Nokia 6600 was announced on 17 June 2003 and is going to be available in Q4 2003. The 6600 is a huge step forward in the Series 60 range, incorporating several important hardware and software changes. The 6600 is the first Series 60 product clearly located in the Business category.
Nokia 6600 is based on the latest Symian OS v7.0s operating system and incorporates a new version of Series 60 software - Series 60 v2.0. The screen is now 16-bit deep, making it possible to display 65,536 colors and the camera supports 2x digital zoom. Integrated support for Java MIDP 2.0 enables more capable Java applications than previously (e.g. games which exploit Bluetooth and messaging capabilities) and deploys Sun’s new Java virtual machine which gives significant improvements in Java application performance.
Nokia 6620 is an American version of the 6600 model but it also offers several important enhancements. EDGE support provides up to 118 kbps network connection. Built-in MP3/AAC player generates stereo sound. Internal memory has been expanded to 12 megabytes and the device comes with 32 MB memory card. The operating system is optimized and faster. Nokia 6620 features a PopPort connector which provides cable connectivity. All the remaining features, described below, are the same for both the 6600 and 6620.
Being based on the 7.0s operating system from Symbian, the 6600 offers a new lightweight, multi-threaded multimedia framework (MMF) which enables high-performance audio, video and imaging capabilities for Symbian OS applications. The MMF is designed to meet the needs of high performance media-centric applications such as video players, midi engines and particularly games. It also advances its market-leading telephony and networking capabilities further by implementing Multiple PDP contexts and a Quality of Service framework. Multiple PDP contexts allow users to access more than one network service at the same time, for example users can access email whilst simultaneously surfing the web or downloading an application. Quality of Service (QoS) framework allows to manage network connections intelligently, ensuring the best possible user experience in any situation: the phone may provide a high bandwidth guaranteed network connection for browsing and a low priority “best effort” connection for downloading emails.
From the "user side", the 6600 offers a fully skinnable user interface using "themes". You can quickly change the look of most of the user interface elements (like menus, title bars, backgrounds, screen saver, icons, color palette and more) by selecting a theme in preferences. Themes can be edited and new themes can be downloaded and installed from the Internet.
Nokia 6600 is both smaller and lighter than its predecessors. It weighs 122 g and its dimensions are 108.6 x 58.2 x 23.7mm, 113cc. With its "external" keypad, it is still smaller than the 7650 with the keypad closed. And it is thinner. The screen not only displays 65 thousand colors, but is also much crisper and brighter.
The battery (BL-5C, Li-Ion, 850 mAh) provides up to 240 hours of standby and 2-4 hours of talk time.
N6600 supports storage memory expansion using Multimedia Cards (MMC) - up to 128 MB. It also offers larger internal memory - 6 megabytes compared to less than 4 MB in Nokia 7650 and 3650. Nokia 6600 is a tri-band (900/1800/1900 MHz) phone and, like its predecessors, supports GPRS, HSCSD, Bluetooth, Infrared, multimedia messaging (MMS), video recording (with digital zoom) and more. The 6600 is a fully open platform making it possible to install C++, Java MIDP 1.0 and 2.0, OPL and MobileVB applications.
Due to serious changes in the underlying OS and in the Series 60 layer, some applications written for previous Series 60 models may refuse to work on the new device, but one can expect 6600-compliant versions very soon. With the latest Symbian OS 7.0s operating system and new version of Series 60 platform installed, Nokia 6600 is currently the most advanced and the strongest Series 60 device available in terms of performance and functionality.
N6600 - PROs AND CONs
ADVANTAGES (OVER Nokia 3650):
- the latest Symbian OS v7.0s
- new Series 60 terminal software v2.0
- Java MIDP 2.0
- 16-bit screen (65,536 colors, crisp and bright)
- support for Multithreaded Multimedia Framework (MMF)
- support for Quality Of Service (QoS)
- Multiple PDP contexts
- light, small and good looking
- advanced XHTML/WAP browser
- full personalisation of the user interface using themes
- improved camera with 2x digital zoom
- typical keypad (not the round one)
- joystick instead of five-way key
- SSL and VPN (Virtual Private Networks) supported
- Nokia Wallet
- stereo sound and AAC/MP3 playback (6620 only)
- EDGE support up to 118 kbps (6620 only)
- PopPort connector - USB connectivity (6620 only)
DISADVANTAGES:
- memory card hidden under the battery - no hot swap
- no USB connectivity (6600 only)
- mono sound (6600 only)
Nokia 6600 is the most powerful Series 60 terminal currently available. It is suitable for both business and and young users by providing full PIM functionality combined with rich multimedia and gaming capabilities. The 6620 model adds even more useful features including fast EDGE data transmission, stereo sound, large internal memory and USB connectivity.
