After several leaks the Nokia E63 finally got its official announcement today. Much like the rumor had it the handset is a slightly downgraded and more budget friendly version of the E71. Most of the business functionality is still there so the lower price tag might actually be enough to make it quite a success amidst the global financial crisis.

The Nokia E63 has got a full hardware QWERTY keypad and comes with a slim waistline of 13mm. Its body is lacking the metal finish of the E71 and is entirely made of plastic instead. Most surprisingly however it will have touch sensitive Navi wheel functionality and a 3.5mm audio jack that lack on E71.

The phone has a 2.36″ 16M color QVGA display and up to 110 MB of internal memory, which can be expanded through the microSD card slot. According to the press release the Nokia E63 users will also have 1GB of online storage at their disposal though the latest Nokia service called Files on Ovi.

Nokia E63 is going to be available in red and blue colors

The Nokia E63 packs quad-band GSM and dual-band UMTS connectivity (which comes in three different flavors) but unlike the E71 has no HSDPA support. The other methods of data transfer on-board are microUSB port, and Bluetooth (A2DP and EDR) and Wi-Fi.

The Nokia E63 also lacks GPS and replaces the 3.2 MP autofocus camera of its elder brother with a 2 MP fixed focus snapper. The handset will start shipping in the coming weeks with an estimated retail price of 200 euro (250 US dollars) before taxes or subsides.

Photos of what appears to be Nokia’s next business flagship E75 appeared online. This is the third public appearance of the Nokia E75 after the promo video that surfaced a while ago and the first portion of live photos that leaked. This time the quality of the photos is better and they give a better impression of what the phone actually looks like.

Nokia E75

Sporting the hybrid form factor Nokia E75 will feature both a regular 12-key alphanumeric keypad and a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The handset will also come with a metallic back panel, much like the Nokia E71. Some of the other known features of this business powerhouse include a 2.4″ display, a 3.2 megapixel camera and Wi-Fi. One might also easily guess GPS, Bluetooth and USB and probably a 2.5mm audio jack.

The first Nokia E75 live photos that leaked a while ago

There is no word on the release date of Nokia E75 or its pricing but we are guessing it won’t be long now

The spanking new Nokia 6260 slide easily steals the spotlight with Wi-Fi, GPS, 320 x 480 pixels display, and a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics. We bet that reading those specs the words “dumb phone” or “S40″ would never cross you mind. But the new Nokia 6260 slide is exactly that – a feature phone running the latest S40 6th edition user interface. Say hello to the next S40 super phone.

The unassumingly named Nokia 6260 slide has the same conservative design borrowed from the current 6xxx lineup (Nokia 6600 slide and Nokia 6210 Navigator). Obviously, the lack of original design ideas is not plaguing only Sony Ericsson recently.

Still we can’t really brace our excitement as the 6260 slide is the best thing that has happened to the Nokia S40 family for quite some time now.

Nokia 6260 slide in black

The Nokia 6260 slide sports a 2.4-inch 16M color display with the one-off resolution of 320 x 480 pixels (HVGA). It has quad-band GSM support plus HSDPA 10.2 Mbps. As we already mentioned, there is also Wi-Fi and a built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support.

The integrated 5 megapixel autofocus camera is accompanied by a dual LED flash. Sadly, it will only be capable of recording VGA video at 15 fps as most recent midrange S40 handsets.

There is 200MB of internal memory and a microSD slot with support for up to 8GB cards. The 360-degree D-pad is another first for the S40 lineup – it’s a nice enhancement, which sounds as a cool addition to the digital map scouring or the mobile web browsing.

Speaking of web browsing, the Nokia 6260 will be the first feature phone to sport the awesome Nokia WebKit Open Source Browser, previously available only on the Symbian S60 smartphones. It’s one of the best mobile browsers currently boasting a virtual mouse pointer interface, incremental page rendering, visual history browsing and page mini-map. Flash Lite 3 support is also added to the S40 platform, which should make watching flash videos a breeze – another first for a feature phone.

Stereo Bluetooth 2.1, a microUSB port that’s used for charging, and a 2.5mm A/V jack with TV-out functionality are all aboard the 6260 slide.

Nokia 6260 slide in beige

The only contemporary feature that seems missing on the Nokia 6260 slide is the accelerometer sensor that is making its way throughout handsets of various makes and walks of life. We wonder when Nokia will add that to their feature phones. But let’s not digress, the new 6260 still looks like a helluva performer.

The Nokia 6260 will be available in beige or black in the beginning of 2009 at an estimated price of 299 euro before taxes and subsidies. That sounds a bit much as it will have a hard time competing with similarly equipped Nokia smartphones. Still, only time will tell.

Yet another fashion brand is just about to enter the mobile phones business. Samsung and Hugo Boss have come up with a special Hugo Boss edition of the fully touch-operated F480 Tocco.

The handset user interface and wallpapers have been designed in collaboration with the famous fashion company. The cover of the phone now carries the Hugo Boss logo and the phone also has a set of special ringtones that are said to reflect the fashion company’s style. The final difference from the original Samsung F480 Tocco is the specially designed Bluetooth handset that comes in the retail package.

Samsung F480 Hugo Boss

In case you need a quick memory refresh here are the most important features of Samsung F480. It is a tri-band phone with HSDPA 7.2Mbps support and an ample 2.8″ touchscreen QVGA display. The camera counts the impressive 5 megapixels and comes with autofocus, power LED flash, image and video stabilization.

Of course, there is audio and video player with multiple file format support, as well as FM Radio with RDS. The impressive TouchWiz user interface and navigation are the final ingredients for making the classy performer.

In case you’ve missed our review of the Samsung F480 now might be the right time to pay it a visit.

The Samsung F480 Hugo Boss will start selling as early as next month through the Hugo Boss retail outlets in Europe. Its hefty estimated price of 480 euro suggests a nicely loaded retail package

LG today launch the LG KF900 Prada or more commonly known as Prada II. They have also taken the opportunity to announce a Bluetooth wrist watch, which matches the fashionable handset and re-affirms its high-tech status.

There isn’t much new stuff about the LG KF900 Prada itself that you haven’t heard of already except maybe the fact that it’s equipped with a capacitive touchscreen display that will support multi-touch functionality.

As much as some of you despise the iPhone it still remains the sole mainstream mobile phone to-date that offers multi-touch functionality. So as it seems the LG KF900 Prada will be the first to follow.

The multi-touch functionality of the LG KF900 Prada will be available in the image viewer, web browser, or document viewer.

Beside the launch of the handset, LG and PRADA also revealed a cool fashionable accessory called ‘PRADA Link’ (LG-LBA-T950). It’s an elegant digital wristwatch, which actually is a Bluetooth device that can remotely monitor phone calls as well as allow you to read full SMS text messages. On top of that, the timepiece is water resistant, so you can keep track of your calls and messages while taking a bath or resting in the pool. Now how cool is that!

If you want to have a closer look at the KF900 Prada you may visit the brand new cool teaser site found here.

The new Prada phone is set to hit the stores in Europe by late November this year. Its starting price – 600 euro… The new Prada Link wrist watch – 299 euro… Reading SMS on your watch – priceless

Ever wondered what kind of testing the hardware of the phone gets before being released on the market? Today Nokia released a video showing more details about its testing facility and the testing process itself. The footage is from one of the 11 Nokia test centers documenting some of the more than 200 mechanical tests that each phone goes through before hitting the shelves.

As you might have guessed the tests vary quite substantially. The everyday use tests include placing the device with a shaker with hard particles to simulate placing your handset in a bag or a pocket with things such as key rings. Splash resistance is also checked to make sure that a cup of spilled coffee isn’t going to ruin your evening by turning your phone in wreckage. Dust resistance is also properly inspected.

Bending and twisting tests • dripping water test • dust box test

The resistance to various weather conditions is also examined. Those include extreme hotness and coldness, humidity and continuous exposure to sun, which might cause bleaching.

The funniest part is the robustness testing when they simulate dropping the phone on the concrete, twisting it and applying strong pressure to it. Admit it – it is a nice thing to look at when it is not your phone that gets tortured.

Scratching test • dropping test machine • humidity test

Finally the phone keypad endurance is tested by special robotic arms that simulate several hundred thousand presses on each key. We wonder if Sony Ericsson did this test for the S500 and W580 that earned their sorry reputations for having faulty keypads.

Keypad durability test

We certainly hope that thanks to this intensive testing the endurance of the Nokia phones will improve. It is not too long since some of even the highest-end phones of the Finnish manufacturer used to have paint that is easily peeled off and frames a bit too fragile.