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 Successor model announced
Mobile phone maker’s Nokia has unveiled the budget touch screen 5250 handset, the replacement model to last year’s 5230 with a new design similar to the higher-end models whilst still keeping the costs low.
Nokia’s 5250 is a 2.8-inch touch screen handset, running Symbian ^1 with just GSM and EDGE connectivity with the design and look to the Nokia X6 phone - instead of the older model it’s replacing.
The Nokia 5230 was a 3.2-inch touch screen device, running Symbian S60 and is very reminiscent of the older Xpress Music handsets. It was shipped with the same connections as the newer model - where both phones have 3G and WIFI missing.
Access to the mobile maker’s application Ovi store will be on offer with the new handset, which is likely to be accompanied by Comes With Music that has just been rebranded Ovi Music Unlimited.
Nokia’s 5250 is expected to ship later on in the year with a cost of around the £100 mark and is bound to be showing up on pay as you go deals, from various network operators.
One Mobile Ring is attending Nokia’s annual symposium mid September, where we’ll bring you the low down on the new models from the event as they’re aired to the media.
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MeeGo to be run on Nokia flagship handsets 
Nokia has made public it will stop deploying Symbian on its N Series handsets, instead the Finish phone makers will be using MeeGo as the main platform for their flagship mobiles. MeeGo is the joint operating system venture by Nokia and Intel, by the merging of their two Linux platforms of Maemo and Moblin, respectively.
The last flagship Nokia mobile phone that could be running Symbian^3 may be their upcoming Nokia N8, where the last MeeGo or Maemo derivative handset was their N900 tablet, unveiled at Nokia World last September.
At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year Nokia and Intel jointly announced MeeGo, where they are expecting the OS to be used across phones, netbooks and tablets such as the N900.
Nokia’s Symbian^3 N8 is due out in the next few months, where the 3.5-inch touch screen Nokia N8 will feature a 12 megapixel camera that is capable of HD video recording. Symbian is still expected to be used by Nokia, but only on their mid-tier ranges downwards with their flagship handsets now only running MeeGo.
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Independent app vendor jumps to number three spot
Until now, independent app vendors have often lost out to the big names, a major and obvious criticism being lack of content. PocketGear are seeking to change that perception, and by acquiring Handango now have the ability to field a cross-platform marketplace with more than 140,000 titles, spread across Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Palm. The increase in scale for the two firms potentially makes them world number three, behind Apple and Google. PocketGear already provide the backbone for 40 storefronts, including those of Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile and AT&T.
Like to know more? press release here
Mid-to-high end entertainment phone
Cosmetically the X6 has an elegant candy bar design, medium-thin for a touchscreen-only entertainment phone. Billed by as competition for the iPhone, the X6 (16GB version) is launching in the UK with a multi-million pound integrated advertising push via TV, print and digital media, plus a viral campaign through social networking sites.
The X6 is Nokia’s first move to capacitive touchscreen technology (yippee!), essential for finger control. The 3.2" screen display is a delight, displaying 360×640 in clear and vivid colour. Up to 20 shortcuts fit on the homescreen, allowing one-touch access to all your favourite social sites. The typing experience is ok in landscape mode, those already converted to touch will have no problems.
Featuring Symbian S60 5th edition, the X6 has virtually the same UI as the hugely popular 5800. It’s easy to use, but at times you do realise S60 was developed on keyboard devices. It’s not yet quite as good as either iPhone OS or Android for pure touch browsing, but overall it gives a comfortable user experience.
Technically aimed to entertain the affluent late teens and up, the X6 has a difficult journey ahead to beat iPhone. Being equipped with GPS and free satnav from Ovi Maps will help, plus a reasonable app store offering and 16GB of storage is pretty good. The addition of a Dual-LED flash 5MP Carl Zeiss camera will woo a few more customers.
For posting quality video to YouTube, pictures to Facebook, or watching widescreen, the X6 is a contender. Battery life can also be up to a week of pretty heavy use. For other features? Well, that ad campaign better be VERY good.
Anyone can download the whole thing
 The Symbian operating system became fully open-source this week. Previously, a developer had to fully subscribe to the Symbian Foundation to access all of the code. But now a generous Eclipse public license agreement allows complete access to all of Symbian, with the ability for home-grown add-ons, custom features and tweaks to remain proprietary to individual manufacturers or brands.
New kids on the block, such as Google’s Android and Samsung’s Bada often draw the media spotlight, but Symbian powers hundreds of millions of devices, almost as many as all of its competitors combined. This decision gives the platform a much needed bump and should encourage the world to begin to see Symbian as a safe choice for development.
Messaging big beast
 The sequel to Nokia’s best selling E71, the E72 begins life with a secured following. Visually similar, pimped with a bit more chrome and a sleeker finish, you have to look inside to fully appreciate it’s beefier than it’s younger brother.
Running Symbian and powered by a 600 MHz processor, the first improvement is in speed. Menus are instant and applications load swiftly. The 2.4 inch QVGA screen is glass-fronted and displays 320 v 240 resolution. Default colour and styling imply work, not play.
Placed mid-range for media with a 5 MP LED flash camera, video editing, music player and a 3.5mm jack. 250MB user space, a 4GB microSD card can be Expanded 16GB. 3G access via HSDPA is great, max speed 10.2 Mbps future-proofing the phone, as the fastest advertised UK carrier speed is 7.2 Mbps.
The strength of the E-Series remains the full featured 39 key, sculpted, QWERTY keypad. It gives tactile, responsive, comfortable and most importantly accurate input. I’m was tempted by touchscreen, but Nokia prove to me here that keypads remain the one true path.
Battery life is excellent. I’ve gathered lots of user data and the average is around 5 days from a full tank. A hefty punch to other smartphones, a knockout if you’re away from charger access for long.
If messaging, battery life and the E-series brand are your priorities, this is an excellent choice. It might not score highly with new users hungry for personalisation and download options.
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