Nokia Makes a Technicolour Debut

The Nokia 7650 colour-screen phone, the Nokia 5210 and and Nokia 6510 were unveiled at the Nokia Mobile Internet conference in Barcelona, Spain. The products are aimed at attracting the growing youth market.

The Finnish company has a 34 percent share of the global market and any new product releases will undoubtedly make an impact on the mobile phone market internationally. This is especially the case in the German market, where approximately two thirds of the population have a mobile telephone.

7650 star of the show

The Nokia 7650, is Nokia’s first colour display phone and has a large screen covering most of the device. It also sports a joy stick to navigate the menu, similar to that of the Sony Ericsson T68.

It features an in-built camera, a radically enhanced user interface and large colour display. The phone combines a digital camera with multimedia messaging (MMS) functionality and is ideally suited for people who want to capture and share moments spontaneously.

Advanced business features also make it a value-adding tool for the work environment. Deliveries of the Nokia 7650 will begin in Europe and Asia in the second quarter, 2002.

"Today's launch signifies a remarkable breakthrough in this industry," said Jorma Ollila, Chairman & CEO, Nokia. "Much like the transition from radio to TV, the evolution from text messaging to multimedia messaging marks a whole new era of mobile communications, combining images with sound and text."

Call me on the camera

The imaging functionality of the Nokia 7650 include an integrated digital camera, picture taking and sending, a photo album for storing pictures, and a large colour display. The MMS works much the same way as SMS messages, but allows users to combine audio, graphic, text and imaging content in one message.

Once the user has selected a picture, written a text, and included an audio clip, a multimedia message can be sent directly to another multimedia messaging capable terminal as well as to the recipient's email address. The advanced graphical user interface and joystick with 5-way navigation add ease and speed to the use of this new device.

Afraid of losing market share

Nokia was only expected to launch its colour-screen phone towards the middle of next year. "It is therefore possible that Nokia has been forced to speed up the timetable due to Ericsson T68’s success," Mandatum Stockbrokers said in a research note.

For the techies

The Nokia 7650 delivers a full range of functions for professional needs in the EGSM900/1800 environment. These include GPRS and HSCSD connections, WAP, wireless Bluetooth and infrared connectivity, email and MIDP Java support. The hands-free speaker and voice dialing capability increase convenience on the move.

The mobile has talktime of 2- 4 hours and a standby time of 4-10 days. It weighs 154 grams, and has a large dynamic memory for storing images and add-on applications, such as contact information with pictures, messages, calendar notes and to-do lists.

It will also support a variety of optional accessories for power management, wearables, and wireless Bluetooth connectivity.