One week after “some other phone” was finally revealed, Nokia today took the wraps off two phones that had been clogging the rumor mill for quite some time. Yes, the S60-based E71 and E66 are now officially real, and are officially for middle management types. Two words: Microsoft Exchange. Put those MBAs to good use!
The E71, above, is available in both black and white, like those cookies bakeries sell. The QWERTY device has a front-facing camera (for video conferencing!) and built-in 3.2-megapixel camera. Seeing as though it’s a cellphone aimed at businesses, I don’t see what value the digital camera adds, but the benefits of the video camera should be obvious. Talk time is said to be around 10.5 hours on plain ol’ GSM, and 4.5 hours when in 3G mode. That’s good, right? I can’t imagine Mr. Junior Business Executive being away from the office or an outlet for much longer than that.
The smaller E66 is a slider with much the same specs, including the all-important Exchange support.
Nokia’s really promoting the phones’ e-mail capabilities, for in addition to Exchange support, the Finland-based cellphone giant worked with the likes of Google and Yahoo! to support Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, and so on. More than 1,000 ISPs should find that their e-mail works just fine on the phones.
As for when you’ll be able to buy one (or both!), looks like July is it. Both will retail, before carrier subsidies and whatnot, for €350, or $541. Yikes the exchange rate hurts.