Sep. 27, 2006

Nokia Corp. announced five new GSM phones that the company insists its devices are multimedia computers targeted at the U.S. market.

However, the company didn't announce any accompanying carrier deals.

Three of the devices—the N70, N73 and N91—are optimized for music. The devices include enhanced memory with 1 GB, 2 GB and 8 GB of storage, respectively.

The company suggested the N91’s 8 GB memory will hold about 6,000 songs in a compressed format, or about 2,000 songs in a less-compressed format.

The new devices have dedicated music keys to bypass drop-down menus and new software to synchronize the devices with PCs to manage the user’s music.

Nokia said the N70 and N73 will be available next month, presumably from Nokia’s flagship retail stores and retail partners, while the N91 is expected by year’s end.

The N70 at retail is expected to cost about $445, the N73 $570 and the N91 $700. The company said it plans to sell about 80 million music-optimized phones this year, or roughly under one-quarter of its total shipment volume.

The fourth device, the N75, is intended to answer demand for thin phones and will launch in the United States in the fourth quarter.

The N75 is about three-quarters of an inch thick, which compares favorably with phones from rivals Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. that measure about one-half inch thick.

News of Nokia’s plans for the U.S. market has been eagerly awaited, as it trails its rivals in market share. Nokia lost the market-leading position in GSM phones to a resurging Motorola and its thin Razr phone models in 2004-2005.

Analysts have faulted Nokia for being slow to adopt the thin trend and for an ineffective strategy for CDMA-based phones, which represent more than half the phones sold in the nation.

The fifth device announced today, the N95, is intended to pack the functionality of a host of other consumer electronics devices into one “multimedia computer.”

“It’s what computers have become,” the Finnish handset maker gushed in a press release. The face of the device slides up to reveal the phone keypad, or down to reveal media control keys.

The N95 includes various music functions, a 5-megapixel camera, video, push e-mail, GPS capabilities, maps (from Tele Atlas) and is designed to run on HSDPA networks, though it is compatible with EDGE and W-CDMA networks.

Currently, only Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is building out an HSDPA network, which provides faster download speeds than W-CDMA networks. The N95 runs on Nokia’s S60 platform, which is based on the Symbian operating system.

The company said the phone would ship early next year and retail for about $700.

Source: RCR News