Phones and Christmas

Firstly, The Escapers would like to wish all our customers a very happy christmas and new year, and thank you all for your continued support!

In amongst the work I do at The Escapers, I've been looking for a replacement for my iPhone, yes, I know, it hurts me too, but the lack of a keyboard and reliable email is just getting too much for me, and don't get me started on Copy/Paste situation (try emailing a user a lost serial key, and you'll see where I'm going with this)

So, I've just bought myself a Nokia E90, and after owning it for around 48 hours, I thought I'd note a few initial reactions to it....

The UI is ugly, well compared to the stunning iPhone OS anyway, but it's probably more functional, the 'Desk' screen shows me appointments for the day, a few recent emails and todo items, it's a simple thing that the iPhone really needs to have. I can go to all my regular apps through a single key press, nice.

The keyboard is great, the first time I picked it up I could type faster than I could on the iPhone, and I don't suffer finger fatigue like I do with the Apple creation.

Push email works! For all my accounts! Delivered within a minute! Not just Yahoo! (You may be able to tell I'm quite excited about this). I'm using the new Nokia Email system (catchy name guys) , which is in beta, but is really great and reliable, even in low signal areas like my flat (It's like a faraday cage, I don't know why....) For someone who can spend hours everyday travelling, this is very important.

Copy and Paste, I keep forgetting I can do this now, it's great. The iPhone needs it, I don't care how, but it needs to get done, seriously.

The web browser, it's WebKit (Safari) based, so it's rendering is fine, just as good as the iPhone, just not as slick, movement around the page and selecting things is a bit of a chore due to lack of touch screen, the iPhone browsing experience is still the best on any handheld IMHO.

The E90 is a bit of a brick, so it's two handed operation only really, which I don't like, as on London public transport, sitting is a luxury only afforded to the lucky few, and on the Tube, holding on to something is important unless you want to end up in another travellers' lap.

The verdict so far....

The Nokia is a much better email device, but the iPhone is great at everything BUT the email.
If email is not important to you, get the iPhone, if it is however, the E90 may have the edge....

Happy holidays!