Nokia unveils touch-screen 5800 XpressMusic phone

Nokia pumps up the volume on its music-oriented handsets with its new Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, a mobile device for music that brings innovative new features, including a stunning touch-screen interface, to the mass market.

Delivering on Nokia’s vision to heighten the overall music experience, the 5800 XpressMusic will be among the first devices to support Comes With Music, Nokia’s groundbreaking service, which offers one year of unlimited access to the entire Nokia Music Store catalogue in markets where it is offered.

The 5800 XpressMusic raises the bar in music phones — with more memory, loud and powerful speakers, and easy synchronization — while still working well as a mobile phone with direct access to important contacts and content.

Taking advantage of touch-screen technology, the 5800 XpressMusic introduces the Media Bar, a handy dropdown menu that provides direct access to music and entertainment, including favorite tracks, videos, and photos.

The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the Web and to online sharing. Because the 5800 XpressMusic supports Flash content, individuals can surf the entire Web, not just pieces of it.

In addition, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic offers all the music essentials, including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6,000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, and a 3.5mm jack. Built-in surround sound stereo speakers offer the industry’s most powerful sound.

To help ensure a seamless music experience, the 5800 XpressMusic also provides easy access to browse and purchase tracks from the Nokia Music Store, while the newly updated Nokia Music PC software allows for easy drag-and-drop transfer of songs and management of any music collection. 

The innovative Contacts Bar lets consumers highlight four favorite contacts on their home screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, e-mails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

For the best screen resolution available on a mobile phone, the 3.2-inch widescreen display brings photos, video clips, and Web content to life in vibrant color and true clarity.

With a 16 x 9 widescreen aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording, the device is ideal for VGA quality video recording and playback. 

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also features a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens and, with a single touch, lets images or videos be shared via an online community such as Share on Ovi, Flickr or Facebook.

Music playlist song titles can also be shared through Bluetooth, MMS or online sharing.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports 60 languages worldwide, which covers nearly 90 percent of the world’s population. The Symbian S60-interface 5800 offers a variety of input methods, including a virtual alphanumeric keypad, a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, a pen stylus, and for true music enthusiasts, a plectrum. 

To enhance the overall music experience, Nokia is also expected to unveil four new music accessories, including a new Bluetooth headset and three new stereo headsets.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will hit local Nokia outlets and other authorized retail stores between the end of this year and early next year with prices to be announced at the time of the launch.