Nokia N81 and music download service become reality

Got butterflies?

29 August 2007 11:19 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Nokia has launched a new digital music service and handsets today at its Nokia: Go Play event in London.

Announcing the new N81, the model, which will sit alongside the new refurbished N95 will have a 2.4-inch screen and come with 8GB built-in memory.

Claimed to be a "Jukebox in your pocket", the new phone will store up to 6000 songs, feature the new interface also announced today and sport a screen that can be played in landscape mode for gaming or video viewing.

The new interface, accessible at the press of a button is a cross between Apple's iPhone, Sony's XrossMediaBar interface and Creative's Zen MP3 players menu system to access a phones features like games, photos and music.

In a video scarily mirroring Apple's iPhone commercials, complete with white background and hand, the company showed off some of the new features to the packed theatre of journalists.

Features included in the video included the ability to edit images on the fly, buy tracks from an online store and access the Internet at the touch of a button (or screen as in the video).

To go with the new handset Nokia has announced that it will be launching a dedicated music store to go up against Apple's iTunes and operators dedicated mobile offerings.

The service, called NokiaMusic, will be available on PC and Mobile, and have one account to automatically sync with both devices.

Single tracks will cost 80p and albums around £8. Nokia will also offer a PC streaming service for £8 a month.

Users will be able to surf for new tracks as well as getting advice and top picks from experts around the world. Users will also be able to create a wish list similar Amazon's wish list service.

Nokia has said that users will also be able to re-download songs if they lose the tracks on their phone.

On the PC, the company will offer a DJ feature that will select music from a specific genre so you can experience new music.

Full tags

Phones, Mobile phones, Nokia, N81, Music downloads, Websites, Rumours