Nokia N73

Nokia N73

Manufacturer	Nokia
Slogan	Connecting People
Series	Nokia Nseries
Compatible networks	GSM quad-band UMTS 2100
Availability by country	Q3 2006
Predecessor	Nokia N70
Successor	Nokia N78 Nokia N82
Form factor	Candybar
Dimensions	110×49×19
Weight	116
Operating system	Symbian OS v9.1 + S60 3rd Edition
CPU	Dual CPU ARM9 220 MHz
Memory	64 MB
Storage	42 MB (Nokia N73) 40 MB (Nokia N73 Music Edition)
Removable storage	miniSD up to 2 GB
Battery	BP-6M Battery, 3.7 V, 1100 mAh
Data inputs	Keypad
Display	2.4 inch QVGA, TFT, 262,144 colours, 240×320 pixels
Rear camera	3.15 megapixels (Carl Zeiss Tessar lens, flash, red-eye reduction, autofocus, 20x digital zoom)
Front camera	VGA camera (640×480 pixels) with up to 2× digital zoom
Connectivity	3G EDGE UMTS Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Infrared

N73 Simple (left) and Music Edition (right)

The Nokia N73 is a mobile phone by Nokia officially described as a "multimedia computer". The feature which most distinguishes the N73 from other 'N'- or 'E'-series Nokia mobile phones is the 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera. The N73 does not support Wi-Fi. Since the N73 supports access via Bluetooth and USB Mass Storage (amongst other methods), it is possible to transfer large collections of files to and from it using any computer that also supports either Bluetooth or mass storage via USB (e.g. Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, etc.). Notably, Nokia supports firmware upgrades to the N73 to be made by the user via a module in Nokia PC Suite or directly over-the-air.

Software

In common with other Nokia 'Nseries' and 'Eseries' phones of its time (late 2006), the N73 comes loaded with many software applications, including contacts, messaging, picture and video galleries, a music player, a Visual FM Radio, RealPlayer, an IM client, a WAP browser, a full web browser based on KHTML/WebKit, a Microsoft Office document viewer, a PDF viewer, an Adobe Flash Lite viewer and some games.

The majority of these applications support background execution; for example, one may listen to music while browsing the Internet, and then may switch to write a text message or e-mail, without having to close any applications. With the exception of newer Sony Ericsson phones like K550 and W610, smartphones' typically cannot do this or can do it in only a very limited way; for example, only the music player can run in the background.

Java applications as well as Symbian (S60 release 3) applications can be installed to or removed from the phone by the user, using either the Nokia PC Suite software, which is included with the phone, or the installer application on the phone itself.

The N73 uses a database system for the supplied 'Gallery' applications (which permanently run in the background, in order to reduce seek and operation times) and again these databases can be updated locally on the device itself. This means that supported image, video and audio files can be placed almost anywhere in the file system and browsed easily, and in the case of MP3 audio files, by ID3 tag (e.g. 'album', 'artist', etc.).

Editions

Besides the original edition, Nokia released three other variants of N73.

Music Edition

In addition to the basic N73, Nokia subsequently released the N73 'Music Edition'. It has technically the same hardware as the N73, but the 'multimedia button' on the keypad has been replaced with a button that starts the music player. The Music Edition also includes a 2GB memory card and the phone is completely black. The music player on the Music Edition supports album art and visualisations, while that on the regular N73 does not. It also has an improved control interface where 'play', 'pause', 'stop', 'next' and 'previous' may all be selected directly by simply pushing the phone joystick in the appropriate direction rather than having to scroll through on-screen buttons for these controls and then select them as on the ordinary N73. The Music Player application stays in the background at all time (even when music is not being played) in the Music Edition of N73. In the latest firmware versions this application can be terminated, but doing so prevents from using the Music Edition remote control to start listening to music, until the application is started again by using the phone's keypad.

Internet Edition

The 'N73 Internet Edition' was essentially the Music Edition, but retaining the 'multimedia button' function, rather than a dedicated 'music button'. The 'N73 Internet Edition' is not available in the Middle East and North Africa.

Special Edition

Nokia has also released another model of the N73 called the 'N73 Special Edition' in the Middle East and North Africa. The phone was released during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in 2007. The phone has the same hardware as the other editions of the N73 but comes pre-loaded with Islamic applications and the phone is completely white.

Nokia also released an N73 Special Edition in Indonesia, without pre-loaded Islamic applications.

Firmware

However, all three versions of the N73 appear to have been updated to the same software as each other, essentially making them exactly the same phone – the V4.0726.2.0.1 dated 26 June 2007 updates the standard N73's Music Player to the same version as the Music Edition's enhanced Music Player detailed above, while keeping the 'multimedia button' function, essentially making it an Internet Edition. Although Nokia N73 Software version 4.0735.3.0.2 & 4.0736.3.2.1 was released October 2007, some might not have availed this firmware version, because of limited actions to other countries.

As of 2008 the new firmware version of this smartphone (not ME) is V4.0812.4.0.1 (exclusively released for Asian phones) updates with the standard features still with Nokia Maps Application installed by default (requires an external bluetooth GPS receiver), Nokia Lifeblog, PTT, and Search applications carried on from the V4.0726.2.0.1 plus the latest addition is the Nokia Mobile TV application also installed by default (requires an external Nokia Mobile TV Receiver SU-33W) which is an application available on N77. The camera is much improved from earlier firmware. The phone now takes only 27 seconds to boot. It took 47+ seconds in earlier firmware. Also, the N73 has 20 MB of RAM available after boot. A little change was users may not be able to install the N-Gage application which is modified to work in N73. Making it better compared to ME because of its multimedia keypad rather than having only a single usage button, same features of Music Player like ME that supports album art and visualizations, enhanced control interface and also available on start screen when menu key is pressed and hold after the phone boots up.

Later, in June 2008 Nokia released firmware version 4.0823.4.4.1 which added improvements on its interface. 4.0839.42.0.1 was released on September 2008, which is a beta version of 4.0839.42.3.1 released same date and not available in some countries.

Also, during recent UK Nokia poster campaigns, the black (ME) version of the phone was advertised without the term 'Music Edition', and the O2 UK shop sells the N73 in both Silver/Plum and Black, with the Black version having the multimedia button rather than the music button.

Reception

The Nokia N73 is the best selling phone in the Nokia NSeries, and one of Nokia's best selling (starting from 2007) phones, owing to its balanced features and attractive price.^{[citation needed]}

Specifications

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nokia N73.

• Official Nokia N73 Product Page
• Nokia technical specs
• Nokia N73 Full phone specifications (Gsmarena)
• Nokia N73 Advanced Phone specification (Gsmspice)
• Bluetooth Qualification Program specifications
• "Ready, Set, Snap – Nokia N73 starts shipping" (Press release). Nokia UK. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 25 July 2006.