Hands-on with the Nokia 5800

While some manufactures (hello Samsung) rushed headlong into the touch-screen phone craze, other manufacturers were more cautious. For example, just look at Nokia. Though the cellular giant pumps out phones by the dozen, it wasn't until the Nokia 5800 Xpress Music that the company explored touch-screen cell phones with gusto (the Nokia 810 doesn't count). Positioned as a rival to the Apple iPhone, the 5800 is packed with a range of multimedia features. And it all comes in a sharp, slim package with an expansive touch screen.

Of course, we were very excited when we first heard about the phone, so when Nokia gave us the opportunity to look at a prototype, we jumped at the chance. Since it's not a production model, and it doesn't have final software, we won't have an official CNET rating, but we can report that the 5800 looks very promising. The design is attractive and easy to use, and the loaded feature set is impressive. And though we weren't able to test the Nokia Music Store, its music player should be top-notch. We didn't give the phone a full run through to gauge its performance, but we look forward to seeing a final version just the same. For more, check out our Nokia 5800 hands-on or see our Nokia 5800 photo slide show.