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Home Page Walks Photos Led Walks Programme Message Board About Led Walks Walks in the Region Holidays Photos > News Items < How to Join Contact Us Footpath Problems Local Links Walking Links Favourite Walks Books		A review of the new Nokia N900 The N900 is the latest foray into the increasingly crowded smartphone market by Finnish mobile phone giants Nokia. Although it is pitched primarily at the business customer, it has plenty to offer for the outdoor enthusiast as well, as we shall see. The phone itself is a little on the chunky side, with a large screen and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. However, it seems very robust and well built, and feels like it could withstand the rough and tumble of a hillwalking holiday. There is a satisfying clicking action when the keyboard section is opened or closed, and it doesn’t feel like it would open up when shoved into a particularly crowded pocket. There is a stand on the back of the phone that allows you to prop it up on a surface, which could come in handy for taking photographs, or for propping it up on a table or dashboard. The camera on the N900 features a high-quality five-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens, recessed a little behind the lens cap to prevent scratches. The still picture quality is on the whole excellent, and the video quality is also superb. It can film at 30 frames per second at the resolution of 640x480, which is on a par with standard television images and high quality YouTube clips. There is also a dual-LED light and flash, to provide light for video and stills when light conditions are low. It is not as bright as you might find on some other mobile phones, but it should suffice for most situations. One feature of the N900 that should be of particular interest to the avid hiker is the satellite navigation facility. The built in GPS chip and compass, together with the integral Ovi Maps service, allow you to plan your journey, save favourite destinations, and get directions to anywhere in the world. You can also use it to find things such as takeaways, hotels, and ATMs, simply by typing in the keyword. The phone runs on the powerful Maemo operating system, which allows you to run a wide variety of third party software on the phone. There is also Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, so you can access the internet almost anywhere. The large touch screen has a resolution of 840x480 pixels, and it has to be said that this is one of the clearest, brightest screens ever seen on a mobile phone. Although the Nokia N900 is quite big and heavy by mobile phone standards, its astonishing feature set makes it a very useful thing to have in your large front pocket. You can get the Nokia N900 with a contract from Vodafone in the UK.		More Technology