Nokia unveils “world’s thinnest” QWERTY smartphone

Barry Collins Read more October 7, 2009

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Nokia has revamped its E-series of business-oriented smartphones with two new models, including the “world’s thinnest” QWERTY device.

Read news of Nokia’s iPhone rival here

The GPS-enabled E71 is the slimmer successor to the PC Pro Recommended Nokia E61, with a height of only 1cm.

Read our full review of Nokia’s E71 here

Nokia claims the device is “built for messaging inside and out” with the full keyboard and Nokia’s revamped email software, which means users need only enter their email address and password to set up email on their device. “That’s all the information you need,” said Nokia’s senior vice president, Soren Petersen at this afternoon’s London launch event. “You’re up and running before you leave the shop. We’ve set up and a server that recognises the profiles of over a thousand ISPs.”

The HSDPA-enabled handset also comes pre-loaded with Microsoft Exchange client software, and Petersen claims that set-up for this is only slightly more complicated, with users having to enter only two more details beyond email address and password.

In an attempt to stop users getting bogged down with business, Nokia has built in the capability to switch home screens on the E71. This means you can have a business home screen with Exchange email and your work calendar brought to the fore, and then switch to a personal home screen at evenings and weekends, with personal email alerts and MP3 player settings to hand, for example.

“The product can simply switch personality as you see fit during the day,” said Petersen. “It means you can hide business email and have a normal Saturday without business email clinging to you all the time.”

Nokia says that slimming down the E71 hasn’t had a detrimental effect on battery life. “It will withstand, without a doubt, two full days of heavy, heavy use,” said Sorensen.

Business on the slide

The second new release is the E66, a slide-phone with a conventional numerical keypad. The E66 has a couple of new tricks, including a built-in accelerometer that flips the screen between landscape and portrait view depending on how you’re holding it. The phone will also stop ringing as soon as you turn it over, to save fumbling for the ‘end call’ button when the phone erupts in a meeting.

It too boasts built-in A-GPS, HSPDA compatibility and the new email software. Both also have a 3.2 megapixel camera, emphasising Nokia’s renewed focus on work phones that offer non-business features.

Both handsets will be available from July, both priced at 350 Euros (£275) without contract.

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