Nokia has launched the E7 smartphone in Kenya. This is the newest Nokia smartphone targeting business users and comes pre-bundled with various applications including a fully fledged office suite. The office suite offers both read and write capabilities on the phone. The phone offers touch and keypad input with a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out at an angle, with the screen tilting to face the user. The E7 has a 4 inch display screen whose clarity is enhanced through the  use of ClearBlack display technology.

“People are continuing to look for solutions that suit both their work and personal life; in business circles this is known as the ‘consumerisation’ of IT. The Nokia E7 gives people the confidence to bring their own smartphones to the workplace to connect securely to corporate messaging servers,” said Kenneth Oyolla, General Manager for Nokia East and Southern Africa.
Connectivity with workplace tools including Microsoft Exchange servers is made possible through the various apps available on Nokia’s Ovi store. Stocked with the Symbian 3 Operating System, Nokia is using the Ovi app store to push for the adoption of it’s phones. App management is aided by the Symbian interface which provides a menu where you can access and quit running applications. This is in contrast to the Android OS where most apps continue running in the background when not in use.  Battery life varies from about 12 hours under heavy usage to about 2 days under moderate to heavy usage, according to early user reviews.
The fact that the phone targets business users does not mean that it locks out those seeking pleasure and entertainment. The E7 comes with an 8 mega pixel camera with flash and is also capable of doing high definition (HD) photography and video. This is spiced with the addition of a hi definition multimedia interface (HDMI) which offers high quality output to supported devices such as modern televisions , projectors and other devices.
DSTV Mobile is also available on the device allowing you to watch TV on the go. However, the mobile TV cannot be output through the HDMI interface.
The Nokia E7 retails at about Ksh 54,000.