For anyone who’s ever been disappointed by mobile phone snaps, the photogenic Nokia N86 is a real eye-opener. Not only is it home to Nokia’s first crisp 8MP CMOS sensor, this two-way 3G slider comes loaded with photo features usually found only on dedicated digital camera. Autofocus optics, adjustable sensitivity, exposure and white balance options put you in driving seat, while 8GB of storage provides room for thousands of photos, VGA videos and tunes downloaded from the Nokia Music Store. Images can be geotagged with the built-in GPS receiver and edited via Nokia Photos, shared through Ovi Share, or played back on the ultra-vivid, scratch-resistant 2.6-inch OLED screen. Dedicated music and gaming keys mean you’ll never be left thumb-twiddling with the N86, especially as you can try the latest N-Gage games before you buy. Naturally, this Nseries handset is tuned for high-speed web browsing (via HSDPA or Wi-Fi), has the latest Bluetooth technology and can loads hundreds of new applications from the Ovi Store.
What we say
What they say
“The Nokia N86 8MP camera phone packs enough punch to impress an experienced photographer”
Mark Peters, LetsGoDigital.org
If you only do one thing
Put your old camera in mothballs and explore the world around you through the autofocus, Carl Zeiss lens of the N86. A mechanical shutter means blur-free high shutter speeds, a variable aperture gives creative control of your images and the powerful dual-flash LED lets you keep shooting even as the sun goes down.
Miscellany
Shining a light on OLED
Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have begun to replace liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in smaller sizes.
OLED screens are much better at reproducing dark colours and blacks, are more power efficient, show less blurring and can be made lighter and thinner.
In the future, folding OLED (or FOLED) displays will enable e-book readers that can be rolled up like newspapers, and displays should even be able to be printed directly on to almost any material using modified inkjet printers.
However, producing larger colour OLED screens is proving expensive, especially as the longevity of the organic materials they use currently lags behind traditional LCD technology.