Reference Auto

With the onset of 3G technology, all handset makers have revved up their offerings, with some of them rolling out Qwerty smartphones for as less as Rs 5,000, but Nokia’s E7, equipped with a four-inch touchscreen display and a slide-out four-row Qwerty keyboard, is priced at a steep Rs 29,999.

Despite the high price, the E7 is likely to be a much-sought-after business handset, with the phone becoming a subject of discussion even before it was launched.

Nokia is offering a special package to rope in buyers. The handset maker has tied up with telecom service provider Vodafone to allow usage of 2GB of data per month free for six months.

The handset has an eight megapixel camera and applications such as adobe PDF reader, world traveller app, Nokia Ovi maps with GPS navigation and anti-theft software for mobile.

The Nokia E7 handset will be able to open and read Microsoft Office documents. It can also create and edit new documents and have them sent by email while on the move.

“Consumers are looking for a device that allows them to do a lot more, both in their personal as well as their professional lives. Nokia E7 is an all-in-one business smartphone that offers a high quality mobile office experience coupled with compelling entertainment options,” D Shivakumar, vice-president and managing director, Nokia India, said.

He added, “We are confident that with the E7, Nokia will redefine consumer expectations from smartphones.”

The E7 can also take high-definition quality, 720 p videos and store it on the in-built 16 GB memory.

The Nokia E7 also facilitates business communication, allowing users to configure up to 10 email IDs so that they can use the device to communicate while on the move.

The 3G-enabled phone supports data download speeds of up to 10.2 Mbps. The Nokia E7 phone also supports live television.

The Finnish handsets giant also revealed that the recently-announced Windows Phone 7 devices from the company will come only after a year.

Nokia has inked deals with Citibank, Standard Chartered, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank to provide easy EMI schemes to buyers and this offer will be available to consumers with credit cards of these banks only.

The high-end mobile phone market has been growing at a breath-taking pace. This is a segment that is always looking for upgradation and new technology on handsets and is prepared to keep these coveted phones only for the short term.

Nokia is a formidable force so far as making smartphones with touchscreen and Qwerty keyboards are concerned, that include the Nokia N900 and Nokia N97 Mini. The Nokia E7 looks like being among the best business phones and buyers know that only too well even though it is priced at Rs 30,000.