Nokia have decided to please all the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic owners coming along with the new firmware update of the device.

Two years have passed since we first met the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic the first S60 touchscreen device, but it is still in vogue.

Although the firmware does not include major adjustments however the new version of the Nokia Web Browser and Ovi Maps became available.

Breathe a new life into your Nokia 5800 XpressMusic!

Swype is announced to be one of the most efficient ways of typing for the modern smartphones. And now the Nokia users will also get a chance to have access to this feature. The device which are equipped with S60v5, which includes such devices as Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5230, Nokia N97, Nokia N97 Mini and Nokia X6.

If I will try to shortly introduce you the meaning of this feature, I should mention about the main two things that make it unique. The first one is that the feature might use  the swiping the words in one go. The next one is that the feature will try to guess the word to be typed, which helps you to save the time on typing any kind of messages.

As for the rest of the info about Swype you should keep an eye on the video:

Microsoft Office has become one of the most sought-after software products for the word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. It is therefore understandable that the developers of software for mobile phones have long been developed and developing compatible applications for mobile devices. Ones can only read files of MS Office, while the others can also use the edit option. But today I want to invite you to become acquainted with Quickoffice Premier – the best “Office” application for mobile phones based on S60v5.

And so .. Quickoffice Premier allows you to create, view and edit Microsoft Office 2007, including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. It is difficult to enumerate the entire list of features, it’s much easy to install the application and check whether it suits your needs.

I’ll just note a few possibilities:

Language support in French, Italian, German and Spanish. (A new feature that was formerly only English).
Viewing and editing Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly on the phone.
Create and save new documents Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
The files are saved without loss of data.
Easy and intuitive user interface tool.
Support for complex formulas .
Full graphical editor.
Free spell check, dictionaries in multiple languages.
Ability to add images to Word and PowerPoint.
Integration with Mail for Exchange.

Quickoffice Premier is now compatible with smartphones of Symbian S60 5th Edition, for example, Nokia 5530, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, N97, C6, X6, 5230 and Nokia 5233.

In the third quarter of 2010 Nokia C6 will appear in the mobile markets of the world. The mobile phone with a touch screen and sliding QWERTY-keyboard is based on the Symbian ^ 1 (S60 5th Edition).

It is a hybrid of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia N97 (mini) and will be available in two colors – black and white. Key features include: 200 MB of memory, A-GPS, Wi-Fi, a 3.5-mm audio jack, a 5 megapixel camera, a 3.2” touch screen.

All innovations in Nokia phones are made gradually, that’s why the new Nokia X6 cannot be called a revolutionary device in any case. It is rather an attempt to offer customers a decent sample in the market of touchphones where the Finnish vendor appeared much later than its direct competitors. In addition, Nokia X6 is the first XpressMusic phone in the segment of high-end devices (earlier the company was limited to the release of middle class music phones), as well as the first Finnish touchphone with a capacitive screen.

Nokia X6 is available in the market in two models – Nokia X6 16GB and Nokia X6 32GB. The only difference is the amount of internal memory – 16 GB and 32 GB respectively.

Nokia X6 Specifications:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/1900/2100 MHz)
• Platform: Symbian OS v9.4, S60 5th Edition
• Display: touch-sensitive, capacitive, 3,2”, 640 x 360 pixels, 16:9 ratio, TFT
• Camera: 5 megapixel, Carl Zeiss, dual LED-flash, autofocus
• Additional camera: yes
• Processor: ARM 11, 434 MHz
• RAM: 128 MB
• ROM: 512 MB
• Internal memory: 16 GB and 32 GB
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• A-GPS
• Wi-Fi (802.11b / g)
• Accelerometer
• microUSB 2.0
• Proximity, lighting, location sensors
• Audio: AAC, AAC +, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AU, AWB, eAAC +, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), Mobile XMF, MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, RMF, SND, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV, WMA, WVE
• Video: 3GPP (H.263), Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8, WMV 9
• Images: BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, MBM, OTA, PNG, TIFF, WBMP, WMF
• Games: Spore, Asphalt4 and DJ Mix Tour
• Battery: BL-5J, 1320 mAh
• Talk time: up to 8.5 hours in GSM networks, up to 6 hours in WCDMA networks
• Standby time: up to 18 days
• Time during video playback: up to 3,6 hours
• Time during audio playback: up to 35 hours
• Dimensions: 111 x 51 x 13,8 mm
• Weight: 122 grams
• Formfactor: bar with a touchscreen
• Type: smartphone
• Date of announcement: September 2, 2009
• Release date: the fourth quarter of 2009

Key disadvantages:

• High price
• Crude user interface
• Internet browser with a touchscreen interface has not been improved enough for a general functioning, support for Flash leaves much to be desired
• No pre-installed applications for viewing documents
• There is no availability of  charging with microUSB
• Slow functioning of  the image gallery
• Video player does not support DivX / XviD
• No slot for a microSD card
• In terms of software Nokia X6 can not surprise users with something absolutely new, that’s why the imposing price of the touchphone is explained, first of all, by the “hardware” and positioning.

In the Box

Along with the phone, in the box of Nokia X6 the buyser can also find a headset of Nokia WH-500 – a decent gift for lovers of quality sound. The price of the headset itself is quite comparable with the price of a cheap Nokia phone, and although Nokia WH-500 is certainly not the best example of audio devices, the quality of the headset excels in the quality of usual headphones, with which Nokia phones are complemented.

It is worth considering that in some countries, Nokia sells X6 without a headset, so before buying a phone, make sure to ask about the box contents.

In addition to the phone and headset the box includes a battery charger, a microUSB cable, a booklet with the key that will be required to activate the service Comes with Music and the standard user manual.

Display

The main advantage of Nokia X6 is certainly the 3.2-inch touch display with 16 million colors and a resolution of 360 x 640 points. The size and resolution of the  display according to modern standards are something average, but the major innovation of the display of Nokia X6 is the capacitive technology due to which only a slight touch and not a confident press is required to control the phone functions. An obvious, but minor shortcoming of the capacitive touchscreen is the inability of using the stylus.

Unfortunately, the improved speed of  the responsiveness of the capacitive screen is practically reduced to crude software of the phone. Quick response is noticeable when dealing with simple menus, where the phone is not required to perform many calculations, and with more complex operations all the advantages of capacitive display are minimized by slow software functioning.

Another disadvantage of the touch-screen of Nokia X6 is the fuzzy image under directed sunlight. Moreover, in this respect Nokia X6 is one of the worst in the line of Nokia.

User Interface

Despite the fact that Nokia X6 is the first phone with a capacitive touch screen, released by the Finnish company, Symbian S60 5th edition has not changed at all. That’s why the owners of Nokia touch phones will be familiar with the touch OS of the new X6. The first thing to mention is the convenient kinetic scrolling, available in almost every menu of the user interface, from viewing documents to the image gallery and the list of contacts. The kinetic scrolling does not work in the menu with icons (including the main menu).

The principle of scrolling in menu with icons is definitely inconvenient for those, who use Nokia touchphones for the first time. It will be simply incomprehensible: to look through the icons, you must send/direct the arrow of selection to the opposite edge of the display.

Despite this flaw, the general scrolling in Nokia X6 has been implemented as well as in Apple iPhone. After all Apple sells one of the best phones with touch control. Inclusion of the text input mode automatically displays the full virtual QWERTY-keyboard. Fans of widgets will not find them in the new X6.

Thus, S60 5th edition user interface has both advantages and drawbacks – it depends on the experience of the users and their habits. For those who had previously worked with Nokia touchphones, the new Nokia X6 will seem totally familiar. However, for users who had previously worked with alternative touch platforms, S60 5th edition is not the most convenient interface.

Music Player

Music player of Nokia X6 is quite functional and at the same time, it is usual, without changing since Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The music library is automatically sorted by song title, genre, album. The player supports the ability to create playlists and equalizer settings.

The process of adding new tracks to the library is limited to one movement – renewal option selection. If you download new songs on the phone with Nokia PC Suite PC-based applications, there is no need even for that. Music player of Nokia X6 supports a huge number of different audio formats, thus it is almost impossible (unless you’re a fan of Lossless)to come across an audio file that the device does not recognize.

Music player of Nokia X6 can operate in the background regime- in this case a small icon appears on the desktop indicating the name of playing track. In the turned form you can control the basic functions of the player.

Playlist DJ

One of the innovations in multimedia arsenal of Nokia X6 is the application Playlist DJ, in functionality similar to the Sony Ericsson SensMe, but it is controlled in a bit different way.

The application provides the user with four sliding scale – Joy, Passion, Anger, and Tempo. Depending on your mood you can set certain values, then Playlist DJ will choose the appropriate tracks from the library and will create a playlist. Another interesting feature of Playlist DJ is the creation of playlist of similar songs, that is songs, which, according to mood, are similar to the current playing track.

Music Store and Comes With Music

Most of the new Nokia models support Music Store, but in case of Nokia X6 phone the owners will receive a free subscription for a year to an impressive collection of songs presented in Nokia Music Store – Comes With Music. Practically, this provides a possibility of infinite and free download of any kind of music – and taking into account the 32 GB memory Nokia X6 allows you to store really a great collection of tracks. One shortcoming is the protection of DRM files.

Music Store interface is as simple as possible – banner of the popular singer from the country of mobile phone owner, the search bar by the compositions, to search for songs and albums by genre or charts of the selected country. In addition, on the main page of Music Store new releases, the most popular songs and albums, a few playlists are  also presented. Before downloading a song or an entire album you can listen to 30-second extract of the tracks.

Video player

The display with imposing size makes watching videoes on Nokia X6 into a pleasure – but the lack of DivX and XviD endecs makes video files playing difficult.

To avoid difficulties, you can use the built-in application Nokia PC Suite, which automatically converts video files of any format in files with format and resolution supported by the phone. Of course, this method has its drawbacks – the converter compresses even the highest quality video file, as a result of which the image is too pixelized.

Using RealPlayer or Video Сenter (access to which is through Media buttons, located above the display), you can not only view the video files stored in phone memory or in memory card, but also watch video contents online.

Camera: Advantages and disadvantages

Nokia X6 is equipped with a 5 megapixel camera with a maximum resolution image of 2592 x 1944 pixels. Carl Zeiss optics guarantee  high quality images.

User interface of the camera is analogous with the interface of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and is similar to the N97 and N97 mini – a few changes had little impact on the final result.

All camera settings can be found in a common menu – except for the activation of the flash, as there is a separate icon for this feature. The number of settings is large enough: from manually customiazble balance of white and ISO, to exposure, contrast and brightness. In addition, the interface of the camera supports the ability to insert tags.

Despite rather impressive functionality, the camera of Nokia X6 does not have the majority of new features offered by manufacturers of camera phones – for example, the function of face and smile detection, glare prevention.

The camera interface in record mode does not differ from image shooting/making mode. Camera of Nokia X6 supports VGA-video shooting or files with a resolution of the display (640 x 352 pixels) – in both cases with speed of 30 frames per second. Video quality is high: colors and white balance are sustained almost perfectly.

Internet Browser

Standard web browser S60 is now even more convenient with the appearance of the kinetic scrolling X6. This, however, does not mean that the new browser of Nokia touchphone has absolutely no flaws – developments for Android and iPhone platforms in terms of interface convenience are far ahead.

Nokia X6 browser has a good algorithm for rendering, displaying the majority of sites correctly. Among the convenience features are password manager, auto-completion, different sizes of fonts. The built-in RSS-reader supports most formats of RSS-tapes, and the download manager allows you to download any type of files. In addition, Nokia X6 browser supports pop-up block function.

As for large pages, mini-map and function for searching by keywords are provided. Despite the declared support for Flash, Nokia X6 browser makes it very uncomfortable to view online videos on YouTube and similar video hosting services: in some cases, the player simply does not load, while in other cases a simple turn of the display hangs the browser in panoramic mode.

Ovi Maps

Nokia X6 is equipped with a built-in GPS-module and, thanks to its large display with high resolution can become a very useful and convenient navigation device.

In addition, Nokia X6 provides the preinstalled Ovi Maps application. An impressive set of maps is available free of charge. Guide Michelin and Lonely Planet are also included.

The program includes 2D and 3D maps, satellite and hybrid maps – for the latter internet connection will be required. The process route (tracing) is easily optimized in accordance with the preferences of the phone owner.Ovi Maps are also suitable for pedestrian navigation.

Ovi Store

The customers of Ovi Store will be provided with different categories available for purchase and download of applications – including games, audio and video content, applications and category of applications already installed. The structure of the client of Ovi Store is extremely simple – a list with the name and logo of each of the applications, categories, price and rating.

When selecting the application additional details are shown on the screen – product description, information about the size, reviews of user who had download the application earlier, the ability to leave a comment, a list of similar applications.

Applications

Nokia X6 comes with lots of programs. Among them is Ovi Files, which after installation provide access from the phone to all files stored in computer memory, to which the phone is connected to. Anytime files application helps to store in the web up to 10 GB files, which are available even when the computer is turned off.

Amazon is a simple application with various categories and search mechanisms, opening the list of results directly in the web site of Amazon. For fans of social networks Facebook is preinstalled in Nokia X6.

Conclusion

The new Nokia X6 is the first phone with a capacitive touch screen and the first phone in the line of XpressMusic, claiming a place in the segment of high-end phones – a model which certainly deserves attention. With the release of Nokia X6 the Finnish vendor, apparently tried to strengthen its position in the market of touch phones, taking into account the needs of users.

The main problem of Nokia X6 is the software, such is the case also for the other smartphones by Nokia. S60 user interface is not  convenient and attractive enough to ensure Nokia touchphones’ leading positions in the market. High hopes are pinned on the coming platform Symbian ^ 3. The first phones with Symbian ^ 3 will be released in the second half of this year.

Nokia X6 is distinguished with sufficiently high value, although in the segment, on which the model focuses on are already presented similar devices at much more attractive prices. Taking into consideration the significant deficiencies of Nokia X6, the high price of the device is questionable – especially since Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic and 5230, which are much cheaper, have functionality similar to that of Nokia X6. Another serious drawback is the similarity of X6 to other Finnish touchphones. Designers seem to operate at their full capacity.

FInd more Nokia X6 reviews at TestFreaks

Nokia added a client of its popular programs for the Symbian operating system on its online store.

Skype, a free application that allows you to make calls to other devices with installed on client program via WiFi or 3G, has long been popular among computer and mobile users.

Today Nokia has announced that henceforth mobile client Skype for Symbian-devices can be downloaded from the online store Ovi Store, which opens up access to the program for more than 200 million users worldwide.

Currently Skype for Symbian supports the following models of Nokia phones: Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5530, Nokia E72, Nokia E71, Nokia E90, Nokia E63, Nokia E66, Nokia E51, Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 Gb, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 5320.

Only a year ago Nokia entered the market of touch phones, presenting the 5800 XpressMusic. Time passed and the market needed more affordable solutions optimized for finger control. One of them is Nokia 5230, presented by the Finns in August.

Touch phone Nokia 5230 will be available by the end of the year. New home screen is installed in the shell, which first appeared on Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. For the user this means a possibility of flexible configuration of interface and quick access to frequently used sources.

The indisputable advantages of Nokia 5230 is the price (in Europe – about 150 euros) and at least five colour options. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is also sold in several color options.

Display:
The display of Nokia 5230 is similar to the one used in Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – 3.2 inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio, resistive. Generally, there are no differences.

Design:
The appearance of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic can hardly be called impressive, and Nokia 5230 looks even less attractive – rugged, a lot of cheap plastic used in it. Keys of the new device are located in the same places as that of the first device, making the impression that this is the same phone. The 5230 is somehow thinner than the 5800 (16 mm and 14.5 mm respectively), although its weigh is 4 grams more (109 grams and 113 grams).

Processor:
The phone Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is equipped with ARM11 processor with a frequency of 369 MHz, while Nokia 5230 is equipped with 434-MHz ARM 11 processor. The difference of the 65 MHz is the advantage of 5230. It is assumed that due to this applications will work quicker and smarter.

Memory:
One of the serious shortcomings of the 5800 is the amount of available memory for users – 81 MB. Unfortunately, the 5230 does not have a significant amount of memory, only 70 MB. However, in both cases a microSDHC slot for cards up to 16 GB is foreseen.

Camera:
Nokia 5800 is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED-flash. Nokia 5230 comes with a 2 megapixel module without flash.

Other specs:
Both smartphones have FM-radio, wireless module for Bluetooth, GPS-navigation. Both Nokia 5230 and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic support networks of second and third generations. Nokia 5800 has a Wi-Fi module, which is not available for Nokia 5230.

Conclusion:
In this case it is not easy to recommend any particular model. Practically all current Nokia touchphones (except, perhaps, N900) are created like 5800 XpressMusic –some features have been added or removed, the corpus has been slightly retouched. Such a strategy can not be considered to be successful, because the user has to choose if he/she needs to take the base model 5800 XpressMusic or to save money, taking the 5230 without Wi-Fi or 5530 XpressMusic without GPS. A choice could be made based on the design, but the phones are too much alike. There are alternatives for bar form factor Nokia touchphones (N97 and N97 mini), but the difference in price is too much to consider it a fair competition.

There is no sense for the owners of 5800 XpressMusic to take 5230 for the sake of productivity and bold colors. Buyers should pay attention to the new Nokia 5230 if they want budget sensory decision, but they don’t like products of Samsung or LG – South Korean companies have presented very strong touch-lines in recent years.

Specifications of Nokia 5230:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/2100 MHz),
• Platform: Symbian OS v9.4, S60 5th Edition
• Display: touchscreen, resistive, 3.2-inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16 million colours
• Camera: 2 MP
• RAM: 128 MB
• ROM: 256 MB
• Processor: ARM 11 434 MHz
• Expansion slot: microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Accelerometer
• A-GPS
• 3.5-mm connector
• Audio: AAC, AAC +, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AU, AWB, eAAC +, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), Mobile XMF, MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, RMF, SND, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV, WMA, WVE
• Video: 3GPP (H.263), Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8
• Images: BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, MBM, OTA, PNG, TIFF, WBMP, WMF
• Battery: 1320 mAh
• Hours Talk Time: Up to 7 hours
• Hours Standby time: up to 19 days
• Time running video player: up to 4.6 hours
• Time running music player: up to 33 hours
• Dimensions: 111 x 51,7 x 14,5 mm
• Weight: 113 grams
• Date of announcement: August 2009
• Release Date: Fourth quarter 2009

Specifications Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/2100 MHz),
• Platform: Symbian OS v9.4, S60 5th Edition
• Display: touchscreen, resistive, 3.2-inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16 million colors
• Camera: 3.2 megapixels, Carl Zeiss, autofocus, dual LED-flash
• Built in memory: 81 MB
• Processor: ARM 11 369 MHz
• Expansion slot: microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g)
• Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP
• 3,5 mm jack
• USB 2.0
• FM-radio
• Battery: Li-Ion, 1320 mAh
• Hours of talk time: up to 9 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 5 hours in WCDMA
• Hours Standby time: up to 17 days
• Time running playing music: up to 35 hours
• Time running video: up to 5 hours
• Dimensions: 111 x 51,7 x 15,5 mm
• Weight: 109 grams

The Finnish company Nokia does not stop its attempts to improve the software for mobile phone Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. Next firmware update for this device will please the majority of its owners.

The new firmware for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will run slightly faster than the previous version, and it will correct shortcomings detected earlier. Plus, the new software will bring new features. Owners of Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will receive a new and improved “home” screen, which will have widgets support. A kinetic (inertial) scrolling will be added, which really does not work everywhere, but only in the “home” screen, address book and web browser. Among the changes in the new firmware it’s worth noting improvements to the camera. It will take better quality pictures and will befaster than before.
Apparently, the updated software for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available along with the appearance in the market of Nokia 5530 XpressMusic.