Nokia's holiday handsets

At its Sydney headquarters this week Nokia spilled forth a Santa sack of new devices for the holiday season, including new XpressMusic models and the much-anticipated 8GB version of its N95 handset.

The 3G 6500 Classic has a 2-megapixel camera and 1GB of internal memory. It is 9.5 millimetres thick and finished in anodised aluminium. As with other phones in Nokia's new range, it sports a micro USB port for charging and data transfer -- soon to be an industry standard. The 6500 Classic retails for AU$649.

Nokia's AU$689 6500 Slide takes the Classic's specs and pumps them up -- the model features a 3.2-megapixel camera, TV-Out function and stainless steel coating. Up to 4GB of memory can be added via a microSD card.

The 6500 Slide's 3.2-megapixel camera is equipped with autofocus, dual LED flash and 8x digital zoom.

Nokia has hooked up with Australian design company Dinosaur Designs to produce a set of phone-holding homewares. The two resin items, named Beep Bowl and Buzz Dish, were made to match the 6500 handsets. The first 1000 people who purchase either phone and register their details online will score one of the hand-cast pieces.

The E65 is one of a slew of consumer products to turn candy pink this month in support of breast cancer research. Nokia is donating AU$10 from the sale of each handset to the National Breast Cancer Foundation until 30 December.

Nokia's upcoming N810 Internet tablet adds a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to the N800 model. An integrated GPS, Mozilla-based browser and Skype round out the features list.

The N810 is not a mobile phone, but the Skype client allows you to keep in touch via Internet calls.

The tri-band 5310 XpressMusic goes on sale mid-November for AU$519. This one's for the tune toters -- it features dedicated music keys, an FM radio and a 3.5mm socket for plugging in your own headphones. The final piece of the puzzle is Nokia's music store, set to launch in the first half of 2008. The online service will offer tunes for streaming and download in protected WMA format.

The slider model of the new XpressMusic line-up, the quad-band 3G 5610 sports a 3.2-megapixel camera and 2.2-inch QVGA screen. A sliding key above the navigation buttons offers instant access to music for those times when you need a tune fast. It will hit stores in mid-November and can be yours for AU$599.

A stapler? A hair straightener? Nope. These are Nokia's foldable MD-4 speakers, which will blast your phone tunes for AU$99.99.

Continuing the "speakers that look like household items" theme is the MD-6: a pair of speakers that resembles an oversized lighter. They'll be available in November at an RRP of AU$94.99.