The Assistant’s Assistant!

October 24, 2008

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At first glance, it would have been a perfect complimentary accessory for the evening out at the theatre. It glides smoothly against silk, and twiggles quietly in your Glomesh handbag, when in company of others.

It is afterall a Nokia. The E66 is at best, the Personal Assistant’s assistant rather than a C-Level Enterprise device fit for the next generation of corporate governance. It’s interesting to note how Nokia plays when it comes to product design of the E66. The metal edge of the phone is not easily buffed even when you polish it with a chamois – thumbprints eagerly imprints itself, and the energy compartment still lacks the facility to make it simple enough for women executives to remove a battery without breaking a nail, or chipping a French manicure.

The device comes compacted with a 3.2 Mega autofocus with macro mode – its great if you want to snap notes in a meeting, or business cards with the card scanner, but that’s about it – I for one, don’t really fancy looking at shots made on the E66 primarily even when the tilt mode is switched off both on the phone and the camera, the device springs a surprise everytime an image is snapped only to see it turned upside down on the pristinely clear screen.

There is something seriously disturbing about the E66

Application wise, there’s no proprietary applications designed for the enterprising executive. Get the calculator pimped, and designed for the E series only, and once that is done with interchangeable skins even an unsightly affair like basic scientific calculations on a handsome device designed to impress would be welcomed! As it is its just a small basic calculating application without any cut and paste utility! What it seriously lack, it is amply bloated elsewhere – It is however equipped with … quick scans for WLAN; the support of setting up your business or personal email {POP/IMAP} and other messaging solutions; speedy connections to 3.5 to 4G, EDGE; and device & Memory Card encryption.

Once activated, Nokia Maps will grant you three months of free access of real-time navigation.

The only one thing I like about the E66 is the ability to listen to your text messages without opening to read it, and the device telling you who’s calling provided the number is stored in it. Strangers and stalkers alike will have a field day when calling as you’ll be dumbstruck as to whether to answer the call or not. The device blinks indicating you’ve received an event {video call, Internet call, text message, etc} when you’re not around to receive it, and with two taps you’ll be able to silence incoming events. I’d like to be able to use an input device when the screen tilts horizontally when checking emails instead of re-tilting the device vertically when typing on the very comfortable keypad.

The sound system is something less desirable – if the phone is say two to three metres away, you’ll hear its alarming incoming signal which you can easily setup. Otherwise at medium level, and unless you don’t block the sound outflow with your hand, you’ll barely hear a good rendition of Janet’s Feedback.

The home screen is crispy clear, though I can’t say much about the results of images captured with this attractive device. The device comes with QuickOffice – for quickly glancing presentations, spreadsheets or documents. Data encryption is another option – you can easily zip, and unzip your files which makes for the next spring cleaning a breeze. The touch keys are illuminated which is interesting if you’re working or calling in a grey area.

Your personal assistant will adore you for life, or the life of the device – it comes equipped with a 2GB microSD card, Pouch, Stereo Headset, and the necessities to get the device up and running. Retails at RM1999/- the E66 is at best, yes, a perfect gift for your Personal Assistant or the MBA graduate looking to impress the world at Board meetings.