Nokia N80: The Net in your pocket

The Nokia Nseries phones came out in a grand way middle of this year. The phones (N71, N73, N91, N80, N92, and N93) that made it hereabouts have a loyal following, largely because of their many unique features.

Although, there is still one more phone that many of us can’t wait to get our techie hands on, that’s the Nokia N95. I heard that it would be here after the holidays.

In the meantime, even before I could blink and complete downloading the data from one Nokia phone to the newer one, Nokia introduced its upgraded versions of the N80, N73, N91, and N93.

I have always liked the N80. It is a handy phone, as it fits in my small hands. The upgraded version is called N80 Internet edition. This black beauty is for Internet users who like to interact with some of the Web’s favorite services while they are away from their PCs, laptops or notebook computers. It is a pocketable, easy-to-use cellphone. The phone comes packed with a host of other Internet services, which were not previously installed together on Nokia devices.

What is even better is that even with the upgrade, Nokia has managed to stuff the old N80 full of new range of software like Yahoo Go for Mobile, Flickr, some Amazon-branded goodies, Nokia’s enhanced Web browser, improved applications management through a Download! client, and most importantly, SIP-compliant VoIP, all making full use of the N80’s Wi-Fi support.

This upgraded N80 Internet Edition brings together wireless LAN (WLAN), a robust browser and also support for Internet calls. It is a quad-band phone, which retains some of its other features like a three-megapixel camera, GSM WCDMA coverage along with an easy-to-use WLAN wizard (to make connecting to the Internet easy).

We were told that the N80 Internet Edition comes in two stylish colors – bronze and black. But all we have seen thus far is the black version.

There goes Nokia again, back to black. Why?

The company says that the N80 Internet Edition has integrated VoIP into the user interface, and users can download third-party VoIP calling applications. The phone has built-in VoIP Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for users to be able to use any VoIP service. It includes a wireless LAN wizard to find and configure wireless Internet access.

The N80 Internet Edition is a quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE slider phone with 802.11g Wi-Fi capability built in, including Bluetooth. It sports a 2.1-inch, high-resolution 352 x 416 display, 40MB memory, and FM radio. Nokia says the phone will provide up to three hours of talk time, and eight days’ operation on stand-by mode.

In addition to handling work-related functions such as e-mail and text messaging, this Wi-Fi-enabled multimedia phone allows users to find and map locations, take pictures, share photos, browse books, and record and send instant voice messages.

The wave of the future. I know, I know, Nokia is not the first cellphone to be Internet-capable and with WLAN, but I must say that is the handiest so far, size-wise, that is. It seems that Nokia sees the need to make the Internet a mobile feature. For people who are always on the go, getting connected with a smaller device is always a plus.

The advanced version of N80 comes with the Yahoo! Mobile Search application as also Yahoo! Go for Mobile. Besides, the phone has Amazon’s Mobi-Pocket Reader, an application for reading books. — Kathy Moran