Nokia N86 8MP in pictures

My ninja pirates came through, and thanks to Molly & co at Nokia Blogger Relations, I have a Nokia N86 8MP (US Euro version) to play with :)

Here is a set of (somewhat dusty – oops) pictures of Nokia’s first 8 megapixel cameraphone for your viewing pleasure!

The set includes cameos by one of its rivals, the Samsung T929 (Memoir), and other devices…

Podcast: Talking with Matt #15

It’s time for another podcast (24 min) with Matthew Bennett:
- Audio version
- Video version

This week is full of goodness!

First, we discussed the Nokia N900, the Nokia X6, my Burning Man pictures (taken with the Samsung Memoir and the Nokia N97), the Nokia N97 mini, the Motorola CLIQ, and the HTC Hero (CDMA version)…

Then, check out my rant about the Nokia 7705 (Twist), and the (WiFi-less) Palm Pixi :)

Click here to subscribe to this podcast.

Cameraphones have come a long way

I’ve been back from my yearly time on the playa for a few days now, and as I’m looking at my pictures, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: cameraphones have come a long way.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m still impressed with the ongoing improvements. I took 150 pictures, 34 with the Nokia N97, and the remainder with my Samsung T929 (Memoir)…

While the N97′s Zeiss optics clearly reign superior, the Memoir’s sensor wins hands down, especially in low light. I even shot using the digital zoom with great results!

Speaking of Zeiss optics and top notch sensors, there’s a Nokia N86 review unit coming my way, which I’m definitely going to compare with the Samsung Memoir – so stay tuned :)

One last thing. Despite taking my iPhone 3GS on the trip, I ended not doing any videos. However, one of my coworkers made this awesome time-lapse video.

Unboxing the Nokia 7705 (Twist)

What? Another CDMA phone from Nokia? Madness!

Behold the Nokia 7705 (Twist), a feature phone with a QWERTY keyboard and an ultra cool swivel form factor that’s exclusive to the US market (Verizon).

Like the Nokia 6790 (Surge), it’s primarily a messaging device. Contrary to the Surge, it’s not running Symbian, which is FoF (*)…

Sure, there’s 3G (EVDO), a 3 megapixel camera (with auto-focus, flash, and QVGA video recording), GPS, and a 2.4″ QVGA display.

But unfortunately, WiFi is missing, the audio connector is of the 2.5 mm variety, the battery is only 860 mAh, and there’s no Java support, which is again FoF (*).

(*) Full of Fail.

Oh well – enjoy my pictures and video :)

Nokia X6 and Nokia N97 mini hands on

Tonight over dinner with a friend from the Symbian Foundation, I briefly played with the Nokia X6 and the Nokia N97 mini which were recently announced at Nokia World! Here are my first impressions…

- Nokia X6: It’s definitely my favorite of the 2. Finally, a Nokia device with a capacitive touchscreen – woohoo :) The X6 is mega sexy, and thinner than it looks in pictures. The camera appears to be identical to the one in the N97 (i.e. up to my standards). There’s no micro-SD card slot, but the speakers sound fantastic.

- Nokia N97 mini: It’s a lot nicer than I expected, especially the metal battery cover and laser-etched Nokia logo. The N97 mini is visibly smaller than the N97, but feels like more of a premium phone. The firmware features kinetic scrolling throughout, a welcome addition. Overall, the name tells most of the story.

I’ll be reviewing all this tasty Nokia goodness soon enough… But in the meantime, check out my pictures!

Motorola CLIQ hands on

Another day, another Android device… Orly?

Today at Mobilize, Motorola announced its first Android phone, the Motorola CLIQ.

My ninja monkeys spent some time with it and took some pictures of it. The verdict? This may just be Motorola’s comeback device :)

First impressions? The CLIQ is definitely the nicest Android phone I’ve used so far. From the glass screen to the metal bezel to the solid slide mechanism, it’s built like a tank (something Motorola is famous for).

The camera seems quite good (albeit limited to QVGA video recording), and the keyboard feels great. As for the UI, it’s reasonably snappy and nicely executed.

I’m definitely looking forward to playing with it some more!