Not very long ago more cellphones were sold for their added FM radio and music player capabilities. Then came the time when its picture taking power and mega pixels became the selling point. But with large display screens and mega pixels equaling the real-time cameras, cell phones became ?camera phones? and the mega-pixel war almost reached its saturation point. There couldn?t be a better time than this for new ideas, and cellphone giant Nokia jumped the gun and launched their new innovation ?Nokia 6110 Navigator? with embedded GPS receiver and full satellite navigation software.
Though there are other phones available with the satellite navigation facility, one has to subscribe and pay for it (even have to buy the city maps). Nokia 6110 is different! It comes ready to navigate with ?Sat Nav? imbedded, along with ?Route 66? software and works without the GPRS or even the SIM card. Just take it out of the box, charge the battery and it?s ready to guide you through the maze of roads by giving you turn-by-turn voice instructions and onscreen navigation (it has pre-installed maps of eight Indian cities (Delhi & NCR, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore & Hyderabad).
The smartly designed Nokia 6110 is a slider phone, and available in piano black or white with silver trimmings. Though the 6110 is a wee bit heavy (125 grams) for its small size (just 101mm X 49mm X 20mm) and bulky in the pocket, the rounded-edge body sure make it easy to grip.
The front bezel (with the slider closed) has a rather small but very bright LCD colour display screen (34mm X 45mm and 320 X 240 pixel). A five-way-multi-function rocker flanked by two, two-way rockers, sits just under the display panel within the silver trimming. The most important ?Navigator soft-key? occupies the tapered edge of the front piano black bezel along with ?function? and ?cancel soft-keys?. To access the phone key-pad you have to open the slider. The rear bezel has two stereo speakers placed too close to each other negating stereo effect. Just above it is the primary 2 mega pixel lens with a LCD flash that is covered with a steel sliding plate. The camera is nothing to write about.
The top panel has the sockets for handsfree ear-phones and AC charger. The provided earphones are well-designed but are not good enough for listening to music. The covered USB port and micro-SD expansion card (up to 2 GB) slot are on the left panel while the dedicated camera button and a two-way rocker that doubles for volume control and camera zoom are provided on the right-hand panel. The press-button to open the back lid to access Li-polymer (3.7 volts, 900mAh) rechargeable battery and SIM card is on the base of the phone.
Nokia 6110 as a smartphone is an average Quad band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and 3G WCDMA/UMTS 2100 device with most of the multi-media features like music player, FM tuner, still and movie camera with USB and Bluetooth interface but amazingly no Wi-Fi connectivity.
But as a navigator it?s a beauty to be guided by! Just press the large dedicated navigator button and the ?Route 66? software quickly comes alive. Locking onto those orbiting GPS satellites to get your location may take only a few seconds in open spaces, but in cities crowded with tall concrete buildings, it may take a little longer to get hooked. The navigator will chart your route and show it in 3D on the display screen (one can also choose a viewing angle, I found viewing from a 30 degree angle very realistic from a car driver?s point of view). The arrow will lead you on the map and a soothing voice (male or female in English or Hindi) will alert you in advance of approaching intersections and tell you when to take a turn in direction of your destination. And if you disobey the instruction, like I did to check the real-time navigation, it re-charted my route and politely advised me the new route without taking any offence.
Feeding your destination is a bit tardy procedure! If you key-in your full address, chances are that the Nokia 6110 will show ?no results?. After many frustrating attempts, I zeroed in on a method, first key in the name of the locality in general, once that done, it will show you a list of all the roads, buildings and other landmarks in that area, browse through the list and click on the desired option. Voila! Your route is charted and you will get all your directions as you drive on. All the maps are surprisingly accurate to the last hundred metres.
If you are using the Nokia 6110 as a navigator, please do not forget to carry a ?car charger? as the battery drains out much faster and may not last more than a few hours. To use it in the car you must use the adjustable car mount bracket (again you have to dish out Rs 2,070 for it) or else the traffic cops may book you for using a cellphone while driving the car! At an MRP of Rs 20,869, Nokia 6110 Navigator is the best GPS phone right now.