Review: Nokia N75
The messaging center for the N75 is a snap. It can be reached by tapping the left function key when viewing the home screen or by popping into the main menu. Either way brings you to the main messaging menu, which lets you initiate a new message, view the messaging inbox, view email inboxes, folders and so on. As with other S60 menus, once you've chosen to view one, you can easily jump to the others by scrolling sideways rather than darting back to the main menu.
Aside from emails, SMS and MMS messages, the N75 lets you send postcards. The postcards are really postcards, complete with a picture on the front, and messages and real-world street addresses on the back. We sent one to ourselves. It hasn't arrived yet. When it does, we'll update this to let you know how long it actually took to arrive. The service costs $1.99.
When composing messages or emails with either of the two included themes, you are out of luck when outside. The combination of dark background and minuscule font make reading the screen difficult and composing messages impossible.
The N75 does include an application that will read messages to you. This will be helpful for visually impaired users - or even people who need access to the SMS while driving.
You can also configure email applications to appear in the messaging center. We successfully downloaded Google's Gmail application and loaded the client into the messaging center without any issues. Thankfully, the Gmail client takes over and allows you to compose messages with its tool, rather than the standard N75 tool. This is much easier to view than the standard N75 messaging window.
When messages arrive, an alert is sent to the exterior screen. You can choose to acknowledge/exit or view the message. Viewing the message is just that, viewing. You cannot send a reply from the exterior screen, not even a preset message.
Lastly, the N75 comes preloaded with Yahoo and AIM instant messenger applications. Signing in and using them is no different than on many other phones. Conversations are easy to read and manage thanks to the large screen.
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Nokia N75
