The Nokia E6 follows on from its E-Series QWERTY predecessors such as 2010's Nokia E5, providing the best E-Series camera yet, touch screen navigation and the home screen capabilities of the Symbian^3 platform.
The Nokia E6 is priced at £320, twice the price of its simpler sibling, the Nokia E5, but £80.00 cheaper than its weightier big brother, the Nokia E7.
When we compare the Nokia E6 with BlackBerry's offerings it is slightly cheaper than the non-touch BlackBerry Bold 9780, at £340.
When we compare sizes, the Nokia E6 (115mm x 59mm x 10.5mm) is slightly slimmer than the E5, while both are longer, but narrower and thinner than the BlackBerry Bold 9780 and narrower than the chunky BlackBerry Bold 9900.
If we then compare the weight, the Nokia E6 has a comforting weight of 133g, making it the heaviest of the bunch, with the Nokia E5, BlackBerryBold 9780 and BlackBerry Bold 9900 weighing 126g, 122g and 130g respectively.
This increased weight contributes to the Nokia E6's feel of robustness and high build quality, rather than making it feel unwieldy.
Another area which is often compared is the processing power of these powerful phones, with the Nokia E6 sharing its 680MHz ARM11 processor and 2D/3D graphics hardware acceleration with the Nokia E7, beating the BlackBerry Bold 9780's 624MHz processor.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 with its 1.2GHz processor beats the Nokia E5though. But, until the Bold 9900 becomes available for testing, we can't say whether this difference is worth the likely higher price.
The E6 is the first Nokia handset to come preloaded with Symbian Anna OS upgrade, providing numerous improvements over the initial Symbian^3 firmware installed on the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, Nokia E7 and Nokia C6.
These include a faster web browser, improved text input, a split screen view during touchscreen typing, a portrait QWERTY for touchscreen typing, new icons and Ovi Maps 3.06 pre-installed.
The text improvements aren't visible on the Nokia E6, however, as all text input is achieved via the physical True-Type-esque keyboard. All of the other enhancements are present though.
Scrutiny of the OS improvements provided by Symbian Anna finds that the only real improvement on the Nokia E6 is the improved browser, as Ovi Maps can be downloaded separately for free and the new icons are available in Symbian next+ mentioned in the Interface section of this review.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 comes as something of a shock. You see, for years, BlackBerry has, in a sense, been catching up. That's not a dig at its parent company – it's practically royalty in push email and corporate handset circles. But it has been rare for RIM to lead the way.
Cameras, internet browsing, HTML emails – all were included on RIM's phones years after they'd become standard fare on other handsets. For recent examples of decent phones that didn't really push the envelope all that far, just take a look at the Bold 9780 and 9700.
But the Bold 9000 finally offers some cutting-edge tech, and in an attractive package to boot. Its 1.2GHz processor, high-spec touchscreen, brand new OS7 and HD video camera are all specs we never really expected a BlackBerry to have before the next millennium.
Plus, the staple BlackBerry offerings of a fantastic keyboard and top-notch security will keep regular users interested.
We've taken some time to bring you a few moving pictures to go with the words - think of it as a sidekick to our superhero prose:
And if you're stuck deciding between this and the two other recently released BlackBerry phones, never fear - we've got an enlightening group test to pit the Torch 9860, Torch 9810 and Bold 9900 against each other to see which takes your fancy:
For once, RIM is taking the initiative, thanks to the inclusion of a near field communication chip – a fairly new technology that's been talked about for years. RIM is the first to properly take the plunge and add the tech in, while the others dilly-dally about whether to include it.
The question is: can the 9900 really compete in an already very crowded, and competitive, market?
Pick up the Bold 9900 and you'll definitely know about it. It's 130g, so it's by no means feather-light. But would you want it any other way? Ultimately, this is a handset that's supposed to feel like it means business, and at least it feels lighter than you expect it to be.
RIM's also bucked the trend in making a phone that's bigger than its predecessor, the 9780. In fact, it's like looking at a smaller version of Ol' Grandpa Bold, the original 9900 – albeit smaller than that huge elder statesman and with a trackpad instead of a trackball.
At 115 x 66 x 10.5 mm, you can slide it into your pocket without too much bulk. In fact, that's one of the 9900's key selling points; RIM says this is the slimmest BlackBerry yet.
It probably is on paper, but due to the design and the way that the back protrudes out slightly, it looks a bit thicker than it is.
The high-gloss screen is surrounded by a brushed metal border, while the rear is made of a combination of matte plastic and glass. The rear cover isn't so much a cover but a door that easily pops out of the centre, enabling you to throw in your SIM card and memory card (which is not hot swappable, even after all this time).
With 8GB of internal storage and an option to increase that to 32GB, this is a handset that doesn't scrimp on memory.
The right-hand side of the 9900 has four buttons. Three of them are clustered together with the top and bottom ones acting as volume up and down and the middle used to pause media, which is a nice touch and saves you having to muck about on screen.
There's also a camera shortcut button, which you can, as always, change to open something else on your 9900 should you wish. There is no second convenience key on the left, which we will admit that we miss.
That's your lot, because the left-hand side is reserved for ports, including a micro USB charging and syncing port, the latter of which we can't help feeling looks a bit naked, since you get the illusion of being able to see right inside it. Plus there's a 3.5mm headphone slot.
The beauty here is that the headphone jack creates what seems like an unnatural lip in the contours of the back, but this gives you something to rest your fingers against as you hold the 9900 in your hand.
Up top, there's the lock button, which is aesthetically placed in the middle and conveniently situated so that your finger hits it without effort. RIM has obviously thought this through and little touches like this go a long way in our eyes.
On the front is an incredibly sharp touchscreen. It's 640 x 480 pixels over 2.8 inches and easily looks as good as anything with 'Retina' branding.
We love it. Icons feel like they float above the wallpaper, whites are white and text looks fantastic. In fact, we never thought we'd say this, but RIM's basic black text on white background when reading emails (boring, maybe) looks brilliant.
The touchscreen is capacitive and highly responsive. Whether most BlackBerry users will migrate to it is another matter - we found ourselves reaching for the trackpad regularly for navigation, although the internet is certainly an area where we prefer to caress the screen.
If we have one criticism, it's that we're not big fans of the buttons below the screen. The usual BlackBerry suspects are there (call, menu, back and terminate call) and they're all moulded into one big section, which makes you think they may be touch sensitive.
They certainly look like they are. But they're not and when you use the frankly excellent QWERTY keyboard, your fingers aren't able to glide over them but have to be raised up, then brought across and down to set your choice into action.
At the time of writing, the Bold 9900 is not on the shelves yet, but for a SIM-free model, you're looking at forking out about £500 based on pre-order prices with the big online retailers.
This puts it right at the top end of BlackBerry's range, which is where the Bold has always been since it was introduced to the family. Contract prices are still to follow, but they won't be cheap. We can't help feeling you'll struggle to get this as a free upgrade on anything less than a £30-£35 a month with a two-year plan.
Competitor-wise, BlackBerry has always been a bit of its own entity, a bit like the posh child from down the road who desperately wants to fit in and play with the cool kids, but can never shake off their label.
RIM is, however, a master of its own arts: email and security. That's why we can't imagine a day when we'll see the suits in Canary Wharf carrying anything else other than a BlackBerry.
Yet, we've watched the strategy change recently, with the introduction of the Curve range, the pushing of the BBM messaging app as a credible tool for teens and the desperation to get some BlackBerries included in the recipe for that ever-popular social media pie.
Although BlackBerries want to be cool, they're always going to have that air of being too classy about them. This isn't such a bad thing for the Bold 9900, which is the kind of handset you imagine anybody who wants to look like they're anybody will have.
We imagine RIM's biggest competitors will be its own Bold 9770/9780 (after two years, though, we think this is starting to look tired now) as well as other business-led communicators such as Nokia's own very credible E6, which currently doesn't command too much of the market. In this sense, RIM has much of the sector to itself.
Now, you've got your Kindle Fire running, and you've installed applications that will help you to work and play, so what else do you need for your lovely Kindle? Protection. If you want to use your Kindle for a long run, you shouldn't forget this very important part. How to protect it? Use Kindle Fire case or cover, of course.
These Kindle Fire cases and covers are available in different styles and functions. Some Kindle cases has a light on it so you can read even in the dark. Other covers come with small pockets, built-in hand strap, or stand. What is more, if you're a fashionable person, you can pick your style that suits your color best. But, how and where to get the best Kindle Fire cases or covers? The answer of this question will be answered right here in this lens.
Nokia's Lumia 920 is seen by some as a vital phone for the survival of the company – but is it a leading smartphone worthy of Windows Phone 8?
We'll get it out the way early on: Nokia was being overly-cautious with the Lumia 920 at its Nokia World press event – we were allowed only brief time to take pictures and were only shown the device being used, rather than play with it as intensely as we normally like to.
But let's get onto the design: it's the same polycarbonate as used before, but given an odd glossy sheen. We'll be honest: we're not fans of the shine, as the matte finish of the earlier devices really stood out.
However, it does represent a difference between this and the Nokia Lumia 900, which will be necessary on the shop shelves.
The phone feels a little larger in the hand than its predecessor though, and while glossy doesn't really slip about when used.
The 4.5-inch screen isn't as large as some others on the market, but that shouldn't detract from the performance, as it's very good. The larger screen is perfectly sized for the tile arrangements, and while it's annoying the extra width and resolution don't allow for more tiles on the screen, the display is vivid to say the least.
It uses Nokia's PureMotion HD Plus technology to make it 'better than HD', according to the Finns' Jo Harlow. It's actually just HD in reality, but it does sparkle when viewing media.
The layout of the buttons isn't to be sniffed at either, as we couldn't see any reason to jiggle the phone around in the hand during our quick test, as all could be reached without effort.
The ceramic effect of the buttons is an interesting contrast to colourful polycarbonate and is attractive, which is fast becoming a feature of Nokia phones these days.
The rest of the Nokia Lumia 920 is also interesting, featuring some alternative design options. For instance, there are micro-drilled holes at the top of the phone that function as a microphone (and the trick is repeated at the bottom for speakers) – plus the headphone jack is placed centrally for easier use in the pocket apparently.
A single slot gives access to the SIM card, and you'll need the familiar tool to get it out, which means hot swapping is out of the question. Talking of which, there's no option to plop a memory card in there either, which is infuriating.
There's plenty of talk about the fact that consumers don't really NEED microSD card slots from the big manufacturers – after all, it does make designing the unibody handsets so much easier.
But given Windows Phone 8 now supports expandable memory, it's only right we should see it from the flagship handset.
The interface of WP8 is well-documented – you can read our hands on:Windows Phone 8 review to get the full insight there – but it does look good on the large display, as we mentioned before.
There was minimal lag in the demonstration we saw, with flipping between apps showing nothing in the way of slowdown. This is always helped by the overly-elaborate animations that greet each app movement, but it does remain slick in the eyes of the user.
We checked out Nokia Maps (which looked great on the large screen – this is going to be a really decent satnav device) and the new cinemagraphs app. This essentially allows you to take a small film, choose a thumbnail as the photo itself then scrub over certain elements to animate them.
This has the effect of making a load of GIFs on your phone – it looked cool and easy to do, but we can't see it being more than a gimmick when users get their hands on it.
There are plenty of other features we're excited to try out: for instance, the PureView camera looks decent (although not really worth the whooping in the room when it was announced) and the NFC capabilities, so long a strength of Nokia, are once again well-implemented. From wireless speakers to, well, wireless headphones, Nokia is excited about the tech.
It didn't work well at all in the demonstrations we saw – but then again, this is prototype stuff. Which is why it's annoying we weren't granted longer with it to bring you a better picture of the Lumia 920.
Nokia is being frustratingly precious about its phones at the moment – surely Windows Phone 8 should be more ready for at least beta testing by now – which means forming a decent opinion on the new phones is difficult to say the least.
But the Nokia Lumia 920 is a good phone from the outset, although it didn't really give us much to feel wowed by. That's partly down to the fact we couldn't properly play with it, but also because it still bears so much of a resemblance to previous models.
While many readers will be able to easily tell the difference between this and the Lumia 900, whack Windows Phone 7.8 on the older model and place them next to each other on the shop shelf and see if consumers are bothered to find out the difference between the two.
Nokia's Pureview, Drive, Maps, Public Transport and Music are decent apps to differentiate in a crowded market, but we can't help but feel that this may not be enough of an evolution to really take Windows Phone to the next level.
If you have bought an Amazon Kindle Fire. You might be surprised to know that you can't buy any application from Android market. You can only buy it from Amazon Appstore for Android.
However, a good gadget needs a good application to make it useful. You didn't buy this Kindle Fire for nothing, did you?
So, here is the list of the best Amazon Kindle Fire apps that can you get from Amazon Appstore, sometimes for free.
Are you looking for a Kobo Case for your Kobo eReader or Kobo Touch Edition? Then you have come to the right place!
Just like other eReaders the Kobo eBook Reader and the Kobo Touch Edition are designed to be both compact and portable.
However, they will still benefit from the added protection offered by one of the lovely Kobo Cases that various manufacturers have produced.
The Kobo is a lightweight device, which makes it comfortable to hold when you are reading.
The Kobo Touch Edition is available in a number of different colors to suit your personality and has a quilted back! It's s stylish device which will be enhanced by choosing just the rightKobo Case for you!
[Photo: iRobot]Have you ever wanted a robot in your home like those cool robots in the film iRobot? The idea of servant robots that can perform tasks, adapt to their surroundings, and call for help when needed is not new, but actual bots that can do these things may be closer than ever.
A new robot from iRobot Corporation called Ava is currently in the R&D stage but it may soon be able to help out the elderly in their homes, monitor patients in hospitals, help with retail by helping you find a product in a store, and more.
(And in case you're wondering, iRobot is the same company that makes the Roomba and theScooba. iRobot also makes the PackBot, Sugv, and a number of other military robots.)
Left: iRobot Roomba 780, Right: iRobot Scooba 230
Ava in its current form took eight months to develop. iRobot first demonstrated it at CES 2011, but that prototype was effectively just a shell with a few basic functions. At this year's CES, though, iRobot showed off a more advanced version of Ava's software, more sophisiticated mapping abilities, and real-time response capabilities that let it react to changes in its surroundings.
Ava combines elements from mobile computing, gaming, and navigation: its brains are an iPad that also serves as its main human-robot interface. It utilizes Kinect-like sensors that allow Ava to see 3D space all around it. And the navigation section is iRobot's pride and joy--the mapping and real-time rerouting technology allows it to avoid people and new obstacles.
Ava also has omnidirectional wheels and it has an adjustable torsom allowing it to be anywhere from 3 feet to 5 feet tall.
iRobot has not yet set a price or a date for release of Ava, but unlike the cleaning iRobots that only cost in the hundreds of dollars, and the military iRobots that run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Ava will be priced somewhere in the middle. It's mapping is not quite as advanced as what's found on iRobot's military bots, but it's more advanced than Roomba's iAdapt (which can distinguish between different objects such as a bed skirt and a wall).
or Kobo Touch Edition? Then you have come to the right place!
