Scallops from Lolo Dad's Café

Nowadays everyone is a gourmand…or at least tries to be.

There is no denying the fact that for the past couple of years, food in the country has become a celebrity. Chefs are now rock stars. Culinary schools have sprouted like mushrooms. The cuisine has become varied. And restaurants are now the businesses of choice.

Unknowingly, technology has played a key role in food’s rise to stardom. When the age of social networking and the “Me” generation arrived, people have it easier to communicate one of their most favorite topics… food.

Internet sites dedicated solely to food are now numerous. Everybody seems to be uploading their latest dining experience and food photos on the web.

To find a review on a new restaurant, you simply log on to a forum. And if you can’t find one, you just have to post a question and you’ll receive dozens of answers within the next hour or so. When it comes to food it seems as if everyone has something to share. 

Food blogs have become quite lucrative as well, and its bloggers already celebrities in their own right. It is not uncommon to find them now as judges in a culinary competition or as endorsers. A lot of restaurants and food companies have found these websites effective marketing tools.

Before, pulling a camera out of your pocket and taking a photograph of your rib-eye steak can have you reprimanded by a waiter. Or worse, you could be accused of being a spy for a rival restaurant. Now, hearing a camera click is commonplace and waiters just brush it off as another blogger working on a story.

However, it isn’t a one-sided deal. People, by nature, are voracious and constantly on the lookout for better things. As the foodie trend becomes a part of everyday life, people are most likely going to look for gadgets to complement this. And technology just has to keep up.

Keeping Pace
 
One phone that seems in tune to this is Nokia’s 6700 Classic. The phone is the successor of the 6300, one of Nokia’s most popular and largest-selling mid-range phones. The phone is a rarity for its price category. It has capabilities which normally belong to a smartphone but it can be bought for a fraction of the price.

However, two particular features that can pique a foodie’s curiosity are its five-megapixel camera and the Ovi share service that the device offers. 

The 6700 Classic’s five-megapixel camera is equipped with autofocus and an LED flash. Looking at your photo through the phone’s 2.2-inch, 16M-color QVGA screen, will reveal that it surprisingly has a really good image quality, which is uncommon for a mid-range phone. It is arguably one of the best five-megapixel camera phones in the market today. The proof lies in the photos that accompany this article, which were all taken with the Nokia 6700 Classic.

The camera features a good range of options as well. The white balance can be adjusted to either auto, tungsten, fluorescent, or daylight. This allows you to take food shots be it in the bright, white lights of a new fast-food joint or in the cozy, yellow hues of a classy fine-dining establishment.

Though a traditional feature, the ability to adjust the megapixel size of your photo is a big help. This really comes in handy when you need smaller photo sizes that you can easily send to your friends through MMS or email.

Storage also isn’t much of a problem. Though it has a mere 150 megabytes, it can be expanded up to eight gigabytes. Think of all the photos you can store with that.

The Ovi share, on the other hand, is Nokia’s media sharing service with unlimited storage space. The Ovi can be accessed directly through your mobile phone, computer (through the Ovi Suite) or the internet.

With this application, foodies can immediately and easily share photos, videos, and other content with other users of the application. It can be done in four simple steps. After taking a photo of your favorite burger and fries, simply press the options key, press send, upload the photo, and then sign into your Nokia account. No more waiting to get home and updating your personal food blog.

The Ovi also provides other services such as free email, maps (which allows you to access the internet anywhere in the world), and an application store. With its unlimited storage space, files, photos, and other content can also be stored and accessed anywhere in the world.

The 6700 Classic is also equipped with enhanced 3G and high data-transfer speeds and capacity. In layman’s terms, it means a faster internet connection and less waiting time. 
   
Other Features

Housed in a sleek and solid metal casing, calling the 6700 Classic stylish is an understatement. At times though, its sheen can easily be smudged by fingerprints.

It also has a built-in GPS receiver, Stereo FM radio, Bluetooth, a microUSB port, a microSD card slot, and VGA video recording at 15fps, among others. It also features internet icons for websites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook.

With this arsenal under its belt, this mid-range phone is well worth it. Now all Nokia needs to do is to figure out a way to send the aromas and flavors through the phone as well.