New Nokia Devices Let The Music Play

Nokia on Wednesday continued its bid to unseat the Apple iPhone as the music-centric device of choice with the addition of three new handhelds to its roster. The trio of music-centric phones, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, Nokia 5330 XpressMusic and the Nokia 5030, aim to bring 'Comes With Music' and the Nokia Music Store to new geographies.







Nokia's music store is currently available in 15 markets on three continents. Similar to Apple's iTunes, it lets users browse and buy music, get recommendations and search for artists, songs or albums directly from their phones. Comes With Music is a subscription-based service that gives users unlimited downloads for the Nokia Music Store for a year or 18 months. Users keep the tracks when their subscription expires. Comes With Music is currently available in the U.K. and Singapore and will launch in the U.S. sometimes this year. Two of the new devices, the 5730 XpressMusic and 5330 XpressMusic will be Comes With Music-compatible in available markets, while the Nokia 5030 (shown) is a portable FM radio/mobile phone combo.

First up is Nokia's first music-centric device to offer a full QWERTY keyboard, which the Finnish device-maker said is ideal for quick messaging. The device centers around the Homescreen for XpressMusic, which provides access and dynamic information on music, people, games, e-mail and calendar. The Homescreen features an updated contacts bar with up to 20 friends and family members and provides direct access to music, N-Gage and other applications like Facebook, Ovi Contacts, Maps, messaging and more. Using Ovi Contacts, people can see which friends are online, chat and view what music they are listening to.

The 5730 XpressMusic also features a Music shortcut for quick access to the music stored on the device, as well as to the Nokia Music Store, where users can find information on artists, music and over-the-air downloads directly on the device.

It also offers dedicated gaming keys, making it a true N-Gage gadget, Nokia said. Direct access to the N-Gage Arena community and the preloaded N-Gage games let users invite, connect, compete and check high scores with online friends.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is expected to start shipping in the third quarter of 2009 and has an estimated retail price of about $350 before subsidies and taxes.

Nokia is calling the 5330 XpressMusic "edgy" with its top-sliced design and illumination effects. That handheld, Nokia said, is ideal for music and keeping in touch with social networks.

The 5330 XpressMusic offers music-centric touch keys on the side of the display for instant access to tunes. It also features a standard 3.5mm headphone jack for crystal-clear sound. The device offers enough battery life for more than 26 hours of playback time.

Along with all of the music-centric features, the Nokia 5330 offers access to sites that specialize in online sharing, such as Ovi, Facebook and MySpace.

The Nokia 5330 XpressMusic is expected to retail for about $200. It is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2009.

Last, Nokia pulled the curtain off the Nokia 5030, the company's first phone to feature an internal FM radio antenna, which eliminates the need for a headset or external speakers.

The device ties in one-touch FM radio and channel selection keys on the side to ensure it lives up to its XpressRadio name.

When the Nokia 5030 is placed sideways on a flat surface, it doubles as a portable FM radio with a built-in loudspeaker, making it ideal for emerging markets where people rely on the radio as their main source of entertainment and news.



The 5030 offers up to a day of listening time and 10 hours of talk time.

The Nokia 5030, which is available in graphite and red, is expected to ship in the second quarter and retail for roughly $50 before taxes and subsidies.