Nokia Phone Blog

PhoneMatchup.com: A new way to research cell phone prices.

2007-10-17T17:59:00.000-04:00

One of my side projects, PhoneMatchup lets you find, research prices, and buy mobile phones for cheaper than everyone else.

It works by continually retrieving auctions from ebay for some of the most popular phones out there (and not limited to Nokia, either!), running them through an auction filter (designed by me!), and displaying the ones that make the grade.

It's handy. It's free. So use it!

PhoneMatchup.com: the better place to buy cell phones.

Save on Your Wireless Bill with Premier Discounts!

2007-07-09T20:30:00.000-04:00

The Nokia Phone Blog's latest featured article goes over how to get a nice hefty discount on your monthly wireless bill - courtesy of wireless carriers' "Premier" or "Business" discounts.

How does it work? Basically, if you're a student, former student, or employee of almost any school or semi-large company, you'll qualify. The only requirement is an email address with the company/school domain (for example, blah@att.com would qualify you for the AT&T discount, which by some accounts is as large as 60%).

This applies to AT&T/Cingular and Verizon.

Read more about: Wireless Bill Discounts at the Nokia Phone Blog

Nokia 1650, Nokia 2660 Phones Announced

2007-05-06T11:36:00.000-04:00

At a convention in India, Nokia announced several new handsets aimed at the emerging market. Among them are the 1650 and 2660 models.

The Nokia 1650 is your standard budget mobile phone - no bells and whistles except for a flashlight and FM radio.

Meanwhile, the Nokia 2660 follows the same path with a flip phone form factor. Although there are a couple redeeming features - among them Bluetooth, GPRS, and a loudspeaker.

Read more about these models.

Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold Preview

2007-04-19T23:54:00.000-04:00

Got $1350 bucks? Go buy yourself a brand spanking new Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold phone. The latest in the 8800 series (and the second Sirocco phone), the Sirocco Gold is meant to look hot, expensive, and oh so luxurious.

The casing is made of 18-carat gold - like you couldn't figure that out yourself.

Check out the Nokia 8800 Sirocco Gold Preview at the Nokia Phone Blog

Got a Nokia N80? Turn it into a Nokia N80ie!

2007-04-16T11:13:00.000-04:00

I've written a handy guide that spells out exactly how to do a firmware update from the stock Nokia N80 to the N80 Internet Edition. The tutorial also covers what to do if you're using a branded N80 or you'd like to change the region code on your phone.

Check out the entire N80 to N80ie tutorial here.

Nokia 5300 Sweepstakes!

2007-04-05T00:12:00.000-04:00

Looking to get yourself a Nokia 5300 XpressMusic phone? Here's the easiest way I can think of: put in your name and email address into the Virtual Nokia Experience Center ballot and cross your fingers!

The Nokia 5300 is one of the more recent slider phones released that is made for the music listeners - featuring 3.5" mm jacks, expandable memory and dedicated playback buttons on the front, the 5300 is just waiting to be hooked up to some nice speakers.

Link to The Virtual Nokia Experience Center

A $1.3 Million Dollar Phone.

2007-03-14T02:17:00.000-04:00

And the results are in: GoldVish, a relatively unknown company in the mobile phone world dominated by giants such as Nokia and Motorola, has the record for the most expensive handset ever sold in the world.

It's got bling. 1,200 diamonds worth of bling. It's got an ugly shape. It's worth more than you'll probably ever be worth!

Read more about the Most Expensive Phone Ever Sold

New Phone: Nokia 7373 SE

2007-03-02T11:42:00.000-05:00

Nokia has released a new mobile phone for the fashion oriented crowd, part of its L'amour collection: the Nokia 7373 Special Edition.

The phone is styled by fashion designer Giambattista Valli, and includes a behind-the-scenes video as well as some exclusive backgrounds and ringtones.

However, the actual phone is pretty much the same as the old 7373.

The Nokia 6133 Phone

2006-10-10T16:40:00.000-04:00

Nokiausa.com has a new cell phone listed on the web site: the Nokia 6133 phone. While it's definitely sporting the slick look, aided with a "new" press-to-open button, the 6133 isn't necessarily all about the looks.

A tri-band (850/1800/1900) clamshell phone that's coming to the USA soon enough, the 6133 has a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash and a screen that supports up to 16 million colors (240x320 resolution). It's a Series 40 phone, which means it won't include the Symbian OS.

Read more about the Nokia 6133 phone.

Game Review: Chu Chu Rocket for Mobile Phones

2006-10-10T01:36:00.000-04:00

I haven't done a game review in a pretty long time. So here goes.

Chu Chu Rocket is a Japanese game made famous on Dreamcast due to its highly highly (huge emphasis on highly) addictive gameplay - which consists of just placing arrows (up, down, left, and right) on a grid.

The mobile version abandons the multiplayer aspect of Chu Chu Rocket, and instead focuses on puzzle and challenge modes.

While the controls are very well suited to most mobile phones, I can't help but feel that there's just no polished feel in this game. Graphics are pretty bland and the animation is well below average. There's only two modes (puzzle and challenge) which have a very limited selection of levels.

Read more about Chu Chu Rocket for Mobile Phones

Yet Another New Phone: Nokia N95

2006-09-30T01:14:00.000-04:00

Yep, Nokia's done it again. And now they've created a mobile powerhouse that is called the N95.

Let's take a look at the laundry list of features. 5 megapixel camera? Check. Wi-fi/WLAN? Check. Dual action slider with dedicated music buttons? Double check. Oh yeah, and integrated GPS? Definite check.

The N95 is easily Nokia's most complex phone ever created, and for the price of 550 euros (700 bucks US dollars), it can be yours as of 1st quarter 2007. Honestly, $700 is a pretty fair price to pay - considering the piece of garbage black Nokia 8800 phone cost upwards of $1100 at its prime.

Read more about the Nokia N95 Phone

New Phone: Nokia N75 Phone

2006-09-27T00:37:00.000-04:00

Today Nokia released two new cell phones - the Nokia N75 and the Nokia N95. The N75 is a quad-band flip-phone headed for the USA sometime during the winter.

You could say that the N75 is a better version of the N71 - at least in terms of looks and usability. The N75 features dedicated music keys on the front face of the phone, with the 2 megapixel camera located directly on the back of the phone.

Read more about the Nokia N75 Phone

New: Nokia 7373 Phone

2006-09-12T00:21:00.000-04:00

As part of Nokia's new L'amour collection for 2006, the Nokia 7373 is an upgraded version of the older Nokia 7370. Featuring a swiveling form factor, the 7373 does come standard with a 2 megapixel camera that is actually missing an integrated flash.

There doesn't seem to be much of an improvement over the previous incarnation of this phone. I find that Nokia does that a lot these days.

The 7373 is expected to cost 350 Euros, which translates to $450 USD. Sheesh!

Read more about the Nokia 7373 Phone

Preview of the Nokia 7390 Phone

2006-09-06T00:24:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Nokia released three new phones, all part of the Nokia L'amour Collection. (also known as the fashion line)

The Nokia 7390 is the most technically pleasing (and in my opinion, it looks a hell of a lot better than the others) of the three. Featuring a 3 megapixel camera with integrated flash and autofocus, the 7390 is an impressive flip phone.

Read more about the Nokia 7390 Phone

Nokia HS-21W Wireless Clip-on Headset

2006-08-18T11:12:00.000-04:00

I've posted a preview of the Nokia HS-21W Wireless Clip-on Headset. What's so different about this newfangled Bluetooth headset?

Well, for starters it's a wireless headset that actually has wires. Weird as it sounds, the earpiece is attached to the headset with a wire and also includes a magnetic attachment that allows you to just place the earpiece on the headset without it falling off.

Read more about the Nokia HS-21W Wireless Headset here.

Nokia 6126 Phone Preview

2006-07-18T10:42:00.000-04:00

Is it the Nokia 6126? Or is it the Nokia 6131? Who knows - they're practically the same phone.

The Nokia 6126 phone is a mid-tier clamshell GSM phone with a lot of bells and whistles. It comes standard with a 1.3 megapixel camera (no flash), expandable memory, and a fairly large outer display (128x160 pixels). That's like gigantic in the outer screen world.

The main display is actually fairly large too, with a 240x320 pixel screen supporting up to 16 MILLION colors.

Read more about the Nokia 6126 phone here.

Nokia Kaleidoscope RX-11 Preview

2006-07-12T23:56:00.000-04:00

The Nokia RX-11 Kaleidoscope is a ridiculous device created by the master engineers at Nokia. It's a weird little kaleidoscope that lets you view images stored internally or on a MMC memory card.

Read more about the Nokia Kaleidoscope RX-11 here.

I told you it was weird!

Nokia 6125 Phone Preview Posted!

2006-07-11T11:53:00.000-04:00

The Nokia 6125 is a midlevel, quad-band, clamshell style cell phone. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera (without a flash), expandable memory via microSD, and Bluetooth 2.0 support.

One new innovative feature on the 6125 is the addition of flight mode, which lets you use your phone's main features (games, music, just general fooling around) WITHOUT establishing a connection to a tower. This is pretty much only useful for plane trips, where you're not allowed to have a cell phone with an active connection, or you risk messed up radio transmissions and getting yourself killed. Maybe.

Read more about the Nokia 6125 phone here.

Freedom Mini Bluetooth Keyboard and Gamepad Preview!

2006-07-11T11:50:00.000-04:00

The Freedom Mini Bluetooth Keyboard/Gamepad is exactly that: a tiny, almost credit-card sized device that functions both as a keyboard AND as a gamepad.

It's a very interesting product, although many of the keys are doubled up - i.e. the arrow keys are also the S, Tab, X, and & keys. A little weird.

Read more about the Freedom Mini Bluetooth Keyboard here.

invisibleSHIELD Screen Protector Review (6030)

2006-07-07T00:57:00.000-04:00

Challenging the arrival of the Martin Fields' Overlay Plus screen protector is Shieldzone's invisibleSHIELD. Unlike the Overlay Plus, the invisibleSHIELD has a lifetime warranty and comes in two editions: a body armor+screen protector package and a screen protector-only package.

Is it any better than the Martin Fields' Overlay Plus? Read more to find out!

Read more about the invisibleSHIELD screen protector vs. the Overlay Plus!

Martin Fields Overlay Plus Screen Protector (N71) Reviewed!

2006-07-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

Martin Fields is well known for creating high quality screen protectors. In this review, I'll take a look at the Nokia N71 Overlay Plus screen protector.

The bottom line is once you can get the Overlay Plus on your phone, it literally turns invisible. You will NOT be able to tell that there's a screen protector on your phone. The fit of the screen protector is also near perfect.

However, the drawback to this is the installation process. The Overlay Plus is washable, but easily damaged. If you manage to scratch the rough side (which is not too hard to do), it's permanently screwed up. Trust me, that's not fun.

Read more about the Overlay Plus at the Nokia Phone Blog.

Nokia Phone Carry Case Roundup!

2006-06-26T01:16:00.000-04:00

I've done a comparison of several new Nokia phone cases. What phones are they compatible for? What are they made of? Why does the CP-109 look so...weird?

The Nokia phone cases previewed were: the Nokia CP-110, CP-109, CP-108, CP-74, CP-71, CP-69 and the CP-93. And I'll bet you haven't even heard of half of them!

Read more about the Nokia Phone Carry Case Roundup!

Nokia PT-6 Remote Camera Preview Posted!

2006-06-24T00:14:00.000-04:00

I bet your security camera can't do this!

The Nokia PT-6 Remote Camera is a security camera / mini cell phone. Using the motion sensing capability, the PT-6 can send you a 1 megapixel picture or short video clip of what's in the current field of view. It can also be set to send you MMS images every specified amount of time.

The PT-6 also has a temperature sensing feature that can send text messages to your phone when the temperature goes above or below a certain level.

Read more about the Nokia PT-6 Remote Camera here

Check out two more upcoming Nokia phone models!

2006-06-23T11:34:00.000-04:00

Well, almost upcoming, anyway. The Nokia N91 music phone has already been released, while the Nokia N92 will debut in the coming months (we hope).

Read more about the Nokia N91 phone here.

Read more about the Nokia N92 phone here.

Nokia 6275i and Nokia 2875i Phones Previewed!

2006-06-23T11:29:00.000-04:00

At Nokia Connections 2006 (Nokia's business convention for all those business types), Nokia announced five new cell phones. Here's the two CDMA offerings:

The Nokia 6275i and Nokia 2875i are two mid-tier phones that will be released on Verizon's network in the fourth quarter of 2006. The 6275i is the more impressive of the two, with a 240x320 pixel screen and 2 megapixel camera. Meanwhile, the 2875i has Bluetooth, a 1.3 megapixel camera, and an FM radio.

Read more about these two phones here.

Nokia HF-6W Wireless Plug-in Handsfree Car Microphone/Speaker

2006-06-21T11:16:00.000-04:00

The Nokia HF-6W is Nokia's asnwer to boring old Bluetooth headsets. This little device plugs into the cigarette lighter in your car and provides a microphone and speaker combo that allows you to talk while driving WITHOUT having to holding a phone and wearing little "dongles."

The HF-6W uses 4 embedded microphones to filter out unwanted background noise.

Read more about the Nokia HF-6W Handsfree Car Microphone Here

The Nokia 6233 phone shipped on June 14!

2006-06-20T14:50:00.000-04:00

One of Nokia's latest phones, the Nokia 6233 was officially released on June 14 for shipping around the world. The 6233 features a stainless steel body, 2 megapixel camera, and stereo speakers in a triband candy cell phone.

Read more about the Nokia 6233 phone here!

Nokia BH-800 Bluetooth Headset Previewed Posted!

2006-06-15T15:29:00.000-04:00

The Nokia BH-800 Bluetooth Headset is, quite easily, one of the smallest wireless headsets out there. It's so small, people will be wondering if you're just wearing an ugly, boxy earring.

Does a small headset = small features? Not necessarily. The BH-800 still sports up to 6 hours of battery life, and a standby time of up to 160 hours.

It also supports the newest Bluetooth Specification standard, 2.0 which includes EDR and several large improvements to improve pairing time, decrease battery drain, and some other cool features.

Unfortunately, the retail for this headset is $179.00. Ouch.

Read more about the Nokia BH-800 Bluetooth headset here.

Ridata 1GB miniSD Memory Card Review

2006-06-14T00:59:00.000-04:00

I posted my review of the Ridata 1 gigabyte miniSD card by Ritek.

Considering the price, the Ridata 1 gig miniSD holds up well and works perfectly. It's faster than a 128 megabyte miniSD card that came with my Nokia N71 phone, which is fairly impressive considering it's 8 times larger than the original Nokia one.

Read the entire Ridata 1GB miniSD review here

Nokia 2610 Phone Preview Posted!

2006-06-09T00:33:00.000-04:00

I've added my preview of the Nokia 2610 phone. Basically, the 2610 is a low-end, budget Nokia cell phone. It's barely called a business phone, and that only because it comes with some business themed applications.

Other than those phone specific applcations, the Nokia 2610 is just like any other entry-level Nokia phone. No digital camera, but a loudspeaker, mp3 ringtones, and other small features make an appearance.

Read more about the Nokia 2610 phone here.

Nokia N91 Phone Starts Shipping to the US!

2006-06-05T23:44:00.000-04:00

In an earlier press release today, Nokia announced that the Nokia N91 music phone has started shipping to the USA.

Read more about it here.

The N91 phone is Nokia's answer to the iPod, Sony's Walkman line of phones, and every hard drive based MP3 player out there right now. It's got a 2 megapixel camera, stainless steel casing, dedicated music buttons, Symbian OS 9.1, and a whole lot of other bells and whistles.

Nokia 6280 Phone Preview Posted!

2006-06-02T13:32:00.000-04:00

The Nokia 6280 is Nokia's newest sliding phone. Not quite a high-end phone, and not quite a budget phone, the 6280 has some really excellent features in a triband/3G package.

It's got dual cameras, a 2 megapixel outside camera (with flash) and a front side VGA 0.3 megapixel camera strictly for video-conferencing. Bluetooth, integrated loudspeaker, expandable memory, and Series 40 3rd Edition round out the NOkia 6280's list of impressive features.

Read my Nokia 6280 phone preview here.

Nokia 6305i Phone Preview Posted!

2006-05-30T00:25:00.000-04:00

Today's Nokia cell phone preview is the Nokia 6305i phone.

It's a new slider phone for Verizon/CDMA users and sports a 1.3 megapixel camera with flash, VCAST/Get It Now support, and 128 megabytes of internal memory. It's also Nokia's first slider phone for Verizon.

Read more about it here.

Nokia N71 Phone Review Part 2 Posted!

2006-05-28T01:58:00.000-04:00

I've finished Part 2 of the Nokia N71 phone review.

Read it at The Nokia Phone Blog.

The Nokia N71 is a top-notch, high end Nseries phone that's well worth the price. While it does not any one feature that stands out exclusively, the N71 has a virtual boatload of features. It's a jack-of-all-trades cell phone.

The 2 megapixel camera is very impressive, especially comparing it to the Nokia N90. While the N90 has the benefit of Carl Zeiss optics, the N71's integrated camera does a great job of reproducing images.

Highly recommended.

Nokia N71 Phone Review (Part 1) Posted!

2006-05-27T02:22:00.000-04:00

Nokia N71: The Review now at the Nokia Phone Blog!

The N71 phone is Nokia's latest Nseries flip phone (that's been actually released) - is it worth the money? How does it compare to Nokia's other Nseries flip phone, the N90? All this and more at the Nokia Phone Blog!

Read the full article here.

New Bluetooth Headset and Dongle Deals!

2006-05-26T01:09:00.000-04:00

My latest post showcases several Bluetooth products that you can get on the cheap.

The Jensen WBBB100 Universal Stereo Headphone Kit for $49.99 @ Buy.com
Motorola Bluetooth Headset HS805 for $24.99 @ Motorola
100m USB2 Bluetooth Dongle for $6.99 @ LEDShoppe

Some great Bluetooth deals to be had!

At the Nokia Phone Blog.

An online deal site.

2006-05-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

The Daily Deal Blog provides the latest online deals, discount coupons, and other great bargains for the savvy shopper!

Link to the Daily Deal Blog.

Updated daily.

The new Nokia Cell Phone links

2006-05-15T17:04:00.000-04:00

The Nokia Cell Phone Blog: Daily reviews and previews of the latest Nokia phones and accessories, industry news, cell phone deals, and more!

Cell Phone World: Cell Phone impact, cell phone issues, and cell phones in society today.

The Daily Deal Blog: The latest deals, online coupons, sales, and bargains!

The Nokia Phone Blog is now...

2006-03-14T21:41:00.000-05:00

I've moved here:

The Nokia Cell Phone Blog: Daily reviews and previews of the latest Nokia phones and accessories, industry news, cell phone deals, and more!

Down and dirty with the Nokia N90 Phone, Part 1

2006-03-08T20:59:00.000-05:00

First post and first review.

I received my Nokia N90 today. Cost me $435 bucks (ebay) but it's a damn good price compared to the market price which is about $550. The good news is after selling my new Nokia 6682 (review coming soon!) and my old 6260 it'll be free...sort of. At least if that's how my funky math works...(I never did do that well on my math tests..)

In this review I'll be comparing the N90 to my old phone, the Nokia 6260 (review coming soon!) which is a great phone in itself, no matter what the little punks down at the forums say.

Review start-o!

The Box

At first glance, the Nokia N90 just looks slick and has the box to match. The box colors are a little on the drab side but that's ok. It will rot in my closet for the next year and a half anyway.

Fast forward through the opening ceremony and a couple more pics, and here we have the actual phone. And problem #1.

The Phone

Problem #1 - this first thing you'll notice when actually PICKING up the N90 is that it's ridiculously heavy. And Big. If you consider the 3650 to be a brick, then the N90 is easily a concrete block. For the record the N90 weighs 6.4 ounces which is some major tonnage for a cell phone. In fact I believe this cell phone sets a new record in the flip phone size and weight division. This is the heavyweight of all heavyweight flips.

If you can get past the size and weight then the N90 is simply an amazing phone.

Here's another picture with the Nokia N90 and the Nokia 6260.

As you can see, the N90 is about half an inch longer than the 6260 and maybe 1-2 millimeters wider. Unfortunately, the Nokia 6260 is a large flip phone to begin with. As soon as I get my camera and my dad's RAZR downstairs I'll do a nice size comparison with a phone that most people have seen.

They're about the same thickness.

When I saw some initial pictures of the N90, I could not for the life of me figure out how that top piece moved around. I thought it would move above and below the phone due to that hinge looking piece sticking out. Now I see I was wrong...

The camera and loudspeaker are located inside the top piece of the phone. This piece only rotates about 270 degrees - if you want, you can do turn it around and have the lettering "Carl Zeiss Optics blah blah blah" on the opposite side of the phone.

When you flip the phone open, however, the camera/loudspeaker part moves with the FRONT part of the flip. This means it moves to the back, where most people tend to put a couple of their fingers when opening the phone. Ouch!

I discovered this the hard way. And for some reason I keep re-discovering it again and again.

Aside from the flip and the rotate-able camera barrel, you can also rotate the screen 120 degrees. This allows you to rotate the phone in some wacky directions:

It's interesting to note that nokia has made it so you can't do a 180 with the screen and fold it down with the screen facing up. I have to admit, that was a really stupid idea on the 6260.

And while I'm talking about really stupid and pointless extras, Nokia decided to punch in a silly little hole on the bottom of the phone so you can insert a keychain, or lanyard, or string, or whatever.

Whenever I visualize someone actually wearing this phone around their neck I think of those rappers with those gigantic gold chains that they wear. Hilarious..

Build Quality

The Nokia N90 is very well made. While a lot of Nokia phones tend to be a little plasticky, the N90 has a sort of heavyish metallic feel due to those little chrome colored pieces on the sides.

Note: You can even use the N90 as a form of self-defense - it's that solid and that heavy. It's certainly more effective than Tae-Bo.