Nokia 5800 XpressMusic launches

The Tube gets official

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic launches . Phones, Mobile phones, Nokia, Audio 1

2 October 2008 17:31 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

After leaks, rumours, speculation and a even a brief cameo in the latest Batman movie, Nokia has finally made its touchscreen "Tube" phone official.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been announced for the UK, offering a 3.2-inch touchscreen, HSDPA, AGPS, Wi-Fi, a music player and 3.2-megapixel camera.

The definitive specs for the 5800 are a 3.2-inch nHD (6240 x 360 pixels) 16:9 display with up to 16 million colours, there's only 81MB internal memory but the handset supports up to 16GB microSD cards.

The phone measures in at 111 x 51.7 x 15.5mm and weighs 109 grams. Talk time comes in at up to 9 hours, standby time is 17 days and music playback is said to be 35 hours.

Angled as a mobile music offering adding a "human touch", Nokia says the Tube can be used one-handed with a drop down menu "Music Bar" giving access to the music player and Nokia Music Store that can be scrolled through with one thumb.

The updated Nokia Music Player allows drag-and-drop transfer of tracks and playlist management, while there's a graphic equaliser, standard size headphone jack and built-in surround sound.

The Media Bar gives access to the web and online sharing services, while the Contacts Bar does what you'd imagine it to - as well as giving you the ability to stick four contacts on your home screen for single touch access.

The device gets AGPS and the Nokia Maps application and the 3.2-megapixel camera has Carl Zeiss optics, flash and is capable of capturing video.

The 5800 XpressMusic will come bundled with a Nokia music headset, an 8GB microSD card, a carry case, a portable stand and a video out cable. Oh, and a plectrum for "true music enthusiasts".

It will be available in silver-black, red or blue as a Nokia "Comes With Music" handset, with pricing set at a pre-tax price of £220 via the Nokia store when the handset is on sale in Q4, however expect that to be less when operators get involved. The Comes With Music version won't be out until "early next year".