The Story Behind My Phones: Nokia E90.

"Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW." (aya-yu) 12/01/2014 at 16:49 • Filed to: The Story Behind My Phones

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I guess i'm the only opponaut who has a weird habit of collecting old phones. And now, i think i'm the only one who has a post dedicated to that habit. And today, we have a special guest called the Nokia E90.

So, the E90. The E90 is a story of Nokia's weird obsession with a phone that could be turned into a small and tiny and impractical netbook. These were called the Communicator, and the E90 was the last of the breed.

I remember when this phone was launched in a big auction style launch here in Indonesia where the one who got the most monies can buy the first ever E90 in the world. An unnamed man won the bid, and he paid 45 Million IDR (about 4,500USD) for his E90. In 2007. And i can't imagine how pissed he is when the iPhone was released a month later.

Or did he? E90 was in every way better than the first iPhone. The first iPhone with the first version of iOs doesn't even have apps. Let alone office. Heck, the first iPhone doesn't even have 3G support for god sake. The only place i think where the iPhone wins was the memory, since the E90 only can accept 2GB of memory while the iPhone has 4GB memory from the start.

And The E90 has everything you expect from a smartphone today. It has 3G with HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Satnav, Big Screen, Aircon... Wait. No, it doesn't have an Aircon. Still, it's not the end of the world because it has a big keyboard! Something that has been missing from smartphone for years :(

I think it's kinda fair to say that Nokia sees the smartphone trend in 2007, but they're too busy aiming for serious things like business. While people prefer something that a bit more fun and simple, something that Nokia rarely offers. And a bit lighter too, since this phone weigh a massive 210 grams. It's so heavy that some say if you hit the dog in the head with this, you could kill that dog.

And believe it or not these photos were taken using an even older Nokia N95. But that's another story altogether. If you enjoy this, i'll make this article becomes a seasonal article, just like my famous and rubbish awesome quickride. What do you think?

Saoul-Virage > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 16:53

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N95 was a great phone to take picture... and still today as your post demonstrates!

Tripper > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 16:57

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What was the super fancy nokia slider model? It was all silver, really heavy, definitely the best looking slider I have ever seen.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 16:57

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I used my Dad's old E90 as my "smartphone" for a few months in 2011. What an odd thing, but yet it still did a lot of typical smartphone tasks fairly well. That being said, it was comically huge.

Also from my Dad's old prototype collection were an N95, the first gen communicator (back when you could only get a Euro-band GSM phone or US-band, but not both), and Nokia's first camera phone, dating back to about 2001 if not slightly earlier.

bob and john > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 16:58

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OOOOOOO E90. I used to have a long line of phones....

Not pictured: original 3310 I had, or the Nexus S I ahd at the time.

dunno where most of these are now....

from left to right
sony erikson (forgot model)
LG cookie
cheapo nokia
another sony
Nokia E63 (I liked this one a lot)
Nokia C6
Nokia N8

Tapas > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:01

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Oooo I love old Nokias! Especially the Communicator series.

I had the 9300 Communicator and 3330 (not 3310/15) as a kid :)

I fell in love with these when I saw one in a Bond movie. Piece Brosnan was controlling his 7-Series (?) with the 9500 communicator in it :D

The E90 was the last of the Communicators :(

And it was a top of the line Nokia.

ttyymmnn > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:02

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Any history of technology, particularly a technology that we all use, is interesting. I enjoyed reading that. I've had an iPhone since the 4, and it has never been as good a phone as any device dedicated to bring a phone. I carried a flip phone and an iPod Touch for years simply because the phone was so good. Please do write some more of these. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > bob and john 12/01/2014 at 17:02

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Well, my collection is a bit bigger than that..

That sony was the Z series, i forgot the type. And i used to hate E63 when it first came out because i can't use it. Until i randomly press buttons and make it work.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Tripper 12/01/2014 at 17:04

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Was it this one?

In my mind this was one of the best looking slider ever.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Aaron M - MasoFiST 12/01/2014 at 17:05

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Nah, Weirdly the E90 was the smallest communicator of the lot. Old 9200 was real huge.

Tapas > bob and john 12/01/2014 at 17:06

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I liked the E63 too.

It was one of the first phones to have "modes". Like a work mode and a home mode.

Flip the phone's mode and the sounds, notifications, wallpaper and a bunch of other things change. Brilliant :) Still waiting for that in Androids...

Tapas > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:07

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Mmm I still love this phone :)

Tapas > Saoul-Virage 12/01/2014 at 17:08

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The "N" range of phones were the camera phones of the time :)

They used (and Nokia still uses) Ziess lenses - that was their big marketing thing...

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Tapas 12/01/2014 at 17:12

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When i was a kid in the high school i have one of this:

It's gone now, which is sad.

Yeah, it was this car:

But the phone was an Ericsson:

James Bond never uses a Nokia since the movie was made by Sony Pictures. But this phone is just a prop device, it's not really working as a device to drive his car.

and 100 more > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:14

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I still have a similarly quirky Moto Backflip. That was my first smartphone, which I bought used from a guy in Portland for $100USD. It was an awesome intro to Android (Donut, and then upgraded to Eclair), even though it was an AT&T phone that I was using on Tmo.

Coincidentally, every phone I've owned subsequent to that one has broken at some point, save my current phone (a 2-year-old HTC One S). Whenever my something breaks down and I need a phone in a pinch, out comes the Backflip to save the day.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > ttyymmnn 12/01/2014 at 17:14

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The funny thing is, i kinda consider the iPhone of nowadays is your safe bet of good phones. It's good at doing everything a basic user needs, but it lacks something special.

Of course! but not very often though.

Tapas > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:19

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Oh...my bad. But yeah, the Sony thing makes sense....

Back then, there was a lot more variety and types of phones. Also, the phones were wierd and people were fine with it :)

Remember the Moto 180 degree swinging phones? And the Sidekicks!

ttyymmnn > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:24

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I've been generally very pleased with my iPhone experience, though I wish it were a better phone . It's sort of a jack of all trades, yet master of none. My 74-year-old mom has asked me to help her with the purchase of her first smart phone, and after polling Oppo , I have decided to set her up with an iPhone. Everybody agreed that the iPhone would be the easiest for her to learn, and I will be able to help her figure out how to use it.

Klaus Schmoll > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:25

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I have a few old phones lying around as well. Mostly because they have to be discarded as hazardous material and I am too lazy to do that since they don't really take up any space, but also because I'm a history teacher and they might become handy in a decade or two to show the kids what "early" phones looked like.

A friend of mine had that Nokia E90 and called it his "communication brick" (he was running some internet hosting business at the time).

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > and 100 more 12/01/2014 at 17:25

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Oooh, backflip. That's great!

The One S, i love those when it came out. Especially the one in black because it has some sort of fancy Alumunium Ceramic body, where it was painted like a space shuttle. At least that's what HTC says.

The E90 wasn't my first one. This is my first smartphone:

I bought that when i was in College from my monthly saving. It was the first HTC to sold in Indonesia, and the commercial wins my heart. I still keep that one somewhere, might have to boot it out one day.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Tapas 12/01/2014 at 17:33

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Yeah. Because Sony made James Bond, he becomes a Sony Maniac. Sony even made a James Bond edition phone that you can buy. I only have one from the Quantum of Solace, the C902:

Yes that's how the box looks like. And the Ad was better:

And those rotating motorola was Motorola Aura. Maaaaaaan i love those. And remember those tiny Nokia 7280?

Yeeeeees. I feels old.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Klaus Schmoll 12/01/2014 at 17:40

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That blue Siemens was my first phone!

Only mine was grey, and lost at some point.

History teacher? that's cool. I always fascinated with history, maybe that's the thing who makes me collect this old phones and old diecats and old magazine. I love to see how people before i was born lives their live.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > ttyymmnn 12/01/2014 at 17:44

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Yeah. Maybe that's why i never bought an iPhone. I might buy one when my mom is as old as your mom.

My mom since she's in her early 50's has an Xperia Z Ultra. Because she loves big screens, and i simply bought her the biggest phablet on sale. And Z Ultra is such a looker.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:54

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Oooh, time for my smartphone owner's list:

Samsung SGH-i760 (Windows Mobile 6.1) [Verizon]

HTC Touch Pro (Windows Mobile 6.1, upgraded to 6.5.3) [Sprint]

HTC Touch Diamond (Windows Mobile 6.1, upgraded to 6.5.3/Android 2.3 dualboot) [Sprint]

HTC Touch Pro2 (Windows Mobile 6.1, upgraded to 6.5.3/Android 2.3 dualboot) [T-Mobile] I challenge anyone to find a better mobile keyboard.

HTC G1 (Android 1.0, upgraded to Android 2.2) [T-Mobile] SO MANY KEYBOARD BUTANS

HTC HD2 (Windows Mobile 6.5, upgraded to WP7/Android 4.0, now running Android 4.4) [T-Mobile]

Nokia E73 Mode (Symbian) [T-Mobile] Best battery life I've ever had in a p hone.

HTC HD2 (Same as above, bought after first one shit the bed) [T-Mobile]

Nokia Lumia 710 (WP7) [T-Mobile]

Nokia Lumia 521 (WP8) [T-Mobile]

Nokia Lumia 521 (WP8.1) [Brightspot or some shit. I dunno] Bought for $35 new from Target. Hell yes.

LG L9 (Android 4.3) [T-Mobile] Most abysmal piece of shit I've ever used.

Nokia Lumia 925 (WP8.1) [T-Mobile] Most beautiful phone I've laid eyes on

Tapas > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 17:55

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Omg 7280! That thing was mesmerizing! And you can pick up the Aura on Ebay for a small fortune today lol

But yeah, I remember the Sony ads around when the Bond movies were released. They used the Bond name to sell everything lol

Klaus Schmoll > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 18:19

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Cool. So that's something we have in common.

And by the way, that "blue" Siemens was grey when I got it. I masked it off and sprayed it with a rattle can. The paint held pretty well considering that I opened beer bottles with it. Those things were pretty much indestructable.

Sam > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/01/2014 at 19:15

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Alright, since apparently you're an old phone expert maybe you can help me. I had a phone back in middle school (2008ish) that rotated open. It was really skinny and had a circular 4 direction pad with 1 center button on it. I want to know what it is because I want to get another (as a momento).

Tripper > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/02/2014 at 08:08

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Haha that's the one! I always wanted one. If my memory serves, that phone came out right around the time blackberrys started to gain popularity and I jumped from a straight from the razor to whatever gigantic brick blackberry I had at the time

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/02/2014 at 08:37

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The 9200 was indeed gigantic, but when I was using an E90 and the rest of my office had iPhones, well...

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Sam 12/02/2014 at 17:18

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Hmmm

Who made that phone?

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Aaron M - MasoFiST 12/02/2014 at 17:26

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Well, that's your problem. iPhones are too thin.

Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To 12/02/2014 at 17:28

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How the hell you got a 521 for 45 bucks? That's insane!

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Aya, Almost Has A Cosmo With Toyota Engine Owned by a BMW. 12/02/2014 at 18:00

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Target has their own carrier called Brightspot that runs on the Tmobile network, and as a promotion they were selling 521s for $45 or so to promote their new network. And they were off-contract. I bought one as a backup phone and I'm glad I did.

Mattbob > Sam 12/04/2014 at 08:18

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juke?

Sam > Mattbob 12/04/2014 at 14:20

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Yes! That's the one!

Mattbob > Sam 12/04/2014 at 14:28

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yeah, it looks like you can pick them up for like $5 on ebay and such.

Sam > Mattbob 12/04/2014 at 14:36

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Thanks, I'm gonna get one. Might even do a review of it on here.