The Nokia OSS browser doesn't support tabs or multiple windows. Instead, pressing the Back button brings up a set of thumbnails for the pages you've visited so that you can randomly jump among them. The OSS browser is extremely fast at redrawing pages from cache, and it has excellent JavaScript performance.

Embedded Java works perfectly in Nokia's browser, but embedded media launches an external Real Player. Sites that insist on wrapping media playback in JavaScript or Flash won't work this way, but audio and video on your intranet will work just fine, as will Flash content downloaded to the E61i for stand-alone playback. The E61i ships with an older release of Flash Lite. Adobe's Web site offers a free upgrade to the latest release.

Symbian Series 60's principle of "write once, run on any phone" hits a snag with the 3rd Edition. Code signing requirements and binary interface changes in the 3rd Edition platform can cause some existing native and Java S60 applications to quit working or refuse to install on 3rd Edition devices. Series 60 is so overwhelmingly popular worldwide that the majority of S60 projects in active development have already adjusted to 3rd Edition foibles.

The E61i needs IT's hand in deployment. It has more configurable options than any wireless device I've used, although it's certainly no harder to configure than a desktop PC. Fortunately, IT, or an S60 power user or developer, can tune a single device to perfection, capture that configuration, and apply it to multiple devices. That configuration can be reapplied in case a curious user gets in trouble, and handset features can be hidden and disabled using Nokia management software.

Lastly, the E61i is not an "oh, and it also makes phone calls" device. It is an enterprise handset that is a Nokia phone through and through. That means it's a best-in-class voice device with integrated PDA functionality, rich standards support, and an easy-to-use Windows sync and management UI. It has Bluetooth file browse/transfer support on Mac systems, and E61i will gateway Windows and Mac notebooks to the handset's wireless Internet connection. Nokia's E61i is, by all measures and across all mobile platforms, the best enterprise wireless handset for the money.

Mobile executive: Nokia E65 and T-Mobile Wing
A mobile executive's phone needs to possess all of the qualities of an enterprise phone, including VPN, rich document viewing and editing, push messaging, and no-compromises compatibility with an enterprise's custom mobile software. It also must look good enough that you don't need to duck into a hallway or turn your back to the group to use it.

I've chosen two phones that fit what I consider to be the executive device profile. The Nokia E65 and the T-Mobile Wing (HTC Herald) represent the top end of their platforms' capabilities in out-of-the-box functionality and customizability — Symbian Series 60 3rd Edition and Windows Mobile 6 Professional, respectively — so there's no enterprise application they won't run. Both are also extremely compact. They pocket discreetly without a case or holster and they are presentable even in formal settings.

Nokia's E65 is identical in functionality to the E61i, but without the alphanumeric keyboard and large display. The E65 replaces these with a tall portrait-type display and a slide-out 12-key dialpad. Even though the display is the same resolution as the E61i's, text is drawn across 240 pixels instead of 320. The impact on readability is noticeable, and the E65 also lacks the E61i's ability to flip to a landscape view. There is a third-party utility that does this for you, but it's something that Nokia should provide out of the box. I'd use the E65 in landscape mode most of the time.

The E65's predictive text entry helps mitigate the pain of 12-key typing; C-level execs don't text the likes of "CU@12" to each other. Nokia supplies quick-reply message templates that usually leave only one variable, like time or location, to fill in. It's worth noting as well that the E65, like the E61i, supports all popular instant messaging services and standards.

In a clear nod to managers and executives, E65 dedicates a key to conference calling, a process that the handset automates on your behalf. A Team Suite application lets you organize contact list entries into groups. The team works as a mailing and messaging list, and you can share browser bookmarks among team members, but if everybody's on the same wireless service you can convene a sort of pushed conference call in one operation. Each team member's phone rings, and when they answer, they're put on hold until the conference leader kicks off the call. On wireless networks that support push-to-talk (PTT), team members are automatically placed in a PTT group. Matching functionality exists on the E61i.