A lot of people said that the N85 is a replacement to the N82, which is one of the best mobile devices that Nokia has produced. However, they are both targeted at different markets and the N82 is still on sale and not discontinued by Nokia.

Sporting the same form factor as the N96, the N85 is a dual slider device too. Running on Symbian S60, the N85 has a very minimalist design. I liked the call and end call buttons design very much. Sliding the phone up will reveal the number pad. Although there are no seams between the keys, it is still very much usable. Slide the phone down and the screen will automatically switch landscape mode and you will find four extra buttons. These four extra buttons are music control buttons but when you play a game, the button will turn into two gaming buttons.

The Carl Zeiss, 5.0 megapixel camera sits at the back of the device. There is a dedicated button on the side of the phone and you’ll need to slide the lens cover open. I liked this design as it will protect the camera lens. However, the N85 still uses LED lights as flash instead of Xenon flash like the N82. This is a huge turn off for those who plan to upgrade their N85.

The overall operation of the phone is fast and there were no lags encountered during our course of usage but then again, the device is brand new and there weren’t many application installed on it.

I’m still bugged by the fact that N85 doesn’t use Xenon flash as the camera’s flash. The implementation of Xenon on the N82 was a very welcomed feature. The N85 performs just as good as the N96. So if you don’t need the extra bells and whistles on the N96, the N85 is the one you need.

Nokia has announced in their April 6th press release that their latest model from the E-series, the Nokia E75, is now shipping to all stores around the world. This new phone model from Nokia is aimed at those who are looking for business smartphones. The E75 has a 2.4 inch screen with 320 x 240 pixel resolutions and a slide out QWERTY keyboard for texts and emails.

Nokia’s plans for the E75 include web browsing, WiFi, GPRS and HSDPA, which will help you obtain a decent internet connection. Another useful tool for business users is the E75’s office document viewer, which means you can view work documents sent as attachments. The Nokia E75 comes with quad-band cover of GSM850, 900, 1800, 1900 and dual-band WCDMA 900, 2100 so mobile phone calls should be possible in a wide range of countries.

The Nokia E75 comes with a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus, LED flash and digital zoom, plus a video recorder with high resolution VGA and video streaming. Music is available in MP3 and AAC formats and the E75 also features a FM radio, Nokia podcast and windows media player. The Nokia E75 ringtones can be polyphonic, MP3, video or talking ringtones. The Nokia E75 also integrates tightly to other Ovi services and ships with Ovi Files for storing files online, Nokia Maps which works with the onboard A-GPS, and Nokia’s games service N-Gage which is supported for the first time in a Nokia E-series device.

The Nokia N79 is the last N series mobile phone that was launched recently to make its way into the test lab. Unlike both the N96 and N85, the N79 comes in the form factor of a candy bar. Some people prefer this form factor as everything is presented on the phone without any hidden surprises. The N79 has a grey facet with a 2.4 inch screen and the usual number pad below the screen. Although the number keys are large and visible, I found myself always pressing the wrong number, resulting in some embarrassing phone calls. The number keys are seamless and our fingers found it hard to differentiate between “1″ and “2″.

Turn the phone over and you will be presented with a 5.0 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens as well as dual LEDs to serve as flash. The interesting thing here is that whenever you change the back plate, say from brown to pink, the theme of the phone changes to pink as well. There are four nodes on the back plate that touches the four probes on the phone, letting the phone know what color the plate is. This review unit came with brown, white and pink but there are a few more colors like blue and green on Nokia’s website.

Besides the exterior of the N79, the software has some slight changes as well. Menus now fade in and out instead of just appear to the user, the accelerometer is implemented in a nicer way. It zooms out, rotates, and then zooms in. I liked the new interface but all these eye candies are without a major flaw, which is the overall operation of the device. With all the bells and whistles, I cannot help but notice that the N79 had slowed down a bit, which is very frustrating sometimes.

I always liked phones in candy form factors and the N79 hits the right spot in this area. The back plate theme change is also something new and welcomed. The keypad and the speed of the phone needs a little bit of getting used to. Despite the minor complains, I have no qualms with the N79.

The Nokia N96 has an enhanced navigation experience that includes rich, easy-to-use maps with urban detail as well as satellite views. Voice guided turn-by-turn navigation – for walking or driving – along with the new City Guides that offer a great way to explore undiscovered places. It is even possible to upload and share personalized journeys, favourite places and great new finds online.

The Nokia N96 boasts an advanced music offering and can hold a music collection that entertains even more dedicated fans. People can create personal music playlists by downloading tracks from the Nokia Music Store and other online sites or synchronize PC and mobile libraries via hi-speed USB connectivity. Alternatively, the Nokia N96 offers RDS radio or a wide selection of stations via the internet.

Making the mobile experience even more personal, the Nokia Download! application provides a broad range of tailored content — including a selection of branded entertainment as well as personalized content — to ensure each Nokia N96 is as unique as its owner.

Nokia has announced the availability of the much-anticipated Nokia N96,the latest mobile phone model in the Nokia N-series range. This time Nokia seems to have been aware of the emerging TV mobile market as this new N96 comes with a live TV feature, a whooping 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, turn-by-turn voice navigation, 16GB of internal memory that can be increased to 24GB with an optional MicroSD card, superior sound and music, N-Gage gaming and a wide 2.8 inches display. The first shipments of the Nokia N96 have already started and it will be available with an estimated retail price of EUR 550 before taxes and subsidies.

In conjunction with the new Batman movie The Dark Knight, Nokia has released a special edition of their Nokia 6205 model especially for fans of the movie.  Rebranded as the Nokia 6205 Dark Knight Edition, the phone is packed with various features that might appeal to Batman lovers.

Like the original Nokia 6205, this “new edition” comes with a 1.3 megapixel camera, VZ Navigator, Mobile Web, Bluetooth and a 58MB internal memory. The phone retails at US69.99, which is certainly affordable for a touched-up phone.