A few weeks ago I previewed the Nokia E75 and posted some shots as well. I’ve uploaded a PDF — oh wait, our other blog, The Gadget Blog — has uploaded one as well so let me link to that instead.

Specs aside, I’m wondering if this device will appeal to people who have already beheld the N97. Yeah, they may be both QWERTY devices, but there are subtle differences especially in the way each phone handles mobile email.

Rico, who writes The Gadget Blog and his personal site, Technogra.ph was able to provide us with a detailed experience of the battery wear and tear for the new Nokia N97. The lucky schmuck won it in a raffle when the phone was launched.

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Call them brazened but — they have every right to be. i didn’t have time to head over to CommunicAsia ‘09 because Nokia kept me busy, and I guess that was the whole point. For the past few years, Nokia has broken away from the CommunicAsia expo after they started to focus more on software development rather than hardware.

She didn’t have to ask me, but Nikka Abes, Nokia Corporate Communications Manager for the Philippines did throw a question, asking if the media is noticing Nokia’s new direction, focusing more on the Ovi Platform and its various services and how it integrates with S60. In the same light, the S40 platform also has its perks with Life Tools and Mail on Ovi gaining much ground in developing countries.

Breaking away from CommunicAsia was a good move. Not really to “cock-block” the media from viewing other phone brands in one big expo, but it’s more along the lines of “we have so much to present to you — we need more than an expo floor.”

For me, it was also great that we got to spend time with Nokia’s General Manager for Philippines, William Hamilton Whyte, who was easy to reach and joined us for drinks on more than one ocassion. Come the N97 launch back in the Philippines I really didn’t feel the need to interview him anymore as I’ve pretty much exhausted everything I needed to ask over a few drinks — on more than one night.

Nokia Connection ‘09 was a fruitful experience, as it always was in the past. This was the third time Nokia sent me to attend their conferences, the first being the Ovi launch two years ago and Nokia Connection ‘08 last year.

Good times.

[image c/o author]

If you’re one of the lucky fellas who owns a Nokia N97, do check out this series of stress test videos done by the Nokia N97 Geeks. This is a six part series of tests from screen scratching to dropping the phone into several types of surfaces. Of course, all credit goes to the N97 Geeks.

Six videos after the jump.
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We haven’t seen much action for Nokia’s NGage platform lately. Here’s one of their newer titles accompanying Age of Empires — Dance Fabulous is a rhythm game that makes use of your phone’s keypad. All you need to do is follow the beat and create dance steps with your avatar. You can customize your music as well, allowing you to play anything from your music library and the game automatically builds a beat count around it.

You can download a free 30 day trial so you can go and Dance … Fabulous!

Amidst the kick ass product launches from Nokia Connection 2009, I almost forgot to mention the new Nokia 3710 Fold, which forms part of the latest S40 device offerings of Nokia. Off the bat, it is really thin and considered to be a mid-range 3G unit with a 3.2 MP camera but we won’t be seeing this baby till Q4. I don’t know what’s extremely special about this device (I mean, what makes it worthy of a Q4 announcement?) except for its really thin form factor.

More photos afte the jump.

Nokia 3710 Fold Data Sheet

[photos c/o author]

Due to popular demand, I’ve posted a more detailed show off starring the Navi key of the Nokia N72. Some of the minute differences include:

(1) switching of the Bluetooth and memory card slots, (2) the location of the 3.5mm head phone jack was moved to the top of the device, with the new power button prominently placed on the center. There are also (2) new shortcut keys in the QWERTY thumb pad for the flashlight (we’ve seen this in the E63), instand on Bluetooth and silent mode. A convenient and well thought of addition. Looks like the speaker was also (3) moved behind, beside the camera.

[photos by author]

Today I attended the launch of Nokia Connect 2009 — presented here is the video demo of the E72 where we talk about the new features, the scrolling user interface, the aesthetics, and of course, the comparison with the predecessor, Nokia E71.

Overall, the E72 is a welcome upgrade from the previous year. The E71 was already a kick ass device when it was launched, and it still is to this very day. The most tempting features that may force you to get the E72 would be the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack, which made debut with the E63 and the HTML email downloads, allowing you to receive more colorful and formatted email

I was able to review the unit and compare it side by side the Nokia E71. Take a look and decide for yourself, but I’d honestly suggest to wait for it!

Just this morning, Nokia Connection 2009 was opened. For logistics constraints (my laptop battery dying in the middle of the conference) I was able to get two posts up on the keynote speech as well as the Nokia Ovi Store principle.

Chris Carr unveiled the new N97 device as well as three new devices — the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic phone, the Nokia E72, an upgrade to the previous E71, and the 3710 Fold which runs on the S40 platform.

Loren Shuster, Head of Marketing for South East Asia talked more about trends and went in depth with the Ovi store and how it has made an impact on music piracy and developing markets.

There are 1.3 billion users on the Internet. Over 40% of these have mobile Internet access as well. In 2008, the number of mobile Internet users doubled, making the mobile Internet the only way to access the web for developing countries.

it is estimated that by 2012, the number of mobile Internet devices will surpass the total number of desktops that have Internet access. By 2012, there will be over 1 billion people accessing social networking sites via mobile phones. There are 9.3 million individuals using mobile Internet per day. 8.2 million use the mobile Internet for maps.

The Nokia N97 is finally here in Asia and is now available on pre-order between June 16-18 2009. The preorder allows you to become part of a raffle for 500 Linksys routers. Preorder now.

Slide into a whole new dimension of mobile fun! Be one of the first in the Philippines to own the amazing multimedia computer, the Nokia N97. Imagine having a full touch-screen home screen to view movies and photos, a keyboard that makes you send messages faster; and immense memory to store anything and everything - all on the palm of your hand.

What’s there not to love? Enjoy easy and fast connections to Internet services, customize your home screen with widgets for real time updates from your favorite websites (Facebook, anyone?), 32 GB memory expandable to 48 GB for songs, picture, and videos, a full QWERTY keyboard, support for multiple music formats, FM radio, Nokia Maps with voice guided turn-by-turn instructions, a 5MP camera with autofocus, Carl Zeiss Tessar Optics, dual LED flash, DVD-grade quality video recording, 3G, WLAN, GPS, and PC and TV Connectivity!

[image and block text from the preorder site]