Nokia 6212 Classic
Discontinued 15th April 2008
The Nokia 6212 Classic† is a lightweight
3G handset with a QVGA display and 2 megapixel camera,
very similar to the Nokia
3120 Classic in terms of core specification. However,
the Nokia 6212 has one key difference - it supports
NFC technology.
It isn't the first phone to offer NFC,
the Nokia
6131 NFC is a previous effort, but NFC compatible
handsets are few and far between.
What is NFC?
If you haven't heard of NFC you're not
alone. No, it's not Nebraska Fried Chicken, but
Near Field Communication - a way for two
devices to communicate with each other over a very short
distance of around 10 centimetres or so, a much shorter
distance than Bluetooth or WiFi. NFC can be used
for information exchange, ticket payment or as a way
to identify yourself.
Unlike Bluetooth, NFC works without
pairing and relies on physical proximity. You basically
swipe your NFC device near the other NFC device and
the information exchange can occur immediately, rather
like the contactless Oyster
Card used in London.
The catch is that there are very few
large-scale implementations of NFC anywhere in the world,
with the technology mostly under trial. O2 have announced
that they will try
using NFC mobiles with the London Oyster system
this year. In France, Bouygues Telecom has partnered
with the Paris Metro for a while now, and the National
Australia Bank, VISA and Telstra are trying out
a contactless payments system called Visa
payWave.
Nokia are also making a Bluetooth/NFC
headset which pairs with the phone using the NFC connection
first, rather than the usual Bluetooth passcode arrangement.
This should make pairing a lot easier.
To a certain extent, the Nokia 6212
Classic is a solution to a problem that doesn't yet
exist.. hardly anyone actually uses NFC at the moment,
but Nokia is working on the principle that if you make
the technology available, then perhaps the customers
will follow.
Nokia 6212 Classic - Pricing and Specification
At €200 (around £160) before tax
and subsidy, the 6212 is roughly the same current
retail price of the 6500
Classic, although the 6212 has video calling,
better video capture quality and an FM radio where the
6500 does not. The 6500 Classic does offer more memory
and a slight better stills photographs. The similar 3120
Classic is a little cheaper at around €160.
For this, you get an 88 gram 3G phone
with quad-band GSM, EDGE, and 3G support (WCDMA 850
/ 2100). The 2" 240 x 320 pixel screen has 16 million
colours, there's a 2 megapixel camera with flash but
no autofocus, Bluetooth and microSD expandable memory
(up to 4GB). Talktime is around 2.75 hours on 3G with
a maximum of 12 days standby time.
Unlike other recent 6000 series devices,
this is not an S60 smartphone. But it does have an email
client, web browser and multimedia player. The sales
package includes an AC-8 charger with a 2mm plug and
a stereo wired headset.
Nokia say that the 6212 Classic
will be available during Q3 2008 in "selected markets",
presumably those where NFC technology is in use.
† not to be confused
with the 6121
Classic. Oh no.
|
Nokia
6212 Classic at a glance
|
Available:
|
Q3
2008
|
Network:
|
GSM
850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
UMTS 850 / 2100
|
Data:
|
GPRS
+ EDGE + UMTS (3G)
|
Screen:
|
240
x 320 pixels, 16m colours
|
Camera:
|
2
megapixels
|
Size:
|
Medium
monoblock 115 x 47 x
15mm / 88 grams
|
Bluetooth:
|
Yes
|
Memory
card:
|
microSD
|
Infra-red:
|
No
|
Polyphonic:
|
Yes
|
Java:
|
Yes
|
GPS:
|
No
|
Battery
life:
|
2.75 hours talk / 12 days standby
|
|
|