Coming soon: Nokia’s first Ovi phone, an LG “TV phone”
Photo: LG
As the pace of new-phone arrivals continues to rise, here are two notable smart phones that will be in our labs very soon. Prices are with a two-year contract.
LG Arena ($200), AT&T
Though it just became available, we first saw this smart phone last
March at CTIA 2009. We were impressed then with its 3D S-Class User
Interface, which sensibly organizes its four home screens into four
categories—multimedia, contacts, widgets, and a main screen—that
place all of the Arena's many application within easy reach. Though the
3.0-in. touch-screen display is on the small side, the Arena supports
AT&T's ultra-fast 7.2 HSPA network, which is currently available
only in a handful of urban markets. The Arena 5.0 MP auto-focus camera
provides a variety of messaging options and access to social networking
sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It supports FLO TV, a $10-per-month
live TV service. Networks include ABC, CBS, NBC, Comedy Central, Disney,
ESPN, Fox, Fuel TV, MTV, and Nickelodeon.
Nokia 5230 Nuron ($70), T-Mobile
This budget smart phone, available "in the coming weeks," supports T-Mobile's 3G network and is the first phone with access to Ovi Store, Nokia's fledgling answer to Apple's iTunes and App Store (it currently has about 6,000 applications). The Nuron comes with a 3.2-in. touch screen and is preloaded with Ovi Maps. Like Google Maps Navigation, this app is free and has no ongoing charges for turn-by-turn GPS-assisted directions. Two outstanding Ovi Map features: the service works internationally, as well as offline (in case you want to retrace your steps without engaging the system). Though it won't come preinstalled with Symbian's new s3 interface, unveiled at last month's World Mobile Congress trade show in Barcelona, it does run on the prerequisite operating system for such an upgrade: Symbian's S60 5th.
—Mike Gikas