Nokia Music Store goes online in India!

After the announcement of the Nokia 5230 and 5530, you’d expect that things would be a little easy going, but no, Nokia did it again today! They launched the Nokia Music Store in India.

The official press release goes like this!

Nokia Music Store can be accessed via your desktop and mobile and gives options to choose from over 3 million tracks. Once the Nokia Music client is installed on your desktop, you can access the entire store, browse through tracks, search by artists and genres, create your wish list and download songs from the store.

Other highlights of the Nokia Music Store include the ability to listen to a 30 second clip of any track on the store before downloading it. You can browse for new music, get recommendations or search for their favorite artists, songs or albums all from the palm of their hand. You can download directly to a mobile device without having to download the same song again on their computer. You will also be able to transfer songs via a PC to compatible Nokia devices.

You also get free tracks of the week which can be downloaded from free. The store comes as a default client with all compatible handsets.

You can access international, Bollywood and regonal sound tracks across all genres. To begin with, the consumers can experience Nokia Music store via inbox vouchers included in all XpressMusic handsets and select Nseries devices and Eseries devices such as N97,  N86 , E71, E63 amongst others. Three new music devices have also been announced – Nokia 5630, Nokia 5530 and Nokia 5230.

To deliver the most updated content Nokia has tied up with leading international music labels such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music, EMI and Warner and major independent Indian record labels including Tseries, Yashraj Music, Saregama, BIG Music, Venus and many more. The company has partnered with India’s leading music body, Indian Music Industry (IMI), a consortium of over 150 music companies, to give consumers an opportunity to discover and enjoy their favorite music on the go across genres and languages. Nokia has also signed up with GIRI and Phoneytunes for access to South India and North regional content respectively.
To begin with Nokia Music Store will be available in India on Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5130 XpressMusic, Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, Nokia 5530 XpressMusic, Nokia 7210,  N97,  N86, E63 and E71

Nokia also seems to be on the road to launching the 5630 and 5730 soon in India, which means that the portfolio is going to increase big time. The ‘Comes With Music’ edition handsets will also be hitting Indian shores soon, so that black N97 “Comes With Music” will be a reality in India finally! These special handsets come with unlimited music downloads, so the extra price is worth it!

Looks like the giant is finally waking up to competition, but is it too late already! Only time can tell!

Click this link to go to Nokia Music Store India – www.music.nokia.co.in

You can follow the store on twitter too – www.twitter.com/nokiamusicindia

What do you think about this new service Nokia has launched? leave your comments and let us know your views and your experience at Nokia Music Store.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nokia-Music-Store-India/127719247530?ref=search&sid=1375242244.4064549406..1

Nokia releases 5230 and 5530 XpressMusic

Today Nokia just dropped a bomb by launching two new touchscreen phones, the 5230 XM and the 5530 XM.  Now we all knew of the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic phone, which was known to us and it’s specs too. What came as a surprise to most of us was the launch of the Nokia 5230 XpressMusic.

It’s quite interesting that the earlier 5230 is a regular S60 3rd Edition phone (basic entry level S60 device) and this new one is a S60 5th edition.

Let’s jump to the specs shall we,

Picture Courtesy: http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/

The 5230 XM is actually a stripped down 5800 with some real cool colour options. It has the same body shell with some minor changes, as the 5800. The real changes lie within, no WiFi, GPS support, a slightly smaller battery (1320mAh v/s 1500mAh on the 5800) and a 2MP camera. The data sheet can be downloaded from here–> Nokia_5230_data_sheet.

The 5530 is a different beast all together, it features a 2.9 inch screen, same resolution i.e. 640×360 pixels, WiFi, no GPS, 3.2MP camera and the other things that the 5800 has. What sets this apart from the 5800 is that it lacks a dedicated GPS chip and also a smaller screen. But it also means that it is more compact than the 5800.

The prices for the 5230 and 5530 are estimated to be around 149 Euros and 199 Euros respectively. This means that Nokia is aiming for the same piece of pie that Samsung is enjoying with its S5230 and S5600 range of touchscreen phones and also take on LG Cookie.

All I can say is that the touchscreen market is set to become more affordable in the near future. Something manufacturers like HTC and Apple will have to realize and adapt to quickly.

5800 gets a huge update!

Yesterday, the Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic received a major update. The phone had recently received an update on the 6th of February, 2009 and was up to V11.0.009. Many people had complained that the Geo-tagging had not been included, when it should have been. Nokia it seems heard the commotion and acted quickly and released a huge update. The S60 5th edition jumped from the above version to V20.0.012.

This version adds a lot of features to the 5800. Geo-tagging is now available for images as well as videos. ZomgitsCj, reports that screen rotation is much more smooth and refined.

Another important feature that has been included is the “application running” sign that occurs on the application’s icon when it is running in the background. Apart from this numerous bug fixes have been fixed.

There is no change-list available for it yet. As soon as there is one available it will be put up.

So if you want all those features on your phone, fire up NSU (Nokia Software Updater) on your PC or download it OTA (Over The Air).

Please remember to make a backup of the data on your phone before you update your phone. The 5800 has UDP (User Data Prevention) so there is nothing to worry about. But it always pays to take precautions. We at www.adityasphones.wordpress.com do not take responsibility in case you lose any data.

NOTE: Images Courtesy, www.zomgitscj.com.

A little Note: My contacts at the dealerships in Pune have told me that the price of the 5800 has been reduced. The device is now available for Rs. 18990 (US $388 ) compared to Rs.19990 (US $407) price last week.

5800 shipping now!

The 5800 Xpressmusic

Good news for all the people in Russia, Spain, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Finland, and other places. The Nokia 5800 Xpressmusic has started to ship to these countries!

S60 blog on living reports that the Nokia 5800 has started shipping to these countries. This is great news for all the people looking to buy a phone on Christmas. Now you can pick up a ultra new Nokia 5800. I

I have no idea about the prices, as it is going to vary a bit. But rest assured, don’t worry, it won’t be expensive.
Finally a credible iPhone competitor comes to town!

1. The 5800 as you know will have 3.2 MP camera with dual LED flash.
2. WVGA screen.
3. Resistive touchscreen
4. 8GB Micro SDHC (in the box)
5. 3.5 mm headset jack.
6. S60 5th Edition.
7. Stereo Surround speakers.
8. Etc.

You can read Nokia’s full press release regarding the same.

Why does Nokia have non Nseries/Eseries S60 phones?

How many of you readers have a 5700, 6220, etc? and how many of you have a Nseries or Eseries device?

I just was wondering what is the use of having non Nseries/Eseries phones in Nokia’s product portfolio. Everyone knows the Nseries is all about the camera, gaming, internet and music; The Eseries is all about mails, internet and security. Both of them meant for a distinct set of users. So where do the 5700, 5800, 6220 fit in? How does the Xpressmusic line differentiate itself from the Nseries or an Eseries?

When the Nseries offers superior camera & audio experience, why does Nokia need a S60 device in the 5 and 6 series? The S60 enabled Xpressmusic phones are supposed to be a bit cheaper than the Nseries. But with the differentiation between them blurring, its hard to understand why one should not buy a Nseries and buy 5 or 6 series phone instead. The 6220 comes with a 5 megapixel camera and Xenon flash, just like the N82. The audio experience on a S60 enabled Xpressmusic phone is almost the same as one finds on a N81.

With the 5800, Nokia has introduced a touchscreen based S60. Nokia’s Nseries hasn’t got the first touch S60 device! it is the Xpressmusic. Why? I have no answer to that! I’m not complaining here. All I am doing is ask a few questions. Could these series not be converted to S40 devices only?

What do you think is the logic behind having non Nseries and Eseries phones? Leave your comments and start a conversation!