Product Review
by Amber Butler-Davis (Staff Reporter)

If you are in the market for a stylish, feature-packed yet pocket able device, the N85 should be on your list for consideration.

Design

If you have held the N95 or the N96 then you will notice that the N85 does have a smaller footprint in your hand. Weighing only 128 grams and measurements of 103 x 50 x 16mm mixed with the curved edges helps accentuate the impression of being a small phone too.
This small phone has a 2.6-inch QVGA screen and the keys are on an OLED panel. The OLED displays have a better screen legibility and consume less power. They have been used in Nokia’s S40 models and it is good to see that the company is now placing them in the higher-end Nseries. The display is brilliantly bright making the colours juicy and the text crisp.

The light sensor that can be found beside the front facing camera also does a great job when adjusting the brightness to suit the ambient lighting. On the top edge of the phone you will find the micro-USB port, a 3.5mm audio jack and the power button. One thing to mention about the N85 is that is does not have a 2mm charging port, it uses the micro-USB head for both charging and connecting to your PC. All you have to do is use separate adapters. The volume controls, a key lock button and a pair of speakers at both ends are on the right side of the phone.

If you select a phone because of its camera, you might be a bit disappointed with the shutter on the N85. There is no distinct feel between half-pressing and depressing the button.

The N85 is a dual slider, and usually these can create problems with the top row of keys being too close to the edge of the slider, but the N85 is not that bad. When it is in close slide mode, the N85 gives the impression that it has touch-sensitive keys because all the conventional buttons disappear. As you have seen on previous Nokia dual sliders, the multimedia keys morphs to the relevant controls when you are listening to music or playing a game.

Features

When it comes to features, Nokia has thought of everything for the N85. The phone has support for tri-band HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth stereo, GPS with Assisted-GPS, a 5-megapixel camera with a pair of LED flash and an integrated FM transmitter. However, it does not have an onboard DVB-H but I think we can live with out that since we are not in a country that supports it.

Besides the different screen size, the N85 offers all the features you would have seen in the N95 or N96. The N85 comes with a hot-swappable microSD expansion card slot and a 8GB flash media comes in the box so memory is not a problem you have to worry about.

On the user interface, you get the standard S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 fare. So those who have used a Nokia S60 phone before will have no trouble just picking this phone up and using it right away.

For the gamers, you will be happy to hear that the 8GB microSD card comes with 15 preinstalled games. These include Asphalt 3: Street Rules, Block Breaker Deluxe, Bounce, Brain Challenge, EA SPORTS FIFA 08, Hooked On: Creatures of the Deep, Midnight Pool, Mile High Pinball, Reset Generation, Snakes Subsonic, The Sims 2 Pets, Space Impact: Kappa Base, System Rush: Evolution, Tetris, and World Series of Poker Pro Challenge.

Also sharing is one of the features that play a huge role in Nokia’s push for its multimedia-rich devices. Ovi, Flickr and Vox are the three services that are available out-of-the box. However, you will need to keep in mind that these services do require a lot of features for one to share images, videos and multimedia so make sure you are on a good plan with net access or you may get a shocking bill at the end of the month.

Other applications that come preinstalled on the N85 included Search (search app for both in-device content and on the Web), Maps (for navigation), QuickOffice (read-only version), PDF reader, Zip manager and Application updater.

Performance

The 1,200mAh cell is rated for about 7 hours of talk time and approximately 15 days on standby. On average, you will be able to get two days use out of it. These two days included making calls, sending messages, listening to music, surfing the Web and using the phone’s navigational features. One thing that is a major plus with the N85 it that when you connect it to your PC via the data cable this will actually charge your phone while you organise everything on your PC.

You are able to fly through the menus with no problem, they are set out in a very user-friendly manner. The audio quality might surprise you, it is quite good via the onboard speakers and you are able to get decent pictures with the camera in bright conditions.

The N85 sure does have a lot going for it. In fact, if you were tossing up between the N96 and this, I would have to recommend the N85. That is unless you really do need the larger 2.8-inch screen and DVB-H connectivity.

Beijing Correspondent

Toys, Toys, Toys.

With Christmas only ten weeks away, we would like to hope that the toy stores are ready with all the latest gadgets and gizmos. However, it is sad to tell you this but after the closure of the Smart Union toy factory last week, nearly half of all the toy manufacturers in the Pearl River Delta could quite possible have to close their doors and go out of business within the next couple of years.

The vice-chairman of the Dongguan Toy Industry Association, Wang Zhiguang told the Guangzhou Daily that out of the 3800 toy firms based in Dongguan, it would be very likely that more than 2000 of them will not survive the next couple of years. Even though Zhiguang forecast is not the best news for the toy industry, no one can rebut it because the cost of raw materials have rose, there are now soaring overheads, the slowdown in the global market is evident plus the deprecation of the US dollar have all made a contributing factor to the fall in toy sales.

It will be the companies with the good financials and their own brands that will find it easy to survive over the next few years. The companies that are dependant on OEM (original equipment manufacturing) are going to be the ones that could crash and fall.

From 2006 to now, it was surprising to see that the total cost for producing toys has increased by more than 60 percent. While contract prices have also risen by an extra 10 percent. Also the local customs bureau explains how Dongguan toy firms exported a total worth of $550 million worth of toys in the first half of this year. This is not only a 1.5 percent decrease from last years figures but also the first drop in three years.

The owner of a toy factory in Dongguan, who would like to be left unidentified, told the China Daily on Monday that they are having a very hard time in business at the moment. He fears that someday in the near fututre he will have to close the doors to his factory and walk away. The owner explained to the China Daily how the tighter capital chain has been a negative impact for toy makers like himself. He states that all the toy makers are now a lot more cautious when they deal in raw materials suppliers and other business partners.

Xiao Yong, another owner of a Dongguan toy firm that sells not only gifts but Christmas trees too is just as worried about what winter has in store for them. Yong explains how one of the main problems for the numerous toymakers in Dongguan is that they rely too much on the United States and Europe to place orders. It is evident that the huge financial crisis over there has led directly to a reduction in orders here. Yong has only received half of the amount of orders for this Christams compared to last Christmas. Also, since the EU and the US changed the market threshold for toys made in China, because of the recall incident with the Bindeez in 2007, the testing fees for the toys have increased by nearly 25 percent.

The Chairman of Hayidai Toys Co Ltd, Xiao Senlin told the Nanfang Daily that it is time to start concentrating on the domestic market rather then internationally. Developing their our own brands instead of doing OEM might be the best way to avoid the global financial crisis.