Nokia Announces 5230 and 5530 XpressMusic Touchscreen Handsets

The latest additions to the Nokia touch phone portfolio for the Indian market is the Nokia 5230 and 5530 XpressMusic. Building on the existing 5800 XpressMusic design, it would seem like Nokia is running out of design ideas.

The 5230 is another one in the same range as the 5530 and the 5800 Navigation Edition. The solutions offering is complemented by A-GPS navigation and the latest version of Ovi Maps with aerial images, 3D landmarks for over 200 cities and terrain map views for pedestrian and drive navigation.

“Competitively priced at 149 EUR, we believe the Nokia 5230 is an unbeatable offer for many new customers who aspire a device that stars in music, mingles with social networks from Facebook to MySpace, navigates you to where it happens, when it happens, and comes in an array of dazzling colors,” said Jo Harlow, Vice President, Nokia.

The 5230 will also feature –

• 3.2-inch touchscreen with a 360 x 640 pixel resolution and 16 million colors with a proximity sensor, accelerometer and handwriting recognition support
• 3.5mm earphone socket
• MicroSD card support
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS
• Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0
• 2 megapixel camera
• GPS with A-GPS support (Ovi Maps)

The Ovi Store is conveniently accessible from the home screen of the phone and customers can immediately begin downloading and personalizing their phones with popular apps and games. In select markets the Nokia 5230 will include the Comes with Music service. In addition, the Nokia 5230 features a Media Bar with quick access to your favorite media and applications, such as music, photos, YouTube or Ovi Share. The innovative Contacts bar features thumbnail images for up to 20 close friends and provides easy access to them and their communications history including emails, phone calls, photos or other social media updates.

Vineet Taneja, Director Marketing Nokia India said, “As the market leader, Nokia’s value proposition is to offer products that combine aesthetics, technology and ease of use. Nokia’s touch devices are also based on these strengths and with the new Nokia 5230 and Nokia 5530 XpressMusic we aim to give our consumers phones that look great, provide enhanced touch and music experience and, at the same time, are competitively priced.”

The second handset that Nokia has announced is the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. This one also has the home screen feature with one touch shortcuts to content and popular social networks, like Facebook and MySpace. The innovative ‘people carousel’, like the other models features thumbnail images of up to 20 friends with access to their communications history including emails, phone calls, photos or other social media updates.

This 5530 XpressMusic handset features -

• a 2.9-inch touchscreen display with a 360 x 640 pixels 16 million colors with a proximity sensor, accelerometer and handwriting recognition support
• 3.5mm earphone socket
• MicroSD card support
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0 (micro)
• 3 megapixel camera with LED flash
• stereo FM radio

The difference between the two is that the 5530 is equipped with Wi-Fi but lacks GPS and the 5230 has GPS but no Wi-Fi.

The Nokia 5230 is expected to begin shipping in the fourth quarter of 2009 and will be priced at Rs. 18,068 (259 Euro) for the Comes with Music edition, before subsidies and taxes. Official pricing is not yet known so stay tuned.