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Nokia launched three slim mobile handsets April 13-the C3, E5 and C6, each with a focus on messaging.
“The one constant across all three devices, and now also across both Cseries and Eseries is Nokia Messaging,” Nokia officials said in their Conversations blog. “Having grown from humble beginnings, the service has evolved and matured to offer a range of services now covering email and Instant Messaging.”
Nokia Messaging offers support for up to 10 e-mail accounts-including business accounts through Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes Traveller, as well as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, Ovi Mail and other e-mail offerings. Instant messaging support is also generous, including chat apps from Ovi, Yahoo, Google and others.
Click on a contact, and you can additionally choose to reach out through options that include e-mail, SMS messaging, Facebook or, if you’re really feeling crazy, an actual phone call.
The Nokia C3 is the first Series 40 device to offer a full QWERTY keypad. It features a 2.4-inch touch screen, WiFi connectivity and support for up to 8GB of storage with a microSD card. Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat are one click away, and a feature called SMS chat puts text conversations on the home screen, enabling uses to simultaneously see other news and alerts.
The C3 will arrive in the second quarter of 2010 in golden white, slate gray and hot pink, for about $122.
The E5, which is said to be a combination of the best of the E71 and E72, has serious bragging rights on the battery front, delivering a reported 18.5 hours of talk time. It also features a 2.4-inch touch screen, as well as 5-megapixel camera. Storage here is 250MB on board, with room for 16GB more on a microSD card.
In color choices of carbon black, chalk white, sky blue, copper brown and silver gray, the E5 will arrive in the third quarter for about $244.
The C6 is a slider phone, with a four-row QWERTY keypad that extends from the longest side of its 3.2-inch HD touch screen. Three’s a 5-megapixel display, 7 hours of talk time (in GSM mode), FM stereo radio, Ovi Maps for walking and driving directions, and support for a 16GB microSD card.
The C6 will arrive in the second quarter for $299.
In March, Nokia introduced a simplified naming convention for its handsets. The Nseries are the Nokia’s most advanced, flagship devices; the Xseries focus on social networking and entertainment; the Eseries emphasize productivity and enterprise use; and the Cseries are what Nokia describes as its “core range of products.”