Nokia has recently released the Nokia E7 as the latest addition to their portfolio of business smartphones and guess what? It looks very much like the Nokia N8, but with a bigger screen and the thumb-friendly slide-out QWERTY keyboard!

One feature that make the Nokia E7 stands out from the rest of Nokia business smartphone is the AMOLED display which improves visibility both indoors and out.

Nokia has certainly put in a lot of thoughts into Nokia E7 to meet the needs of a business user. The Nokia E7 offers mobile office tools, USB support capability and it is compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Being a former Nokia E-series user, I found no problem getting myself familarised with this phone. If you are a Nokia E-series user and looking for a  Symbian Smartphone upgrade, I will strongly recommend the Nokia E7 for its improved features.

The Nokia E7 is available at RRP of SGD $989.00 and available to all 3 operators in Singapore – Singtel, Starhub and M1.

If you are hoping for a Non-camera version of Nokia E7 like the Nokia E51 , I’m sorry to tell you that your dream is not going to come true. I’ve checked with the Nokia Spokesperson during the blogger preview of the Nokia E7 and he mentioned that they have no plans for one.

Nope, not a 10 mins rendezvous with her but with the Canon EOS 600D!

I had the chance to try it out  the Canon EOS 600D in early March 2011 before the launch at the IT show 2011. The nice PR peeps from Canon Singapore invited us for a preview at their new Canon Imaging Academy and had one of the rooms set up as a studio for us to play with the  new Canon EOS 600D. The theme for that night was “Back to school” and hence we had this lovely model who dressed in School Uniform.

Features of Canon EOS 600D

The Canon EOS 600D is powered by an 18-megapixel CMOS sensor and the DIGIC 4 image processor. Some of the features include the “Scene Intelligent Auto” Function, Full HD video recording  in 24, 25 and 30 fps, and Video Snapshot.

The features I love about Canon EOS 600D

The various functions on the Canon EOS 600D are of easy reach and highly intuitive - I had no problems familiarising myself with the Canon EOS 600D!

Apart of the technical specifications and the ease of use, the “killer feature” that got me thinking of switching camp from Nikon to Canon is definitely the 3-inch wide “Vari-Angle” LCD monitor on the Canon EOS 600D which allows the user to swivel in almost any angle – I can Camwhore with it! Probably a good travel companion for a solo traveller, just like the Canon Powershot G12 was for me during my solo trip to Washington D.C. and London!

Nokia N8

I was invited to attend the Nokia Connection 2010 on 14 June but I was’t able to make it due to work commitments. Instead, I attended the Nokia Ultimate Night Out! held at The Pod at National Library Building.

We were lucky to have a feel of the upcoming 2 Nokia Phones which will be released in 3Q 2010, namely the Nokia N8 and Nokia X5.

Nokia N8 will be the first Nokia phone to be released with Symbian 3 OS and the set that we had our hands on were still in “proto-type” stage. Operating System aside, it features a 12 megapixels camera with XENON FLASH!!! The screen was impressive too! And the cover is scratch proof – Meaning it prevents normal scratching and not torture-mode type of scratching lah.

Nokia X5

What Clauds was holding is the Nokia X5, which is largely targeted at the youth market and is running on the current Symbian S60 3rd Edition.

There is this very interesting function, apart of it being “very social”, which allows you to switch to the next random track by spinning the phone! Check out the product video and see that I mean. This is probably going to be a hit with Youth who want to be different and it’s definitely hip to be square!

I would like to thank Julian of Text 100 and Nokia Singapore for the invite to this Nokia Event! Nothing is better than playing with a phone that is yet to be released in the market! – Even Engadget only got their story covered on Monday itself

By the way, Nokia Singapore is now on twitter too! Follow @nokiasg to get updates for the Singapore Market!

Samsung NX10

Samsung NX10 is one review set that I can’t bear to return to the owner when the review period is up! Baby, I miss you.

Edelman and Samsung Singapore have kindly loan me a Samsung NX10 with 2 different lenses – 18-55mm and 30mm (aka the Pancake lens) for about 3 weeks.

The Samsung NX10 is a 4/3rd mirrorless DSLR and the size of it is smaller than a regular DSLR. The 3.0″ AMOLED display provides clear photo preview even under the glaring sun!

On the first day of the review, I tried it out with colleagues in my office and everyone went “WOW!” whenever they preview the pictures!

Image taken with Samsung NX10 + Pancake lens, with Beauty Shot, Face Retouch +3

Reason? Everyone of us seem to have “almost flawless” skin in the pictures! The beauty shot mode in Samsung NX10 does wonders! The Pancake lens (F2.0) simply makes the portraits looked even better with the nice bokeh effect!

Now, everyone, including my blogger friends, is kinda disappointed when they know that I have returned the Samsung NX10.

Nothing speaks more than seeing the results yourself. Presenting you the “Almost Flawless” collection!

I think all Passport Photo taking service provider should use Samsung NX10 – Their customers will love them!

The Samsung NX10 is retailing at S$1099 with the 18-55mm lens and $1199 with the 30mm (Pancake) lens. Yup, this baby don’t come cheap.

While you may say that Photoshop can do all these digital touch up, but hey! You can preview the picture by a count of 3 after a shot is taken!

Will I buy it if I have the cash to spare? OF COURSE! Anyone care to sponsor me? I seriously wouldn’t mind one!

A big thank you to Mark Khoo of Edelman and also Daniel Goh of Samsung for extending the review set to me. I really love it

Correction: Samsung NX10 uses APS-C CMOS sensor instead of 4/3rd.

Looks like a nifty device, isn’t it?

Paul from WOM World Nokia has invited me to review the N900 for 2 weeks, and the device will be sent over all the way from United Kingdom!

While N810 Tablet did not impress me when I was using it a few years back due to it’s sluggish system, I am waiting for N900 with high expectations!

Can’t wait to review it! Thanks, Paul!

LG Flatron W2486L Wide LCD Monitor in the box!

Contents in the package

Side View

All ready to go!

Though it will only be with me for only 2 months, I am starting to love the slick design and the vivid colours! Not to mention the huge screen real estate which I can place the windows all over…

Thank you LG One, Mariko and Aaron for the invitation to participate in this trial!

I had a brief encounter the SingTel INQ Mini 3G at the launch event yesterday by the invitation of 24seven. Prior to the event, there were some discussion on twitter that SingTel INQ Mini 3G is overhyped, which I beg to differ. The tweeps were comparing SingTel INQ Mini 3G with Smartphones like HTC Hero and iPhone!

Hello? You can’t really compare a budget car like Chery QQ, with a luxury car like Mercedes right?

Picture taken during my second appearance at SingTel INQ Mini 3G event

My iPhone was running low on batt when I reached the event location yesterday after a morning of tweeting at SMBSG7. The peeps from 24Seven were kind enough to allow me to charge my iPhone! The best thing was, they loaned me a SingTel INQ Mini 3G to relieve my twitter withdrawal.

My short rendezvous with SingTel INQ Mini 3G was a pretty good one! While it felt a little sluggish at times, it managed to serve my needs! There are a few features that I liked about this phone:

1. It does “RT UserID” when you retweet. Most twitter apps on iPhone don’t retweet this way, you know!
2. It downloads your Facebook phone contacts into your phone!
3. It connects to Windows Live Messenger!
4. You get notifications in the phone inbox when you receive a message on Facebook.

Of course we do not expect phone that is ZERO DOLLARS (2 years 3G Flexi Lite AMPed plan or the iOne Plus Youth plan) to be perfect, right? Here are some limitations of this phone:

1. It doesn’t show mentions and replies on twitter.
2. The Facebook application is linked to the Mobile Web version for most of the time.
3. You can’t upload photo taken using the built in camera to facebook or twitpic it. (Correction: Photos can be uploaded to Facebook from the Picture Album app, not from the Facebook app.)

Would you like to have a try of the SingTel INQ Mini 3G phone? Be at Ngee Ann City Civic Plaza on 21 Sep 09 to try it out for yourself! Jesseca Liu will also be making her appearances between 2 to 6pm.

Bloggers Photo Challenge

If you are lucky enough, you may stand to win the phone by taking part in the daily lucky draw or a pair of F1 Tickets when you take a photo with one of the featured bloggers between 4 – 6pm!

I must say that we had a lot of fun camwhoring and playing with the phone at the event! A big thank you to SingTel and 24Seven for having us there!

P.S. Just a note to the peeps from INQ mobile: You may wish to produce non-camera versions of your social media phones to meet the needs of the Military guys!