Instead, you get Nokia's own Maps service, which allows you to download (using Wi-Fi or a 3G link) the cartography that you want for the part of the world that you are in or are travelling to. A built-in digital image stabiliser means that the image quality of your footage is much steadier than it might have been.ĭespite the GPS aerial, the E90 does not come with pre-stored maps to the UK roads. A 512MB MicroSD card is supplied with the device, but 2GB memory chips can be used. You don't get an AV lead to connect to your TV, but the footage can be replayed with no trouble on your computer. The camcorder facility is also very useful. Overall picture quality, in fact, is probably slightly better than on the N95, as onboard sharpening is not overused to the same degree. What's more there is a close-up facility that will allow you to focus down to just 10cm from the subject - perfect for detail shots, or for "photocopies" of sections of a printed page. We found the autofocus to be a bit temperamental, and often needed to be coaxed to lock onto a subject. It has slightly less resolution than the N95, but the pictures can still be first rate. Some corporate buyers may turn their noses up at the built-in camera, but for those of us in the real world a decent photo facility is a must. This is not just proof that the E90 has it all, it also proves that it is just as useful for work and play. The specification of the E90, in fact, is remarkably similar to that of Nokia's N95 - probably the most coveted phone released in the UK so far this year.
Pay for the full over-the-air navigation service, and it means that the E90 could also make your TomTom redundant. The icing on the cake, however, is the built in GPS aerial which when used with Nokia's free Maps service means that you need never get lost.
It becomes the first 3G-enabled Communicator, but is also one of the best connected devices that you will find with miniUSB socket, Bluetooth 2.0, and infrared. It has a 3-megapixel autofocus camera, and a camcorder facility that can compete with the best thanks to 25-frame-per-second VGA capture. The E90 has no such specification issues. It was the first in the range to offer GPRS and Wi-Fi, but it its Series 80 operating system could not offer the 3G connectivity that many users wanted, and its VGA camera was not up to the quality expected. When the 9500, the previous model in the Communicator dynasty, was launched three years ago, it was already out of date. The result is that the E90 is not just a Communicator for today - it is a Communicator without compromise. More importantly it is an operating system that has already been proved capable of working with all the latest mobile phone features.
The S60 platform means that there is a huge catalogue of software that can be made to work on the new E90. But its advantages far outweigh its disadvantages. It means a new suite of software, for instance. It's not a move that everyone will be happy with. The change in ergonomics has been made possible by yet another change in operating platform for the device - this time, the E90 is using the immensely popular Symbian S60 system.