It looks like those little rumour fairies were telling the truth about Nokia's touchscreen mobile. Nokia's new handset - the 5800 XpressMusic or 'Tube' - was unveiled today in all its glory. For a start it's going to be one of the first handsets to feature Nokia's unlimited music service Comes With Music. Nokia recognises that people want their music phones to deliver a great musical experience with more memory, good quality speakers, easy synchronization, and still function well as a mobile phone - and according to Nokia this handset delivers on all the above.
Find out loads more after the jump...
In fact they've taken the phone's musical features into great consideration, offering a graphic equalizer, 8GB of memory (that's up to 6,000 tracks), and support for all main digital formats. It also packs built-in surround sound stereo speakers should you want to annoy passengers on a crowded train. Nokia also says they also hold the industry's most powerful sound - but they would say that wouldn't they? The phone also provides easy access to browse and buy music directly from the Nokia Music Store (where applicable), and with the newly revamped Nokia Music PC software, the good old drag and drop method is easy and effortless.
Moving away from the music element of the phone, let's put more emphasis on the fact it's Nokia's first full touchscreen. The 5800 XpressMusic introduces the Media Bar, a practical drop down menu that gives you direct access to music and entertainment. This includes your favourite tracks, videos and favourite snaps. There's also a direct link to the web and to online sharing should you need to access these services quicker than you can say "I love the Nokia Tube". Browsing the web shouldn't be a frustrating experience either, as it supports Flash content, meaning you should get to see the entire web and not just bits and pieces of it.
The 5800 also features something called the Contacts Bar, which allows you to highlight four of your favourite chums on your home screen. Here's the best bit - all it takes is one touch to pull up your history with that person (not that kind of history it's not *that* clever). So you can essentially track recent text messages, emails, phone calls, photos and blog updates. It'll be like having your own personal RSS feed.
Last, but definitely not least are the rest of its features. It runs Symbian S60, features a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, a 3.2-inch screen and WiFi. It is also one of the first handsets to feature A-GPS (assisted GPS), which is more reliable and won't leave you frustrated and angry, while you wait for a signal to get your next move.
This is no ordinary phone, and as it's touchscreen you'll be given your very own stylus, virtual QWERTY keyboard and a range of input methods too.
It'll be available minus the Comes With Music service beginning the fourth quarter for around 279 Euros. You'll have to wait till next year though to get your hands on the handset with the service.
Nokia
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My blog rant: http://tinyurl.com/4m2tjt - Comes With Music is the usual DRM-infested subscription rubbish. This is something the labels have tried to sell to the consumer for the last ten years and failed; it's not clear why wishful thinking would make it sell now.