Nokia announces the coming availability of the E71 and E66 S60 enterprise-focused devices
The Nokia E61i that I owned for a few months was one of my favorite S60 devices and I was pleased to see that the rumors were true when Nokia announced the E71 and E66 devices this morning. The Nokia E71 is the successor to the E61 and E61i and includes a QWERTY keyboard, while the E66 continues with the E65 type business device with a small form factor and industrial grade design. Both of these devices are targeted to the enterprise user with specific utilities and applications designed for the business user. I hope we see these come to the U.S. officially and understand there will be U.S. 3G versions of the Nokia E71.
The Nokia E71 takes the solid stainless steel E61i form factor and makes it thinner. The device also includes a 3.2 megapixel camera, integrated GPS receiver, integrated WiFi and Bluetooth, quad-band GSM, three different dual-band HSDPA options (850/1900, 900/2100, and 850/2100). It is expected in the 3rd quarter of 2008 for EUR350 and will be available in gray or white steel color variations.
The Nokia E66 also has a stainless steel body and a 3.2 megapixel camera. It has a slide-up display to reveal a traditional phone keypad. GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth and the same HSDPA options with the quad-band GSM will be offered at the same time and price as the Nokia E71.
Some applications have been enhanced on these devices, including the Calendar where your daily activities will scroll by in the month view when you select a single day. You can also switch personalities of the device from work to play with the ability to run two different profiles that control your email, calendar, and other settings with a dedicated home screen for each. At this time, you have to manually switch these profiles, but it sounds like a great option for the mobile worker.
You can check out a video of both in action on the Nokia Conversations site.
All About Symbian has been using the Nokia E71 for a bit and posted their review so check out the some real world thoughts of the device. I didn't realize until I saw their side-by-side photos with the E61i has much has been slimmed down and think you may be quite amazed as well.
I hope to get a chance to evaluate both of these devices soon and am seriously thinking of buying the E71 because it has what the E61i had, but with more features I have been enjoying in the Nseries of devices.