Nokia Revamps Touchscreen Music Phone

Nokia introduced today the 5530 XpressMusic, a follow-up on the company’s 5800 device, with a sleeker look but with some scaled-down specs. Aimed at the youth market, the 5530 brings an improved touch interface cased in a steel frame finish.

Building up on the success of the 5800 model (with over one million devices sold), the new Nokia 5530 is somehow a step down from its older sibling. The 5530 comes with only 4GB of bundled memory (swappable with a larger mircoSD card) and a 2.9-inch widescreen display (640 by 360 pixels).

Also downgraded from the 5800 is the radio antenna in the new Nokia 5530. The device only runs on GSM/EDGE, which means that it is not a 3G phone. But besides the smaller storage capacity, smaller screen, scaled-down radio and no GPS, the 5530 comes for a smaller price as well: $276 for a simfree (unlocked) device.

Scheduled to become available in the third quarter of this year, the Nokia 5530 will feature Wi-Fi connectivity, coming with a thee-month Boingo subscription, which gives customers free Internet access from hundreds of hotspots around the world. The 5530 also features a 3.15-megapixel camera with an LED flash.

However, the Nokia 5530 brings the most improvements in the user interface department. A new ‘people carousel’ feature is available on the home screen, which displays thumbnails of up to 20 selected contacts for quick access. There is also a pop-up “media bar” for speedy access to music, photos, and videos stored on the device.