Nokia's iPhone Challenger Hits U.S. Market

Nokia released Feb. 25 its first North American touch-screen rival to the Apple iPhone. Not only does the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic squarely target the iPhone, but the $399 unlocked device also runs on AT&T's 3G network.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic's North American debut follows Nokia's January announcement that the smartphone, Nokia's first mass-market touch-screen device, had hit 1 million in European sales. The 5800 XpressMusic was originally introduced in October 2008.

Running the fifth edition of Symbian S60, the smartphone features a 3.2-inch touch-screen with 360-by-640 resolution, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi and an FM radio receiver. The 5800 XpressMusic also comes with software for viewing Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents.

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"The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been received very positively and this milestone is just further proof that people all over the world want a device that is not only a great music experience, but also makes the most of touch-screen technology," Nokia Vice President Jo Harlow said in a statement.

The device delivers access to all music, video and photos through a one-touch "Media Bar" drop-down menu. The bar also offers a direct link to the Internet and to online file sharing. Because the device supports Flash content, individuals can surf the entire Web.

A contacts bar allows users to highlight four favorite contacts on the home screen and track a history of recent text messages, e-mails, phone logs, photos and blog updates with one touch.

The 5800 comes with 8GB of memory onboard with the ability to expand to 16GB through a MicroSD slot.