E90 impressions

Convergence is the word of the day and the Nokia E90 is a superstar feature device!

I am now leaving the Apple Store once again after playing with the iPhone to get the urge out of my system. Without a shadow of a doubt I am here to say that this E90 is absolutely superior to what Apple has to offer, and I am so glad that purchased it when I did. No matter how mesmerizing the graphics look on the screen of the iPhone there is always an underlying sense of longing for the quality build of the E90 Communicator. Finger swipes and taps and rotations of my hands may work their magic while navigating the multimedia apps, but that soon fades in a matter of minutes as I delve deeper into this "revolutionary" device. Not much different than a regular feature phone it does exhibit charm as an iPod, but I am afraid that's where the magic stops. I played around with navigation on Google maps and was instantly under whelmed after having worked the previous day with the E90's built-in GPS. Even though the iPhone does attract much attention from onlookers, so does the E90. I am all about simplicity in smartphone design and usage, but not to the point where I am sacrificing my needs. Besides, it can be good to be different and stand apart from the majority. This E90 is the perfect device for me, so to take on the iPhone would certainly be a step down. At this point I can only read and hear about buyers' remorse for this Apple product and know how great it feels to not have gotten swept up by the hype on June 29th!

I am so comfortable with this E90 I am starting to consider giving up my smartphone addiction altogether, but only time will tell. So far an updated iPhone seems to be the only threat and the likelihood of a release anytime soon appears to be slim to none. Even if there were updates sent out to the iPhone to enable more features it still would not be able to surpass the functionality of this E90 Communicator. I read an article on Macworld.com about the Google Office app that I believe may be introduced by Apple to enable docs editing on their "smart” phone. This is an online application that needs an active link to the internet to be accessed by a user, and this alone is a deal breaker for me right of the bat. Reasons for this are that docs cannot be written in offline mode due to the data link that is needed, and the fact that missing wifi hotspots would then lead to usage on a slow EDGE network. Sorry, but that is not my idea of a worthwhile word application and I would feel sorry for Apple if it made the choice roll it out in that manner. After the first release of the Apple device it is clear that the boundaries of its capabilities are somewhat written in stone; i.e., a simple fixed-focus camera, low mono speaker, unreliable virtual QWERTY. Apple seems to be in the business of making things more simplistic in design and operation in order to enhance one's user experience. This may work for my digital music player but not my smartphone!

Not to say that all is perfect with my E90, for there is an ongoing issue that is really unfortunate involving the synching of my calendar events. Certain events are neglected upon completing iSync sessions and I have no idea why this is happening. For now I have resorted to using the E90 as a standalone device and update its calendar separately from my Mac's iCal application. A small price to pay to have this Nokia treasure and I believe it's well worth it. I would rather pay money to install Windows XP on my Mac using Boot Camp for the Nokia PC suite before I resort to buying an overrated iHyped iPhone.

So far this E90 is proving to a powerhouse as my mobile office and I am privileged to be a proud owner.