(E)N-gaging. Review on Nokia N-Gage

Tis good to be the first one to write this review. Last month I became a proud owner of the newest Nokia phone. This is not just a phone ... but a thingamajic that manages to be the jack and master of many trades. Its a tri-band world phone + stereo MP3 player + FM radio + moving video player + personal audio recorder + 3D gaming console. Yes .. it really does all of this. It doesnt do your laundry or bring you tea ... but I think thats planned for a future version. :) Let me dissect this phone and comment on the nitty gritties ..... Form It is a controversial looking phone all rite ... picture holding a large taco to your ear ... this is how it looks when your are on a call. This is because the microphone is on the side and so is the loudspeaker. however the sensitivity and reception is excellent so you can even hold it like a conventional phone. nokia recommends that the phone be used with the supplied headset. The phone is about the size of a small walkman and as thick as a DVD case. However its smooth edges means that the grip is poor and it tends to slip from the hand. The design while appealing is not very convenient to use and this is the only black mark against the phone. Gaming Console This is a phone that doubles up as a mini video console. The CPU is powerful enough render 3D animation. You can play games like Tomb Raider, Splinter Cell, Tennis and so on. The graphics look better than those on Nintendo Gameboy. The sound is stereo so you get the same effect as a X-Box when you have the headsets on. The screen is large (4096 pixels, 176x208). There is a joystick like button that fits well under your left thumb. Action and Aux buttons are on the number pad. The phone supports multiplayer gaming either via GPRS or with Bluetooth. All in all this is a product that can satisfy a hardcore gamer. Multimedia Console As said before, the phone can double up as an MP3 player. It is also a digital recorder (upto 128MB mem). The standard MMC card has 8MB which cant hold more than 2 mp3 songs. However, dont despair ... the phone supports upto 512Megs to load up your mp3s. The sound is as good as what you hear from your PC speakers.(including the bass). The phone also comes with the Real video player so you can use it as a movie player in an aeroplane. The ''offline'' feature means that the phone stops being a phone ... so it is exempt from flight restrictions for non permissible devices. Pretty cool aye? Phone Features 1. MMS multimedia messaging and enhanced SMS 2. Calender, Email the works. 3. Hands free speaker. Voice dialing and all the standard stuff found in modern phones. 4. Java compatible . xHTML browser (not the WAP browser found on lesser devices) 5. Battery standby: 150 to 200 hrs 6. Talktime: 2 to 4 hrs. 20 hrs of radio play, 3-6 hrs game play (pretty good aye??) 7. bluetooth and usb connectivity So thats the bottom line ... the phone is one great package. The headset and USB cable is included (which other companies charge extra) and the new games are being developed as we speak. All in all this is one great gift for Christmas ... either for you or for someone special

Some ppl have asked for the price of this phone ... I can only quote the US price ... since it isnt available in India yet. This phone is priced around the $199. But attractive rebates are offered if you buy it with a calling plan.