The stylista?s mobile candybar

By Diana A. Uy

The Nokia N79 is a fashion and technology must-have thanks to its simplistic, colorful design and powerful features that just spell smooth and fabulous, especially for the fairer sex. It is impressive, most especially, in a way that it can practically introduce technological Neanderthals (like myself) to new ways of using their phones?like changing phone themes according to one?s mood and keeping in touch with friends through the Internet way faster (Facebook, anyone?).

I was immediately hooked from the moment I laid hands on it.

Designwise, the N79 features a cool white-silver front cover with a flat keypad save for the protruding, tiny buttons beside the enviable, touch sensitive Navi wheel. The flat keypad can take some getting used to as it is almost like pressing on rubbers. It?s a candy bar that basically looks like the N78. The Xpress-On Smart Cover, however, makes the difference. The interchangeable smart cover is amazing because once you replace it with another, its technology automatically sets the color of your screen to match with the theme of that new cover. You can choose from five different colors like light sea blue, espresso brown, olive green, white and coral red.

Other cool features include the 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual LED flash, and sliding lens cover for protection. Now, I had a love-hate relationship with this camera.

I almost absolutely had no need of my digicam with the N79, that?s for sure. The N79 takes photos with such high resolutions (up to 2592x1944 pixels) and distinctive details, I couldn?t give it up. So like my old digicam, I still had to resize photos taken by N79 before I can upload them faster to my Multiply or Facebook site. It can be very tasking and time-consuming. You can upload these photos directly from your phone to these social network sites, though. Or you can try Share on Ovi, an online Nokia service that allows users to share personal pictures and videos from their mobile devices.

What I couldn?t figure out was the flash, which supposedly you have the option to switch off. I don?t get why every time I turn it off, some sort of ?flash? still appears when I am taking photos. It happened to me more than twice, and had gotten me in trouble more than twice. I gave up.

I wouldn?t recommend taking videos with the N79. Images are still a bit blurry and shaky.

The N79 can support up to 8GB microSD card (a 4GB microSD card comes with the package along with three smart covers), making it easier to store loads of photos, songs and video clips. Organizing photos too is a peach as you can tag them into albums.

About its wi-fi connectivity, let?s just say it?s fast enough that when I turn on my phone, I have no problem logging in to Facebook or accessing my e-mail every time I am on an Internet hotspot. I have no complaints, except when downloading some files. One needs the patience of a saint.

The N79 also boasts of an FM transmitter, Nokia Maps, built-in A-GPS providing turn-by-turn navigation, an auto-rotate function, and a Friendster widget, to name a few.