Nokia unveils new fashion phones

Derek Zoolander once pondered, "Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?" We also wonder if some mobile phones aren't just pretty on the outside with nothing on the inside?

Over the past couple of years, Nokia has tried to solve this dilemma by creating a fashion phone range that features interesting form factors and colourful casings, while packing in some decent features. Earlier this year they launched the L'Amour collection, which included the Nokia 7360, 7370 and 7380.

We weren't sure about the lack of a keypad in the 7380, but overall the range was a refreshing change to standard mobile phone designs. Now Nokia has added some phones to the 'L'Amour' collection, including the 7390, the 7373 and a pink version of the 7360. It has also launched an upgraded version of the 8800 called the Sirocco. None of these phones are available yet, but they should all be out before Christmas.

If you're feeling confused by all these model numbers, don't worry -- Nokia recently announced that it will start calling phones names rather than numbers, after the marked success of the Motorola Razr range and the LG Chocolate phone.

Here's a quick round up of Nokia's new phones (pictured left to right):

Nokia 7360: This is the same as the old 7360 candybar handset, but in pink. It features a 0.3-megapixel (VGA camera), a colour screen, an FM radio and infrared capability. It will retail for around £130 offline.

Nokia 7390: A clamshell phone with a 3-megapixel camera and 3G connectivity for downloading, video calling and Web browsing. It will retail for around £300 offline and will be available in bronze black or powder pink.

Nokia 7373: This is an upgraded version of the 7370. It has the same swivel opening mechanism, but features a higher resolution 2-megapixel camera. It will retail for around £230 offline and will be available in bronze black, powder pink and black chrome.

Nokia Sirocco: This is an upgraded version of the 8800 and features a slightly different stainless steel casing with a dip at the top and a higher resolution 2-megapixel camera. There's also something called 'sonic texture' created by Brian Eno, which seems to be an 'otherworldly' ring tone. It will retail for around £670 offline and will come in silver or black.

Earlier this week Nokia bought Gate5, a German satellite navigation software company. This has led to speculation that it is making phones with built-in GPS for satellite navigation. For the time being they will use the Gate5 software on current models such as the Nokia 770 Tablet to provide sat-nav via a Bluetooth GPS receiver. -AL

Update: We now have a review of the Nokia 7373 live in our Reviews channel.