Something new, something red, something black and something to fold

I can never get enough of cellphones. There is always something new that captures my fancy — no matter how often I take a trip to my cellphone suking tindahan or to the dealer shops in the big malls.

I make it a point to stop and hold each cellphone that the salesladies, who already know me by name, allow me to handle. Playing with my doggies, playing a sport, reading books and cellphone looking and the occasional shopping make my weekends complete.

That is why last weekend it was lots of fun when I stumbled, literally stumbled upon the Nokia 6600 fold cellphone. This mid-range priced handset is really cool. 

This fold cellphone has an electromagnetic mechanism lid that can slowly open when you click on a special button. The button is located at the side of the 6600. Once the cellphone is open there is a brighter and clearer 2.13- inch OLED screen which I was told can display up to 16 million flowers. When the 6600 is closed, there is a glossy surface, which can double as a mirror for those last quick looks before meeting a special someone. The problem with glossy surfaces though is that they are easily smudged with fingerprints — and I hate it when my cellphone gets smudged. The good part is that when I double-tapped the top of the phone it sort of comes to life and a top screen appears. This screen displays the time and also if you have any new text messages or if you have missed a call. That’s another great advantage for those of us who sometimes don’t hear our cellphones ring when we are busy doing other more important stuff.

Let’s see, for the tech specs the Nokia 6600 fold works in four GSM networks, weighs 110 grams and has a talk time of four hours. No, I did not try that talk time function out to the fullest. That would cost an arm and leg and then some.  

It also supports EDGE and has Bluetooth 2.0. There is a slot for a microSD, which can support up to 4GB. Music and video are supported standard formats such as MP3, AAC and WMA (audio) and H.263, 3GPP, H.264, MPEG4 (video).

The 3.2-megapixel camera is not bad. I was able to take a few good photos of Tasha my Toy Poodle with her litter of five pups. It also has a video function. When shooting in VGA mode up to 15 personnel, and when photographing mode QVGA up to 30 frames per second. Send material captured on the computer help USB 2.0. To view Internet pages set browser Opera Mini.

Small is big

But what I really like about the Nokia 600 fold is its size. It easy fits into my jeans pocket or my bag. I checked it side by side other slide phones and found it to be one of the smallest available. Also, I really like the metal shell with aluminum central casing.

The Nokia 6600 has lots of cool options and high-end functionality, including a digital VGA camera with 640 x 480 resolution, 2X digital zoom, night and portrait mode, a video recorder that records 10 second clips at 176 x 144 resolution, built-in Bluetooth wireless data transmission, and mobile Internet connectivity, as well as a variety of organizer and phone calling capabilities. It’s all wrapped up in a cool new design with a high-resolution, 65,000-color screen.

If you were to use the Nokia 6600 fold just as a cellphone, it has a five-way joystick for easy navigation to a variety of handy features, including voice dialing and voice commands, integrated hands-free speakerphone, and the ability to record and send memos, conversations, and sound clips (up to 90 seconds). There’s also a dedicated talk key, menu key, and exit key, as well as polyphonic ringtones, vibrate mode, and much more. Nokia also supports TTY/TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf), and hearing aid support for the Nokia LPS-3 Loopset.

But if texting is your thrill, then the Nokia 6600 fold will not disappoint you either. Texting is fun because the keys are simple and easy to press. Sending picture messages, SMS distribution lists and MMS contain a combined image, video, text, and voice clips to compatible phones or PCs. Predictive text input and text message templates round out the package, along with the ability to expand your phone’s functionality by downloading Symbian and Java MIDP 2.0 applications.

The phone’s XHTML browser provides high-speed data transmission (up to 43 Kbps) via GPRS, as well as access to work and private e-mail accounts (SMTP, POP3 and IMAP).

The Nokia 6600’s organizer features include a phone book with up to 500 contacts, a full calendar and to-do list, and an alarm clock with a snooze function, among others. You can sync up your organizer data with your PC wirelessly via your Bluetooth connection, using the included software (Sync ML or Nokia PC).

 The 6600 has an integrated VGA digital still camera with 640 x 480 resolution, night and portrait mode. The video recording device can take 10-second clips at 176 x 144 resolution (or 128 x 96 pixel, if you want to maximize storage) and provides a 2X digital zoom and audio on/off features. There’s even a genuine RealOne Player for playback and streaming RealMedia and 3GPP-compliant content.

To store and organize your captured and downloaded images, sounds and videos, Nokia provides a dedicated Gallery with the phone. Additionally, you can add thumbnail-sized photo images to contacts in your phone book, change your graphical user interface with a variety of themes, and download new ringtones to add to the ones already included with the phone. There are also two games included with the phone: Snake and Mix Pix. 

So, I always wonder what’s not to like in a Nokia cellphone. The Finnish company definitely has a patent on just what every Pinoy mobile user looks for in a cellphone.

The Nokia 6600 fold is loaded with the familiar, yet it has a style and look that is different and hip. It’s like meeting up with a friend you haven’t seen in years, and then sitting down to talk — and discovering that, although the years may have aged you a bit — deep down inside both of you are still true friends through and through. 

As I am often told by my editor in the lifestyle section, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it.” And so it is for the Nokia patent. And so it is.