Nokia debuts DVB-H phone, email devices

[admin_mvu]

Apple's iPhone is certainly dominating many discussions at the 3GSM World Congress but that hasn't stopped the traditional phone manufacturers from coming up with their own buzz-worthy devices. Nokia today announced the Nokia N77, a device that it refers to as a multimedia "computer" not a phone. The N77 has integrated DVB-H capability and a 2.4" flat screen with 16 million colors and stereo speakers. The phone is expected to be commercial in DVB-H markets by second quarter.
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said that the company estimates that by 2008 the cost of DVB-H chip sets will drop to €7, which will enable a wide-range of devices and drive more DVB-H penetration. The company predicts the DVB-H market will make up between 5 to 10 billion units by the end of 2008.
In other handset trends, Kallasvuo said that the company believes that converged devices are the key to the future. He said that the company expects converged device sales will exceed laptop sales in 2007 and he attributes that to the increase in open technology and open platforms, which has led to more innovation. To that end, the firm announced several Eseries devices including the E90 Communicator, the E65 slider phone and the E61i email-optimized handset. All three are quad-band GSM phones that provide data connectivity to 3G W-CDMA and WLAN.
But the company isn't just expanding its W-CDMA devices. Kallasvuo says that Nokia will have WiMAX devices available during the first half of next year. The first device will be a "Web tablet," according to Director, Strategy and Business Development Kalle Kivekas.
On the multimedia front, Nokia is offering consumers a more streamlined access to YouTube videos by making them accessible with the Nokia Web browser from any Nseries handset. Nokia Director, communications, multimedia Kari Tuutti said in an interview with FierceWireless, that 75 percent of consumers that have Nokia devices are using multimedia features including cameras and music players. This consumer acceptance is driving deals such as the YouTube agreement because it gives subscribers a direct access through the browser to specific applications. "We make sure the performance is optimized," Tuutti says.