By Matthew Henry
SYDNEY: Nokia has rolled out its Christmas range for what it expects will be one of the market’s best quarters yet, with a greater focus on design and multimedia playback ahead of the launch of the company’s first online music store in Australia.
Announced today, the product rollout includes additions to its mid-range and music phone lineups, new internet tablet models and a new premium N95 with 8GB built-in memory.
The new 3G Nokia 6500 series includes a Classic (RRP $649) and Slide (RRP $689) model, with the former a slim 9.5mm thick, polished black or bronze candybar design, and the latter a slider with a high performance integrated 3.2 megapixel camera featuring Carl Ziess lens.
Nokia’s music-oriented XpressMusic lineup now includes two new models, the 5310 (RRP $519) and the 5610 (RRP $599). Both models have dedicated music keys for quick access to music playback controls, with the 5610 delivering up to 22 hours of music playback and storage for 3,000 songs with an optional 4GB microSD card.
Following the recent announcement of free wireless internet access for Nokia N Series customers at over 400 locations around Australia including cafes, Nokia has expanded its internet surfing lineup with the N800 Internet Tablet and N81 8GB. Although not a mobile phone, the Linux-based N800 boasts a full qwerty keyboard and large LCD for full webpage viewing, and will be sold exclusively through Harris Technology for an online price RRP $539.
The N81 is designed to work with Nokia’s new Nokia Music Store, which will be launched in Australia next year offering mobile phones users access to millions of tracks. It will also be compatible with the upcoming Nokia N-Gage games download service, which is scheduled to launch later this year.