Nokia Unveils Three New Handsets

Nokia's three new "Beautiful to Use" handsets combine minimalist designs with modern features...and they'll be available in Europe in the third quarter.

Finland’s Nokia has taken the wraps off three new mobile handsets, collectively grouped under the “Beautiful to Use” moniker. The Nokia 6600—available in both fold and slide designs—and the Nokia 3600 slider combine an elegant, minimalist look with easy to use features and outer displays that “wake up” to double taps to display common information so users don’t have to unfurl the whole phone.

“There is a strong consumer demand for mobile handsets that blend elegant looks with modern features,” said Nokia’s director of Connect devices Mikkel Drucker, in a statement. “Each of the three devices introduced today offers a slightly different take on a core design language. We believe they are both beautiful to use and beautiful to behold—and offer a range of choice.”

The fold version of the 6600 sports a 2.13-inch LCD OLED screen capable of displaying 16 million colors, along with a high-gloss surface that can be double-tapped to “wake up” and show the time, incoming messages, missed calls, and more information. Double-tapping the phone also tells the phone to snooze alerts without opening it, and can also be used to silence the phone or reject incoming calls. The 6600 also sports a 2 megapixel camera and Internet browsing capabilities.

The slide version of the 6600 offers a similar feature set, but increases the camera resolution to 3.2 megapixels and ups the screen size just a hair to 22 inches and QVGA resolution. (Although Nokia doesn’t say, we’re guessing that display is LCD rather than OLED.) The slide version of the 6600 is also available with optional Bluetooth and GPS modules.

The Nokia 3600 slide phone is the first Nokia handset to offer background noise cancellation for clearer calls; the phone also supports microSD storage, offers a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a TV output feature that lets users share photos with friends and family on a big screen. The 3600 will also work with optional Nokia Bluetooth and GPS modules.

The fold version of the 6600 is expected to be priced at €275 excluding taxes and subsidies; the 6600 slide will be about &euro250 and the 3600 slide will be about &euro175. Nokia says all three should be available in the third quarter of 2008.