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Nokia shows off 'Tube' iPhone-lookalike

The Tube will be Nokia's first touch device, according to a company executive, although there's no time frame attached to its appearance.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

The world's largest handset maker is starting to talk about its response to Apple's iPhone, almost 10 months since the iPhone made its debut.

Nokia showed off the Nokia Tube in a presentation slide noticed by Infoworld at a software development conference in California Monday. The Tube, like the iPhone, is a touch-screen phone that can be manipulated using your fingers, and is Nokia's "first touch device," according to Tom Libretto of Forum Nokia.

It's fair to say the iPhone forced just about every handset maker to take a second look at their product development lineup. HTC and LG have shown off their iPhone-lookalikes already, and more will probably start to appear over the rest of the year.

Nokia didn't provide a time frame for the launch of the Tube. Several Web sites have put up a grainy picture of a phone that purports to be the Tube, but I can't figure out who took the original image, so I'm not putting it here until we figure out if it's real, or if proper credit can be assigned. I can, however, show you what all the fuss is about through the magic of hyperlinking.