I’ve been using a Nokia N70 for the last 3 months now, and have tinkered around with it a good deal. It is a pretty neat phone and I’m enjoying my experience so far. It replaced the much smaller and lighter Nokia 6100, which I’d used for almost three years.
The Nokia N70 smartphone is based on the Symbian Operating System and is reasonably compact, though it was quite a change for me after the 6100. It comes with a 2 megapixel camera (1600 X 1200 pixels) with integrated flash and a second camera (VGA) which can be used for video conferencing. It also supports Java and Bluetooth, plays FM Radio (with earphones attached) and has a decent MP3 player, though the sound from the speakers is not all that great. Battery life is reasonably good.
Some useful software that came pre-packaged with the phone:
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Opera browser
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Yahoo Messenger
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Kodak Mobile (not sure I’ll ever use it)
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Symantec Security (trial)
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QuickOffice (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, PDF reader (free version), only view, no edit mode)
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RealPlayer – to play movies
What I liked the best was the quality of the video, which is damn good and certainly better than most other phones around. The videos are saved as MP4 files, so watching them on the iPod is a snap. The standard earphones are pretty bad though and get quite painful after sustained use.
The phone weighs around 126 grams, and comes in two colours, a silver one like in the picture here and a horrible looking ivory colour. No prizes for guessing which one I have ! 🙂
Some of the best features:
Multi-tasking ahoy!
The on-board memory is decent, and allows several applications to be open at the same time. So, I can now check my messages, look up contacts or even browse the net with Opera. The idea is not to hit the “Exit” button, but use the Menu key to launch a new app. The same key, when kept depressed opens a list of apps that are currently open/running, so you can switch over effortlessly.
Use a powerful file manager:
Get a file manager like FExplorer to navigate the phone contents. It is way superior to the pre-loaded one, and gives you lightning quick access to files and folders on your phone or memory card, besides allowing access to system areas (navigate with care here!). It allows you to turn on Bluetooth and Infrared from the menu, allows taking screenshots (useful to resolve a phone issue), and even shows you a list of processes and tasks that are currently open and running. Best of all, it’s FREE!
Group favourite applications together:
In the Applications Menu, you can group all your favourites together by simply selecting an App, hit Move, navigate to where you want it to be, hit Ok. For eg. in the “My Own” folder, I find it makes sense for me to have FExplorer, Opera, Search etc together.
Use Autolock:
This is a pretty nifty utility, especially in the absence of an automatic keyguard lock like the 6100. On a couple of occasions, I’ve ended up calling numbers while blissfully unaware, and it can be risky. Autolock allows you to set a timer after which the keypad is locked, preventing any accidental keypresses. Best of all, it’s completely free and safe to use.
Hope you found these useful. Do share other tips, hacks and links in the comments so all N70 users can benefit.
Update: I had earlier included links to other sites with information on the N70, but readers have pointed out that apparently, some of those sites often don’t open / are no longer in existence (lead to parked domains), so I’ve removed those links.
