Nokia has finally rolled out the long awaited firmware update sequel to Symbian Anna. Dubbed “Nokia Belle”, the new firmware has been made available for the Symbian^3 range of smartphones, including the E6, N8, E7, X7, C6-01, and now 500.

I had been using an unofficial version of Belle on my E7 for sometime before the update. As such, I could not update via the standard process. It had to be done manually. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally got it done and my E7 was smart bang up to date.

We have already seen Belle on both the N8 and the Nokia 701, so we don’t need to go through all the details again.

It is sufficient to say that Belle transforms the user interface of your Symbian^3 smartphone into something similar to what obtains on the N9. You can check out the two referenced links for more about Nokia Belle.

In summary, Belle brings the following: free-form, resizable, live widgets; more homescreens (now 6); improved status bar; modernised navigation; informative lock screen; Visual multitasking; and an improved web browser, amongst other benefits.

Bugs Ahoy!

Unfortunately, this official update also comes with some bugs, including the following:

• When typing SMS, the character counter is missing
• No visual email notifications
• Wi-fi disconnects or goes dormant occassionally
• Upload/sharing of photos/videos from Galleria is no longer available

I am not sure how all these were left out of the new firmware, but there you are. In addition, there were a few times that tapping shortcuts on the homescreen didn’t yield a response – all shortcuts.

App Updates

After the update to Belle, certain apps have updates waiting in the Nokia store. Be careful how you update.

For example, I had an issue with the IM for nokia (Chat) app. This app lets me use Yahoo Messenger on my Symbian^3 devices.

An update was available for this app, and I simply hit the update button. On restarting the phone after the update, I found that the chat app simply didn’t load any more.

Eventually, I decided to uninstall it. However, instead of uninstalling from inside the Settings menu, I simply tapped and held the app icon and selected “Delete” to uninstall. Wrong move.

To cut a long story short, I eventually had to go to the Settings menu to uninstall – and guess what, found two Chat apps under installed files. Apparently, the update had been installed side-by-side the older app, instead as a replacement.

Anyway, I uninstalled both, then went back to Nokia Store to re-install the IM For Nokia (Chat) app. After that, it worked smoothly and with a new sleeker widget too.

Conclusions

Nokia Belle is an excellent upgrade to Anna. It transforms any Symbian^3 smartphone into a totally different device. If you haven’t upgraded your device, I recommend that you do in the shortest possible time. In spite of the bugs I mentioned, it is a worthy upgrade.

I had been curious to see how Wi-Fi hotspot on BlackBerry OS 7.1 would work. Would it share a user’s BIS subscription or would it utilise a generic internet connection?

I finally got to find out today.

Using a BlackBerry Torch 9810 running OS 7.1, I went to the Wireless Options menu, where the “Mobile Hotspot” option is displayed. Ticking that option to activate the feature threw up a warning that additional charges might apply, and then a setup menu, with options to enter network APN settings.

At that point, I was pretty much sure of the result of my quest. I entered the network internet settings and the service got running. Blackberry Mobile hotspot supports connecting a maximum of five (5) devices. It is WPA2 secured, mening you can encrypt your hotspot with an eight digit passphrase. There is also an autotimer, allowing you to set a time after which the hotspot is disabled.

The hotspot feature also has the option to allow connected devices to exchange information between one another. Interesting, and a good feature too. Once connected, you are able to monitor activity on your wireless network.

So, how does the hotspot work? It uses a generic data plan. That means it either eats your airtime (if you are on pat-as-you-use data), or you subscribe for a data plan in addition to your running BIS (BlackBerry Internet Service).

Connecting to the BlackBerry mobile hotspot with a Nokia E7 was a breeze. Within a few moments, the device was connected and using internet services from Etisalat. Without an active bundle plan, the connection used some of the available airtime on the line.

That’s it folks, BlackBerry mobile hotspot, available on OS7.1 devices and above.

I am a long-time fan of Sony Ericsson mobiles. My first smartphone ever was an Ericsson, the R380. From then, I have used several other products from that lineage.

The Xperia Pro is the latest in the long line of my encounters with Sony Ericsson, now just Sony.

Quick Review

If you don’t have the time to read the full review, here’s the lowdown:

Pros

• Good in-call audio quality
• Good audio playback quality
• Good keyboard

Cons

• Doesn’t feel quite robust
• Poor sunlight legibility
• The 1Ghz processor often feels inadequate to run the device smoothly.

Hardware

The sliding keyboard is firm and I didn’t experience any wobbles. The device is well put together, but feels plasticky. Maybe I have just been spoilt by the E7′s tank-like robust feel.

Sony Ericsson claims that the 3.7 inch display is scratch-resistant glass. However, in real life, I got a light scratch so fast just putting it in my trouser pocket with another phone. It is a light scratch, as you don’t see it, but when using the touchscreen, i can feel it on the glass.

Operating System

The Xperia Pro unit here came with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread on board. An update later via Sony Ericsson PC Companion and it was bumped up to version 2.3.4. There may be minor changes in the OS/UI, but almost nothing visible.

Gmail, email and Web browsing on the Xperia Pro are standard Android fare – meaning that Gmail is stellar, while email and web browsing are good.

Again, as with all other android devices that I have trialled, I was unable to setup my Mobility blog email on it. That was the same experience that both Jesse and Dayo have had with Android. Meanwhile, we had no issues setting up our corporate mail accounts on Symbian, Blackberry and Windows Phone devices.

The Xperia Pro is upgradable to v4.0 (Ice cream Sandwich) too.

Performance

As far as I can see, the 1GHz processor struggles to run things smoothly. There are slight delays, sluggish responses and pauses everywhere.

Particularly annoying is the fact that returning to the desktop after web browsing or Tweeting for a while often results in a slow loading of widgets and shortcuts there.

By way of comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S II (with a Dual Core 1.2GHz processor) is significantly snappier.

Running apps also regularly shut in the background and relaunch when you return to them. Apparently, the 512 MB RAM is not quite adequate either.

There’s only 320 MB user memory available, but you have the option to expand that with a microSD card.

Multimedia

Sony Ericsson are reknowned for stellar audio reproduction. The Xperia pro lives up to this reputation. Music playback is loud and good, certainly better by miles than what the Samsung Galaxy S II offers. I don’t have the Nokia 701 anymore to compare with, as that is my new standard to measure other mobiles’ audio quality by.

Video playback is okay, but the limited codec support is a bummer. There is no DiVX/XViD.

The 8 megapixel camera is a bit of a disappointment. It produces a mixture of results – sometimes good, sometimes bad. Never stellar. If you are a shutterbug and want a top-range camera, you are better off looking at the iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S II and Nokia N9.

The single LED flash helps a bit for close shots in the dark. Anything beyond a few metres and like most other LEDs, its no use. In my opinion, nothing beats a Xenon flash.

The camera shoots 720P video too.

A few photo samples:

3rd Party Apps

With Gingerbread, you have the best of Android minus IceCreamSandwich (which is available on only one other device for now).

It is standard Android fare, and there is no need detailing all that Android does here. It does mean, for example, that using the S II gives you access to hundreds of thousands of applications in the Android Market.

There is a lot of trash in there, honestly, but there is next to nothing that you need that you cannot find there.

The QWERTY Keyboard

Of course, the primary selling point of any device labelled “Pro” is the hardware QWERTY keyboard. The Xperia Pro has a good keyboard.

Using the keyboard is not a bad experience at all. Typing is comfortable and breezy. In all, I like the keyboard. But it is not at the level of the keyboard on the Nokia E7, for example.

Xperia Pro Versus E7

It was inevitable that I run some comparisons with the Nokia E7, another QWERTY slider device that has been lying around Mobility Towers for about a year now.

External hardware wise, there is no contest. The keyboard, display and build of the E7 trounces those of the Xperia Pro hands down. It is under the hood that the latter has any advantages.

Being Android, the Xperia Pro offers all the niceties and a huge array of apps via the Android Market. It has a faster processor, though in daily use, the 1GHz CPU seemed to struggle to keep things smooth.

The E7 also gives better battery life and data management.

At the end of the day, its your choice.

Conclusions

The Xperia Pro is a good buy if you are after an Android smartphone with a hardware keyboard. It has got a 3.7-inch display and a good keyboard. Music playback is excellent, while video playback and camera performances are average. There’s Stereo FM radio and a 1,500mAh battery to keep things going. In my standard setup, the Xperia Pro needs charging before the end of the day. Sometimes twice.

It does not shine brightly, and that’s no issue. It is not a flagship. The important things is that there is nothing terrible about the device. It works well.

And for N65,000, plus or minus, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Pro is all yours.

I took delivery of my spanking new Toshiba Thrive tablet in December 2011 and the first thing that hit me was, “Men, this thing is big!”. The thickness of the Thrive is, conservatively, about twice that of the iPad 2. And the 10.1 inch screen is noticeably larger than iPad’s 9.7 inch screen.

At the moment, I am torn between using or dispensing with the case that I bought along with it. The case does not do too much justice to the aesthetics of The Thrive. It makes it even more noticeably bulky, with its width about that of a regular netbook computer.

My choice of Toshiba Thrive over other tablets was not without a lot of mental exertion.

For the records, and strictly a personal opinion, the iPad still remains the most widely accepted tablet because of its quality build, quality of apps, popularity, the perceived status symbol it confers and, well, as a fashion accessory to some.

However, for the serious-minded geeks out there, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the iPad is not in the least functional. From simple tasks like attaching multiple files to emails (not even the premium app Goodreader can attach more than a file at a time) or viewing flash enabled sites (which unfortunately is not going away anytime soon) to more serious tasks like accessing the iOS file system, nothing comes easy or straightforward on the iPad.

It really was a very long search, no thanks to the endless streams of tablets coming into the market. However, my search was being guided by 6 key considerations, based on my present circumstances and needs:

1. COST : A budget of $400
2. ACCEPTABLE BATTERY LIFE
3. SCREEN SIZE : Preference for 10.1 inch tablets. I read a lot of A4 formatted PDF files.
4. 3G CAPABILITIES
5. APPS : Acceptable availability of apps for the OS platform of choice
6. EXPANSION PORTS : Presence of any or all of the following ports; MicroSD, SD, mini or full HDMI and mini or full USB.

At the end of the day, the following tablets made the first cut based on possessing at least 4 of the criteria listed above:

- Samsung Galaxy 10.1
- Archos 101 G9
- Lenovo Ideapad K1
- Acer Aconia A500
- Toshiba Thrive

It is very common place to find a lot of these tablets touting very similar features (1Ghz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor; 2MP and 5MP front and rear facing cameras; 1GB RAM, etc) and only differentiated by brand names and inconsequential features. However, two of these tablets were able to separate themselves from the pack, thereby making my second cut:

1. Samsung Galaxy 10.1 (a.k.a Beauty)

Regarded as the iPad of the Android world, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is indeed a fantastic device and undoubtedly, the Android tablet with the best user experience.

Slim, light and quite pretty, the device compares very favourably with the iPad 2 and possesses very similar design and features (no wonder Steve Jobs was pissed!). And with a 10-hour battery life, it tips the scale in probably being one of the best Android device around.

Unfortunately, just like the iPad, it lacks expansion ports. None at all!

2. Toshiba Thrive (a.k.a. The Beast)

Weighing in at 1.66 lbs and with 0.62 inches thickness (almost twice the thickness of iPad 2), the Toshiba Thrive makes no pretences at being slim or pretty. It was intended as a near laptop replacement, thanks to its array of expansion ports; Full HDMI out, Full and mini USB, Full and mini SD (max 32GB), SDHC and SDXC (max 2TB).

With the Thrive, the possibilities and expandability of the full USB port are almost endless. It accepts your regular keyboard and mouse (wired or wireless), flash drives, portable drives,etc. And to top it all, the tablet is about the only one that has a user replaceable battery!

Simply put, the Thrive is for those that expect a lot more than an iPad.

Probably the only snag with this tablet is the relative limited battery life. The max you can probably squeeze out of it is about 8 hours.

Since I pride myself as a geek, I guess it wouldn’t come as a surprise that I settled for The Toshiba Thrive.

I will not bother with a detailed review of this “big boys’ toy,” as it is already awash on the internet. However, I can not help but mention again that the the Thrive comes second to none in terms of port expandability. Of course, this is the reason for its bulk.

Full Expansion

It has a full HDMI port, SD slot, full USB and mini USB slots. Thankfully, there is a well stocked computer accessory store in my neighbourhood where I made a quick purchase of a USB flexible keyboard, USB optical mouse and a USB game pad. Since the Thrive has only one full USB port, I also got a USB hub to connect my multiple USB peripherals.

I am sure that the wireless keyboard option too would work, but let’s just say that I am watching my pennies at the moment, so I didn’t buy it.

The keyboard and the mouse work like a charm, simultaneously, via the USB hub. I was so emotional about this, so much that I felt like shedding a tear.*sniff*.

Game Pad

However, I was not so lucky with the game pad. I read somewhere before now that the device is a little bit choosy about game pads. I also understand that there is a need for game developers to incorporate necessary codes into their games for USB game pads to work with them. However, I heard the Xbox console works well on it though.

The key advantage here is that the Toshiba does not require any specialized or proprietary accessory to work with. Your regular PC USB peripherals would do just fine! However, these peripherals should not be used too extensively except when the Thrive is connected to a power source as they may cause just a little more drain on the battery.

I do not intend to “root” (“jailbreak” in Apple parlance) this device just yet, but that is the only way Android OS would recognize NTFS hard disk file system. However, I had no problem assessing my FAT formatted flash drive or the exFAT formatted external hard drive.

exFAT is the preferred filesystem format for mobile devices and it supports hard disk size of up to 512 Terabytes (in theory). From experience, for drives with high capacity, I would advice the use of powered external drive against USB powered ones because the USB port my not have enough voltage output to power this category of drives.

Wireless Connectivity

Though I strongly wished the Thrive has a 3G modem built in, however, the speed of my Cobranet powered home Wi-Fi provided even better browsing and download speeds for use on the tablet. I was able to make a number of device software updates quite smoothly, including that of the stock OS from Android honeycomb 3.1 to version 3.2.1 in a few minutes.

There is a “thriving” community on the net for the Toshiba Thrive at www.thriveforums.org. I am hoping that the community would come up with a way to use regular USB 3G modems on the thrive as it is one of the few USB peripherals not yet supported.

It is great having the feeling that I OWN this device, with no Apple-like restrictions. I can actually tinker with it to my heart’s content.

Over the next few weeks, I will be exchanging my views on this device and Android OS in general.

Stay tuned.

The BlackBerry Curve 9360 is the sequel to the Curve 3G 9300, but even more.

One of the first surprises of the 9360 is how slim and sleek it is in comparison to its older siblings. The 9360 is only 11 mm thick, as aginst the 9300′s 13.9 mm. Beyond the slim lines, it is the first Curve to deliver that premium quality feel. It almost looks and feels like a Bold.

But then a Bold it is not. You can tell immediately from the keyboard that this is no Bold. The keys are distinctively all Curve.

Quick Specifications

• 2.44-inch, 480 x 360 pixels non-touchscreen display
• 512 MB RAM
• 800MHz processor
• 512 MB internal memory + microSD slot
• BlackBerry OS 7.0
• 1000 mAh battery
• 5 Megapixel camera with LED flash
• GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA
• Wi-Fi
• A-GPS and NFC

OS7

The 9360 runs OS7. Honestly, minus a few visual touches to AppWorld, BBM, Facebook and Twitter, I can’t tell much what has changed visually or in terms of performance. In general, Blackberry OS7 looks and feels just like OS6. Perhaps much of the tweaks to the OS are under the hood.

Note though that some 3rd party apps which ran on OS6 are not yet available for OS7 and I had to do without those while I had the mobile with me.

Display & Keyboard

The 9360 does not have a touchscreen display, which is not a problem. BlackBerry OS works just fine on it. It is a good display, though not spectacular.

I found the keyboard very good again, and had no issues with typing on it with my big fingers. The individual keys are small, but well shaped and spaced such that typing is easy.

NFC

There is NFC on board the 9360, but I had nothing to try it out with. If you do need that feature, this mid-tier offering has you covered.

Camera

The 5 megapixel camera on the 9360 is fixed focus and nothing much to write about. It doesn’t sit among the best 5 megapixel cameras on the market. However, it is usable for your casual shots and videos. Just don’t expect anything spectacular.

Of course, BlackBerries have never been spectacular in the camera department. This is no exception.

General

The 9360 does what other BlackBerries do – email, web browsing, SMS, BB Messenger, etc.

There’s a music player, as well as a video player, and they work fine. The speakers are quite good in terms of audio quality and volume. I was impressed on that point.

Battery Life

Battery performance of the 9360 was a mixed bag. With only a 1,000 mAh fitted in to accommodate the slimmer profile, I was expecting battery life to be very poor.

Well, it didn’t turn out exactly poor. I found myself needing to charge the device before the end of the working day. If you are an addicted BBM user, for example, keep your charger nearby always.

Of course, if the 9360 had been fitted with a touchscreen, it is likely that battery life would be much poorer. Thankfully, RIM didn’t.

Performance

For the most part, the 800MHz processor delivered smooth performance with OS7 on this model. However, there were times when I felt some sluggishness in responses. I have had a brief hands-on with the 9810 (also running OS7) but with a 1.2GHz processor and didn’t notice such on that device.

Again, the 9360 is mid-tier and the 800Mhz CPU is part of the compromise for the lower cost. The occasional slowdowns weren’t enough to make me want to tear my hair out though, so I won’t call it a deal breaker.

Conclusions

I honestly find doing Blackberry reviews difficult, because there is little differentiation across models: minus the Storm and Torch series, they are the same form factor. They mostly have similar features in terms of hardware and software.

The 9360 does everything you’d expect it to do. However, it wasn’t designed to be outstanding at any of them. Most mid-tier devices are not either, so that’s not a bad thing.

If you want a Blackberry device running the latest OS and do not intend to cough out a fortune, the 9360 comes highly recommended.

Last night at the January 2012 edition of Mobile Monday Nigeria, I got a quick time to play with the Nokia Lumia 800.

Here are a few pictures that I took.

First Impressions

I have used two Windows Phone devices before now, and so I am already familiar with the OS and UI. It runs fluid on the Lumia 800. Very fluid.

In addition, Nokia’s homegrown services, Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive and Nokia Music are present.

Hardware-wise, the Lumia is almost a replica of the N9′s superb body. It is sleek in the hand and to the eyes. However, the display being 3.7 inches felt really cramped to me.

Personally, Windows Phone looks the most superb on displays of 4 inches and above. It works the same but larger displays certainly make it look better.

Nigeria Launch

We still do not have an official word on the launch date for Nokia’s Windows Phone devices here in Nigeria, so enthusiasts will have to wait a while.

I enjoy good movies. A lot. Even better, I enjoy movies on the big screen more. The big screen, the group reactions, and the company of one or more friends simply make the movie experience better.

If you are a cinema buff like me, then you will appreciate a handy app on your mobile to check movie locations, listings and special deals; right? Right.

Enter SeeNeeMa

SeeNeeMa is a home-grown application that makes checking movie listings on the go a whole lot easier.

The user interface is neat and easy – anyone can use this app.

Launch it and the home screen presents you with options to check:

• What’s Hot – currently showing movies
• Coming Soon – upcoming movies
• Cinema Info – listing of cinemas across the countyry
• Movie Reviews – weekly movie reviews
• Special Discounts – where you check which cinemas are offering special deals

That’s it. Simple. Net. Straightforward. Useful. Very.

Multi-Platform Too

Guess what? SeeNeeMa is available for several platforms, including:

• Blackberry smartphones & PlayBook
• Android 2.1 & above
• iOS (still in development)
• Java/J2ME
• Mobile Web

The version that I tested is the Android version, and it works as I have described in this review. It is possible that the different versions for other platforms work slightly different.

Verdict

This one gets a 4-star rating from me. Why did I leave out one star? If the developers, Quadtech Mobile, can add a way to book movie tickets right on the app…. HALLELUJAH! 5 Stars promptly.

Download SeeNeeMa

I have been using a Samsung Galaxy S II as my primary smartphone for about two weeks now. It has been a pleasant experience. It is both the second dual core device and the the second 4.3-inch display device that I am reviewing.

The Galaxy S II In Summary

Strengths:

• Superb 4.3-inch display
• Lots of 3rd party apps from Android OS

Weaknesses:

• Needs to be charged several times daily
• Data consumption on the high side

The first thing that you fall in love with about the Galaxy S II is that large 4.3-inch display. If you have been used to less than 4-inch displays, it will simply wow you. But its not just the size.

The SuperAMOLED Plus display gives you vibrant colours. Everything looks good. It beats most of the competition. It beats the Nokia N9′s display too. The touch response is nice too. Those who think that there’s little difference between budget, mid-tier and top-end smartphones need to use a Galaxy Gio and then a Galaxy S II – there is a world of a difference in the displays both in terms of visuals, feel and responsiveness. No contest.

Size-wise though, the 4.3-inch display makes it easy to type while holding the phone in portrait mode. I hardly ever needed to switch to landscape mode. This was my experience too when I had the HTC HD7 months ago.

Trust me, give a 4.3-inch (or higher) display a chance, and you are likely to fall in love too.

Operating System

The Galaxy S II unit here came with Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread on board. An update later and it was brought up to speed with version 2.3.5. There may be minor changes in the OS/UI, but nothing earth-shattering.

However, it must be mentioned that it added the ability to take screenshots without the need for a 3rd party app to the device. Nice. Long overdue.

Quick How to: hold down the Home button and immediately hit the Power button. It must be done fast enough so the display doesn’t return home from wherever you are. A little tricky at first, but you’ll get the hang of it.

Your screenshots are saved to a ScreenCapture folder on your device.

Gmail, email and Web browsing on the SGSII is standard Android fare – meaning that Gmail is stellar, while email and web browsing are good.

3rd Party Apps

With Gingerbread, you have the best of Android minus IceCreamSandwich (which is available on only one other device for now).

It is standard Android fare, and there is no need detailing all that Android does here. It does mean, for example, that using the S II gives you access to hundreds of thousands of applications in the Android Market.

There is a lot of trash in there, honestly, but there is next to nothing that you need that you cannot find there.

One of the favourite 3rdp party apps on Android is the WordPress app. It is sleek and highly functional. The user experience is really lovely. I fell in love with it instantly.

Performance

The SGSII is the first Dual Core smartphone that I am reviewing, as the Apple iPad 2 which I reviewed earlier isn’t a smartphone.

The SGSII runs on a Dual Core 1.2 GHz processor. You would expect super-quick responses, right? Wrong.

Don’t get me wrong. The responses are quick. But they are not super quick. I will explain.

Putting a 680 MHz processor E7 beside the SGSII and launching a number of apps from dormant state shows that the SGSII is marginally faster in most cases, and in some cases the apps take exactly the same time to launch. For the most part, you won’t notice the Dual core processor.

However, when push comes to shove – during heavier tasks like game play and video playback – you will bump into the power of the Dual Core processor of the SGSII. This was pretty much my experience with the iPad 2 as well.

Multimedia

Music playback on the SGSII is loud and good, but not stellar. Compared to the Nokia 701, for example, it sounds boxy. I certainly prefer to listen to music on the 701.

Video playback is where the SGSII shines like a super star. Combine that 4.3-inch size with the SuperAMOLED Plus nature, with a wide range of video codec support, and I daresay that the SGSII is unmatched in the video playback department.

If I am to buy a smartphone for watching videos on the go, this is the one I want to have in my pocket. Of course, note that your battery will suffer even more.

The 8 megapixel camera is good. It is one of the finest I have seen, but you will have to wait for my 8 megapixel camera shootout for my conclusions on that. I pitched it against the Nokias N9 and 701.

Suffice to say though that I rate it better than the two Nokias in picture taking except for one nagging area – this camera takes an eternity to snap and get ready for another shot. You tap the on-screen shutter button, then wait a bit before its done and ready to go again. That has been very irritating for me.

Conclusions

Like every other Android device on the market, you have to manage data and power consumption. There are a number of widgets and apps available in the Android Market to help you do that. But even at that, I found myself charging this beauty an average of 3-4 times a day. As a matter of fact, I consciously keep a charger on me every time. I hate that.

You can imagine that the beautiful 4.3-inch display doesn’t help with power consumption either. Like most things, its strength is also its Achilles’ heel.

The Samsung Galaxy S II is an outstanding smartphone. It does many things well and has few niggles.

It comes highly recommended. As always, its your prerogative to determine if you can live with its weaknesses.

PS: The SGSII costs between N80,000 and N85,000 in the market.

Looking at the older Nokia C7 and the Nokia 701, there is no difference on the outside. They share the same sleek, well-built hardware that gets your attention from the word go.

In this review, I won’t be doing a full, detailed review. Rather, i will be focusing on what stands the 701 out in the market today.

Of all the recent Symbian devices that Nokia has released, the 701 is the sleekest, well-built bloke on the block. It has a very solid feel to it too – like it was made of some premium materials. It is not N9-sleek, but it sure looks and feels good.

The ClearBlack display rocks – and at 3.5-inch, the device is compact.

The Belle User Interface

The Nokia Belle user interface on the 701 is a breath of fresh air and a departure from the traditional Symbian user experience.

You can add up to six (6) home screens. Scrolling between them is smooth and instantanous too. A different wallpaper can be applied to each of the home screens and widgets of different sizes are now available.

There is a system-wide notification menu that can be pulled down to reveal controls to turn on/off Mobile Data, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Silent mode.

New messages notifications, quick access to Music player controls (when playing music) and access to mobile data usage details are also available from the pull-down menu.

In any menu, at the bottom of the display is a persistent back key, a search button and menu button. The main menu is flat, but the option to create folders or re-arrange icons can be accessed via the menu button. Icons can also be moved about by holding down and dragging. Nice to give users multiple options of customizing the interface to their taste.

Audio Quality

I love my music. Scratch that. I mean, I have an ear for audio, so when I listen to music, i want to hear every beat, jingle and reed in the best quality possible. This means that I love the Nokia 701, because its audio reproduction quality is one of the best I have seen yet. It beats the E7, the N9, and the Samsung Galaxy S II hands down.

The speakers on this baby are really good. I wish I had an N8 around to compare with.

Speaking of the N8, the Nokia 701 is the phone to get if you want a Nokia smartphone but can’t be bothered about a 12 megapixel camera. You see, its got everything the N8 has – and more:

- a better processor (1GHz, as against the N8′s 680 MHz)
- same 3.5″ display size, but ClearBlack added
- Nokia Belle
- 512 MB RAM (against the N8′s 256MB)
- FM transmitter (same as on the N8)
- bigger, removable battery (yaaaay!)
- microSD card slot (same as on the N8)
- NFC
- its got TV-out and USB On-the-go support too

However, its got only 8GB mass storage, compared to the N8′s 16GB. Then there’s that 8 megapixel full-focus camera.

Camera

The full-focus camera means that you can forget about close-up shots, but it really is good for regular shots. Colour rendering is good, but details are terrible for close-ups.

Dual-LED flash means that you can manage some dark and night scenes. Certainly not all.

However, the 701 is superb for video recording.

Conclusions

The Nokia 701 is what the N8 should have been, minus the camera. It is sleek, functional and modern in every way. If this had hit the market a year ago, things would have been different today.

But all that is history. Still, if you love the functionality of the old Symbian and want it with a nice user interface, you cannot go wrong with the Nokia 701. And costing only N53,000, it is a steal.

The app ecosystem is not as robust as what obtains on Android or iOS, but most of the apps that you need are available anyway. At the end of the day, its your decision.

Ladies and gentlemen, the phone that the N8 could have been?

The last time I was this excited about Facebook on Symbian was when fMobi was launched. Like fMobi, Facinate is a Qt-based Facebook app for Symbian smartphones.

I downloaded and installed it on my Nokia E7 this morning, and it instantly wowed me. It has got everything built in, and best of all, the developers say that it is free for life.

The UI is sweet and fluid, and you can scroll vertically or swipe horizontally. Yes; you heard me right. Swipe has come to Symbian via Qt! Now, you can now try out some of those fancy N9 moves that I make on your Symbian smartphone.

The first thing I did was look for the settings, because that’s where I was likely to get a clear picture of how functional the app was. In the settings, you can:

• pick between two theme options: light or dark
• enable tips
• enable PUSH notifications, including for birthdays, new messages, so you don’t miss anything
• select what time of the day you want to receive notifications (cool!)
• select the intervals for the checking of notifications
• enable either or both of audio and light notifications

Here is a comprehensive list of features and functionality:

• News feed
• Friends
• Messages
• Chat
• Birthdays
• Notifications
• My Wall
• Photos
• Events
• Info – this displays your profile info, wall and photo albums (swipe horizontally to navigate through)
• Settings
• About
• Logout
• Exit

PUSH notifications are delivered via both a homescreen pop-up and audio alert (depending on your settings). Tap on a notification and the appropriate menu is launched in the app.

Probably the best news here is that Facinate supports both S60 5th Edition devices and SymbianNext devices.

Facinate Download Link

Here are some comparison pictures of the Blackberry Curve 9300 (running OS 6) and its upgrade sibling, the 9360 (running OS7).

Specs-wise, the 9360 leaves the 9300 in the dust, but you also have to see them together to appreciate the beauty and sleek lines of the new guy, the 9360.

The 9360 is sure a looker. But it doesn’t end there. It runs on an 800 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM, and has a 5 megapixel camera. Under the hood, there’s also A-GPS and NFC. Note that display is non-touchscreen – which is not necessarily a bad thing.

This is a Curve that can hang around Bolds without feeling or looking out of place. I call the Blackberry Curve 9360, a bold new Curve.

Review coming up as soon as possible.

PS: This review has no pictures yet. We upgraded to WordPress 3.3 last night and have been unable to upload pictures since then. Pictures will be added as soon as we can. Thanks for bearing with us. – Editor.

I said it before and I will again – the LG C660 Optimus Pro is a good-looking budget device. It was the good looks that first got my attention. Okay, well, it really was the QWERTY keypad – and then I noticed how good the phone looked.

But think of it, along with that keypad, this baby offers all the standard features of Android 2.3.3 (Gingerbread) with a 2.8-inch capacitive display, and a 800 MHz processor. Sounds promising. And it is.

But for a device that costs around N30,000, there has to be compromises; right? Right.

But I will get to that later.

The Shining Stars

First, those keys do look small, but they work very well. I have large fingers and didn’t have big issues using the keypad. As a matter of fact, within hours, I fell more in love with the Optimus Pro on account of the keypad alone.

The display is responsive (more so than that on its distant cousin, the Galaxy Gio). Sunlight legibility is fairly good. With the brightness set to at least 50%, it is usable outdoors. Its not at the top of the ladder of sunlight legibility, but its quite usable.

I particularly like the LG desktop – with the large AccuWeather widget showing your city, time, date and weather condition. Did I mention that I really like it?

All other Android functionality is standard – and those are well known and they work fine: email, web browsing, music playback synchronisation, wifi, hotspot, etc. Its all there, so being a budget device doesn’t mean that you are denied any of those.

Video playback supports MP4, 3GP, WMV, and surprisingly AVI files.

The Compromises

While there’s a hefty 800 MHz processor running under the hood, the limited RAM of 256 MB means that using the phone with multiple apps running results in some lag, as well as a persistent low memory error when the little guy runs out of RAM.

Yep; persistent. The error pop-up gives you the option to select “Okay” to launch the built-in app manager and choose what apps to close, or to tap “Cancel”, go on with what you are doing and let the OS decide what to kill off.

After checking out the app manager once, I always canceled and just went on with my current task. Many times, when I go back to an app that I had been using, I find that its been shut down. I’m looking at a maximum of three or four running apps here. Anything more and something gets shut down.

Well, what were you expecting from 256 MB RAM on Android? This isn’t Symbian or BlackBerry. Still, its not terrible. It can be lived with. I have so enjoyed the Optimus Pro so much that I haven’t griped about it as much as I thought I would.

Another weak point of this guy is the camera. How do I put this? Let’s just say that this is about the worst 3.2 megapixel camera that I have used. I suspect that the erstwhile holder of that honour, the Huawei U8180, produces slightly better pictures. “suspect” is the operative word. The 3.2 megapixel camera on the Samsung Gio certainly does much better.

Like all other Android devices that I have used, power management is not impressive. While your usage may vary, but i find that charging the phone fully and leaving it idle overnight with Gmail, one company mail, Twitter and Facebook running, by daybreak, the battery is down to about 50%.

that’s idle. No human interaction with the phone. As another Android user said, it seems there’s an angel (maybe a devil too, who knows?) who uses his phone while he sleeps.

Your mileage may vary, but you certainly need to watch your battery and nurse this baby tediously to get through a full work day if you have the services listed above running on it.

Of course, you can always disable as many apps and services – or even everything besides calls and SMS – should you really need to.

A Few Other Niggles

I had issues with Glo’s APN settings on the Optimus Pro. The device has GloWAP and GloMMS configured by default. When I create a new APN for GloFlat and select it for use, the phone ignores that and uses GloWAP. I tried again and again, but never found a way around that.

I had no issues with Etisalat or Airtel APNs which I tested, so it looks like a Glo issue.

Conclusions

I like the Optimus Pro. It is a breath of fresh air, especially with its solid feel and good QWERTY keypad in a bar form. Of the several android devices that I have used this year, the Optimus Pro is the one that I developed a fondness this deep for.

I can live with the low RAM, but that poor camera is an issue. For you, things may be different. The power management is a deal breaker for me. I hate having to nurse a phone to get through a day of usage.

However, what is certain is that for its price, the LG Optimus Pro is serious value for money.