Today’s announcement is all about bringing Nokia Messaging, QWERTY keyboard to the masses and bringing devices to the masses is something Nokia does pretty well.  The devices revealed today are also another clear sign that Nokia is simplifying its naming convention with a single letter and number.

Nokia  C3 

The Nokia C3 is one of the few devices to bring a full QWERTY keyboard to Series 40 and is the first to bring social networks directly on the homescreen. The design is very Eseries in nature but softens things up with lots of curves and and velvety smooth finish. We like it. We also like the estimated price of EUR 90, which includes extras we could only dream of a few years ago, like Wi-Fi connectivity and support for up to an 8GB memory card. Why not 16 Gigs? And yes it has a two megapixel camera and a very E71/72 2.4 inch screen.

Nokia C6

The Nokia C6 is a bit more confusing, with its 5230 looks and the N97’s features and Symbian 5th edition. Onboard is a 3.2 3.2 inch touch screen, slide out QWERTY keyboard and the N97’s widget-based home screen. Other features include a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation  The C6 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010 at an estimated price of EUR 220, before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia E5

18 hours and 30 minutes talk time (in GSM mode). 29 days standby time. Wow! All using a 1200mah battery as compared to the E72’s 1500 mAh. That’s some serious power optimization! The rest of features are very similar to the E72, including the Symbian S60 3rd edition, Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation is on board, Ovi Store, Nokia Messaging. 5 megapixel camera and 2.4-inch. It does seem to be lacking the metal body and is a tad chubbier, adding an extra 2mm. Do expect the usual confusion when talking about the E55 and E5. The Nokia E5 is estimated to cost €180 before taxes and subsidies and is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2010.

A few shipping and soon-to-be released Eseries devices are now officially DLNA certified. This is perhaps the best proof that the Eseries more than just emails and documents.

A feature previously reserved for the Nseries, is now opening it’s doors for the E52, E55 and E72.

The irony of all this is the lack of the DLNA certification for the N97, a device designed with (social) media in mind, beaten by Eseries devices.

If you don’t know what DNLA is, be sure to check out this post.

Nokia’s Eseries is all about business-oriented smartphones with an an emphasis on messaging, connectivity and enhanced build quality. Well, that’s the general idea at least. I have to confess that for a long time I stayed clear of the Eseries for the simple fact that they lacked many multimedia features. Besides messaging, I use my smartphones as my ONLY music player and the occasional video, surfing, gaming and imaging. In most of  these areas the Eseries just didn’t cut it for me, until a Red E75 came along…

Up until recently the Eseries had either no headphone jack or the pretty much useless 2.5mm Nokia audio connector. As a Music fan that likes to use his high-quality earphones, this pretty much meant that I had to buy a separate music player or a 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapters that didn’t help in the audio quality department. Introduced on the E63 and now also present on the E75, there’s a 3.5 mm audio jack. I’m not only excited about the fact that the 3.5mm audio jack is here to stay in the Eseries, but also the fact that the E75 sounds impressively good with my earphones. In fact, it sounds just as good as most Nseries devices and perhaps better than quite a few of them. Certainly not what I was expecting. Even the S60 music player has all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from the Nseries. It’s even funny to consider that the E75, a business device, has 3 visualizations and full screen album art while the N97 and the 5800 XpressMusic lack these features!

Another surprise is the N-gage support. 2 or even 1 Year ago I certainly wouldn’t have never thought that the Eseries would receive the N-gage treatment. Even stranger is how the E75 currently has N-gage support while the 5800 XpressMusic, a device dedicated to entertainment doesn’t. It makes sense for the E75 to have N-gage, especially with the addition of a Mode switcher, but clearly shows how the Eseries, in particular the E75 is pushing into multimedia.

Last, but certainly not least is the camera. With the E90 being an exception, the images of Eseries were more of a study in pointillism than photography. Snapping a few pictures with the E75 reveals that it’s actually quite good, with auto-focus and all. Look, it even has a dedicated shutter button!

If you prefer multimedia, there are certainly better devices out there like the N86 8MP and the N97, but the E75 seems to be the best balance between both worlds.

Currently the E71 is considred one of the best mobile phone deals around and is seen by many as one of the best Nokia devices of all time. The lack of 3.5mm headphone jack and a better camera are just about the only things needed to make it “just right.” Allaboutsymbian has uncovered information about the upcoming E72 that seems to address the camera. But we’re willing to bet that the now standard headphone jack will be included. The E72 is rumored to have S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 with the latest version of Nokia’s messaging and email software. Think an updated E71 with the software of the E75. From the looks of this, it won’t be long before Nokia makes it official.

Update: Nokia has released the E72 and  5530 XpressMusic. The press release can be found here and here.

What happens when you take the ultra successful Nokia E71 and offer it at a lower price level? You get the newly released E63 of course!  The E63 joins the 5800 XpressMusic in being  capable devices offered at a reasonably low MSRP. Could it be that Nokia is starting a trend here? High on features, low price? I certainly hope so. Just like the E71, the E63 sports the S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1. At the low 199 Euros you do give up on some of the features.
The E63 is actually thicker and you do lose that metal body found on the E71. Obviously at this price range a few things had to  taken out, these include: the GPS, infrared, Auto focus and HSDPA. The camera is now 2 megapixel instead of the 3.2 Megapixel found on the E71.  On the other you it’s the first Eseries with a 3.5mm audio jack and the flash light can now be used as a torch. The keyboard has reportedly been redesigned.
The Nokia E63 also includes Files on Ovi, a service where people can get remote access to their PC files even when their computer is offline. Anyone buying the handset will have access to 1GB of online file storage for free.

Via: Allaboutsymbian

Recently I found about this great show called The Gadget Show, a program all about tech airing on UK’s channel 5. This is a UK only TV program, making it out of reach for the rest of the world, luckily I’ve been able to watch it on Joost, but because it isn’t quite up to date with the latest shows I’ve missed their latest comparison where they put the iPhone 3G against the Nokia E71. The E71 managed to equal the iPhone 3G’s 4 out of 5 score on the Gadget Show.

At first glance you’d be more inclined to put the N96 or even the N95 8GB against the iPhone, but once you think about the E71’s stylish and thin looks, it indeed could be a rethinking and even better alternative to the slim and almost button-less iPhone 3G. What do you think? Are the E71 and iPhone 3G evenly matched?