The Nokia E50 handset, which is the most recent addition to the Nokia E Series of mobile phones, might be out commercially any moment from now. Though Nokia had officially announced the phone, no price or release date has been announced for the phone.

The Nokia E50 phone, weighing about 104g and with 240 x 320 pixels resolution, is a quad-band phone that is optimised for business use through some technologies like Avaya Communication Manager which is used for connecting to company’s ground phones via your Nokia E50.

Various business and office features like Intellisync Wireless Email, BlackBerry Connect, Visto Mobile, ActiveSync Mail for Exchange, and Altexia support and office documents viewer are also built in, including pdf documents and zip archives.

The Nokia E50 phone has the following specifications:

Nokia E50 Phone

Nokia has just announced a sporty mobile phone which is sophisticated enough to meet all your technological needs and at the same time rugged enough to withstand your daily rigours of work and work-out. The new phone is Nokia 5500 Sport.

The Nokia 5500 Sport is a phone that will instantly grab your attention. It features an elegant design with a splash and dust resistant stainless steel body with rubber grips. It is water and dust resistant, with 2 Megapixel camera and has a total weight of 108g.

The Nokia 5500 Sport phone has the following specifications:

The Nokia 5500 Sport is just not an ordinary phone. It is a full-featured smartphone with Symbian OS and SS60 user interface. It has 3 working modes which are easily interchanged with a single press of a button; the normal mode along with a special music mode and sport mode.

A Phone to Train with You
The handset features an exclusive sport features such as pedometer for measuring the distance traveled and the calories burnt as well as a text-to-speech module which will read to you the status of your workout.

The Nokia 5500 Sport phone was designed to take heavy use and abuse, and the rubberised cover on it will make it instantly recognisable. This phone is perfect for people who use their phone on the go, people who have very active lifestyle, and people who take their phone out with them when training or jogging. The fact that you can use certain aspects of this phone as part of your training programme means that it is going to be an instant hit with that sector of the market.

The Nokia 5500 is a rugged phone that can withstand the hard knocks of life any day. It is superior to most phones that look good but crumbles at the slightest rough use. Certainly, this is a work and sport phone, and not just a nice cute phone for show off.

The tri-band Nokia 5500 Sport will be commercially available by the third quarter of 2006.

Nokia 5500 Sport Phone

True to its tradition of manufacturing the world thinnest phone, Samsung has just unveiled an ultra slim phone, SGH-X820.

The SGH-X820 is bar-shaped, weighs 66 g and 6.9 thick. The phone is bit thicker at the top though because of a slight hump at that end. This in no way reduces the slimness and attraction of the pencil-thick phone.

The Samsung SGH-X820 will feature a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, MP3 player, EDGE, Bluetooth connectivity and TV-out. In addition, the slender SGH-X820 has 80MB internal memory. The Samsung SGH-X820 is the first in the upcoming series of Samsung Ultra slim line-ups.

Samsung’s growing portfolio of ultra-slim phones is part of the company’s aggressive global strategy in the slim phone category, demonstrating Samsung’s promptness to recognise and acts on consumer demands. Samsung truly delivers smaller and thinner mobile phones without compromising reliability or premium multimedia capabilities.

The X820 balances slim elegance with a functional keypad and finishes with a beautifully beveled cut for a natural grip. The fiberglass-infused plastic is used to increase extraordinary durability while keeping it lightweight. The X820 is the true complement to today’s active consumers as it becomes one with the users in their wallets, shirt pockets, or a pair of jeans for mobility in style.

Samsung’s groundbreaking X820 expresses Samsung’s devotion to creating the slimmest product for the market today.

The SGH X820 will first hit the Russian market next month, followed by other European markets. In June it will be available in China under the SGH-X828 name.

Samsung SGH-X820 Ultra Slim Phone

If you ever had a cause to stay a few days in a rural area, then you will appreciate the ever-available GSM network signals enjoyed by urban dwellers. Network signals are almost always available in the cities and major towns that we always assume it will be like that in other places.

Last week I was in Ondo State of Nigeria for 5 days with some friends for an event. The event took place on 28th and 29th April, 2006 at Supare-Akoko, and it was the burial ceremony of my late father, Pa Gabriel Adebayo Owoeye. He was aged 127 years. We left Lagos 2 days before the event because of preparation. Supare-Akoko was a distance of about 350km from Lagos and its neighbours are Akungba-Akoko, Iwaro-Oka, Oka-Akoko and Ikare-Akoko. The distance between these communities range between 3km to 10km.

The major problem we faced while running around before and during the ceremony was that of GSM network signals coverage. As we are all scattered between these communities, trying to organise one thing or the other, we found that communication became a major problem. We found it difficult communicating with each other via cell phones because the network signals are not always available.

This is how the network signals are scattered among these communities: At Supare-Akoko, where the events took place, MTN network is available but not at all places. At Akungba-Akoko - where we have Adekunle Ajasin University (former Ondo State University) - which is also a nodal town to all these communities, only Globacom network was available, but again not at all places. At Iwaro-Oka, where we lodged in hotel, only MTN network was available, but not at all places. At Ikare-Akoko, that ancient town, which is the commercial hub of all the communities in Akoko area of Ondo State, only Vmobile and Globacom networks are available, but again not at all places.

The funny thing is 2 or 3 minutes after making a call, the network signal may no longer be available while still standing at the same spot. If you move some few steps away from where you previously had a network signal, you will discover that you have lost the signal. People calling from cities like Lagos find it difficult to reach their friends and families because of network problems. But people in these areas can call people in other locations by simply moving to areas that have network signal, and make their calls.

Too Many Handsets
Since I needed to communicate a lot for the purpose of co-ordination, I carried 3 handsets with different SIM cards with me. This means that I have the three major networks of MTN, Globacom and Vmobile always with me. With this, I was able to manage the situation. Though a rather expensive and cumbersome solution to the network problems, it was not a total solution as there were areas I could not receive any signal from the 3 GSM networks.

Interim Measures
For the time being, GSM users in these areas do this to make their calls:

-They move to areas where there are network signals and make their calls
-Some Call Centers hang the hands free of their phones to a long pole after attaching the handsfree to their phones. This is to give better reception. Callers make and receive their calls via the handsfree.

Ultimate Solution
The GSM market is fast expanding in the rural areas. Therefore let the all the GSM operators: MTN, Globacom, Vmobile and MTel erect more masts in the Akoko area of Ondo State enhance better signal coverage. The presence of Adekunle Ajasin University at Akungba should be enough incentives for the GSM operators to strengthen their networks in these areas. As it is now, people living in cities like Lagos are finding it difficult to reach their friends and families in these areas because network signals are not everywhere.

How many handsets do you carry at a time?