Nokia Rolls Out Music-Centric SmartphoneNokia Rolls Out Music-Centric Smartphone

Nokia introduced Tuesday a candy-bar smartphone that can take advantage of the cell phone manufacturer's music, gaming, and messaging services.

At first glance, the 5630 XpressMusic appears similar to midlevel music phones from the likes of Sony Ericsson. But Nokia's handset is a full-fledged smartphone with Symbian OS S60, meaning it can receive e-mails, add new applications, and utilize widgets for Internet-based services.

The sleek handset could possibly replace a user's personal music player, as it will be compatible with Nokia's Comes With Music service. This service lets the user have access on the handset to millions of songs from the major record labels, and there's also an FM radio and access to Internet radio. The handset will have a "say and play" feature that lets customers speak the name of an artist or track and the phone will automatically play it.

Mobile gamers also can get their kicks with the N-Gage service, Ovi Share can be used to share files, and Nokia Messaging can keep users connected with e-mail and instant messaging. To access all these services, the 5630 has integrated Wi-Fi and HSDPA 3G for mobile broadband.

There's a 3.2-megapixel camera with dual LED flash for snapping pictures and videos, and these can be uploaded on the go to Web-based services like Flickr. To store all the photos and music, the handset will come with a 4-GB microSD card, and the overall memory can be expanded up to 16 GB via the microSD slot.

The handset will be commercially available in the second quarter, and it should retail for about $250 before taxes and subsidies.

Nokia's plan to make the Symbian mobile operating system open source is sure to affect businesses that want to push more apps onto smartphones, and it could influence the role of open source software in general. For more information, download the information report "Nokia's Symbian Deal Rewrites The Smartphone Rules" (registration required).