Yesterday Nokia’s new Email map rolled into Beta, but dipping beneath the surface is like opening a door to Nokia’s future plans. Listed in the Email help files are references to Contacts, Directory, Calendar and Files. Sound familiar? It should, that’s exactly what Apple’s planning for MobileMe when it hits next week.
Nokia’s been talking about its new Ovi platform for almost a year now, and we’ve seen bits and pieces drop over the last few months. But this is the first app that shows some true integration promise, packing push email amongst its other, to be revealed, talents.
The extras in Email aren’t available yet, so we can’t see how they’ll be integrated, but it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the next generation will give Apple’s MobileMe a proper run for its money. Other functionality listed in the help files includes Firmware upgrades, Travel Plans, Backup and Restore.
We’ve been fiddling with the Email map for the last 24 hours, and our initial reaction is very positive. It’s fast to navigate and looks really slick – much more so than previous Nokia apps – but as it’s in Beta it comes with a stack of foibles (mail that arrives later than it should, tut tut, and no easy way to flick from message to message when you’re in message-reading mode).
We reckon they’ll be ironed out by the time it leaves Beta though, and by then Apple could have a serious competitor on its hands.
Out now (Beta) | Free | Nokia Email
