That Just Happened — The Nokia N97 Hates Mobile Tuesday

In case you missed Sunday night’s NFL matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots, you missed one sloppy game. We found out what happens when Matt Cassel encounters the best defense in The League…so did Wes Welker. Lil Weezy had 4 catches for 30 yards, and took 1 hit for the ages..courtesy of Ryan Clark. See the video.

It was announced that Rickey Henderson would be included on the 2009 Hall of Fame ballot for the first time. His records include 2,295 runs and 1,406 steals. What might be more amazing than his accomplishments are his personality…and the collection of hilarious stories that represent it. Check out the 25 Best Stories of ‘Rickey Being Rickey’..

Black Friday spending was up 1% over 2007. Cyber Monday featured a ton of deals, but more importantly has gained acclaim as one the lead indicators of the upcoming holiday shopping season. So while retailers count their money and analysts sit by and wait for the numbers, I present to you Mobile Tuesday. Seriously? Enough already!

Speaking of mobile, Nokia World kicked off in Barcelona today where the company unveiled it’s latest creation: the Nokia N97. It looks like an iPhone, probably smells like an iPhone…but it’s no iPhone. Nokia’s ultimate goal with this device is to give users the ultimate real-time social networking capability with its concept of ‘social location’. With integrated A-GPS sensors and an electronic compass, the Nokia N97 makes it easy to update social networks automatically with real-time information, giving approved friends the ability to update their ‘status’ and share their ‘social location’ as well as related pictures or videos. Aesthetically, it differs from the iPhone by combining a large 3.5” touch display with a full QWERTY keyboard. “The world’s most advanced mobile computer” will run you about US$700 when it’s released in the first half of 2009. I’ll stick to my BlackBerry Bold, although if Nokia wants to hook me up…

If you can’t afford the GPS-enabled Nokia N97, today’s Amazon Deal of the Day is the TomTom ONE XL 4.3-Inch GPS Navigator. I believe it includes maps for both the U.S. and Canada.

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The Bold & The Beautiful – BlackBerry or Nokia?

Phone geeks beware — you’ll hate my review if you even call it that. This is meant for those of us who don’t spend all day on HowardForums or BGR…both of which I enjoy visiting. On to the comparo…

It’s been awhile since two mobile phones have simultaneously captured my attention like the BlackBerry Bold and the Nokia E71. Like two prized heavyweight fighters…or MMA fighters depending on your disposition, these two devices come to the table with a number of strengths.

It’s hard to compare two evenly matched phones. Both don the QWERTY. Both wear the proverbial camera. Speed comes 3G. Both boast improved stamina with impressive battery life. And both operating systems still show great agility, but can definitely use a refresher.

Round 1: LOOKS. As the title might suggest, the E71 wins this round handily. The Bold is no sloutch. For the sake of comparison, imagine Jennifer Aniston (Bold) and Jessica Biel (E71). Both are women are beautiful, but one of them is likely to piss off your wife or girlfriend more than the other. When comparing pictures of the two [phones] online, I was misled in both instances.

The Nokia looked larger than it actually is, and the Bold smaller. The E71 is sleek with it’s stainless steel finish and neatly placed buttons. And it’s as heavy as it looks adding a sense of quality. The Bold is lighter than past QWERTY BlackBerrys, and is finished off nicely with a chrome bezel and a leather battery cover. The screens are virtually the same size…the Bold a tad wider by virtue of its physique.

Round 2: PHYSIQUE. Typing is pretty easy on both; but if you’re used to the somewhat staggered QWERTY on the BlackBerry, you might find the perfect grid created by the E71′s keyboard frustrating at first. But it’s definitely something you’ll get used to. The Bold is thick. You would think it is more substantial than the Nokia. But you’d be wrong. The E71 is heavy…in an impressive manner: one that suggests great quality. It’s definitely in line with my previous Nokias. I’m ending my nearly two-year relationship with a BlackBerry Pearl (don’t drop this phone), so the Bold and the E71 are much more impressive to me. Go ahead and toss these around.

Round 3: STAMINA. With all of the apps and functions (WiFi, 3G, antenna) on both phones, comparing battery life was nearly impossible to measure accurately (or I’m too lazy to do a proper comparison). BlackBerrys in my experience have always had remarkable battery life. Unfortunately all I remember about my Nokia N70 is how often I had it plugged into the wall. Not so with the E71. It takes alot to knock the E71 down. That said, the Bold battery was right on. The winner of this round is decided with a coin flip.

Round 4: COMMUNICATION. More specifically email. The BlackBerry needs no introduction. So far, my only issue with email on the Bold (using my Hotmail account) is that email reconciliation doesn’t work from both sides. While a deleted email on the Bold removes it from the device and my Inbox, a deleted email from the Inbox does not remove it from the device. A minor (and temporary) glitch, I’m sure. Meanwhile, the E71 was simply frustrating. Most freeemail geeks blame my issue on Hotmail. The only way I could get this email to my phone is to use a push service like Izymail to get my Hotmail on my Gmail, which is ridiculous. Even the latest Nokia Email service won’t spar with Hotmail. Booooo! This one goes to the BlackBerry.

Round 5: PAYOUTS. It’ll cost about the same for either. I bought the E71 unlocked through Dell for $349…and I picked up the Bold from Best Buy with a new 2-year commitment to AT&T for $350.

A proper conclusion to a comparison would be to declare a winner…but I digress. I’m hooked on BlackBerrys. Let’s get that proclamation out of the way. I love having instant access to my email. That’s the most important feature to me, which may be different for you. The E71 is handsome and will cause plenty of double takes, and it is very capable. And while there are many features I may have missed (GPS, radio, music, photo quality), those features I did discuss were at the top of my list. Ok. Fine. I’ll do it. My winner by decision is the BlackBerry Bold…by a tight margin.

Hey, Nokia. Get a better email service…and you win this one.

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