Nokia To Release E51 Business Handset
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Mark Brezinski Published on September 18, 2007 Comment on this |
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18th Sept 07 - Nokia has just announced the E51, a new business focussed handset. The new model is set to replace the E50 at the end of the year, and has a similar appearance to the older one, except for a few extra keys around the d-pad. Nokia claims these keys are shortcuts to commonly used applications, namely email, contacts, and the calendar, as well as one for the home screen. Another hardware advancement over the E50 is the new 2 Megapixel in place of the older model's 1.3.
Nokia claims that the E51 has a "streamlined email reading experience" and also manages attachments better than older device. There will also be a preview window on the home screen that shows a portion of the most recently received email. In addition to the new dedicated shortcut button, the E51 sports a BlackBerry-esque blinking LED for new email.
Nokia is hoping that the E51 will complete with BlackBerry devices such as the Perl and Curve, claiming that the E51 will be used for "company-wide deployments". In the same vein, the E51 will support many different email clients, such as Nokia's own Intellisync Mobile Mail and Microsoft Exchange servers. There is no direct support for BlackBerry servers, though. Other interesting features include the phone placing shortcuts to the most used applications on the home screen and a new stainless steel design.
The other major innovation is support for VOIP (Voice Over IP) services out of the box, which will allow the E51 to make phone calls over an internet connection. Combine this with a corporate phone system that supports VOIP and a WiFi connection (the E51 includes an 802.11g WiFi radio), and users can make phone calls without racking up a big phone bill. This would make it very suitable for companies who have a lot of staff on the road or in remote offices; routing calls over the Internet can save a lot of money.
The E51 will be released Q4 this year, unlocked, for €350 ($485). As of now, no US carriers are slated to pick up the phone, but it should be available unlocked through Nokia USA
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