Nokia takes the limelight with its Comes with Music service and 5800 XpressMusic phone

Posted October 3, 2008 at 07:46 AM by Arnold Zafra

Section: Communications, Cellphones, Smartphones, Mobile

Nokia has taken the mobile world’s centerstage today with the slew of announcements it made during the Nokia Remix event which happened simultaneously in London and Singapore.  An enhanced S60 mobile platform, an online music store a la iTunes and, of course, a new music phone with touchscreen features, a la, well what else, but the iPhone.

The enhanced S60 Mobile Platform

Nokia’s S60 mobile platform which runs on Symbian OS finally gets a much needed upgrade in its 5th iteration.  Key features of this fifth edition S60 is none other than touch UI and support for tactile feedback.  This simply means that Nokia mobile phones using the S60 OS will now have touchscreen features similar to the iPhone. 

Likewise, the S60 is also bringing enhanced web browsing capabilities to the soon to be released S60 mobile phone.  This is made possible through Adobe Flash Lite 3 support.  With the touchscreen features, users can now browse through web pages by scrolling via a finger touch.  In addition, the sensor features of the S60 OS will enable users to put their phone in silent mode just by turning the phone upside down.  No need to navigate through menus or find the right shortcut keys.

The new XpressMusic 5800 mobile phone

To kick off the availability of the fifth version of the S60 mobile software, Nokia has launched the XpressMusic 5800 phone which is Nokia’s first mobile handset to support Nokia’s new music service, Comes With Music.  Nokia 5800 phone users will have unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music catalog for one year.  The Nokia 5800 also features a “Media Bar” for accessing music and entertainment that includes tracks, videos and photos, as well as direct links to the web and online sharing.

The Nokia 5800 also comes with a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory that supports 6000 tracks and all major digital media formats, a 3.5 mm jack and built-in surround stereo speakers.  Additionally, the 5800 features a “Contacts Bar” which allows users to mark up to 4 of their contacts as favorites and put them in the phone’s homescreen.  From there, users can track down the contacts recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

The Nokia Comes with Music

Capping off Nokia’s trio of announcements is the launch of the Nokia Comes with Music service would allow users with compatible mobile phones unlimited access to the Nokia music catalog for one year.  Users who will opt for this service will have one year to keep the music they downloaded from the Nokia Music store.  Comes with Music will also be available in the Nokia N95 and Nokia 5310 mobile handsets.  The service is fully supported by major US labels as well as independent music producers; so, that gives you a pretty comprehensive music catalog.

Read [Nokia Press Release]