"should be available in the first quarter of 2009"

Seeing these rather unimpressive pics and reading the comment above should be enough to convince anyone seriously considering buying a smartphone with touchscreen to go for the iPhone

i don't think i like it, the menu looks kinda crappy aswell... it needs a lot more style to ever contend with the iPhone

Looks like my iPhone with the InCase Slider case.

First quarter of 2009? That's like a year's worth of iPhone development away. Regardless of what people feel about the iPhone, it seems that all other manufacturers are doing me too versions 12-18 months late.

Stylus? Does the world really need another stylus phone?

NO.

that looks remarkably like that cheap assed china iphone copy

@Georgeo, it's Symbian, you can skin it, as most people with S60/UIQ handsets do, because people like to customise their phones how they like them.

@digidandy, what? So you wouldn't like the touch screen, as well as the ability to handwrite notes, draw sketches, and so on?

@AlanJC: My experience with Symbian grades from bad to awfully bad.

I honestly cannot understand what do people see in Symbian. I am probably missing something, but it is the most buggy mobile device OS I have ever come up to.

Regards.

Since the first video prototype (with no stylus if I remember) came out a few months ago I was really excited about Nokias competition to Iphone. But seeing that Stylus just scares me. I thought they knew better than this.

Lets hope this is a prototype platform for testing the concept and far from a finished product. The stylus has to go!

The stylus is an option. Don't you people read anymore?

Nokia Designers: iPhone? Ha! We designed our touch phone during dinner, on a mother-fucking-wednesday.

Styli are a long-legged mack daddy! The world is not ready for this!

The is just another Nokia smartphone from a range of about a dozen or more all with varying options. Unlike some companies Nokia believe in giving you choice, so if you want a touchscreen, fine you can have one, if you dont, fine you can have a model that's buttons, if you want QWERTY, fine they do that too.

This is a concept 'phone and will change before issue. What you can be sure of is that it will have the latest expected hardware features in it when it is released.

Which is probably why they dominate the mobile phone market - they have something for everyone.

Please Nokia, NO MORE STYLI (styluses?)! When I had a palm (remember those?) i lost 5 styli (sounds like a microbe). no more. nicht ein niet no lo

I think that this bad boy is geared more towards the business sector as more of a "Blackberry Killer" or a "Palm Killer" whereas the iPhone is more for the young, hip, trendy, kids out there that won't be able to afford the possible $900.00 price tag that this phone will most defiantly have.

i have no doubt that the camera will be good, Nokia always has good cameras in their phones.

none the less, I'll stick to my walkie talkie phone that work provides

iphone killer? how about eye killer?

my eyes they burn....

I hate Symbian. In fact, I think a lot more devices would appeal to me if you could actually change the font and/or icons. That's my main cursing of most stuff. I'd love to use Calabri or Corbel with my phone, along with some nice dock icons from a site like deviantART.

Rightly so, the iPhone has a pretty good font, and brilliant icons.

Cue "iPhone Killer" moniker critics...

"First quarter 2009, they say."
Those kinds of delays is why Moto is hurting so bad and laying off thousands of employees....

Having read the article it states that 'The tube' is just a codename and not what it'll be called. It also states this is a reduced feature version - an N73 to an N82 if you will - and that the top line touch phone will be released after this.

So, not an iPhone killer, just another competitior in that market segment.

@Sleeper_Service: of course it wont be called "The Tube". This is Nokia. probably S25.66^2

Actually I think they're going to call it Dave.

Or was it Wayne?

@willaim hoo
you can change the icons AND fonts on symbian phones. I have several different of each on my N95. I'd have to agree though at first glance I don't like it at all but Nokia does seem to offer something for everyone. Personally there's some Nokias I think are ugly as sin and there are others that are slick as hell looking. This one kind of falls in the middle so far but I am very curious to see the final product

"Shit-ass China Phone"

@Arelar: Yeah, if this is the real deal, the stylus and presumably pressure-sensitive screen are going to be real downers. I felt so damn clumsy with my old Pocket PC, alternately tapping it with that little pointy stick or manhandling the screen to get the right response. I love pen input on a Tablet PC with active digitizer, but not on a tiny pressure-responsive touchscreen, and finger input needs to be touch not pressure. If not, ugh.

Series 60 shouldn't be that hard to add touch screen support to really. The UI is pretty uncluttered and has largeish fields/buttons (except for the scroll bars) and any that are small can be made bigger I should think. I certainly agree that a stylus is a bad idea.

However, I also disagree that only having a touch screen is a good idea - some physical keys (ie. dpad & softkeys) still have their place even with a touchscreen.

Stylus, super-boo!

@newtype2011: hah!

@B1663R: "i have no doubt that the camera will be good, Nokia always has good cameras in their phones."

Nokia is actually the largest camera manufacturer in the world! Scary but true.

This is part of their express series, a mid range music phone, its not the original high end that will compete with the iPhone. Engadget did a better job of covering this story

Yeah, I'm not an apple fan at all but I have to admit that they really kicked the cell phone industry in the ass w/the iphone. These other companies have been churning out the same basic design for years now and they're struggling to break the cycle. 1st quarter 2009??!! WTF!! I'd much rather have a symbian or wm6.1 phone but there's nothing out there that I'd want to buy...guess I'll have to wait for the 3G iphone.

@MACPollo: America get the crappy symbain phones the new one with feature pac 2 (i.e. s60v3) does a better job.

I wish the american community get the type of phones available in the Uk so they can better understand why symbian and why the iPhone is not as much of a big over in the uUK as it is in the states.

Americans Love what comes from america just like any other country, thats why Motorola and Apple it massive in the states.

All that said i don't think there will ever be a phone that rules them all, every body is different with different needs, that why i carry two phones (biz and fun).

Also apple could sell 15m 3G iphones when it comes out bet i bet you half of those sales will be from original 2G iPhone owner and half unique new customers... and the same goes to Nokia when the N96 is released.

Example i am definitely getting the next version of the E90 now matter what phone i have at that point in time because it the perfect phone both for business and fun... if you can afford both the SIZE and the PRICE

Correction:

I wish the american community get the type of phones available in the Uk so they can better understand symbian and also why the iPhone is not as big over in the UK as it is in the states.

my bad and yes i cannot spell.... am dyslexic and am only doing a masters

@Sleeper_Service:
its a shame the Nokia bashers are not taking time to look closely at the picture and read the original source before commenting

First pictures of Nokia's alleged iPhone killer, allegedly.

Xperia > Nokia Tube

@The Full English Please!!:

But why do that when it's much easier to spout ill informed vitriol!

Personally I think I'll get an N96 when it comes out as I'm due an upgrade then. I like buttons as touchscreens just feel greasy after a while.

If this were being released right now, they could probably sell a few, but I don't think too many will be holding out for the "Tube" or whatever it's called, with the 3G iPhone right around the corner. Also, knowing Nokia, this thing will cost $700-$800.

@justinpe:

Not in Europe or Asia it won't. It looks like the equivalent of the current N73 - it's not a high end phone as Nokia have already stated - so I expect it'll cost no more than £150 on a £25 contract. Price will, of course , decrease each quarter as per normal.

Where did Nokia rip off those icons from, Windows XP?

@crumb:

Actually those are standard Nokia icons and have been in use since the 90s.

@Sleeper_Service:

N73 is $379 without a contract in the US. The "Tube" will certainly be more than this when released if it has GPS, 3G etc. I paid $350 for my refurbished iPhone. Not sure how any non-high end phone is going to be able to compete with the iPhone.

@justinpe:

I don't expect it to compete in the US market as Nokia's presence there is, frankly, rubbish. It will, however, compete in Europe and Asia where it'll be cheaper - unless Apple allow the iPhone to be subsidised - and where there's a much broader user base.

I can see it competing in Europe, but it is hard to tell how well it will do without seeing the UI in action. That is what makes the iPhone so great, after all.

Also, there are some advantages to the iPhone not being subsidized by ATT and being exclusive to one carrier. The unlimited data plan is about $15-20 cheaper than similar plans on ATT and other carriers. For example, the unlimited data plan for blackberry users on ATT is $35 compared to the iPhone's $20.

$15 a month over the course of two years will save you about $360 (more than the cost of my iPhone). You will not find an unlimited data plan with any other carrier or phone for this cheap.

As a former S60 fanboy, all I can say is HAHAHAHA.

@justinpe:

I'd point out that the UI wasn't enough to make the iPhone a success in Europe as Apple and the carriers priced it out of the market.

Although what you say about non-subsidy may be true in the US it doesn't apply to Europe where pretty much everyphone is subsidised and the options are about the same. 02, for example, offers similar conditions to its other high end phones (the N95 8GB) as it does for the iPhone - well, when I say similar it's actually 500 less texts for the same price - except they're about £170 cheaper.

I really hope Nokia will stay away from the whole iPhone concept. Symbian, to me at least, reminds me of the whole Psion era. From the looks of it, nothing much has changed GUI-wise since the late 90's.

Not being a mac user, I didn't really care that much for the Iphone, though it's much closer to a PocketPC/windows concept than any other Psion Nokia symbian or whatever out there and just for that, I enjoy using it quite a lot - can't imagine an iPhone with Psion interface, ugh.

@The Full English Please!!: I agree with what I think you are saying; this is not a matter of being a supporter of any tecnhonolgy but discussing your user experience with it.

I own a Blackberry for business and an IPhone for home use. My point is that any of the OSes behind these gadgets are far more convenient to use than Nokia's symbian.

I repeat: I may be missing something because my last symbian-based phone was a Nokia 9300 and my user experience was uncomfortable at best.

Regards.

@