Nokia gets colourful with new handsets
Published: 17 Jun 2003 08:50 BST
Finnish phone giant Nokia has unveiled two new handsets and a slew of accessories as part of efforts to push multimedia applications.
The Nokia 6600 is aimed at business users and sports a high-resolution screen which supports up to 65,536 colours, and is equipped with a digital camera capable of capturing both still images and video.
To see images of the 6600 and 3100, click here.
Unlike previous camera-equipped products, the MMS-enabled 6600 comes with a two times digital zoom, though Samsung's latest product -- the SGH-V200 -- promises the same colour display but with a 20-level digital zoom and a 10-level digital brightness control.
Beyond imaging, the Nokia 6600 also includes more business-oriented PDA-like functions and improved data communications, such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data), Bluetooth and infrared.
Nokia said the new phone allows secure access to company email accounts and other corporate applications though support for the SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Internet security protocol and an optional VPN (Virtual Private Network) client.
However, a company spokesman said the firm has not confirmed which applications it will bundle with the device when it is launched in Asia-Pacific in the fourth quarter of this year. The phone runs on Nokia's Series 60, Nokia's implementation of the Symbian 7.0 handheld operating system.
"We hope to first put out the platform and get people to build applications on it," said Nigel Rundstrom, Nokia Asia-Pacific's vice president for product management and business development. "We usually handpick three to four applications and incorporate these onto the device from day one."
To support these applications, the Nokia 6600 comes with 6 megabytes (MB) of internal memory and a 32MB Multimedia Card.
A set of accompanying Bluetooth-enabled accessories for the phone were also previewed at the product showcase in Singapore on Monday. These include a new wireless headset, a hands-free car kit and the Nokia Image Viewer, a device which allows images on the mobile phone to be viewed on televisions or video projectors.
Besides the Nokia 6600, the firmed also unveiled a phone targeted at the youth segment.
The tri-band Nokia 3100 incorporates frills found in the firm's recent products. These include a coloured screen, interchangeable glow-in-the-dark covers, as well as support for polyphonic ring tones and Java games.
Nokia also introduced a new independent camera attachment for the Nokia 3100. Unlike its previous camera headset, users need not connect the device to the phone before taking pictures.
The Nokia 3100 will be launched in the Asia-Pacific region this quarter.
Pricing for the two new handsets are not confirmed.
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