Nokia E7 preview

Well here it is, the Nokia E7 - Nokia's newest Eseries flagship (soon to be dethroned by the Nokia E6) and the hire apparent to the Communicator series. In regards to Nokia's naming scheme, my views of the E7's naming scheme haven't changed since Nokia World 2010 when it was first officially unveiled and where I had my first hands-on.

The built quality is brilliant. I can find absolutely no faults with the hardware design and the materials used. It feels solid. The slider feels great and I found the AMOLED screen with Clear Black Display to be stunning. But I can't help thinking what I am seeing here as what was a Nseries smartphone rebadged as an Eseries because Nokia either could not get another Eseries out in time or felt that marketing this as a Nseries phone would remind people of the much hated Nokia N97.

The specs are typical Symbian^3 specs in that it runs on a ARM11 680 MHz processor, which isn't a big deal considering how optimised the OS is with in taking advantage of the GPU. The 256MB of RAM does seem lowly in comparison to most modern smartphone, and while Symbian^3 does not require much RAM, power users will likely encounter situations when background applications are forced to close due to insufficient RAM.

Like the Nokia N8, the E7 comes with HDMI out function which, coupled with the ability to play 720p videos, is useful. This is especially true when used with an application like Nokia Big Screen. It also has 16GB built-in storage. Unfortunately the E7 does not come with a external memory card slot, so the 16GB is all that users will ever get. This isn't a big deal for most users (even the Samsung Nexus S comes with only 16GB storage), but multimedia addicts will likely want to look elsewhere. The keyboard is pretty good, and an improvement over the one on the prototype. While it is only a four row keyboard, the keys are well spaced and provide good tactile feedback.

The camera on the E7 is the EDOF type. First seen on the Nokia E55, EDOF has spread like a virus onto every none-camera focused smartphone, which right now is everything apart from the N8. As I carry my own dedicated digital camera almost 99% of the time, I honestly could not care less what camera the E7 has (in fact I do not care what camera the N8 has!). However, because of the price, Nokia should have at least included a better camera with it. An autofocus camera with macro ability would also be useful for business users (you know, the typical Eseries users) who would want to scan documents and business cards.

I will be using the E7 for two weeks. Expect a review in the next couple of weeks. If there are any questions please ask away, either here or on my twitter account.

The Nokia E7 is available now for a sim-free price of £489.99.

Nokia gets even with HTC

HTC are holding a press event in London on 12 April. That's tomorrow. Nokia will also be holding a press event tomorrow, concerning Symbian. Do you know where I am going with this? Yes, Nokia is getting even with HTC for Nokia World 2010.

Just a reminder. At last year's Nokia World 2010, HTC and Nokia had a funny and very public spat in front of the world's technology press. Basically HTC sent a couple of coaches to Nokia World in order to ferry journalists to Central London for the HTC London press conference. In retaliation Nokia sent a couple of employees to 'picket' the event with Ovi Maps balloons and handing out Nokia lunch boxes with Ham, Tomato and Cheese sandwiches to the press outside.

So what will Nokia announce? Well I suspect (or hope) we will see a full preview of the long awaited revamped of Symbian UI. We will also see new device announcement in the form of a new E-series flagship, the E6 which replaces the successful E72, and X7.

In any case I will be at the HTC event. Expect a new Android flagship smartphone filled with features we do not need to be revealed. Follow my twitter stream for updates from the press conference.

Mobile phone users overspending by an average of £195 a year

According to The Guardian, UK mobile phone users are overpaying £5 billion a year to networks because they are on the wrong contracts. This is apparently equal to almost half a user's spent every year - an average of £195 wasted out of £439 spent annually.

I have not had a mobile phone contract for three years now and am happy for it. Since cutting off ties from o2, I've reduced my expenses to £120 a year (£10 a month on pay as you go). These days however I only spend about £40 annually on mobile web (plus the occasional £10 top up every six months for texts) as I do not use voice calls and hardly ever text because of WhatsApp.

If you think you are overpaying and would like to reduce your bills for one year, why not enter my Three MiFi v2 competition?

Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play Launch Party in London

Last week Sony Ericsson launched their latest salvo of Xperia smartphones. The Xperia Play went on sale in the UK on Friday, while the Arc a couple of days before. If you have read my impression of the Xperia Play, you will know that the Xperia Play is a PlayStation certified Android phone that has an integrated gaming pad and access to PlayStation Suite. Android games optimised for the Xperia Play as well as old PlayStation classics will be available on the market.

As part of the launch Sony Ericsson set up a pop up gaming room at the Old Sorting Office, New Oxford Street in Central London, where the public was able to go hands on with the Xperia Play. The warehouse was transformed into a video gaming scene set in the Far East (Vietnam), decorated with props that are lifted out of gaming scenes such as a helicopter, sport car, rocket launcher and a crashed car. Sony Ericsson reps were dotted around the venue and were ever so helpful when demoing the devices to guests. A competition to win a Xperia Play was also held for guests checking in via Foursquare.

In the evening the warehouse was transformed into a party venue. All the props remained, but the area was now cordoned off to the public. VIP guests were then treated with (very) loud music, free drinks, hawker-style Chinese chow mein noodles and a free gig by a certain Tinchy Stryder.

#LeStudio52 gaming night - a success!

On 1 April we held our first ever public gaming night at #LeStudio52 in Shoreditch. The social gaming event was organised by Abul (@adonisdemon). We had three different screens running on two Xbox 360 and one PS3, all running various games including WipEout HD, Black Ops, Super Street Fighter IV, Red Dead Redemption and Blur. Two competitions were held, with two copies of Dragon Age 2 up for grabs, courtesy of The Average Gamer.

Congrats again to Abul for a successful gaming night (and winning the Super Street Fighter IV match). Also congrats to Yacin for winning the Blur competition.

For a full account of what happened during the gaming night, head over to #LeStudio52 website and read the post by Abul. 

I have also posted pictures from the event on Facebook. You can find them here.

Win a Three MiFi with 12 GB data

To celebrate this blog hitting one million page views, I will be holding a competition. The prize: a Three MiFi v2 (Huawei E585) mobile wireless dongle courtesy of the wonderful people at Three UK.

The winner will also receive a 12 GB PAYG ready-to-go Three UK sim card, valid for 12 months, to be used with the MiFi. With the MiFi, you can easily create you own mobile hotspot so you can connect multiple WiFi enabled devices like the iPad.

To be in the chance to win the Three MiFi and 12GB sim card, both of are worth a total of £129.99, all you need to do is answer the following question:

How many devices can be connected simultaneously to a Three MiFi?

(You can find the answer in my review of the Three MiFi v2)

E-mail your answer and name to: jonchoocompetition@gmail.com with the subject: Three MiFi competition by 9pm BST on 17 April 2011.

Only one entry per person.

This competition will be opened to all UK residents. The winner will be chosen randomly.

Your details will not be used for anything other than determining the random winner. Once the winner has been selected and verified, all e-mail entries will be deleted.

Good luck!

Update: The competition has now ended. Over 250 entries were submitted. A winner will be picked at random shortly. Thank you for entering! 

Update 2: Congratulations to Chris Harper of Manchester. A Three MiFi with 12 GB sim card is on your way. Enjoy!

To the rest, don't worry - there will be more competitions coming up soon. ;)

One million page views! Thank you!

Wow, there has been over one million page views on this blog since I launched it in 2004! According to Statcounter, which I have been using since the first day, there has been 750k unique visitors - 55k of who returned.

According to Flagcounter, which started tracking page views on this site since June 2009, there has been visits to this blog from 202 countries. The largest amount of visitors are from the United States (23.9%) followed closely by United Kingdom (20.6%) then Canada, Germany and Australia.

To say thank you, I am holding a competition to win a Three MiFi v2 and 12 GB of data. To be in the chance to win it, please head here.

In the mean time I will continue doing my best to write posts that will help you readers.

London International Pillow Fight Day 2011 flashmob

Today is International Pillow Fight Day 2011. As I write this, various pillow fight flash mob has happened or are happening in cities around the world from Hong Kong, Lisbon, Paris, Cape Town to New York. The London event happened today at 3pm at Trafalgar Square where several hundred participants pounded each other for almost an hour. It was incredibly fun and full of energy, with people from all walks of life participating. Many has vowed to make it for next year's International Pillow Fight Day 2012 - to be held on 7 April 2012.

Update:

I have just been informed that the 'Fight for Japan' pillowcases you see in the pictures I posted below were designed by Quick & Shirty. The pillowcases were sold at the Pillow Fight day in London. In fact you can buy t-shirts and other merchandises with the design on it, with all proceeds going towards the Japan Red Cross.

Here's a short video clip I recorded while in the middle of the pillow fight action:

And here are a selection of pictures:

 You can find more pictures here.