Nokia set to unveil 'iPhone killer' in Nov

[Nipun Mohta]

KOLKATA: Nokia has decided to launch its first touchscreen phone in India in the third week of November. The Finnish handset major will position the phone—Nokia 5800—under its music platform XpressMusic series and is likely to price it at sub-Rs 20,000. The model has just been unveiled globally and pegged by analysts as the iPhone killer.

Talking to ET here on Saturday, Nokia India managing director D Shivakumar said the company expects this phone will create the market for touchscreen devices in India. “What iPhone did was to bring the touch element to a multi-media converged device. Since we are already the leader in converged devices in India, Nokia 5800 will be a revolutionary launch from our stable,” he said.

Industry circles feel the price of Nokia 5800 will play a major role in garnering market share, since the recent spate of touchscreen phones like Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Omnia are priced more than Rs 30,000 in India. “Our touchscreen bet will have the latest features and will be packed with music,” said Mr Shivakumar.

The Nokia 5800 features a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, a virtual QWERTY keyboard and offers all the music essentials—graphic equaliser, 8GB memory, supports all digital music formats with built-in surround sound stereo speakers.

After its launch, Nokia intends to study consumer behaviour towards touchscreen phones in India. “We have to study what are some of the key features which Indian consumers aspire for in a touch device. Based on this feedback, the company will decide on building a portfolio of touchscreen devices in India,” said Mr Shivakumar.

This apart, Nokia is also planning to bundle exclusive content featuring its brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan for handsets sold in India. It has recently bundled the full length ‘Om Shanti Om’ movie in Nokia N96. It will look at bundling video clips and music of Shah Rukh Khan movies in the handsets.

Shah Rukh Khan said: “I am looking forward to collaborating with Nokia for such possibilities in my personal capacity and through my production house Red Chillies Entertainment.”

Source

[LightIdea]

No. Do NOT say *insert product here* killer.

Never >_<

[Doli]

pegged by analysts as the iPhone killer

Does a company actually come out and say <product here> killer?

[revvo]

No. Do NOT say *insert product here* killer.

Never >_<

Except this is Nokia. They can very well produce (if they didn't already) an iphone killer. The key is in the marketing and exclusive deals that Apple got to spread it around.

[javagreen]

I've always found the S60 and S90 Series Nokias to be terribly *slow* .. like f*kin SLOW :no:

[Matrix XII]

I've never owned one for some reason, but I really like Nokia phones.

[morphen]

I've always found the S60 and S90 Series Nokias to be terribly *slow* .. like f*kin SLOW :no:

guessing you have'nt used a s60 devices lately? (btw. s90 isn't used anymore)

They are lightning fast :D

[Minimoose]

We shall see... :shiftyninja:

[Amano]

guessing you have'nt used a s60 devices lately? (btw. s90 isn't used anymore)

They are lightning fast :D

+1

[instant.human]

i like the design. looks pretty good actually. =)

no panning/sliding though. some german tech site had a first hands on and they were not too pleased but hey, this is the first try and they definately will bring out some pro-devices featuring touchscreen.

competition ftw! =)

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Whan a company heralds a product as a "xxxxx killer" - it shows that they are benchmarking by product xxxxxx. To me - not a great introduction to your new product.

[crazzyyfool]

Apple has 1.8% of the smartphone market right now so surely branding your next phone as a iPhone Killer is not a good move?

[goodabc]

nokia5800

it is beatufil

but it's not sale in China

[Kami-]

Looks like **** sounds like ****, iPhone can sit in that column too... I'm going with a Samsung Omnia!

[peacemf]

it wont have a WOW factor, it will look like a standard nokia phone with a touchscreen gimmic

[fatboyuk]

Statements like that will always leave egg on the face of the manufacturer releasing the hardware.

I wanted an iPhone but was put off by O2 (in the UK) and their crappy tariffs so went for a HTC Diamond, which even if I say so myself, pushed the iPhone out of sight in my opinion :)

[Rappy Veteran]

Looks like **** sounds like ****, iPhone can sit in that column too... I'm going with a Samsung Omnia!

I have been thinking of buying one of those but its so costly :(

[Alexandre.]

Eh, everyone is saying that they have an iPhone killer, but none of them are living up the the hype of it. Its just a phone + touchscreen + apple logo. It's the logo that brings the hype, its like every new product that comes out from them has innovation. Wow touch screen mp4 player, not like archos had it before with tons more features. wow phone with toushcreen, not like imate, htc and the other loads of companies had it before... I like everyone else want's an iPhone, but in Kuwait, they're very overpriced, when the next shipment of 3Gs arrive in Kuwait my dad is getting one though.

[Simon Veteran]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you're trying to kill another product, you're going to fail. What you do when you're aiming at another product, is you're copying its features. Remember: good artists copy, great artists steal. That can in fact be applied here: when you copy, it's like playing catch up. When you steal, you have a solid idea of what you want. That idea develops beyond what the competition offers.

Apple stole the GUI for computers from Xerox. It's simply fact. But what most people miss is that in stealing it, they added their own ideas. Same thing with the iPhone: They blatantly stole the idea of a smartphone from companies like RIM and HTC, even Microsoft who make the software on some of the phones. But what they did was different: they used the other smartphones as a groundwork for the iPhone. It feels more logical: you flick to scroll, you tap to select, you pinch outward to expand/grow, and pinch inward to shrink. No buttons to fiddle around with, just a bit of logic.

The only way to kill the iPhone is to go above and beyond what it offers. Use flick to scroll, use multi-touch, and use a high quality touch screen. Make everything big enough to be finger friendly. Then add your own features. It's not copying, because you end up with something better than the competition: you're stealing and expanding.

Don't copy the iPhone. Steal the market.

[SMELTN]

I have been thinking of buying one of those but its so costly :(

agreed Rappy. I have been holding off buying a new cellphone, and was looking at the Omnia , but wow at the price

[The Teej]

The price on the Omnia is disgusting. I'd honestly much rather buy a PS3 (hell, I could actually buy an 80GB PS3 *and* a 60GB 360 *and* a PS3 HDMI cable for the price of an Omnia, and sorry, no phone on the planet is that awesome). It looks like such a great phone though, even the battery life doesn't seem so bad either, 5 and a half hours talk time and 500 hours standby these days is above average, and considering it's a Windows Phone, that's even better again.

Anyway, as for Nokia's latest offering, what's with them releasing everything in India first lately? I understand it's got a booming industry at the moment, but I still don't see why there's this sudden shift of focus. As for the phone itself, ehh, we'll see. I've been a little disappointed by Nokia's N95, when I tried my friend's the interface didn't seem too great and felt kinda laggy/sluggish. I really hope they fix this with their latest touchscreen offering, as using your fingers to touch demands a much more instant response, it's natural. Well, we'll see what the feature set and the pricing is like first.

[Sam Symons Veteran]

Eh, everyone is saying that they have an iPhone killer, but none of them are living up the the hype of it. Its just a phone + touchscreen + apple logo. It's the logo that brings the hype, its like every new product that comes out from them has innovation. Wow touch screen mp4 player, not like archos had it before with tons more features. wow phone with toushcreen, not like imate, htc and the other loads of companies had it before... I like everyone else want's an iPhone, but in Kuwait, they're very overpriced, when the next shipment of 3Gs arrive in Kuwait my dad is getting one though.

I agree with everything you said, but the iPhone also integrates those features with each other much better (in my opinion) than any other phone, and it looks a lot better. Again, my opinion.

[instant.human]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you're trying to kill another product, you're going to fail. What you do when you're aiming at another product, is you're copying its features. Remember: good artists copy, great artists steal. That can in fact be applied here: when you copy, it's like playing catch up. When you steal, you have a solid idea of what you want. That idea develops beyond what the competition offers.

Apple stole the GUI for computers from Xerox. It's simply fact. But what most people miss is that in stealing it, they added their own ideas. Same thing with the iPhone: They blatantly stole the idea of a smartphone from companies like RIM and HTC, even Microsoft who make the software on some of the phones. But what they did was different: they used the other smartphones as a groundwork for the iPhone. It feels more logical: you flick to scroll, you tap to select, you pinch outward to expand/grow, and pinch inward to shrink. No buttons to fiddle around with, just a bit of logic.

The only way to kill the iPhone is to go above and beyond what it offers. Use flick to scroll, use multi-touch, and use a high quality touch screen. Make everything big enough to be finger friendly. Then add your own features. It's not copying, because you end up with something better than the competition: you're stealing and expanding.

Don't copy the iPhone. Steal the market.

truth spoken.

that whole post should be copied and quoted in every friggin topic that seems to turn into a flamewar here.

unfortunately its too long and most of the users wont bother reading it. were on the internet, for gods sake! :p

[zeroday]

Killer phone this, killer phone that :rolleyes:

Who decides this crap?

If Nokia makes an amazing phone, it's not like the iPhone will suddenly lose all customers and spell the end of Apple's venture with phones :rolleyes:

[Scorbing]

Source

Here we go again with another so-called I-Phone Killer. Samsung couldn't do it. LG Couldn't do it and Nokia will not do it either. I-Phone is I-phone and nothing comes even remotely close to it.