Nokia’s next best things

By Vanessa Hidalgo

SINGAPORE—Nokia gave users new reasons why they should stay connected when the company launched the next best things in the mobile phone industry.

Meet Nokia N8.

It has eight fantastic features that will prompt consumers to ask: “Are we still talking about a phone here?”

This gadget offers users the widest range of entertainment while enabling them to stay connected with others.

The N8 offers High Definition quality imaging and cinematic sound.

One can shoot images using the 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. You can leave your digital cameras at home, because the device already has a large camera sensor.

You can also edit videos using the intuitive built-in editing suite. The speakers are equipped with Dolby Digital Plus Surround Sound.

You can also plug the device in your own home theatre screen and watch HD films using the N8’s HDMI connection.

The device also offers seamless and fully integrated social network experience. It enables users to get live updates from Facebook and Twitter, with feeds visible at a glance.

And you can enrich your social network with content from your phone by updating pictures, locations and more.

In addition, you can also view your favorite TV shows here and abroad by initializing the free global Web TV services, which delivers TV programs, news and entertainment channels such as CNN, National Geographic and Paramount Pictures.

The new Nokia N8 also comes with free global Ovi Maps walk and drive navigation so that you will never find yourself lost and clueless ever again.

It also allows you glimpses of what there is to see in over 70 countries worldwide.

And for a truly enriching individual experience, Nokia N8 allows you to fully personalize your home screen by providing three customizable screens. You can easily click on widgets in your screen. Also, it offers instant access to Ovi Store’s apps, games and other cool content.

This gadget features a 3.5-inch widescreen and weighs around 135 grams. It also has a smooth and quick response touchscreen and is now equipped with a “pinch-to-zoom” function on the user interface.

This smart phone also marks the debut of the Symbian^3 software, which features several advancements. This includes three personalized home screens which you can easily maneuver through with a simple flick.

N8 has a faster and more responsive user interface with new 2D and 3D graphics architecture. It has more efficient memory management for you to enjoy an efficient multitasking experience.

The Nokia N8 has 16 GB of built-in storage space, expandable to 48 GB using a Micro SD card. Large files can be easily transferred to a memory stick with the USB on-the-go.

And for application developers out there, Nokia is offering a new platform to operate on. The Nokia N8 comes integrated with Qt, a software development environment that makes it possible to build applications and deploy it across Symbian and other software platforms.

Nokia N8’s talk time can run up to 12 hours. It can shoot a video for three hours and 20 minutes. Music playback can last up to 50 hours, while video playback with HDMI can last up to six hours. Web TV can provide entertainment for up to three hours and 20 minutes.

The Nokia N8 comes in different vibrant colors such as dark grey, silver white, green, blue and orange.

The Nokia N8 will be available in the market in September. It will retail at roughly P21, 000 before taxes and subsidies.

Another hot item that Nokia will soon be releasing is the X5. It takes the shape of a compact mirror and can tickle the imagination of every music aficionado and social networking addicts out there. It is perfect for youngsters and teens who want to keep in touch with family and friends.

Taking a different twist from the usual candy bar shaped cell phones, the Nokia X5 has a square shape for better grip. It has optimized social networking and messaging features. Once you slide it out, you will see a full qwerty keyboard for easy typing.

Through Nokia X5, you can easily access social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. You can also easily log on to all of your accounts by enabling the single home screen sign. You can check your e-mail or chat with friends using Windows Messenger and Yahoo. You can also receive updates from Facebook and Twitter simultaneously and seamlessly.

Favorite contacts can be found in the home screen and you can shake the phone to find out the number of unread messages.

For music playback, the Nokia N5 has an excellent sound quality and loud speakers. It also has quick access to music via a dedicated music key. Music player can support MP3, AAC, EAAC+ and WMA. It also has built-in FM stereo radio. As an added feature, you can spin the gadget when playing music to jump from one track to another.

If you’re addicted to taking pictures, you’ll be glad to know that Nokia X5 has a 5-megapixel camera with 4x digital zoom and LED flash at the back. You can also share photos and videos through Ovi Share.

It operates using the S60 platform 3rd edition. It has an internal memory capacity of 200 MB and can support up to 32 GB using a micro SD memory card. It comes with a 2GB memory card.

The Nokia X5 offers up to four hours of talk time, 16 days for standby time and 24 hours for music playback.

This gadget comes in hip and vibrant colors like Pink, Azure, Graphite Black, Yellow, Green and Purple.

Nokia X5 will be available in September. It may retail for about P9,240 before taxes and subsidies.