Nokia E71 Climbs Mount Everest (Thinking About the Nokia 3720 Classic)
Apparently a Nokia E71 has not only successfully made the trip to the top of Mt. Everest and back, but it also documented parts of the journey along the way! This is no small feat, and deserves mention on my blog as a result. Since I also own an E71, it's a point of owner's pride to see this happen, and I'm quite thrilled to say the least.
The E71 is probably the closest thing to a "rugged phone" that Nokia currently sells. It's got no moving parts (besides the keys and autofocus), a body composed of (very) hard plastic, steel, and rubber, and has a no-frills software set. In addition to it's long battery life, it's quite a capable handset which doesn't sacrifice design for robustness.
In fact, this seems to be a new direction for cell phone manufacturers. If handsets can't get any smaller without sacrificing usability, what new features can they build in? Touchscreens, alternative input methods, and bizarre designs are all old directions to pursue. Battery life is very much limited to the technical abilities of the time. As are hardware features most of the time as well. A few manufacturers, such as Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sonim, and Casio have thrown things in a new direction: durability.
The catch with these handsets is that in order to have true durability, they often have to take serious sacrifices in the design and portability departments. See the Sonim XP3 for example. It is likely to this day still the most durable handset in the world, and it certainly looks the part. Then you take the Casio G'zOne Boulder, on the other hand, and see that style doesn't have to be sacrificed if ultimate durability isn't an issue.
And now Nokia has released a new offering to prove the same point Casio made with it's Nokia 3720 Classic. It's a ruggedized phone that doesn't even appear anything special at first glance. And, actually, I sort of want one. Loaded with GPS and MicroSD slot, just to start things off, makes me already accept it onto my list of phones with adequate features. It's unsubsidized price tag is under $200 as well, meaning it will hopefully make an appearance onto US shores and perhaps even be offered directly by wireless carriers. Here's hoping, anyway.
