Nokia E7 brings QWERTY slider to Symbian^3
updated 10:45 am EDT, Tue September 14, 2010
Nokia E7 becomes first Symbian3 business phone
Nokia capped off its Nokia World news with its first Eseries pro phone to use Symbian^3. The E7 takes the aluminum shell of the N8 but adds a sliding, tilting display that reveals a QWERTY keyboard underneath. Its trick design preserves the N8's four-inch, 640x360 AMOLED, now with the outdoor-friendly ClearBlack panel of the C6 and C7, without adding significant bulk.
Symbian's new OS is largely unchanged; the business support comes through built-in Exchange syncing common to the platform. Making the leap still gives the Eseries multi-touch, multiple home screens with widgets and an overall easier to use interface.
The E7 manages to fit the eight-megapixel camera of the C7 and supports the same 720p video recording. It tucks 16GB of storage into the phone and supports 802.11n Wi-Fi as well as up to 10.2Mbps 3G.
With its similarities to the range-topping N8, the E7 will carry a relatively high price of 495 euros ($637) before factoring in contracts or other carrier deals. Nokia expects a launch before the end of the year and has given the E7 the same penta-band 3G chipset as the N8, which guarantees that it will not only support AT&T and most Canadian carriers but also T-Mobile USA and smaller Canadian providers like Wind Mobile and Videotron.
