Nokia 3230 closer look

Those of you who have followed Nokia's smartphone efforts since the beginning will know that the design of some earlier models - and particularly those aimed at the mass market - was somewhat, er, unfortunate. Having finally rid itself of keypad experimentation and gaudy designs, the maker will soon begin shipping its first affordable smartphone that not only has a solid feature set but also looks pretty good.

Most of the handset's front is taken up by the large screen, which is absolutely stunning compared with previous models in this range of the market; its 176 x 208 pixel resolution should be a giveaway to the continued use of the Symbian OS based Series 60 platform.

Boasting tri-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support for 900/1800/1900 MHz networks, the 3230 also includes a Megapixel camera which has only been found in a few previous Nokia smartphones thus far, including the 7610, 6670 and 6680. This offers both video recording and editing in addition to picture taking, letting users add special effects such as music, text, colours or images to videos.

Also, courtesy of pre-installed software and the 3230's support for Bluetooth, users will be able to print pictures to compatible Bluetooth kiosks, or upload them to online picture albums.

Memory expansion is ensured by a hot-swappable MMC Card slot, and the 3230 will also come bundled with a 32 MB card in the sales package; at least, Nokia hasn't opted for a more obscure version of the MMC format. Further on the topic of connectivity, the 3230 also offers an integrated FM radio with Nokia's own Visual Radio software, designed to facilitate an interactive connection between FM broadcasters and their listeners; a concept I unfortunately wasn't able to investigate at CeBIT.

Other software includes Wireless Village-based instant messaging and presence-enhanced contacts, as well as the usual compliment of Series 60 PIM applications, an XHTML compatible microbrowser and Push-To-Talk support. The Nokia 3230 also offers new games, including the Agent V reality which draws on the camera viewer and motion sensor of the phone to let the player move the objects appearing in the game - extremely addictive, and not at all recommended if you're, say, on any sort of schedule to cover other products at CeBIT.

Weighing 110 grams and measuring in at 109 x 49 x 19 mm, the 3230 offered a pleasantly responsive user experience in the short amount of time I spent with it, but did also exhibit one annoying flaw: the location of the keypad on the very lower end of the device, which causes unnecessary muscle strain as the weight tilts the 3230 forward. This aside, the 3230 has one of the best keypads Nokia has ever placed in a Series 60 handset.

According to Nokia, the 3230 will offer up to 4 hours of talktime and up to 230 hours of standby time, and is expected to hit stores shortly in Europe and Asia with an estimated retail price of approximately 350 EUR.

Article by By Jørgen Sundgot, InfosyncWorld

1.3 megapixel camera
Customize your muvees with Movie Director
XHTML browser for browsing
65,536-color screen
Push to Talk with dedicated key
Expandable memory (32 MB RS MMC card included)
New multiplayer games over Bluetooth wireless technology
Instant messaging
Multimedia messaging
Customizable color themes

Full Specifications

Tri-Band Operation
Tri-band coverage on up to five continents (EGSM900/GSM1800/1900)
Automatic switching between bands

Size
Weight: 110 g
Dimensions: 109 mm x 49 mm x 19 mm, 90 cc

Display and User Interface
Large, high-resolution TFT color display
Up to 65,536 colors
176 x 208-pixel resolution
Series 60 user interface (UI) with selectable themes

Imaging

Still imaging:
1.3 megapixel camera sensor. Image size 1280 x 960 pixels
Image capture: JPEG (16.7 million/24-bit color)
Displayed formats: JPEG, GIF87a/89a, EXIF, WBMP, BMP, MBM, PNG

Video:
Capture video clips up to one hour with 32 MB MMC card
Resolution of videos: Q-CIF (176 x 144 pixel)
Video capture: H.263 (16.7 million/24-bit color)

Video Editing
Edit your own video clips on your Nokia 3230 smartphone
Cut your clips, add special effects such as slow motion, and combine them using video editing with Muvee Styles to create your own minimovie up to 10 minutes long
Add text, music, frames and still pictures
Save your creation on your phone and share it by sending your masterpiece as a multimedia message

Kodak Mobile Service
Share and print your megapixel mobile images with Kodak Mobile Service
Upload images over a network connection to the Kodak Web site and then have prints delivered to your address
Print the pictures instantly using Bluetooth wireless technology at any Kodak Kiosk at selected Nokia retail locations

This service is provided independently by Kodak - you can find out more about availability and other details at the Kodak Web site.

Visual Radio
Listen to music and interact with your favorite radio stations
Find out what song is playing, who sings it, and other artist information
Enter contests and answer surveys, vote for your favorite songs
Download the songs you buy direct to your phone
Find out more at www.visualradio.com

Games
Exclusive new motion-enhanced game: Agent V
Multiplayer games: Rally Pro Contest
Plus Warrior Quest

Messaging
Multimedia messaging: MMS 1.0 for creating, receiving, editing, and sending videos and pictures with AMR voice clips-Text messaging: Supports concatenated SMS; picture messaging; SMS distribution list
Predictive text input: Support for all major languages in Europe and Asia-Pacific
Email: Access your work and private email accounts; supports SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, and APOP protocols

Presence
Instant Messaging
Presence-enhanced contacts

Music Player
Play MP3s in your phone via the headset or the build in speaker

RealPlayer
Download and play multimedia files (video and audio)
Stream media files through any supported media portals
Full-screen video playback on the phone to view downloaded, streamed, or recorded video clips in bigger size
Supported formats (decoding): .3gp and .mp4 file formats, MPEG-4 video, H.263 video and AMR audio, RealMedia (Real Video and Real Audio), MP3, and AAC

Connectivity
USB with Pop-Port™
Local synchronization of picture gallery, contacts and calendar to PC using PC Suite
Remote over-the-air synchronization with SyncML
Send and receive images, video clips, graphics and business cards

Browsing
XHTML and HTML browsers for viewing xHTML and HTML Web pages on your phone
Browsing over TCP/IP
Smart content download - OMA DRM 1.0
OTA provisioning
Mobile wallet for online transactions and storing your confidential information such as credit card numbers, user names, and passwords

Data Transfer
EGPRS multislot class 5, up to 118,4kbps (downlink)
GPRS multislot class 10, up to 80 kbps

Bluetooth Wireless Technology
Talk handsfree with a wireless Bluetooth headset enhancement
Play wireless multiplayer games over a Bluetooth connection
Synchronize your phone and compatible PC over a local Bluetooth wireless connection

Call Management
Push to Talk over cellular network via dedicated key

Java™ Applications
Java™ MIDP 2.0
Create your own MIDI ringing tones with the pre-installed Tunes Studio application
Downloadable applications including news clients and travel guides
Collection of ringing tones, wallpapers, and screensavers/UI themes available to download from Nokia Shop

Voice Features
Voice dialing
Voice commands
Voice recorder
Integrated handsfree speaker

Digital Services
Graphics, icons, animations, logos
Games: Possibility to download new games
Ringing, alert, and gaming tones: MP3, MIDI with support for up to 48 polyphonic sounds
Themes: Possibility to download new themes including color schemes, and ringing tones

Sales Package Contents
Nokia 3230 phone
Nokia Battery BL-5B, Li-Ion 760 mAh
Nokia Standard Charger ACP-7 (Nokia Travel Charger ACP-12 in selected countries)
Nokia Stereo Headset HDS-3
Nokia 32 MB RS MultiMediaCard (MMC)
User Guide
Download PC Suite from www.nokia.com/pcsuite

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