E72 in my hands

Here is my take on the Nokia E72. I have had the E72 for a month now and I am frustrated like hell.

Issues:-

1.Camera takes 4-5 seconds to open and the 'processing' message remains for as much as 6 seconds after takin a pic. On my E71 it took less than a second. (update) I got my MicroSD card changed and now the response is a tad faster.

2. Phonetinfo, and Phoneinfo show the processor speed as 192 Mhz, though some claim that a newer version of Phonetinfo will show 600 Mhz. (I managed to install a later version and it shows 600 mHz, whew!!)

3. The Email software from NOKIA is regressive. The IMAP folders are not easy to reach as on E71 and they do not display the number of unread messages in brackets. You need to open all folders to be able to know if there are any unread messages.

4. There is a lot of animation / transition time in the email program. I would ask NOKIA to do away with the transitions and make it snappy.

5. The back cover on E71 was solid but on E72 it keeps coming loose. There is only one button which is gets pressed accidentally and many a time I have lifted my phone from the table and the back cover is falling off.

6. The menu has been redesigned to make you go several levels. On E71 it was menu>setting> whereas on E72 it is menu>control panel> settings making you click more buttons. In order to go to maps you need to go to menu>app>gps rather than menu>gps on E71. I know one can rearrange the icons but this is regressive development from Nokia.

7. The sync cable is like 6 inches long. On the E71 I could lift the phone from the table and answer a call while it was connected to my laptop, but in E72, I have to disconnect the cable or bend awkwardly to take a call. Why a 6 inch cable, down from a meter long cable on E71.

8. On the E71 camera screen, you could go to options>gallery, but on the E72, the gallery option is missing making you scroll through the main menu to go to the gallery. (Update, they now have an icon to take you there)

9. During a call, the optical key stops functioning. If you are scrolling through a number or the menu while on a call, the optical key will not work. It also does not work in the Camera menu tool bar once the picture is taken. It works before the picture is taken. (Update: I am told this is intentional since the optical key is next to your face during a call, and keeping it inactive helps.)

10. I have not had once incident when the voice recognition could make out who I was trying to call. It always gets the wrong name.

11. The plastic covers for the Micro USB and the MicroSD card fall off. They have to be very carefully pulled out or else you can lose them. (They have not fallen off for some time now. Strange!!)

12. Another issue is that unlike E71 messaging, there is no option to sync the 'read' message status. It automatically does. Meaning, if I have read a message on the phone, it will show as read on my Gmail. This is a bummer.

13. There is no option to turn on HTML messages universally. One has to do it for every mail individually.

14. While playing music, the optical key is inadvertently sensing the insides of my pocket and skips from song to song. I have to go to main screen and manually lock the keypad to be able to use the music player with the phone in my pocket.

15. The RAM shows only about 25 to 30 MB free with all apps closed using Taskman for the purpose. On E71 it used to be 60 MB or more. I have many a times got a 'memory full' error message on my E72. I never ever got this message on the E71 ever.

16. I have sometimes got the 'maximum number of connections in use, close a connection?' error message when I have only one opera mini screen open. Bug ??

17. The Internet Radio app has been removed.

18. There are only redundant games like solitaire and block cascade.

Apart from these the positives are a larger C drive (260 up from 120 on E71). The Torch key (long press space bar). The integration of Nokia Email with the Nokia inbuilt messaging app. Option to change snooze time in clock alarm , etc.

Overall, I am still not excited about this phone and hope I had kept my E71. This phone is going to be hopefully fixed with a firmware update. If any other user has a different experience, then please do leave a comment and let me know.

Update: The stock MicroSD card is class-4 whereas class-6 cards are much faster. I'm gonna get me one soon.

Google maps intoduces turn by turn directions with voice

MTNL Launches 3G phone for Rs 5500/-

MTNL, the Govt. telecom service provider for Delhi and Mumbai has launched the cheapest 3G qwerty mobile phone from Micromax for Rs 5499/- (Just about US$ 100) . Check out the details here

Yahoo launches Meme, a Twitter lookalike

Yahoo launched twitter lookalike. Check it out at http://meme.yahoo.com

Don't shred, Stamp out

Bodies in Urban Space

Sync your bookmarks on Firefox using Xmarks

Visit www.xmarks.com for more details

Tata Nano Crash Test

Read more about it here

Solar Eclipse 22nd July 2009

Check out how the eclipse looked in it's entire path with this nicely done mashup here

Bentley Continental Supersports Debuts

The Fastest Bentley

Omni-Directional Tread Mill

Bandra Worli Sea Link - Finally

Nokia E72 pre-release vid

The phone makes you drool.

Iphone 3G S sells a million sets in 3 days

Apple's Iphone 3G s, the latest phone from Apple's stable sells a million sets in 3 days flat. What's new with this phone? It has cut-n-paste, finally apart from a few enhancements like a better cam and an upgraded OS. Read on here

Ipod touch controlling car through the internet.

Making of Trek Madone's Carbon Fibre frame

Nokia Debuts Noise Cancelling Head Phones

World's strongest Laser Burns Like the Sun

The world's strongest laser - powerful enough to create conditions as hot as inside the Sun - was unveiled Friday in the western U.S. state of California.

The stadium-sized National Ignition Facility actually houses 192 lasers that all point towards a tiny blob of hydrogen. The Laser, scientists expect, can make hydrogen fuse into helium, a chemical reaction like what makes stars burn and nuclear bombs explode. Read on here

Adam Lambert and Susan Boyle Duet

New Google Search Features

Control appliances using your Nokia E71

Android 1.5 Update awaited

Android is updating to version 1.5 on 11th May. Read about it here

Webex now available on iPhone

Check out details here

Google Mobile Maps for India finds direction

Google released a small update for the Google Mobile Maps for Symbian S60 and this new version now supports 'Directions' in India. This is big.

If you have a data enabled phone point the mobile browser to http://www.google.com/gmm and you will know if the new version for your phone has also updated the directions feature in India.

Bluetooth 3.0 coming

Touted to be as fast as 480 mbps, this will change the way BT has been used so far.
Check it out here and here