Anyway, it’s back to CES work for me – I’m really looking forward to sleeping after this week is over…

I also know all about Nokia and Sony Ericsson’s releases for CES, but I have to keep hush-hush about that. Watch the CES page on MobileBurn for live coverage from CES for all things mobile.

[Update 2: Jenith (a former MobileBurn employee and fellow Australian) weighs in, as does James Kendrick.]

Today is a travel day, as Ze Frank would say, and while packing up for the impending journey I am faced with the decision of what gadgets to take with me. It’s only the essentials that are coming this time, so the list includes:

1. HP dv2040XT notebook computer
2. Nokia N73 smartphone
3. Motorola MOTOKRZR K1
4. Sandisk Cruzer Titanium thumb drive
5. HP iPAQ h1940 PDA in a GPS car holder for directions
6. Sony CyberShot DSC-W7 digital camera
7. mVox MV900 Bluetooth speakerphone for in the car
8. Assorted memory cards, cables, and chargers for the above

Sitting the trip out that would otherwise be coming is the iMate JAQ I will be reviewing, for the simple reason that it hasn’t arrived yet.

So, if you’re reading this, I would be very interested to hear what gadgets you take with you on a trip. Let’s try and start a meme: post your travel gadgets list to your blog, and be sure to ping me so I can find you. Kent Newsome, Robert Scoble, Richard Querin – I’m looking at you!

(photo taken with the Nokia N73)

To start with, the Nokia N73, despite its top-heavy look, feels great in the hand. It is well weighted, and its size makes it easy to get a firm grasp on. It is on the large end of the size scale, but is not so big as to prove awkward – and considering its features, it is not an unreasonable size at all.

The first thing you will notice about the Nokia N73 is its large, high resolution (QVGA, 240×320 pixels) screen. This has to be one of the N73′s star features; it is bright, clear, and the only thing that I would say can match it is the N73′s Nseries cousin, the N80. With that said, the N73′s screen is still larger, and in my opinion, better to use.

Arguably second to the screen, the N73′s other draw card will be its camera. The camera looks great on paper: a 3.2 megapixel resolution and Carl Zeiss auto-focus lens put it on the same level as the video-centric N93, as well as the N73′s rival, the Sony Ericsson K800. I can’t comment too much on the camera due to lack of testing, but expect some sample photos and notes to be posted here in the next couple of days. What I will say though, it is seems the camera application has a little trouble when it comes to the preview before taking a shot. The viewfinder gives everything a bad blue tinge, which then disappears after taking the shot. The offshoot of this is the fact that it is hard to toy with white balance pre-photo, but at least the tinge doesn’t come out in the final image.

The keypad featured in the Nokia N73 will be its weakness for a lot of people. While I don’t have a problem with it personally, the numerical keypad is rather small. To offset this, the keys have a good sized ridge on them, and provide a great level of tactile feedback. On the positive side, the N73′s joystick is one of the best I’ve ever used. It is firm, and really feels like it will last the distance, unlike many other phone joysticks that feel like they will break after a period of use.

One, albeit small, thing that I’m happy to see has returned to a handset is the small blue indicator light on the front of the device. This light blinks periodically after the display has gone to sleep to show that the handset is turned on, saving you from activating the screen. The only pick I can make on this light is that I would prefer that it either changed color, or blinked in a different fashion when you have a missed call or new message.

On the software side of things, it is all standard Nokia S60 smartphone fare. The Quickoffice suite is pre-installed, allowing you to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. The Adobe Reader application is also here, as are the usual fair of PIM applications, plus Nokia’s Lifeblog software. The speed of the S60 v3 UI is greatly improved over v2, and the N73 is one of the faster S60 devices I have used of late. The handset includes a ’3D Ringtone’ application, which utilizes the handset’s stereo speakers to make 3D effects, such as ZigZag and Circular, when you receive a call. These speakers also have the effect of making ringtones extremely, almost ear piercingly, loud when you use an MP3 as a tone.

One thing that I have noticed, which could possibly be remedied with a firmware update, is occasionally the signal meter will fluctuate from full to almost nothing several times, even with the phone completely stationary. Curious indeed.

Overall, the Nokia N73 marks one of the best, if not the best, S60 smartphone I have ever used. Good speed, a great camera, and great design make it a must have in my opinion. If you are looking for a solid smartphone with an awesome screen, I can honestly recommend the Nokia N73.

• Nokia N73
• Nokia N93
• Nokia 6708
• Nokia E60
• LG KG320
• Helio Hero
• Helio Kickflip

Phew, that’s a lot of Nokias, isn’t it? There will probably be others added between those as well, so don’t take the above as definitive. Also, watch out for my Nokia N73 initial impressions, which I will be posting up here later today.

Unlike Barry Allwood at MobileScraper (like the name), I think this is a great idea – with a caveat. Like Barry, I hate Motorola’s confusing naming. Why are vowels so bad, Motorola? What I do like, however, are names like LG’s Chocolate. Think about the auto industry, manufacturers do not name their vehicles with long, confusing numbers, but instead give them names that are memorable, which increases model awareness and encourages word of mouth marketing.

I don’t think a pure name based system is the answer, though; Too many names will get just as confusing as the numbers. What I would love to see is manufacturers using names for ranges of products, which are then broken down with short, easy to remember numbers. Samsung, which I previously called the worst offender, has actually begun introducing this method (though only on a very small range of handsets currently). Samsung has its ‘Ultra’ range, which is then broken down into numbers based on the thickness of the handset (Ultra 9.9, Ultra 6.9), and while I don’t particularly like the decimal point in there, I think this is the way of the future.

Imagine it, the Ford SMAD-1901 – pretty memorable…

Of course, the device I’m referring to is the iPod, and the interface is the click (or scroll) wheel. This input device is great in the audio player space, but it was not designed as, and will never work as, an input device for a phone.

Two recent handsets that come to mind are the Samsung i300/i310 and the LG KV2400. Both are respectable devices in their own right, especially with Samsung’s 4GB/8GB hard drives, yet both spoil functionality by using a click wheel.

One of the biggest problems with adding a click wheel to a phone is the space constraints. While the iPod’s wheel is very easy to use, when you reduce its size and place it with a myriad of other buttons, usability is severally compromised. Nokia, for once, have actually taken the right step on this issue – their N91 music phone still uses traditional phone navigation, and modifies the music player to accommodate this – the addition of non-click wheel music control keys is the icing on the cake.

I do hope that the trend I’m seeing of adding a click wheel to a phone does not continue, and that manufacturers wake up to the face that the usability of the handset should not be compromised to add a ‘cool factor’ to the music side of things.

Going against initial assumptions that the very technology happy country that is Japan would jump on advanced devices like smartphones, previous releases, based mainly on Nokia’s S60 UI, have not done well at all. This is a trend that I imagine will continue, but I am really at a loss to explain why. The HTC Z is a very capable device – based on the Hermes reference design, it has all the specifications of a high-end non-smartphone – yet will most likely be outsold by a considerable amount by handsets with less organizational capabilities. This is certainly something that puzzles me, and I will be keeping a keen eye on what happens when these handsets are released to the market.