T-Mobile Nokia N70 and ALK CoPilot Live 6 for Symbian

Was it actually simply final week that my evaluate of ALK’s CoPilot Live 6 for Windows Mobile Smartphone was printed? As I discussed then, ALK has been supporting Windows Mobile for a while, however it wasn’t till February this 12 months that the corporate introduced the provision of CoPilot for Symbian Series 60.

T-Mobile has constructed a profitable relationship with ALK, bundling its navigation equipment with numerous Windows Mobile gadgets and now it has snapped up CoPilot Live 6 for Symbian to promote in a bundle with Nokia’s N70. That handset is out there both in its customary guise, or, in case you are notably masochistic, in a World Cup themed model.

T-Mobile despatched me the bundle and, as a result of the N70 itself has not been reviewed at TrustedReviews earlier than and ALK’s CoPilot is analogous when it comes to look and performance on each Windows Mobile Smartphone and Symbian Series 60, I’m going to do a two in a single evaluate right here, each the handset and the CoPilot software program.


I’ll, simply to spare the sentiments of any depressed footy followers, skirt across the World Cup difficulty and get that out of the best way first. Suffice it to say that the World Cup N70 comes with the official FIFA 2006 World Cup soccer sport from EA Sports and unique soccer themed icons, ringtones and wallpaper, that its sliver and black color scheme is barely totally different from the unique N70’s and that when you will need to have that handset with out the navigation software program, it’ll set you again from free to £149.99, relying on contract.

While we’re on pricing, the CoPilot software program by itself with UK and Ireland maps prices £199.99, and it prices £100 extra so as to add in European maps. The most you’ll pay for the N70 and CoPilot bundle is £299.99 relying on the tariff you select.

The Nokia N70 will not be a brand new handset however it has proved notably fashionable. Lacking the chunkiness of the exhausting drive toting N91 or the multi-twisting functionality of the N90, the N70 is a plain and easy sweet bar cellphone.

Its 109mm tall, 53mm broad and 22mm deep dimensions make it one of many extra demanding candybar handsets relating to pocket house, however I’ve been utilizing the non World Cup themed model of this handset for fairly some time and discover it no drawback to slide right into a pocket.

There is a entrance going through digicam for 3G video calls and a again going through 2 megapixel digicam for stills and video taking pictures. This has a flash however no self portrait mirror. In stills mode you’ll be able to zoom as much as 20x (digital), however pictures get very grainy in a short time.


There is a facet mounted digicam shutter button however you don’t use this to start out the digicam software program rolling. Instead you pull a big sliding slab on the again of the casing downwards towards you. This each reveals the digicam lens and begins the software program rolling.

I’m don’t actually just like the system. Sure, that slab of plastic protects the lens, however as a result of it doesn’t have a mechanical locking mechanism it may well slide unintentionally when you’re carrying the N70 round. It is somewhat massive, too, including considerably to the general measurement and weight. It feels considerably just like the proverbial sledgehammer getting used to crack a nut.


My evaluate N70 had 19MB of free inner reminiscence, and an RS-MMC card slot on its proper edge, protected by a stable flip up cowl. The handset comes with a 64MB card, however my copy of CoPilot got here on a 256MB card with 112MB free. What this implies is you can efficiently use the N70 as a music enjoying handset copying tunes to the cardboard manually, or fill that 112Mb with anything you want.

The headset Nokia supplies is able to fairly good high quality sound output, and it’s reassuringly white in color. But it’s, as normal, a Pop-Port gadget – you gained’t be capable of use your personal cans, so be sure to are OK with the in-ear buds earlier than taking the plunge.

Unlike newer N collection handsets there’s no Wi-Fi within the N70, however there may be Bluetooth, an FM radio, help for Visual Radio, calendar and To-Do administration. You get the PC Suite software program and an information cable for synchronising Outlook knowledge.

General usability is OK although not excellent. The fundamental display screen pushes 176 x 208 pixels into an space that measures 2.2 inches on the diagonal, and the keyboard feels a bit of squeezed given the quantity of entrance fascia obtainable. You would possibly discover it troublesome to textual content rapidly one-handed as the underside row of keys could be very near the underside fringe of the casing.


Nokia charges the N70 with battery lifetime of 3.5 hours discuss and 11 days standby. As I stated earlier I’ve been utilizing the non World-Cup model of this handset for some time and I discover it’ll sit on standby for greater than every week with out inflicting me any hassle.

On the navigation facet of issues ALK supplies its GPS antenna, a plastic automobile mount for the N70 (which is versatile when it comes to which handsets it can maintain), and a automobile charger for the GPS antenna. You don’t get a cost splitter that means that you can energy antenna and handset on the similar time, which is one thing of an oversight, in my opinion, as you do get it with the Windows Mobile Smartphone model of CoPilot Live 6.


That apart, T-Mobile and ALK have carried out a superb job of working collectively on this mission and the entire thing does really feel like a consolidated bundle somewhat than separate merchandise thrown collectively. The key proof for that is the getting began guide which walks you thru the primary few levels of utilizing the software program and contains N70 pictures so that you just really feel proper at dwelling.

The beauty of full postcode navigation is that I by no means discovered myself wanting to make use of anything. Slap in a postcode and a constructing quantity if in case you have it, and routes are calculated rapidly. You don’t want a lot else, although you need to use city, road title or highway intersection when you’d choose these.

The three planning modes – Guidance for navigation throughout a visit, Planning for preparation and Walking for getting a straight line between two factors, are the identical as with the Windows Mobile Smartphone model of this software program and once more the strolling mode will not be totally passable.


The N70’s communication amenities can be utilized to ship Live Traffic info which will be set to replace itself robotically. Live Web monitoring can also be included – you may give folks login info to a Web web page which tracks your progress alongside a route. People can ship you messages utilizing this service together with new locations which you’ll be able to both settle for or reject. Do the previous and they’re added to your itinerary.

The numerous choices and settings within the Symbian model of CoPilot Live 6 are for probably the most half the identical as these for the Windows Mobile Smartphone model, so test my evaluate of that for the main points. The solely distinction I got here throughout was the absence of the superior set of routing choices which exist within the Windows Mobile Smartphone model and which allow you to set most popular driving speeds for various kinds of highway and to arrange totally different profiles for various kinds of driving.


As with the Orange SPV C600 I discovered that ALK has made good use of the comparatively small display screen of the Nokia N70. 2D and 3D map views, ‘next turn’ and itinerary views work properly, although the itinerary view, itemizing each flip, can’t squeeze an excellent deal into the display screen without delay. Route calculation was quick and spoken directions had been clear.

”’Verdict”’

The Nokia N70 handset it an honest, if unspectacular 3G workhorse, that does the job, even when it lacks aptitude.

Having tried CoPilot Live 6 on two totally different handset working methods briefly order, I can conclude that ALK has carried out nicely porting its navigation software program to the Symbian working system. It’s not as slick because the Windows Mobile model and I’d wish to see the superior routing choices included subsequent time spherical, however general this mix of N70 and Co-Pilot Live 6 makes for a really serviceable navigation resolution certainly.