phone

Having used an E63 for over two years,and having thoroughly enjoyed the experience,I wanted to get my hands on the new generation Symbian Anna phone. So when I finally got the E6,despite its similarities in design to the E63 and E71,I could not but help notice that this was the E series on steroids and with the added advantage of touch. I also could not ignore the fact that OS is almost the same as the earlier Symbian^3 OS,which runs on the E7.

But Anna is more vivacious and smarter than the earlier versions of Symbian. For a change,there are four homescreens to flip through and fill with apps. You can effortlessly flip through pages,using both touch and the keypad. However,it takes about a second for the apps to show themselves on the news screen and this I found strange and annoying. The first screen contains the core apps like mail,Net and navigation,while the next one is dedicated to social networking; the other two are mostly to do with apps. Thankfully,all the screens can be customised,though you can’t add more screens for the widgets as you could with iOS or Android.

The touchscreen is very good,though it is still the size of the E63 and E71. I often feel there should be more real estate on touch phones. Thankfully,the Qwerty keyboard is much-improved and really soft on the fingertips. But the phone is a bit bulky in comparison to its BlackBerry competitors and maybe even the older E-series phones.

One of the reasons for the bulk could be the superb 8MP camera,which comes with its own editing suite and bright LED flash. Another interesting feature is that the volume buttons on the side are backlit,something I haven’t come across in other phones. This is a complete business phone,as the menu includes a separate office folder with apps that you might need to ply your trade.

I was expecting a bit more from Anna,but the Nokia E6 is a good phone for anyone used to,and happy with,the Symbian platform.

Price: Rs 18,697.

Desi heart

The Nokia C2-03 is an Indian phone,for it comes at a price that will please its buyers and give good value for money. For just Rs 4,300,this dual SIM phone gives buyers the comfort of touch along with the added advantage of an old-style slide down keypad. And this is a Nokia,not some Chinese phone masquerading under a fancy name.

I have always liked slider phones and found it the most natural way of taking a call. Somehow,sliding the keypad out to answer and clicking it shut to end a call also makes you feel sophisticated,in a very 007 kind of way. The C2 is a handsome phone,but the slider here is not just about style. You will need the keypad often,though this is also a full-touch phone.

Some of you might have got my drift — the touch is not that responsive. It works,but with serious prodding. And you have your work cut out if you decide to switch to a smaller font. But then,you haven’t paid a month’s salary to own it.

The homescreen has icons of favourite apps as well as links to Facebook,Twitter and Flickr,though I don’t know why you would need the last one on a phone this size. The menu is quite basic,but you can download more apps and music from the Ovi Store. The preloaded Nokia Maps app,which works without GPRS,uses your cell tower position,when needed.

The 2MP camera is decent with many editing and setting options,but lacks a dedicated click button. The volume keys,however,can be used for zooming. The keylock switch on the right also switches off the display in a jiffy,which is useful.

Overall,the C2-03 is a good phone for anyone who wants to upgrade to touch,but is not sure whether they are ready to forgo the familiarity of type. And,yes,it is paisa vasool.