Nokia C7-00, Nokia's second Symbian 3 phone, breaks cover

Nokia is taking its time with the Nokia N8, its first phone to run Symbian 3, in the hope it won't have the same birthing pains as the Nokia N97. But the Nokia C7-00 -- the second, more affordable Symbian 3 phone -- is already leaking all over the Russian Mobile-Review blog.

Expect the C7 to have an 8-megapixel camera with two LED photo lights, and an 89mm (3.5-inch) AMOLED screen. Despite the bump to version 3 of Symbian, the user interface on the C7 looks similar to what we've seen on the N97 and other recent Nokia touchscreen phones.

The images purportedly show a prototype C7, however, so it's possible that it could get some tweaking before launch. The C7 also adds multi-touch zoom, which we've missed on other Nokias. 

The C7 doesn't skimp on the great connectivity that we've come to expect from Nokia. It has Wi-Fi, including support for the latest 802.11n standard, and Bluetooth 3.0, which should make for faster data-transfer speeds than older Bluetooth versions.

The C7 keeps things ticking over for Nokia, offering a more affordable alternative to the flagship N8. But smart phones running Google's Android OS are getting cheaper, better-looking and smarter every day, so Nokia's efforts to squeeze out Symbian 3 may be a case of too little, too late. 

Are you tempted by the C7 or has the Finnish legend run out of steam? Speak your brain below.