REVIEW Nokia N97 it's very good - but has one fatal flaw

Nokia N97


I really wanted to like this phone. It is after all pretty powerful, and includes Nokia's neat mail for exchange which means my emails can be there on a top notch screen with a decent useable keyboard.

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It has the BBC iPlayer loaded as standard and has an iPhone-busting 32 Gb of memory, expandable using a memory card. It plays all types of video and web browsing promised to be pretty swift too.

My kind of phone I thought.

The N97 has been around almost a year and its smaller (slightly ) brother the N97 Mini has grabbed all the recent headlines.

But I like its size and the fact it does a lot. A smartphone needs to feel special and the N97 still does that.

Its touchscreen works well and the operating system will be familiar to everybody who's ever had a Nokia though on the N97 the Symbian OS looks even better thanks to a redesign.

Initial impressions were good and here are the big pluses on a phone that launched at more than £500 in the UK10 months ago but can now be secured for as little as £19 a month with unlimited internet access and load of calls and texts (See the 3 site for full details).

It flicks open with a reassuring thunk exposing the keypad. The touchscreen is bright and responded well to my finger touches. The home screen was easily set up to show what I wanted quick access to and it was easy to reach the applications folder to find what I need less often.

The 5meg camera, with Carl Zeiss lens, performed well and the video too worked easily well enough to satisfy Youtubers.

Web access was easy using the standard browser and I downloaded the excellent Opera 5 browser as a useful alternative.

Twitter came via the free download of Tweets60 from the ever improving Ovi Store and the Facebook app did all you could need.

I linked quickly to my Picasa account as well as Ovi's own pic and video sharing service so getting my pics from the phone to anywhere else was easy.

At this stage I was almost sold. Could this be a genuine all rounder with which I could sign up for a decent two-year contract relationship?

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Next I moved to the navigation section to check out the phone's Sat Nav qualifications which looked exceptional.

Directions came easily, my place on the map was pinpoint accurate (well, ok it was about 25 yards out) and I was immediately offered a choice of voices to instruct me. Impressive.

Nokia had kindly provided the phone for test but Ovi maps was offering an 8meg update. So I asked the impressive piece of kit to download it immediately.

And that's where the problem started.

The memory was too low it said. 'Delete some data and try again'.

I did, it did the same when I tried again.

What? This is a new phone and there's a whopping 32 Gb of onboard memory. Surely some mistake?

I spent an hour understanding the phone, where apps were stored, how the memory was divided into two, for example the emails were stored on the small 'phone' memory not the in-built 30 odd remaining gig. I moved some more things around, deleted a few apps… in fact all the things a new owner should not have to do.

For me there is a fascination; for most users this will be an irritating frustration and that makes the N97 a geek's phone, not for the ordinary user.

The N97 could have been a Blackberry-eating iPhone option for so many people but as far as I'm concerned this inability to download makes it a loser.

Worse than that, the problem is not solvable.

I consulted the geek-zone: message boards frequented by people who love to examine every aspect of their smartphone's performance, talk and compare, and who are those good people who advise the newcomer how to overcome the limitations of almost every phone made. And the N97's insufficient memory is not curable. You have to live with it.

I can't do that. I want the Ovi maps update, I want the 6gig app that will allow my N97 to play N-Gage games.

The N97 is a great phone that would have done everything I needed. I would have bought one myself despite being in a position where I'm testing new phones week in week out. But the unsolved download glitch and, arguably, its lack of RAM memory too, make the N97 a superb nearly phone.

The other glitches I could have lived with: it didn't want to default to WiFi when available, you had to select it and the fact I couldn't get the BBC iPlayer to work nine times out of ten.

The fact I knew, and would always know, I wasn't getting the very best out of the N97 takes it off my wish list.

It's a shame, it is a great phone. Look out for the N98 then...

Overall 6/10

Good
Great camera, great screen, great keyboard, simple to use. Still something of a multi-media bargain

Bad
Unable to download larger files and updates.


Conclusion
The N97 is a mini computer, which represented Nokias return punch to Apple and should have held Android keyboard phones like the Motorola Milestone at bay. Still a great phone f you like it just as it comes out of the box.

Review Gary Wright

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News App for Kent uses new Nokia App Builder

Nokia mobile phone users can now get the latest news from Kent direct to their mobile with a free new app.

It's thanks to the new Nokia App Wizard which allows anyone to write their own app for any site with an RSS feed.

It's superb, anyone can do it anjd you can be an app writer. It signals a new determined effort by Nokia to boost the offerings in its Ovi App Store and back the aging Symbian OS.

It is easy and the Kent News App took half hour all up and feeds direct from the www.kentnews.co.uk website.

It's designed it to work with any Nokia phone with internet access so you can keep up to date with the county’s award-winning news team.

The simple to use, Kent News App can be downloaded from Nokia’s Ovi Store, you can go direct to it here.

The Kent News for Nokia App follows the huge success of the company's Apple App, launched earlier this year and already downloaded by thousands of people.

Kent News at KOS Media is committed to bringing readers in the county their news in the way that suits them.

Whether that’s by traditional newspaper, its revolutionary eEdition, websites or direct to your mobile, you can stay in touch.

The Kent News Nokia App is straightforward to download but if you experience any problems with your handset, email the newdeskgary.wright@kosmedia.co.uk

REVIEW Sony Ericsson Aino Great camera and music but phone lacks focus

By Gareth Arnold

From Mobile Phone Review

The Aino came out late last year, a millennia ago in mobile terms, and like the Symbian operating system it runs, it's beginning to show its age.

The phone is muddled. I suspect it got its name at a design meeting conducted something like this: "I know, let's put a great camera in it; Ai know, let's make it a competent music player too! Aino, we could even bundle a gimmicky Bluetooth connector in there that has no real use."

You get the idea. And like a lot of Sony Ericsson products, the Aino has that 'designed by committee' feel to it.

This is not to say it's a terrible phone, but while some features are really quite good, others feel distinctly tagged-on.

First the good things. The 8-megapixel camera with LED flash is decent, especially outside, and it's possible to get some quality snaps as long as you don't mind waiting a few seconds for the large images to save.

Shutter lag is not bad for a camera phone, and the different camera settings, including macro, portrait, night, etc do make a difference.

Two pics taken on the Aino

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And it's pretty good at talking and texting, with fair call quality and an iPhonesque 'conversation' feature allowing you to follow each text exchange as a series of coloured speech bubbles.

You can also use the phone to control content on your Sony PS3 using Sony's remote play feature, similar to the service offered on the Play Station Portable.

Connectivity is great, and push email and contact syncing were easy to set up and worked seamlessly through both wifi and 3G.

Sound quality is good through the bundled Bluetooth connector that comes ready-paired with the handset, even though the music controls are irritating, but what I can't understand is why Sony Ericsson didn't go the whole hog and provide a set of Bluetooth headphones?

Instead we have a half-finished solution: a Bluetooth connector with a set of ear buds that plug in the top. Why is this Sony Ericsson?

It's this kind of muddled thinking that characterises the Aino. The menu system, for example, is quietly insane.

Go to menu, go to organiser, and what do you find? You find video calling. Yes folks, video calling is filed under organiser, along with Sony's admittedly effective Media Home application, a neat program that syncs your computer's media library with your phone. Clever.

But why is this filed under organisation? Surely it should be under media? Just a thought.

Is this picky? Maybe, but the Aino's quirks don't stop there. I've got some late-breaking news for you... the Aino has a touchscreen. Yes, a touchscreen! Why have I left it this late in the review to mention this you ask?

Because the touchscreen on the Aino is an afterthought of the highest order.

It's as if a disgruntled employee, we'll call him Richard, said "Aino, let's add a touchscreen" in the meeting we mentioned earlier. Everyone else said "No Richard, that's just going too far."

But in the dead of night Richard snuck in and added it anyway without telling anyone. I bet they were cross when they found out.

You see, the touchscreen only works when the phone is closed. And then only with select applications, namely the camera, radio and media libraries.

No finger scrolling through contacts or scribbling messages with a proddy stick for you Aino customers! No tactile web browsing or pinch to zoom! It is as if they are teasing us on purpose.

And it's a shame because the screen itself is bright and crisp, with rich colours and good contrast.

You almost want to like the Aino. It even comes with a nice dock that charges the phone and Bluetooth gimmick at the same time.

And it looks smart in that stylishly dull way Sony Ericsson do so well.

But it is deeply flawed, and under it's straight-laced exterior hides a crazy mass of split personalities. You can almost imagine it gibbering to itself quietly when it thinks no one's listening.

If you must have a Sony Ericsson, there are better options out there.
Check out our review of the more vivacious Vivaz to see what I mean.


Overall 6/10

Good
Excellent camera, good screen. Battery life ok, lots of features.

Bad
Bizarrely limited touchscreen, odd menu choices, slow.

Conclusion
An unfocused phone that feels unfinished. Good ideas unrealised. Sony Ericsson can do better than this - as they have proved with the Vivaz

FULL SPEC CLICK HERE

REVIEW Sony Ericsson Vivaz a media wizard hampered by its Symbian roots

Sony Ericsson Vivaz

By Gary Wright

The Vivaz will sell on looks alone. People who saw me using it during the test were drawn to it in a way that few others have before.

From Mobile Phone Review Its styling is dominated by a full-colour touchscreen on one side and the 8.1meg camera lens on the other and, since video and pictures are increasingly a main reason to have a phone, the Vivaz is a huge success. The phone will also shoot super-wide landscape with continuous auto-focus for HD video (which you can play through your TV straight from the phone). The camera has smile detection, which worked surperbly, to the childlike joy of some people in the office. Sony-Ericsson boffins know a thing or too about video - the led flash can be left on to light darker scenes for video (clever) - and the Vivaz's quality images beat most other phones... and even it's bigger brother the Satio. On top of that the phone comes with some neat editing software for your pics. From adding think bubbles to the person in the pic to changing the mood lighting in the picture, it is very capable.

So with your Facebook and YouTube account sorted and for pictures and video, you won't go far wrong with the Vivaz.

Music too is well catered for, as you'd expect from the company which invented the Walkman. If you have a Vivaz you really can dump your iPod for ever.

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Our test phone came in a pale lilac metallic, which looked better than it sounds and there was a faint purple glow from the side panels. Along with the green and red lights from the buttons at the bottom of the screen there was a touch of the 21st century about it.

However, I have a few reservations about the phone overall.

The touchscreen is actually very good. It's the resistive type, 3.2inch, and while it comes with a pointer in the box, it works well with your finger, and will keep most users happy.

It's not as good as the class-leading iPhone's capacitive screen, but not much is. But for Sony Ericsson, this is its best effort yet. The on-screen Qwerty keyboard was pretty decent and surprisingly accurate and no doubt practise will have you dashing off messages without problem.

If you've ever owned a Nokia, you'll be familiar with the way it works. Its called Symbian S60, this is version 5) and Sony-Ericsson has done a decent job of covering that up but you are going to have to delve inside now and again.

And it was not designed originally for a touch screen though Sony-Ericsson has made a decent fist of it.

The little Vivaz protested occasionally when it was challenged to perform some functions.

And the screen has one huge advantage: handwriting recognition. It works beautifully and for some people will be a better choice than any of the on-screen keyboard options. You definitely can't have that on capacitive touchscreens (iPhone, HTC Legend etc). So that's worth remembering and criticism of the screen is unfair. Sony have given the Vivaz a corker.


But you need to be clear on what you use your phone for. This takes brilliant pictures and video, you can easily upload them to your site of choice, Picasa, Flikr, Facebook etc, and it browses the web and does messaging with the best of them.

It also had a really good BBC iPlayer app too so you can catch up with telly on your phone.

Do you really want more? Do you really need more?

The excellent Twitter App, which comes with the phone on the main screen works better than most downloadable freebies. But setting it up proved a little difficult and the only way to make it reset was to pull the battery out.

Those little niggles aside, the phone has an excellent GPRS function so it can do directions and maps. Getting on the internet was easy, though sometimes a little slow even using Wi-Fi, and older eyes might struggle despite the impressive colour screen.

From Mobile Phone Review

The Vivaz ran video on the web without a hitch too. The Youtube app was one of the best I'd seen on a mobile.

The Vivaz is stylish, light and fits in the hand well. There is a lot of plastic and if you are looking to preserve its sharp good looks, a case would make a wise investment.

Without becoming too techie, this is a 'can-do' phone with a fast processor at its heart that means it performs well. You can have your Facebook, Twitter with you all the time, check the internet when you need to and watch YouTube. You can shoot video- in stunning quality and upload direct to the web. It works.

Its Symbian OS is getting out-dated but for millions the Nokia system is familiar, comfortable and does the job.

Overall 7.5/10

Good
Excellent camera performance. Music player. Attractive. Brilliant colour screen. Battery life unexpectedly good. Some excellent apps included like Twitter and iPlayer. Attractive handset

Bad
Slightly fragile feel, touchscreen not the best

Conclusion
Sony Ericsson could do with winning new friends and the Vivaz might just be the phone to do it. Be honest about your needs and you may find the Vivaz exceeds them anyway

FULL SPEC CLICK HERE

REVIEW Motorola Dext, who could want more?

By Gary Wright

From Mobile Phone Review

Motorola Dext

This phone has much to recommend it. They don't come much smarter and the Dext will Facebook and Tweet with the best of them.

Its touchscreen is slightly smaller than the iPhone but its quality colour and touch sensitivity are up there with the best.

Its has the Android operating system – the Google backed, open-source answer to the Apple iPhone – and it is brilliant. If you want apps, it has them and the system is already outselling the benchmark iPhone.

The Dext is one of the few Android OS phones with a slide-out keypad. It's easy to use, with slightly domed keys that make it easier to hit keys accurately and will win a lot of text message fans who don't like typing on a screen.

It feels solid too - well, heavy in fact. It's compact but feels pretty substantial despite a very slight wobble between screen and fully open keyboard. Mine was finished in what I like to think of as a gunmetal blue. Quite cool really.

From Mobile Phone Review

Most reviews forget to mention what a smartphone's like to make calls. Well, the Motorola holds a signal well and the incoming call is clear (it did get a little warm though). But its party trick is sensing when you take the phone away from your ear (to check a contact or enter a number) and the screen lights up.

I mentioned the apps earlier and no smartphone can survive these days without tens of thousands of dedicated programmes to make it fit your lifestyle.

The Dext does the apps thing well. It comes with Motorola's Motoblur, which blends all your Facebook, Twitter and MySpace updates as well as your email accounts and messages. At first this can be a bit too much, but you soon become used to it.

You can of course run separate apps for any of your social networks and the Dext surfs the internet smoothly and pretty quick. We loaded the latest Opera browser, free from the Android market store, which ran quickly and easily (no flash support though).

There were separate, ready installed apps, for YouTube and the brilliant Google Maps, which backed by the phones GPS, can give you directions, either on foot or by car. Free of course.

On top of that the Dext has a cracking little music player and, while it's no iPod, it is decent and the headphones that come with the phone were surprisingly good.

The five meg camera is adequate rather than stunning but its unprotected lens takes a pretty decent picture with only the tiniest of lag. It's far better than the norm (and superior to to the iPhone).

But there is a huge warning to all of you moving over to smartphones for the first time, that is worth repeating: Data costs money.

We've been a bit spoiled by mobile packages which you pay once a month and forget. Any decent smartphone could end up costing you a fortune, so pay attention when you set it up and make sure you understand what your apps are going to use.

If you are going to make the most of the excellent multimedia capabilities, check your data plan and make sure the mini-computer (for that is really what the Dext offers) can use your home or office Wi-Fi whenever there's some big downloading needed.

Without getting technical, a lot of mobile plans will give you 500mb a month and many people seem to think that's plenty. I don't.

From Mobile Phone Review

We set the phone up to watch kentnews.co.uk, the Guardian, through an independent app and the BBC's World app. It was General Election time and I wanted to keep in touch. The little Dext never missed a story but I used £7 worth of data in just 12 hours.

After that I was a little more careful and dumped the BBC app.

As an aside for gamers, the Dext has been named as second only to the iPhone in the mobile games market by one leading website. Reason: its neat control pad to left of the qwerty keyboard which gives it the edge for mobile gamiing. Not a deal breaker, but a pretty useful extra if you like mobile fun.

And here's the real good news: the Dext can be bought for just £149 from its only UK operator Orange. And that is a bargain, it was more than £300 when launched just six months ago.

Choose carefully on pay as you go and I reckon you could get away with £20 a month for reasonable data usage (Dolphin £10 monthly top up, free 100 meg, plus two £5 extra bundles of £250meg) but Orange does have a plan for everyone, just spend some time checking.

Or you can have the phone for free if you sign up for 24 months at £22.50 (online), so it’s pretty cheap.

Overall 8.5/10

Good
Solid build, Android OS (1.5) with loads of apps, good though small touchscreen and slide out keyboard. Bargain price really.

Bad
You'll be recharging every day, though my model came with a second battery. Not as stylish as some of the Android competition. You do need to be a little bit of a geek to get the best from it.

Conclusion
A deserved success for Motorola which has followed it up with the Milestone which we'll be testing soon.