First it was the T-Mobile G1 but now the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone looks set to give the iPhone a run for it’s dough.
The 5800 (formerly the Tube) was officially unveiled yesterday and packs more than its fair share of features to keep smartphone fanciers entertained and seriously in touch. It also happens to be Nokia’s first ever touchscreen device. It lands in the UK early next year. Read on for everything you need to know about Nokia’s innovative tactile talker…
Nokia’s first touchscreen handset
Nokia’s new blower sees the introduction of the new Symbian S60 5th Edition smartphone platform.
First impressions have shown it to be a worthy challenger to the iPhone’s interface with a clear layout and intuitive drop down menus making phone navigation a cinch. It also packs in some neat sensors. For example placing the phone face down on a table will silence it, perfect for hushed meetings.
One touch media and contact access
Using some expert touch tech the 5800 will give you instant access to your media and contacts via a dedicated media and contacts bar. Simply tap into the media bar and you’ll be able to peep all your entertainment in one place.
The contacts bar works the same way highlighting your favourite contacts on the home screen whilst letting you track down recent messages, emails, photos and blog updates.
Unlimited music downloads
The 5800 was launched as part of Nokias Come With Music extravaganza so it’s no surprise to learn it packs tonnes of tuneful promise.
When it lands on UK soil you’ll be able to download as many songs as you like as part of Nokia’s unlimited download music service. Yes, no limit. Music fans will even be allowed to keep the tracks they’ve downloaded after their contract has expired.
To continue downloading you will need to either renew their contract or move to a new one supporting the service, but with unlimited music downloads as the carrot there’s plenty of reason to do so.
Slimmer than the N95 8GB but with the same storage
Of course being able to download copious amounts of tunes means you’ll need the space to pack ‘em into.
The 15.5mm silm 5800 comes packed with an 8GB microSD card but you get the option of upping the memory stakes even further with an optional 16GB card.
The whole Internet
Nokia took a little dig at the iPhone when it claimed the 5800 could access “The whole Internet”, thanks to it’s Flash support. iPhone doesn’t do the Flash dance.
Nokia’s obviously seen this and has provided a web browser capable of bettering the iPhone’s mobile Safari browser. The 5800’s web browser looks to live up to its promise for the most part, supporting desktop quality web searching with Adobe Flash Lite 3 software to get the pages Apple can’t. And with 3G, Wi-Fi and nippy HSDPA it does it bleedin’ fast.
Nokia Maps tells you where to go
The T-Mobile G1 might have a trump card in its own Google Street View feature but Nokia Maps has proven to be a just as able navigator tool. And Nokia Maps has more road-going location finding knowledge than ever thanks to some smart GPS tricks. It also comes with voice-guided navigation for those who’d prefer the human touch. No more strange stares from passers by as you walk with your head in your phone bumping into lampposts.
Number lust
You can’t beat a few key cold hard feature facts. Here’s a bunch of other stuff that …
Screen details
3.2″ widescreen (16:9). 640 x 360 pixels. Up to 16 million colors. Automatic orientation sensor (Accelerometer) for display rotation. 3D image engine.
Controls
Stylus, plectrum and finger touch support for text input and user interface control (alphanumeric keypad, full and mini qwerty keyboard, handwriting recognition.
Connectors
Micro-USB connector, USB 2.0 High Speed. 3.5 mm Nokia AV connector. MicroSD card slot, small DC jack, Micro USB cable interface to PC, TV out interface.
Battery and power
Talk time (maximum):GSM up to 8.8 hr. WCDMA up to 5 hr.
Standby time (maximum): GSM up to 16.75 days, WCDMA up to 16.7 days. Browsing time with packet data (maximum): up to 3.4 hr.
Video playback time (maximum): up to 5.2 hr, Video playback time (maximum, nHD/Mpeg4)up to 3.4 hr, VGA video playback using TV-Out with Stereo BT Headset up to 3.8 hr.
Video recording time (maximum): up to 3.6 hr.
Video call time (maximum):up to 3 hr.
Music playback time (maximum): up to 1.5 days.
Gaming time (maximum): up to 5.6 hr.
Calling
Contacts bar for 4 contacts with images and communication history (SMS, IM, email, web feeds).
Talking ring tones.
Conference calling with up to 6 participants.
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