Nokia has launched its latest Smartphone for the business consumer that incorporates handwriting recognition. This will be the first candybar form factor phone from Nokia to have a stylus, which can be used all over the 2.66-inch, 208x320, 65k color screen. Other than handwriting recognition, the phone also offers an on-screen QWERTY keypad for input. The Nokia 6708 also features a 1.3 megapixel digital camera with an anti-shake feature, video recording and a multimedia player for playback of MP3, WAV, MIDI, AAC and AMR digital audio formats, an Infrared remote control application to control a variety of consumer devices. The phone has 18 MB of built-in memory and takes in miniSD cards upto 2 GB for expansion. The phone runs the SymbianOS UIQ 2.1 operating system like the Sony-Ericsson P-series phones and comes with QuickOffice suite pre-installed. The phone also features improved security via a Remote Lock feature - just send the device an SMS to lock the phone.
The standard Li-Po battery is supposed to offer upto 3-6 hours of talk time and upto 9-11 days of standby time. This is the only Nokia phone that can be charged via USB.
From first impressions, the phone is quite a handful and at 150gm, its not too light either. UIQ on the 6708 feels quite sluggish compared to the latest N80. The absence of EDGE might put off a few serious business consumers, while the lack of an FM radio tuner is likely to ward off casual multimedia phone enthusiasts. Expect a full review soon.
The phone is expected to retail for around Rs 21,000.
Nokia 6708 is actually a Benq P31.
