Nokia E6

Amid stiff and ever-growing competition, smartphone giant Nokia wants to stay ahead of the game. The E6, which it has just unleashed on the UAE market, is its latest attempt to do just that. Going back to the successful E-series, they've added a touch screen to the Qwerty phone and powered it with Symbian Anna, which includes improvements such as a new browser, a virtual keyboard and new icons, among other things. What's special about it? Nokia moved quickly with this one. BlackBerry, almost the standard brand for Qwerty phones, recently announced its Bold Touch 9900, an improvement of its hugely successful Bold series, which is yet to be launched. Yes, the E6 is the more advanced brother of the E72. Earlier reviewers have said the phone is superfast, with a 600MHz ARM 11 processor and both 2D and 3D graphics acceleration. But the highlight, of course, is that it carries the Symbian Anna, an improvement of the Symbian 3 operating system. The icons look nicer, sharper (especially on the high-resolution screen) and it comes with a new browser, a better homescreen and improved overall performance. Add an 8-megapixel camera and improved Ovi Maps application to that and you have the makings of a superhit. How dependable is the Symbian Anna? Reviewers of the operating system have said it is the best step-up of the Symbian so far. Still, Symbian faces tough competition from the likes of Android and iOS. And Nokia's looming move to Windows 7 platform for all smartphones does not help its case. Still, as an OS that has lasted as long as it has, hardcore supporters are sure to milk it until the last drop.