Announced on 14 February 2005, a successor to the extremely popular Nokia 6630, the Nokia 6680 is now shipping worldwide.

II. Software

Nokia 6680 is based on Symbian OS 8.0a and Series 60 v2.6. Like all other Series 60 2.x phones, the 6680 supports themes, i.e. skinning the entire user interface with installable packs. Furthermore, the 6680 also supports so called Active standby screen. This function allows you to put icons of five most frequently used applications directly on the standby screen of your phone. This, along with two customizable function keys, gives you rapid access to seven functions or applications. Active standby screen also works like a "Today" screen: it displays current calendar entries and scheduled tasks.

In addition to a full set of applications known from other Series 60 smartphones like Messaging, Calendar, Contacts, To-Do, XHTML/WAP web browser, Notes, Calculator, etc., the 6680 provides strong support for taking, processing and publishing pictures and video clips. All the tools can be found in the Imaging folder of the menu. Image manager lets you manage your pictures: copy/move/rename/delete them, create folders and quickly view your pictures using animated wheel of thumbnails. Photo Editor provides basic edit functions like crop, rotate, autofix (darken, brighten, balance), insert frame, add text, and Greeting card.

With Image Print you can print your pictures on compatible Bluetooth printers (XpressPrint) or even via USB cable with PictBridge printers. With Kodak Mobile you can save your photos and videos to Kodak's online service and order prints delivered to your door. You also get a preinstalled Lifeblog client.

Using Video editor, you can add transitions, visual effects and sound to your video clips and you can combine multiple clips in one. With Movie director you can create "muvees", styled video clips containing video, music and text. Just select your prefered style and let the program edit the clip automatically.

'Office' folder contains tools which let you create, view, edit and print documents. Using preinstalled QuickOffice viewers (QuickWord, QuickSheet and QuickPoint) you can view Microsoft Office compatible documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. With InfoPrint you can quickly and easily print messages (MMS, SMS, email), contacts, calendar entries and notes. Adobe PDF is an Adobe Acrobat viewer optimized for 6680's small screen. Wireless Keyboard application lets you take advantage of Nokia's Bluetooth keyboard.

You also get many other preinstalled tools, including Instant Messaging application, Push To Talk, Wallet as well as several wizards and managers which simplify configuration process and let you keep your data secure and exchange it with other devices.

Compatibility with existing 3rd party software written for older Series 60 phones is quite high. You may expect most of tools written in a system-friendly way to work on 6680 without any problems. Only some games and multimedia programs like e.g. movie players may need slight changes and will quickly appear as updated versions (some of them already have). Fast CPU of the 6680 makes working with 3rd party applications even more convenient and faster.

III. Summary

Nokia 6680 is undobtedly the most advanced Series 60 smartphone up to date. It looks very stylish and provides very high quality and full range of functions and services for both GSM and 3G network users. Not only it is powerful and elegant but it also comes packed with software for multimedia, imaging, messaging, office use and more. Fast data transfer in 3G and EDGE networks, stereo audio playback and support for MP3 and AAC, dedicated camera for two-way video calls, 1.3 megapixel camera for print-quality images, fast 220 MHz processor, high quality screen, Instant messaging and Push to talk with dedicated button, good battery and power-efficient hardware providing long standby times, convenient keypad and support for Bluetooth keyboard, hot-swappable memory card.... what else do you need?

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.