Nokia E72 up, close and personal

E72 promises better performance than its predecessor by having a powerful ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz processor under its shell (E71 runs on 360MHz), bumping up its internal storage memory to 256MB, including a 5-megapixel camera (E71 has 3.2-megapixel camera) with 5x digital zoom, autofocus, LED flash, multiple capture modes, and including a standard 3.5mm audio jack (E71 has a ubiquitous 2.5mm jack).

But that's not everything about E72. Like its predecessor E71, E72 also promises awesome messaging and emailing experience, thanks to cool features such as full Qwerty keyboard, push email (receiving and sending emails with attachments on demand), onboard document reader and editor that allows you to work on Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (which allows you to seamlessly stay synchronised with your Microsoft Exchange email server), POP3, and pre-installed apps that allow you communicate with your friends and colleagues in real-time via IMs such as Google Talk, Yahoo! Messenger, Ovi Chat, Windows Live Messenger and more from your home screen.

E72 also supports Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveller.

With E72, Nokia has stuck to the tested and true Symbian Series 60 OS v9.3 instead of the new Linux-based Maemo platform and has given it a full Qwerty keyboard, a proprietary intuitive optical trackpad called Optical Navi Key, a five-way scroll key, accelerometer, 250MB internal flash memory, microSD card slot (expandable up to 16GB; E72 ships with 4GB microSD card), FM Radio with RDS, voice recorder, voice dialing, 3G, WiFi, GPRS, A-GPS, Nokia Maps, digital compass, Bluetooth (2.0+EDR, A2DP), a 3.5mm headphone jack and a 1500 mAh Li-Ion battery that promises to deliver 12.5 hours (talk time) and 492 hours (standby time) on GSM network.

Other features include 2.36-inch QVGA TFT screen with 320x240 pixel resolution display (supports up to 16.7 million colours), video recorder (up to 10x digital video zoom, @15fps), video calling (@15fps), inbuilt microphone, web browser with Flash support (Flash Lite 3.0), one-touch keys for Home, Calendar, Contacts and Email, voice command function, media player supporting multiple audio and video formats, microUSB connector, ambient light sensor, Nokia Ovi Suite, text-to-speech message reader, Javascript support (1.3 and 1.5), Nokia Music Store support and interchangeable home screens (business and personal) to suit your moods.

E72 sports a sleek, beautiful monoblock design (like a large candy bar), measures 114x58.3x10.1mm, weighs 128gm and comes in three colours - Zodium black, Metal grey and Topaz brown.

In the UK, E72 comes SIM-free for £359 (from Nokia UK store) and in India, it is expected to retail for around Rs.30,000.