Welcome Nokia’s Nseries

KUALA LUMPUR – Nokia Corp. unveiled here this week three new phone models that are expected to usher in the era of full digital convergence.

Packed with state-of-the-art technologies as 3G (third generation), Carl Zeiss optics, megapixel cameras, multi-gigabyte memory, high-resolution video and wireless LAN (WLAN), the Nokia Nseries handsets introduce a new brand of mobility to mobile phone users.

Mauro Montanaro, vice president for multimedia of Nokia-Asia Pacific, told journalists gathered at the Hilton Kuala Lumpur for the Nseries’ Asian debut that the new handsets stand for high-performance multimedia.

In a rare move, the world’s largest handset manufacturer is deviating from the naming convention of its phone models. "We want to set the Nseries apart from the other range of multimedia products we have," Montanaro said.

N, which stands for new, next-generation Nokia phones, sets the bar for a full mobile multimedia experience.

The Nokia N90 camera phone, for one, integrates a two-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens into the handset, offering superior quality photography for digital photo enthusiasts. It also features 8x digital zoom, integrated flash, VHS resolution video capture in MP4 and 3GP formats, video sharing and two-way video call capability.

This phone model is easily recognizable for its multi-hinge twist and shoot shape that gives it a classic identity as a camera phone.

The Nokia N91, on the other hand, packs a surprising four gigabytes of memory space, allowing music lovers to store up to 3,000 songs into the device. The phone also comes with a 3.5-mm stereo headset jack for that perfect audio experience.

Clearly Nokia’s answer to Sony Ericsson’s Walkman phone and Apple’s iPod, the Nokia N91 strives to live up to its twin roles as a mobile music player and a smart multimedia device. It has dedicated music keys, playlist management and sharing applications and stereo FM radio in the same way it has WLAN, 3G options Bluetooth, USB 2.0 and WCDMA capability.

The last member of the trio is the Nokia N70, which is the world’s smallest 3G series 60 smartphone to date. At only 126 grams, the phone is obviously compact considering that it is also a tech heavyweight.

This two-megapixel smartphone is WCDMA-enabled, has a front camera for video calling, Web browsing, stereo FM radio, music player and a rotating image gallery for browsing images and video clips, among other features. Buoyed by an 18 percent jump in sales growth in the first quarter of the year, Nokia is poised for an even more robust second quarter when the Nseries starts to ship.

And this is just the opening salvo. Montanaro disclosed that in 2005, Nokia expects to sell 25 million smartphones, 40 million music devices and close to 100 million camera phones. With the global handset market pegged at 740 million units, Nokia is pinning for an even bigger market share.

In the last quarter of 2004, Nokia led the race by a huge 66 percent market share in the smartphone category, according to research firm Gartner.

Nokia believes that mobile phone dynamics in the market such as the drive to 3G and digital convergence is more than an industry push.

"It’s driven by instant culture, more active lifestyles, the proliferation of digital media, the quest for simplicity amid the theoretical complexity of technology and the blurring of boundaries between work and life balance," Montanaro said.

Thus, he said Nokia is offering six sets of solutions for consumers – photography, connectivity, communication, music, media and productivity.

Along these lines, Nokia announced collaborations with strategic partners such as Carl Zeiss, the world’s leading optics company, for the manufacture and continued evolution of its high-end camera phones; and Discovery Networks Asia, the Asian division of Discovery Communications, for an industry-first partnership that would see the launch of a new genre in Asia – mobile filmmaking.

For a start, Nokia will sponsor "First Time Filmmakers" on Discovery Channel this June, which is expected to pave the way for a campaign for Nokia’s 3G smart imaging devices.

"Nokia and Discovery will collaborate to reinvent the way people view filmmaking by making it more accessible to consumers and viewers," Nokia said in a statement.

The plan, it added, is to groom young filmmakers and allow mobile phone users to create their own personal documentaries with their Nokia phones.

Meanwhile, Yahoo will also be providing data communications and entertainment services such as e-mail, ringtone, wallpapers, downloadable games and search functions soon to Nokia devices based on the Series 60 platform.