Update: Nokia E7 Price in India is Rs. 35,000!
Well it seems like Nokia has stirred the whole week, last week. I almost forgot about Valentines, because of them. They announced a partnership with Microsoft for smartphone OS supply (which apparently is a solid piece of meat for Microsoft) and even set aside their own OS ambitions with a graceful choice of words: Symbian is now a franchise platform, Meego is futuristic etc. etc. It is almost like Nokia is tossing its hands in the air and saying “we manufacture Windows phone now”, just like other manufacturers Motorala, Samsung or HTC do.
The question I am pondering on is why did Nokia NOT choose an open platform over a closed one? Something like say Android from Google. That’s where app developers are flocking, aren’t they? Besides for Nokia, this entire strategic fanfare, it seems, is nothing more than simply shutting down their internal software & innovation machinery and marrying their hardware to someone else’s bride. So why did they not choose a bride that could bring more goodness of the mobile eco-system than Windows? Is it pure love for licensed software or simply blind love? We’ll read more on this strange love later through Valentines week!
Ah, but we did envisage it coming. An incoming 1000 pound Gorilla partnership between Microsoft & the Finnish company, long before they officially put a seal on it. And not surprisingly, the obvious decision for the company came just round the corner when Nokia was about to launch their awesome new device called E7 next month. How do we know it? Well because we were invited for a hands on yet-to-be-launched E7 by Nokia last week at New Delhi the very same day Nokia eloped with Microsoft!
Nokia E7 Specifications are a definite sell-out for a consumerized business phone. A deep integration with social utilities like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc., smooth user experience, 16GB of on-board flash memory, secure access to email, calendar, contacts and tasks through Microsoft Exchange server, the device measures 123.7 x 62.4 x 13.6mm and weighs 176g and the battery is rated for up to five hours talk-time over WCDMA (more over GSM) and 430 hours standby.
It’s among the slimmest business phone from Nokia ever!
With a four line Qwerty keyboard and a 8 MP on-board camera with flash, the handset is a genuine effort by Nokia to bring out a cool and sexy smartphone. While Nokia executives said that they are likely to launch E7 by end of March, 2011 but did not comment about its price point, we envisage it to cost in the typical 30K range if ever launched with the Symbian 3 that powers underneath.
How does the device look to you? Share your views, dear Pi readers.
How much are you willing to pay for E7, if at all you are keen on buying another Nokia device?
Update (March 8th): Nokia E7 is available for pre-order and price is Rs. 35,019/.
