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Price confusion over Nokia 5800 XpressMusic mercifully ends (maybe)
It's probably fair to say that no one in Spain had a very good day on Friday when the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic showed up on Nokia.es for €429 (about $550), up from its earlier €279. Well it looks like the zaniness at least kind of has an explanation, though it's not one that's likely to cool any enraged heels. Apparently the base price of the phone was, and is €279, but "each country" can bundle it with whatever they choose, thereby upping the overall price. Sounds fun, right? So, in Spain, they've kindly bundled the 5800 with a €100 Nokia Music Store voucher and a 3-month subscription to Nokia Maps Navigation service. Presumably other countries can follow suit -- though these moves are apparently only valid through the holiday season, because the 5800, all by its lonesome, goes on sale in January for... you guessed it: €279. [Via Unwired View]
Keepin' it real fake, part CLXV: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets a little friend
Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic isn't exactly in the same league as some of the other high-end touchscreen smartphones hitting the market right now, but that doesn't mean it's not getting the Chinese KIRF love -- and we'd actually say the flush-mounted touchscreen on the Li 5800 here is an improvement. The generic OS is obviously less attractive than S60 Touch, but not by much, honestly, and although the real 5800 should be pretty cheap on contract, we've got a feeling the Li here might undercut it significantly. Too bad they didn't stick a random micro-projector in there, eh?[Via UnwiredView, thanks Robin of Loxley]
T-Mobile puts the kibosh on Nokia 5610 sales to resolve display problems
Hey, we've got a joke for you: what do you call a phone with a display that just goes blank without warning? A Nokia 5610! Get it? Okay, so that's not a joke -- it's totally happening to some T-Mobile customers right now, and sales of the XpressMusic slider have been temporarily halted so Nokia can figure out what the heck is going on. It's important to note here that the phones aren't being recalled, they're just not being sold anymore; if you currently have a 5610 and you're not, you know, seeing anything on the display, you're encouraged to get in touch with customer care to "discuss available options."
Nokia rolls deep on the cheap, cooks up six models
Looking through the pictures here, you might not suspect that the sticker prices for these bad boys range from just €90 ($117) all the way down to a jaw-droppingly low €25 (about $32), but they do, which raises a question: why must they be targeting emerging markets alone? Nokia has a history of going after emerging economies with the occasional barrage of models, and the latest round ups the game with features we'd be totally cool with seeing on your average "mature market" handset -- goodies like integrated flashlights, sturdy lanyards, and a vaguely-defined "Nokia Life Tools" service that delivers relevant information in a graphical interface to phones via SMS (the logic being that GPRS isn't always available where these phones are going to be used). The most expensive device of the lot will be the 5130 XpressMusic, the first music-centric Nokia destined for low-income areas of the world with an integrated FM radio, 2-megapixel cam, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Next up we've got the fancy 7100 Supernova, joining Nokia's fashion-friendly line in a couple tasty colors with a 1.3-megapixel cam. If we skip all the way to the bottom, we have the lowly 1202, a rugged-looking little monochrome beast with an extended battery, a five-user phonebook to make it easy to pass around the whole family, and extra-loud ringtones -- and at 25 euros, it's Nokia's lowest-cost phone ever. Why do we want one really badly? Are we crazy? Look for all six of these to start filtering around the globe between now and early 2009.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic just chills with the FCC for a little while
The 5800 XpressMusic may be delayed for some people, but apparently, the boys and girls at the FCC aren't included in that flatly unlucky group. Nokia has passed a version of its first touchscreen S60 handset by the Fed's watchful eyes, and all's looking good except for one critical detail: this isn't the HSDPA 850 / 1900 version. We're sure it's coming, don't get us wrong -- but for the time being, this does us just about as much good as a Nokia with a resistive touch... ah, wait.
Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic gets reviewed, coddled
Given that most of the world won't see Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic until 2009, you may be better off just forcing yourself to overlook this here review until you can snag one without importing. If you're just too impatient for all that, however, you should know that an early critique of the affectionately dubbed Tube deemed it mighty impressive. Call quality was solid, the OS was stable in most areas, and the display was a joy to look at and interact with. In fact, reviewers had a difficult time finding anything exceptionally negative to say, noting that this is the handset for anyone after a "well-rounded, do-it-all solution." It was also made clear that this phone and the iPhone were really two different animals not worth comparing (advantage, Tube), but that didn't stop critics from confessing that the 5800 packs an "unparalleled price / quality ratio that changes the rules for all phone makers out there, including Nokia itself."
Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic to mature markets: see you in 2009
The Foundations said it best in their 1968 classic, but seriously, why let us down like this? Nokia didn't mind busting out a litany of press shots and all the specifications one could need to get amped up about the 5800 XpressMusic, but it obviously has something holding it back from launching in "mature markets" before 2009. In an announcement that's just as disappointing to the suits in Espoo as it is to those in North America and Down Under (just to name a couple), we've now learned that the touchscreen-dominated handset will only be available in seven countries in Asia, the Middle East and Europe before 2009 dawns. Even worse? Not knowing how deep into next year we'll have to wait for this thing here in the US of A. Catch our feelings spelled out in video form after the break.
Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic phone intimately detailed on video
If you've been enjoying those still pictures of Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic touchscreen phone, but feel you're lacking an in-depth experience, we think we can help. A slew of demo and instruction videos have just been slapped up on the Ovi Share site, allowing you to get a better idea of just how the device works, and what it looks like when it's doing it. Luckily for you, we've taken the trouble of including all of the videos after the break for your viewing pleasure, saving you the painful and laborious experience of hitting a read link. Enjoy.[Via Cellpassion]
The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic
While it may not be Nokia's first touchscreen phone (anyone out there remember the 7710?), the 5800 XpressMusic is certainly the first to come out of Finland with a mainstream appeal. What we've alternately known as the "Tube" throughout much of its development cycle is the first production device to run S60 5th Edition -- the fourth major overhaul of Nokia's ubiquitous smartphone platform since 2002 and the first to support fingers, styli, and high-res displays. Speaking of high-res displays, the 5800 comes equipped with an impressive 3.2-inch 640 x 360 resistive touchscreen to go along with its 3.2-megapixel autofocus cam, Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, GPS, WiFi, 3.5mm jack, and a microSD slot with support for 16GB cards. It'll be available in three versions -- European HSDPA, North American HSDPA, and GSM only -- and ships this quarter in black, red, and blue for €279 (about $392) unlocked with an 8GB card thrown in for good measure. Music fans with voracious appetites for new tunes might want to hold out, though, for the Comes With Music-equipped version that follows on "early next year" at a to-be-announced price.%Gallery-33266%
Reuters: October 2nd is go for Nokia Tube launch
October 2nd: mark it down 'cause Reuters says that's the date that Nokia will launch its Nokia Tube -- aka, 5800 XpressMusic. According to a pair of industry sources, Nokia will launch the much anticipated, long overdue, S60 touchscreen device at a media and analyst event in London -- exactly as Pocket-lint's source told us earlier. All that's left now is for the invites to be distributed.
Nokia 5800 Tube press shot leaks into the wilds
One day after Google goes touchscreen, along comes what looks to be an official press shot of Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic -- aka, the Tube. No new details here, though Nokia appears to have cleaned up the industrial design around the buttons of some of those earlier prototypes we've seen. October 2nd looks like the date that we'll finally get our fill of the first S60 Touch handset. Though given the number of leaks and rabid competition Nokia faces in the touchscreen OS space -- our appetite for this device might be quickly satiated. [Via unwired view]
Nokia's XpressMusic 5800 Tube launching October 2nd?
Okay, so first we heard that Nokia's Comes with Music service would be good and ready by October 2nd. Then we heard October 17th. Now, a certain "anonymous industry source" has revealed that the long-awaited XpressMusic 5800 (or the Tube, as it were) will be launching on the 2nd of next month. With so much conflicting evidence out and about, we're firmly in "wait and see" mode at this point, and considering that "launch" gives no indication of a ship date, we reckon you're better off doing the same.[Thanks, Mikkel]
Nokia's first Comes with Music handset on sale 10/17 in UK
A recent Reuters article doesn't mention a specific model (although we have our hunches), but one thing's for sure: some kind of Comes with Music handset is launching on October 17th. We had previously assumed that October 2nd would be the go-live date for the intriguing music bundle, but retailer Carphone Warehouse has now made clear that Britain won't be able to buy in until a few weeks later. As predicted, a Nokia spokesman declined to comment, so we'd go ahead and pencil (key word: pencil) this one into your increasingly crowded datebook.[Via MobileBurn]
Nokia's Comes With Music premium in the $150 range?
We put "free" in quotes for a reason, and now it seems the dark, nasty truth could be upon us. While pre-order prices on a retailer's website should be taken as pure speculation and nothing more, a couple of notable examples reveal £70 to £85 premiums on the Comes with Music version of two phones. For instance, Expansys offers up Nokia's N95 8GB for £394.99, but the CwM edition is a stiff £479.99. It's hard to say if the prices are jacked up by Nokia's directive, but again, we aren't getting too riled up until these things launch for real.
Nokia 5800 "Tube" rolling into Britannia next month?
Ah yeah, that's right -- wasn't Nokia supposed to be coming out with a touchscreen smartphone at some point? Citing an unnamed source, a delightfully unsubstantiated rumor has popped up on Just Another Mobile Phone Blog claiming that Nokia's first S60 Touch device, the 5800, will get a British launch just a month from now on October 8. Given Nokia's historically epic spans between announcement and launch, putting a device on retail shelves that hasn't even been revealed yet in just four short weeks seems improbable -- but on the flip, we can certainly imagine Espoo wanting this one available in plenty of time for the holidays. Our fingers remain firmly crossed, both for an October release and for a right-quick unlock and ship across the pond.[Via Engadget Spanish]
Nokia's Comes with Music service gets hands-on treatment
Itching to get your sweaty palms around one of Nokia's CwM-edition XpressMusic 5310s, are ya? We can't say that Stuff's hands-on video will make the wait any less excruciating, but it does give prospective partakers a good overview of what can be expected. To be frank, there aren't too many surprises here -- after all, it's not like we haven't seen / used music download services before -- but you know you can't resist a good clip of something fresh. Head on down to the read link and mash play.
Nokia's Comes with Music service launches next month -- UK first
Nokia's "free," all-you-can-eat, music subscription service is set to world premier in the UK next month before hitting continental Europe and Asia in 2009. Nokia already has Universal Music, Sony BMG and Warner Music on board and plans to have EMI signed before launch -- in total, Nokia expects to offer some 2.1 million tracks at launch. While touted as free, the service costs will be baked into the price of Nokia's pre-pay 5310 XpressMusic Comes With Music Edition handset (currently priced between £70-£80 for the pay-as-you-go, non-CwM handset) when purchased though the UK's Carphone Warehouse. You must then purchase another CwM-compatible device at the end of the year in order to continue downloading tracks. For those not wishing to re-up with Nokia, your 5310 CwM edition phone will continue to make / receive calls and text messages and, like your computer, continue to playback all those DRM-wrapped WMA tracks -- they will not play anywhere else. While the approach is interesting, the DRM-enabled time-bomb and device lock-in makes the entire model sound fatally flawed to us -- though we're sure that'll be hacked away soon enough. Come on Amazon, now is the time to take your MP3 store global and show these fools how it's done.Update: Expect the service to launch at, or shortly after, a Nokia Comes With Music press event scheduled for October 2nd.[Via mocoNews] Read -- FT Read -- Guardian Read -- Nokia press release
Nokia XpressMusic 5610 comes to T-Mobile
As expected, T-Mobile has now launched the Nokia XpressMusic 5610 slider to compliment the 5310 candybar launched back in May. Though the software and the phone's raison d'être (music, that is) both mirror the slimmer 5310, the new slider turns up the heat a bit with a more capable 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera with dual-LED flash and something Nokia calls the "music slider," a sliding bar directly below the display that gives the user lightning-quick access to the music player and radio. Other features include a microSD slot (with 1GB bundled in the box), stereo Bluetooth, 2.2-inch QVGA display, and a standard issue quadband EDGE radio sans 3G -- though we'd hardly call that a feature. It's available starting today in white with silver trim or black with red trim for $99 on a two-year contract.We've been toying around with a 5610 for the past few days, and as a Nokia dumbphone, it definitely gets the job done. It feels rock solid -- slider mechanism included -- which is a good sign for anyone used to loose, creaky Nokias of old. Be warned: though the phone is advertised as featuring a 3.5mm headphone jack, it's only available when you plug in a bundled external dongle. That'd be alright for a normal handset, but since the 5610 gets slapped with the XpressMusic branding, we can't say we really approve. On the upside, the loudspeaker is seriously one of the loudest -- perhaps the loudest -- we've ever heard on any phone, ever. So loud, in fact, that it hurts your ears at max volume if you're within a foot or two of the thing.Voice quality is a tad on the tinny side, but plenty loud and clear. The top row of keys can be a little hard to access with your fat fingers butted up against the bottom of the upper portion of the slide, but otherwise, the keypad's decent and very usable. The navigation keys are equally easy to use, though we would've liked to have seen the "music slider" concept taken further -- it should flip between any open applet, not just between your current screen and the music apps. Bottom line? For 99 bucks, we like it, but for 49 bucks, we'd love it. Whatdya say, T-Mob?Update: Though T-Mobile's press materials indicate that 1GB microSD cards are being shipped with the phone, buyers and retailers alike are reporting that it's actually 2GB. No complaints here!%Gallery-29375%
Nokia 5800 gets touched in the wild -- again
At this point, we've seen the Tube from everyone but Nokia -- heck, even Morgan Freeman got a chance to show it off -- and it looks like that trend isn't going to abate any time soon. Another round of in-the-wild shots of the supposed XpressMusic 5800 have popped up (yes, the latest prototype seems to have dropped the "XpressMedia" badge), showing off a pretty uninspiring keyboard that we can only hope has no bearing on the final product. Guess that's why they haven't announced this sucker yet, eh? We hope?[Via The Nokia Blog]
Nokia's XpressMedia 5800 "Tube" makes cameo in The Dark Knight
So apparently a healthy exchange of cash and a captive audience glued to one of the biggest flicks of the year are all it takes to land early dibs on Nokia's elusive Tube. The Tube -- which will likely be branded either XpressMusic or XpressMedia and carry model number 5800 -- represents Nokia's first serious foray into the wide world of touchscreen smartphones (don't even try to pull the Series 90 card, people), so there's quite a bit of buzz building around it. Just like there's lots of buzz aroudn this new Batman joint. Coincidence? We think not!
