JuiceAPac - New Nokia phones targeted at enterprises

New Nokia phones targeted at enterprises

Nokia Corp. has expanded its family of enterprise phones with the introduction of its E71 and E66 models, which come at a time when Apple, Research In Motion and Microsoft are trying their best to attract enterprise customers.

The specs are very similar; both phones are equipped with support for HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) at 3.6Mbit/sec, wireless LAN capability, navigation using A-GPS (Assisted Global Positioning System) and a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus.

They are optimized for personal and business e-mail, according to Nokia. Customers can choose among a wide variety of enterprise platforms, including Exchange and Nokia's own Intellisync, as well as more consumer-focused services such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail and Hotmail.

For Nokia, the launch is a bit of a comeback in the enterprise market. It has been nine months since the company launched the last model in the "E" family, said Leif-Olof Wallin, an analyst at Gartner Inc.

"That is a long time in this business, and we believe Nokia was slowed down by a reorganization," said Wallin. He praised the latest additions to Nokia's portfolio, especially the E71, which will replace the E61i. "It has a really good keyboard and is very slim," he said.

But it's not the design that will be Nokia's greatest asset when competing for enterprise dollars. Instead, built-in hardware support for encryption and the ability to switch between personal and work e-mail at the push of a button will make it possible for the company to one-up competitors, said Wallin.

"I would have liked to see Nokia taking the switching between personal and work even further, and including not only e-mail, but calendar and contacts as well. But what we are seeing now is only Version 1.0," he said.

The encryption of both the device memory and the memory card will help companies protect their phones without losing performance, and the built-in chip can also be used to store certificates and keys. In this field, Nokia is years ahead of the competition, according to Wallin.

Both phones are expected to start shipping in July and cost about €350 ($538 U.S.), before subsidies. The phones will cost about as much as an iPhone 3G when the subsidies are calculated in, according to Wallin.