Nuggets: High-speed mobile will Nokia block off

Use your phone as a laptop modem, but frustrated by the low speed of the connection? Well, Nokia reckons it has the answer.

The new phone supports High-Speed Circuit Switched Data (that's HSCSD to you) which means that a Nokia 6210 can download information at a blistering 43.2kbps. Unfortunately, WAP won't work in conjunction with HSCSD, but it'll mean a speed boost if you link your laptop to the Internet via a phone. Nokia is confident that video-streaming will be possible (although on a 96x60 pixel screen you're not exactly going to watch Casablanca). Luckily, there's also some improved software so WAP will be a little quicker too.

Lookswise, the 6210 is outta the top drawer. It comes in three colours; Black Night, Grey Dusk and Red Sunset, and at 114g it shouldn't be a burden to lug around.

Nokia is making some bold claims for the 6210's battery life. Standard standby time of ten days and four hours 30 mins of talk time are useful, but it would be so handy if these companies came clean about how long a bored commuter can play Snake II in one session. An extended battery is available too, so if you're a bit of a natterer (or just forget to recharge the damn thing at night) you could have seven hours of talk time.

Obviously there's SMS capability too, and an infra red port for synching the calendar with your PC. Nokia has also added a smidgen of speech recognition by letting a user specify ten numbers which can be dialled by voice.

The 6210 is due out this autumn so we've not got full pricing details yet.

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