A lot is always expected from Nokia seeing as it is still the number one handset manufacturer in the world, but this year has got to be its most stressful to date. A worldwide recession, ever increasing smartphone competition and lower prices combined with higher expectations across the board have surely been keeping the entire town of Espoo up late into the night. Sadly, the company’s day one MWC presentation wasn’t exactly what we’d call a shining example of Nokia at its finest. Beyond the E75, the highlight had to be Nokia’s official announcement of its App Store competitor, the Ovi Store, set to launch in May. Other than that, well, you tell us how the company fared. Hit up the break to see all that’s new in the world of Nokia (aside from the N86 of course).
6710 Navigator – A navigation-centric alphanumeric slider with a 5 megapixel camera, Carl Zeiss lens and dual-LED flash. The 6710 Navigator features Nokia Maps with Ovi and comes with the CR-111 car mount in the box for those glorious road trips we’ve all been forced to take at one time or another. €300 ($383 USD) in Q3.
6720 Classic – Essentially the same phone as the 6710 Navigator but in candybar form. Woo! Look for the 6720 Classic to go for €245 ($313 USD) sometime in Q2.
E55 – Features a “compact QWERTY” keypad (read: SureType) and Nokia claims it is the world’s thinnest smartphone at 9.9mm. The E55 has aGPS and Nokia Maps support, a claimed 28 days of standby and will go on sale in Western Europe this summer for €265 ($338 USD).
E75 – Finally made official after an endless procession of leaks, the E75 will be the first Nokia offering to come standard with Nokia Messaging. The S60 3rd Edition FP2-fueled E75 has a sliding full-QWERTY keypad, 3.2 megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, GPS and a 2.4″ QVGA display. It officially ships next month but pre-orders are now being taken on Nokia’s website for a pretty fair €375 ($478 USD).
N97 – What can’t we say about this thing? It probably would’ve been a serious contender for the greatest phone of all time had it been released, say, last year – but its ship may have already sailed. Up for more bad news? Today we learned that despite a rumored release slated for the end of March, the N97 will be available in June. Sad, we know.
Ovi Store – All set to launch in May, the Ovi Store is where Nokia users will retreat when Apple’s mighty App Store gets them down. While the N97 is the first phone that is fully compatible with the Ovi Store, Nokia maintains that a bunch of existing S40 and S60 users will be able to hand over their money to Nokia in exchange for some Mosh, Download! and widget love. The Ovi Store supposedly caters its suggestions over time as it learns what you’re in to, something the App Store should learn to do as we’re sure you’re all tired of seeing 15 fart apps each time you look at what’s hot. Two more words for Apple that Nokia will surely peg: TRIAL VERSION.
Read (6710 Navigator and 6720 Classic)
Read (E55)
Read (E75)
Read (N97)
Read (Ovi Store)
