Nokia launches new Symbian X7 entertainment phone, but research shows Android smartphone activations soaring

Nokia may have announced a future commitment to the Windows Phone 7 operating system, but that hasn't stopped the company launching two new models running the latest version of its Symbian operating system.

However, the new phones face tough competition: figures from The Wall Street Transcript suggest some 350,000 Google Android smartphones are being activated worldwide every day.

That's a 16% increase on the numbers from a few months ago, and a massive rise on figures from about a year back, which were running at about 60,000 a day.

The new Nokia models are the E6 and X7: the E6 is based on the company's E71 and E72, and is described as 'a sleek business smartphone with a full QWERTY keypad and a high resolution touch display.'

It's been designed for exceptional battery life – almost 15 hours talk time and up to 744 hours' standby – and has full access to Microsoft messaging services including Exchange and Communicator Mobile.

The X7 is aimed at the entertainment market, and has a 4in AMOLED touchscreen with '16:9 near HD' 640x360 pixel resolution and an 8MP camera.

It gives 6.5 hours talk time, 6 hours video playback, 50 hours of music playback, and 450 hours on standby.

Also provided are two preloaded games – Galaxy on Fire HD and Asphalt 5 HD – and the X7 has instant access to Web TV on demand, with the option of adding favourites to its home screen or add new channels via the Ovi Store.

Both models have 8GB of storage via a standard microSD card supplied, with support for cards of up to 32GB, and also built-in GPS navigation with free lifetime walk and drive guidance.

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Andrew has written about audio and video products for the past 20+ years, and been a consumer journalist for more than 30 years, starting his career on camera magazines. Andrew has contributed to titles including What Hi-Fi?, GramophoneJazzwise and Hi-Fi CriticHi-Fi News & Record Review and Hi-Fi Choice. I’ve also written for a number of non-specialist and overseas magazines.