A Motorola EX115 walked into MobilityNigeria towers early this afternoon, and I have had some time with it to give a quick first impressions account of the phone.

In summary, the EX115 is a dual-SIM, dual standby QWERTY candybar featurephone. It is a budget device, though its looks could deceive you into believing that it is a more expensive device. Actually, you would be forgiven for naturally assuming that it is a smartphone at first sight.

Among the existing line-up of dual-SIM QWERTY bars, it appears to be the most advanced in terms of features and looks. Competing devices include the Samsung Ch@t 322 and LG C310, both of which don’t look as classy and have lower-specified cameras.

The EX115 is housed in good quality plastic with chrome-like accents. The Titanium-coloured version looks better than the white variant, but that is subject to each individual’s opinion, really.

The QWERTY keyboard looks and feels good. Keys have no space in between them but are domed Palm-style for usability. I have done some quick typing and found them functional, but I will have a final verdict after playing with the keyoard for a longer period.

There is a 3.2 megapixel camera on the backof the device, a microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio port. For local connectivity, there is microUSB and Bluetooth v2.1. Network data is limited to GPRS and EDGE, and there is a built-in browser by Obigo. Java (J2ME) is supported and so java apps and games can be installed.

Those are the basics, I believe. However the EX115 performs, it is a classy budget device that you will not feel ashamed carrying anywhere. It is definitely a looker.

Expect my more detailed review soon.

It looks like its a season of QWERTY updates in Nokialand. The Nokia E72 has also seen its firmware updated to version 71.004.

If you’ve still got this old soldier, go ahead and get it updated.

It looks like once again, our head honcho here, Yomi, was right again, pre-empting the appearance of a new range of tablets with QWERTY keyboards. Less than two weeks ago, he wrote the article, A Tablet with hardware QWERTY keyboard and USB port, musing over how tablets can approach full PC functionality even more.

Such a tablet has been leaked – a gorgeous 7-inch display with a sliding keyboard. No other details are known for now. Perhaps that USB port is in the package too? Time will tell.

Tablets with hardware keyboards are not a novelty. They have been around for years. A case in point is the Nokia N810 internet tablet which was released back in April 2008. Such tablets have been produced by other manufacturers too in the past.

More pictures of the leaked Dell tablet are available over at Engadget.

Source

A teaser video of the much rumoured N9 smartphone has surfaced. Yes; that super-duper smartphone that was supposed to be running MeeGo. You know how we have all been waiting for MeeGo.

Only, the video shows that this device runs Symbian Anna. That much is obvious from the user interface and icons. Unless, MeeGo has been skinned on this device to look like our dear lady Anna.

So, this device is a slider QWERTY, runs Anna or an Anna-look-alike-MeeGo, and has a 12 megapixel camera with dual LED flash.

Errr…. that sounds like the E7 with a different camera; doesn’t it? We love Nokia here (just like we Samsung, Sony Ericsson and the others), but sometimes we just don’t get it.

Update!
While aspects of the UI do look like Symbian Anna, a few touches here and there certainly sway us to believe that the N9 is indeed running MeeGo. We still do not think that its a good idea for Nokia’s MeeGo UI to look so much like Symbian’s. Except, Nokia are looking to replace Symbian with MeeGo, in which case we’ll make an exception.

Thanks, Nonso!

I am a big fan of QWERTY candybars, and the Galaxy Pro is the very first one running Android to hit these parts.

Form factor and Display

The Galaxy Pro is significantly wider than the average candybar messenger. This gives it a landscape display and very comfortable keys to type on.

In typical Samsung style, it is all plastic, though the back cover presents an illusion of metal – until you touch it and realise that it is all plastic too. The material is good quality, and for the price tag, its a deal.

The Galaxy Pro feels very light in the hand, so light that it does not give any feel of quality. Of course, its a budget device, not a high end smartphone. It slips in the pocket and can be forgotten there easilly.

The display is capacitive, but don’t expect multi-touch. There is no multi-touch on this one. Actually, I found the display to be the Galaxy Pro’s Achilles’ Heel. It washes out in sunlight, does not register accurately when hitting hyperlinks during web browsing, and the resolution of 320 x 240 so belongs in the last smartphone ice-age.

Some 3rd party apps display certain menus horizontally, apparently uncomfortable with the 320 x 240 resolution. Screenshots:

Still, it is not terrible; its just not close to the cutting edge. But again, for the price, the compromises with the display are not unfair. Something always has to give.

Text Input & Manipulation

I live by hardware keypads and I can tell you upfront that this one is quite good and comfortable. It has a few quirks though. Similar to BlackBerry keypads, some everyday characters require using the Alt key to enter, which is quite a nuisance. On the Galaxy Pro, if you want to enter a comma, you have to hit Alt + L. That slows down typing a bit.

In my opinion, the comma, full-stop and ‘@’ should be accessible without using a combination of keys. Nokia hardware keyboards have it right in that respect, and everybody else should copy them.

Having said that, there is very little else to fault on the Galaxy Pro’s keypad. Like I said, this was well done and almost anyone will enjoy typing with it.

Messaging & Social Networking

Text messaging and email are standard Android fare, and are known to be rock solid. gmail support is stellar.

Samsung has the Samsung IM app built-in, but for days, I could not set it up. Whether that was a result of my internet connection or the app, I am not sure. However, eventually, I got through and its been working fine.

Samsung IM supports Windows Live Messenger, Google Talk, and Yahoo Messenger. I setup a Yahoo account and that works well. There’s audio and vibrate notifications, emoticons can be inserted, and you can view a basic profile of your friend. There’s no file transfer here though.

Samsung’s built-in Social Hub also lets you setup Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace accounts.

I gave it a go by setting up my Facebook account. After completing setup, the screen just sat there staring back at me. I returned to the Social Hub main page and selected Facebook again, and it launched the built-in Android browser, loading the mobile Facebook site. Not bad, but all that trouble just to launch the browser?

Of course, you can install a proper Facebook app from the Market if that solution doesn’t work for you.

Web Browsing

The browser is stock Android, but without multi-touch. I was able to enter a URL as homepage in the settings, but till now, I can’t find a home button anywhere. This has been an issue with the Android browser, and its just nuts. What’s the sense of setting a home page if you can’t quickly go back to it?

My favourite site for testing Flash support is the Ozone Cinemas website. Loading it on the galaxy Pro’s browser, the Flash animations did not load. As such, while the specs sheet lists Adobe Flash 10.1 support, something seems to be amiss in real life use.

Besides the above limitations, the browser works fine for most tasks.

Organiser & Office

There’a calendar, calculator and memo apps built-in, and a file manager.

The pre-installed ThinkFree Office app is also quite good. It lets you create and edit Word, Spreadsheets and Presentation documents. Editing and formatting documents is sweet. The options available are also wide, making it a comprehensive suite. Top marks here.

ThinkFree Office also lets you create an online account to store, access, and share your files online. This is really cool stuff and making me fall in love with ThinkFree.

Multimedia

While the specification sheet says the Galaxy Pro supports DivX/Xvid out of the box, it could not play any of my existing movies that I copied over. I am guessing that this has to do with the limited 320 x 240 pixel display resolution.

Music playback is good and I had no issues there.

Camera. Simply put, if you are a camera enthusiast, this is not a phone you should be looking at. Of course, the Galaxy pro is not targeted at the multimedia market, so the less than satisfactory camera results (both stills and video) should not be an issue.

The camera is only 3.2 megapixel, and has no flash. Let’s just say that we have seen much more capable 3.2 megapixel cameras on phones in my lifetime.

Connectivity

The Galaxy Pro has got Bluetooth and USB connectivity. However, when connected to both my PCs via cable, they can’t find the driver for the device, and so I have been unable to get anything done via USB.

Bluetooth file transfers work well. I was able to send audio and video files from other phones to the Galaxy Pro once I got them paired. I haven’t tried out any Bluetooth headset with it though.

Battery Life

Battery life has been satisfactory so far. The 1350 mAh battery seems to be adequate for seeing the device through a full day of non-intensive use

Conclusions

The Galaxy Pro is not the most complete mobile experience. It is not designed to be. It is targeted at business users on a budget – and it meets that need well. Its greatest weakness is in multimedia.

With some 3rd party apps – and there are plenty available – it shines in social networking Of course, now there’s full access to both free and paid apps in the Market.

Its greatest strengths lie in email, text entry and office functionality.

For the price, the Galaxy Pro isn’t bad at all. It is currently priced N40,000 – N45,000. My opinion is that the price needs to fall into the range of N30,000 to N35,000 to be truly competitive.

The Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510 is a mid-range Android messenger. A platinum silver version of this recently-released device walked into Mobility Nigeria command centre this afternoon looking sleek and cool.

Trust us to get to work immediately. We love QWERTY messengers to death here at Mobility Nigeria. The Samsung Galaxy Pro seems to have been molded after the likeness of its older brother, the Samsung B7320 OmniaPro (same 320 x 240 pixel display) which clinched the coveted award of Mister Mobility’s smartphone of the year 2009.

So, how does the Galaxy Pro fare? You’ll have to wait for the review. While you wait, please feel free to digest the specs and some pictures from our unboxing ceremony.

• 320 x 240 pixel, 2.8 inch, TFT capacitive touchscreen
• Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo) on a 800 MHz processor
• 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera
• QVGA@30fps video recording
• Weighs only 103g, at 108.6 x 66.7 x 10.7 mm in size
• 512 MB internal storage, plus microSD slot
• 1350 mAh battery
• microSD, up to 32GB, 2GB included
• Bluetooth 2.1, microUSB 2.0
• DivX/Xvid/MP4/WMV/H.264 video support
• Image/video editor
• ThinkFree document viewer/editor
• Flash 10.1 support in browser

There it is, the Galaxy Pro’s sales pack and included accessories.

If you have questions that you would love to have addressed in the upcoming review, please post away below.

Inspite of the popularity of pure touchscreen slabs since the coming of the iPhone, the QWERTY candybar form factor has proven that it has its very loyal share of fans and users. All over the world, QWERTY candybars are selling like hotcake, and it doesn’t look like the form factor is fading away for a long time.

Apparently aware of this trend, the manufacturers have decided to ride the wave and are throwing out a slew of hybrid devices that incorporate both a hardware QWERTY keyboard and a touchscreen in a candybar form. We shall borrow a term to call them from Nokia – Touch-and-Type.

Behold the Touch-and-Type entrants –

Nokia E6

• 640 x 480 pixel, 2.46 inch, Gorilla glass TFT capacitive touchscreen
• Symbian Anna on a 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, with 2D/3D Graphics HardWare Accelerator
• 8 megapixel, full focus camera, with dual-LED flash
• 720p@25fps video recording
• 8 GB internal storage, microSD slot, and USB On-the-go support
• 1500 mAh battery
• The E6 is being expected before the end of June 2011

Samsung Galaxy Pro B7510

• 320 x 240 pixel, 2.8 inch, TFT capacitive touchscreen
• Android OS, v2.2 (Froyo) on a 800 MHz processor
• 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera
• QVGA@30fps video recording
• 512 MB internal storage, plus microSD slot
• 1350 mAh battery
• The Galaxy Pro has been available since April 2011, and is already in the Nigerian market

BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900/9930

• 640 x 480 pixel, 2.8 inch, TFT capacitive touchscreen
• BlackBerry 7 on a 1.2GHz processor
• 5 megapixel camera with autofocus & LED flash
• 720p video recording
• 8 GB internal storage, plus microSD slot
• 1230 mAh battery
• The 9900/9930 is being expected before the end of June 2011

So, we have a touch-and-type smartphone represented on Symbian, Android and Blackberry, so for you QWERTY candybar folks, you have options. In addition, the Motorola DROID PRO XT610, another Android messenger, has been around since November 2010, but that is one handset that hasn’t been seen in many markets.

If you had to pick one of the above, which one would it be, and what would your criteria be?

Nokia has announced the Nokia E6, a compact QWERTY and touch device aimed at business and general users who need to get things done while they’re on the move. Busy emailers rejoice – there’s now a new Symbian business device that you can operate single-handed.

The QWERTY and touch experience on the Nokia E6 offers faster navigation and operation than either a pure touch or keyboard-only system. While experienced users can get much faster text-entry from a QWERTY keyboard than they ever will from a touch display, being able to launch apps and choose options through the touch screen is often quicker than navigating through options with the thumbpad. It’s the best of both worlds for busy emailers and status-updaters.

The screen is a bright 2.46-inch LCD capacitive touch display offering 16mn colours and a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. It’s made of Corning Gorilla Glass for great durability.

The device comes with 8GB of internal memory and support for MicroSD cards up to 32GB. The battery is a removable Nokia BP-4L 1500mAH – rated for up to a month on standby and 7h30m talk-time over 3G – longer over GSM connections. As you would expect, it offers Pentaband 2G/3G network support for world travellers and WiFi connectivity through 802.11 b/g/n. There’s also Bluetooth 3.0 with support for stereo headphones.

The device measures 115.5 x 59 x 10.5mm and weighs 133g. The 8-megapixel full focus (EDOF) camera has a dual-LED flash, 2X digital zoom (3X in video mode) and offers HD 720p video recording at 25fps.

Like other Symbian phones, the Nokia E6 comes with free global walk and drive navigation through the latest Ovi Maps. It also comes with free push email and IM, providing you have a data plan. The latest Symbian operating system now comes with five home screens, an improved browser and redesigned interface (there’s more info on Symbian Anna here). Bundled software includes QuickOffice, World Traveler, JoikuSpot Premium and F-Secure Mobile Security. More apps can be downloaded and installed through Ovi Store.

For the many existing Nokia E71 and E72 users, the Nokia E6 is the upgrade they’ve been waiting for. They now get a much higher resolution screen (four times the pixels), the latest Symbian operating system, Symbian Anna, improved support for Mail for Exchange, Microsoft Communicator Mobile, SharePoint and Office documents. There’s much more memory, much better connectivity and an 8-megapixel camera. There’s also support for USB On-The-Go and AV-out for connecting to a television or headphones.

The Nokia E6 is expected to ship in Q2 2011 – before taxes and subsidies it will cost €340. North American availability is expected in Q3.

More images and info at Nokia Conversations.

When we say that the new Nokia E7 is your perfect companion for on and off duty, this is what we mean: For business users, Nokia E7 provides direct, secure and real-time access to email, calendar, contacts, tasks and the corporate directory through Microsoft Exchange servers, as well as Office Communicator Mobile, developed by Microsoft for Nokia smartphones, which brings presence and corporate instant messaging.

Additionally, a wide range of entertainment and social services available on the Nokia E7 make it the perfect off-duty companion, and the Ovi Store offers a wealth of apps

Pre-order now www.gtbank.com/nokiae7

Also, don’t forget that you can win a free Nokia E7 on this blog. All you need to do is tell us the most creative thing you have ever done with your Nokia phone. Simply post in the comments section below.

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Nokia West Africa

It seems natural to compare the Nokia E7 with its older sibling, the N8. However, a quick look at the specifications show that while they may have the same engine under the hood (680 MHz processor and GPU on Symbian^3), they are targeted at two different classes of users.

By all means, one is targeted at the business class and the other at the multimedia segment. The E7 lacks the N8′s superb 12 megapixel, autofocus camera, microSD card slot and FM Transmitter, but throws in a bigger ROM, superb 4-inch ClearBlack display and top-notch keyboard.

The E7 is the bigger of the two devices, but I must say Nokia worked a miracle to make it just 13.6 mm thick. As a matter of fact, I believe that the E7 is the thinnest QWERTY slider phone in the market. The N8 without a sliding keyboard is 12.9 mm; the Motorola Milestone 13.7 mm; and the HTC Desire Z 14.2 mm.

The E7′s keyboard has a few neat tricks too that will be highlighted later in one of my reviews.

Here are a few comparison shots of the top two Symbian^3 devices in the market, the Nokia E7 and Nokia N8.

This morning, Yomi received a call from Nokia. They had a Nokia E7 for him to pick up, making him one of the very first individuals to own that device in the country.

I drove down to Nokia’s Victoria Island office to pick up the device, and it is now here at Mobility Nigeria “towers”. Here are pictures from the unboxing done by yours truly (as Yomi is on holiday). Enjoy.

The E7 sales pack contains:

• the Nokia E7 Communicator
• charger
• headset
• manual
• USB data cable
• USB-on-the-go adapter
• male miniHDMI to female standard HDMI adapter

The E7 is a Symbian device very much after the mold of the N8. They look similar, with some distinct differences. Once I picked it up, I immediately noticed the difference in size and weight (the E7 is slightly bigger). However, for a device with a slide-out keyboard, it is not so thick or bulky.

The silver colour gives off a feeling of class. The hardware QWERTY looks sexy. The impression I get is that typing will be a breeze on it, seeing that the keys are well spaced and have a good feel.

The sliding mechanism is smooth: you push to initiate the opening and the spring mechanism completes the action.

In closing, here are the major advantages of the Nokia E7 over the N8:

1. Larger (4.0-inch) and better ClearBlack AMOLED display
2. Superb hardware QWERTY keyboard
3. Torchlight functionality
4. Microsoft Office Communicator Suite

Yomi will be bringing us more detailed information in his usual multi-part reviews. Knowing him, I am betting that he will be drowned in ecstacy when this package gets to him. Ladies and gentlemen – the Nokia E7 Communicator.

If you are out looking for a hardware QWERTY Dual SIM device that delivers on email (POP3/IMAP), basic web browsing, and social networking, perhaps you should consider the LG C310.

The C310 has dual standby functionality, meaning that both lines are active simultaneously. Network data is GPRS and EDGE. There’s only 15MB of memory built in, but then there’s a microSD slot that is compliant with cards up to 4GB.

The keys are large and comfortable to use, and the display is TFT. The camera is only 2megapixel, but that is to be expected of a device in the price range of N20,000. There’s also Bluetooth, microUSB, music player, video player, and a number of other features.