Wed Sep 02, 2009 9:59 am
Nokia today unveiled three new smartphones -- the N97 Mini, X6 and X3 -- that boast more music features and mesh better with social-networking service Facebook to better compete with Apple's iPhone.
The Espoo, Finland-based company said the N97 Mini lets users update their Facebook status and location directly to the site using a Nokia Ovi account -- a tie-in dubbed "Lifecasting with Ovi." Nokia's long-awaited deal with Facebook links the social networking website to Nokia Maps.
"People want to bring their physical and online worlds together via the Internet," said Jonas Guest, Nokia's vice president. "The Nokia N97 mini is designed for this new social Internet and to help navigate people and places."
The N97 Mini will come with features such as a QWERTY keyboard, 5.0-megapixel camera and a fully customizable home screen and start shipping in October for $640.
Nokia also unveiled the X6, a handset that features 32GB of memory, can play up to 35 hours of music and has a 3.2-inch touch screen.
The X3 is a more compact version with direct access to Nokia's music store and has an integrated FM radio and 3.2-megapixel camera.
It said it will also launch the X6 and X3 in the fourth quarter, which will sell at around $640 and $165, respectively.
Recently, Nokia has been focusing on the service segment in order to increase earnings in the face of falling profits from its handsets.
Last month, the company said it plans to launch a financial payment service that lets customers use their handset to make purchases, pay bills and send money to another person.
In India, it expanded a pilot program that allows poor rural buyers the option to pay weekly installments.
Though Nokia's broad focus on both high-end smartphones and cheaper handsets has weathered the global economic downturn better than some rivals, it is having to work harder to maintain its market position amid tough competition from Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry.
It recently announced a partnership with Microsoft to develop a mobile version of the Office software for its smartphones.
It also debuted the Nokia Booklet 3G, a 10-inch laptop to compete in the fiercely competitive, but fast-growing netbooks market.
Nokia's second-quarter profit fell 66 percent from a year earlier.
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