THE TOP FIVE

The sun rises from the east and probably that is where I should look at to see if 2008 will be a hit or miss in terms of new and exciting devices. Why the east? Asia markets are among the most critical when it comes to assessing if any gadget will be palatable to other markets of the world.At the end of 2007 Sony Ericsson and Nokia had the top five exciting and popular devices. 

The Sony Ericsson W910i  with its slim design; built-in motion sensor; large 2.4-inch LCD; HSDPA connectivity was on top. However the phone had its misses which included a rather small walkman button, poor location of connector port, a poor performing camera and no onboard 3.5mm audio jack especial since music is this device strongest selling point. It’s a good buy if you looking for a music device.

Nokia 6120 comes in at position two. It runs on the series 60 platform; it has HSDPA; Bluetooth stereo; mini-USB port; 2.5mm audio jack. For the finish company what does not work with on this phone is the fingerprint database, lack of auto focus for the 2MP camera which predictably gives un-impressive images.For its price you get 3G/HSPDA and good features. It’s a good buy.

 Another Nokia takes up the third slot. Nokia 6500 slide comes with quadband GSM with dual-band UMTS; A2DP. As a slide phone its remarkable solid and is among the best sliders. The Carl Zeiss 3.2 MP auto focus camera is good however someone in Helsinki forgot that when you close the slider the keylock must work. You end up calling people running up your airtime. Also if the same guy is reading this the camera has a problem on video mode. It can not auto focus. Verdict it’s a good basic camera-phone based on the S40 platform.  Forth is the Nokia E51……. Mmmm what can I say about this phone. Nokia should give a pay rise to the designers of this phone. Whoever that said that simple is good was right. While it may not have all the poise like other devices, this phone does not disappoint in all aspects especially its abundance range of connectivity features, excellent performance. The 130mb onboard memory provides for fast performance.What they should improve on is providing a decent camera, as an enterprise device a front camera for video calls is needed. The preinstalled quickoffice is read-only version. If your office is on the road this is a good phone. 

That thing in my pocket has to be on any pundits review. Now that Nokia has come up with the N95 8GB black. Battery capacity is larger, faster performance due to the 128mb RAM. It’s better than the predecessor making it one of the best smart phones on the market. However even with a built in 8GB memory there is no expansion card slot and no lens cover on the camera. 

This list is likely to change hoping that new phones come out especially during the world mobile congress in Barcelona. Iphone has worked out the GSM issue and more people in the emerging market may take up this superb device. Motorola has just completed its inventory issues and if the recent unveiling of MotoRokr E8 is anything to go by then 2008 will be a hit. Samsung and LG never disappoint when it comes to innovation, creativity and design.My advice save money a good phone is just weeks away. But for James, I do not think they will make a phone that can cook not yet.