I got a hold of a loaner Nokia N80 Internet Edition phone over the weekend and decided to see what this baby can do. Bear in mind, I’ve been a full-time Windows Mobile user since 2000, which is actually before it was called Windows Mobile, so I figure this is a good way to get a well-rounded mobile experience with a Symbian S60 device.
Since there’s no touchscreen nor a QWERTY keyboard, it’s taking me some time to get used to using the number keys for my data entry. I will say that the Predictive Text engine is excellent and different than what you’ll see on a Windows Mobile device. Instead of various words appearing as you type, the N80 figures out the word along the way: you tap your word out one keypress at a time (regardless if it’s the first, second, third or fourth letter on the button) and the word changes with each press as the N80 figures it out. It’s quicker than standard T9 entry because each letter is a single tap and the accuracy is excellent.
My T-Mobile signal is oustanding with the N80 and it works well on WiFi as well. The browsing experience is very much like using the new Opera Mini 4 browser and also similar to the zooming feature we’ll see on the iPhone. There’s no touchscreen, so the zooming is done with a small cursor and the D-Pad, but I can still get around very quickly. One disappointment isn’t Nokia’s fault: eReader software is only supported on S60 1st and 2nd Edition devices; this is a 3rd Edition device, so I ended up installing Mobipocket and one book last night, right over the air. More impressions to follow over the next few weeks of course, but my first 48 hours have been very positive. In the next update, I’ll cover some of the specifications of the device and share my thoughts on how they do or don’t fit my needs.
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