AfterDawn: News

Nokia to bring touchscreens to a wide range of phones

As many consumers consider the purchase of an iPhone 3G one of its perceived strengths is the use of a touchscreen interface. It's even been enough of a selling point to convince rivals like Samsung to adopt it for their own competing phones. Nokia is also planning to offer a touchscreen later this year, but what's more interesting is the scope of their plans.

Rather than sticking to the high-end models which compete with the iPhone, it seems Nokia plans to put touchscreens in phones at all price points.



"Currently, the market for touchscreen products is a niche market. We always aim for a situation where we can cover all the segments with all the options," said Senior Vice President of Nokia Markets Anssi Vanjoki. He added "We will introduce products from the very low segment to the highest one featuring this type of functionality."

Despite a drastic price reduction compared to the original, the new iPhone is still out of reach for many consumers. If Nokia is able to capture the interest of consumers who would like to own an iPhone 3G but just can't afford it there should be a lot of market potential. Of course if they're plan isn't wildly successful it could be a fairly expensive misstep.

Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 12 Jun 2008 4:31

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• 6 comments

• mattkind

  Well if nokia release a touchscreen with 7.2 mp camers , then count me in :)

  12.6.2008 09:05 #1

• PetahG

  I would like that too

  12.6.2008 14:13 #2

• cd-rw.org

  Megapixels don't mean shit if you have optics size of a needle. Any proper camera outperforms cam-phones even with 1-2Mpix resolution, due to better optics. Good optics on the other hand are impossible to make tiny - it just a matter of physics.
  
  Nokia has been making touch devices years before Apple. However, the ultimate concept is a QWERTY-keyboard combined with touch, as with the N810.

  12.6.2008 15:08 #3

• mattkind

  My N95 takes better photos than my 5 mp camera !

  12.6.2008 18:41 #4

• djanarak

  I second cd-rw.org's thoughts. Its laughable that people actually buy phones for their built in cameras. The fancier Nokia phones with purportedly better optics are a joke; they're bulky (contrary to their previous design trend of "small and functional") and an absolute eyesore to behold. Anyone with half a brain who actually appreciates good digital photography would never dare take photos of their children/friends/vacations/other memorable events with a crummy camera-phone. Its an insult to the senses.

  17.6.2008 06:59 #5

• blueroad

  lol more like shameful than an insult :P

  23.6.2008 04:26 #6