Nokia unveiling X3 'Touch and Type' music phone
Announced late last year, the X3 will make its debut in Europe in the third quarter, sporting both a touch screen and physical keypad and offering a music player and FM radio.
Nokia announced Tuesday that its X3 smartphone will hit the European consumer market sometime in the third quarter and sell for around 125 euros ($160).
The Finnish mobile phone maker is touting the X3 as a "Touch and Type" model, offering users both a touch screen and traditional keypad. The 2.2-inch touch screen offers a resolution of 320x240 pixels. And at 9.6mm (less than 0.4 inches), the X3 will also be one of the company's slimmest, according to Nokia.
"We have given people a larger screen with clear icons and menus plus kept critical keys such as the send and end keys," Mary McDowell, executive vice president of mobile phones at Nokia, said in a statement. "We've also added dedicated function keys for important links like music and text messaging. Our research tells us consumers who have invested years in becoming fast one-handed, one-thumb texters want to maintain their speedy edge for SMS, chat and instant messaging--yet enjoy the benefits of touch as well."
Connections include 3G, 802.11n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth 2.1, and the 3.2-megapixel camera provides a 4x digital zoom to take both still photos and videos.
Nokia is also positioning the X3 as a music player with dedicated music keys, built-in stereo speakers, and an FM radio. In certain markets, the phone will include Ovi Music Unlimited, a subscription-based service that lets X3 owners download free music from the Nokia Music Store and sync those tunes between the phone and a PC. Nokia is selling a stereo headset and mini speaker as accessories to plug into the X3.
The company hasn't announced if or when the X3 would be available in the United States.