Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia kicked off its 2009 Nokia World event in
Stuttgart, Germany, Sept. 2 with the announcement of the N97 Mini, a smaller
version of the handset announced this summer, as well as two digital-music
focused phones, the X6 and the X3, the first Series 40 devices to come Ovi
Store (Nokia’s app store) enabled.
In addition, the company announced a feature called "lifecasting,"
which gives users the ability to publish their location and status updates
directly to their Facebook account from the home screen of an enabled Nokia
phone.
The N97 Mini, priced at $640, offers updated home screen widgets, 8GB of
storage, a 3.2-inch touch-screen and a full QWERTY keyboard. It is also the
first Nokia device to sport the Facebook-Nokia service “Lifecasting with Ovi.”
The N97 Mini is based on the same tilt display design of its N97 big brother,
but built into a smaller body with revised design touches.
Other features include Ovi Maps and an integrated A-GPS
and compass along with voice navigation for driving or walking. The phone’s
battery provides up to 12 days of standby time and up to 28 hours of music
playback (in offline mode). The 5-megapixel camera comes with dual LED flash
and video light, along with a Carl Zeiss Tessar lens. The 8GB of on-board
memory can be expanded to 24GB with the addition of a 16GB microSD card.
The 3.2-inch touch-screen X6, aimed at music lovers and retailing for $650
when it ships in fourth-quarter 2009, provides 35 hours of music playback and
is optimized for photos and videos. Features include a 5-megapixel camera and
Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash, TV-out, video editing, online sharing, Nokia
Music store, full Web browser and Flash Lite support. Nokia is positioning this
handset as a “Comes with Music” device, part of an initiative giving users
unlimited access to the Nokia Music Store.
Joining the X6 is the X3, sharing some of the X6’s design cues. The X3
slider sports a 3.2-megapixel camera, a thin frame wrapping a 2.2-inch screen,
stereo speakers, dedicated music keys and support for up to 16GB of storage via
microSD card. The X3 also offers an active home screen where users will be able
to see contacts, friends and current music playing. The handset is expected to
go on sale in the fourth-quarter 2009 and retail for $163.
Bluetooth 2.1 is supported with stereo audio profiles for wireless musical
connectivity. Wire fans will be able to use standard headphones via the 3.5mm
headphone jack. Full-speed USB 2.0 makes
music transfer quick and easy, and music can be managed via the Ovi Player PC
client and Windows Media Player 11. Messaging is also supported: Alongside a
common in-box for SMS and MMS in
conversational view, Nokia Xpress Audio Messaging is supported and Nokia
Messaging 2.0 brings users’ existing e-mail and IM accounts to the device.
Midmarket News & Reviews 
