Nokia touts new smart phone

Nokia plans to release next month a new smart phone with a built-in megapixel camera, as part of an effort to expand its product portfolio.

The Nokia 6670 is capable of producing images with a 1152-by-864-pixel resolution, the company said Thursday. The device features video-recording and photo-editing software with text input capabilities. Consumers can capture, print, store and send photos and video.

The smart phone is based on the Symbian operating system and is capable of Web browsing, and handling e-mail attachments and PDF files. It has a foldable wireless keyboard, and users can print documents from it via Bluetooth, Nokia said.

The company said the phone a response to consumer demand for new wireless products.

"We are witnessing a rapid shift from PDAs (personal digital assistants) to smart phones, as manufacturers are able to include voice and PDA functionalities into a single device," Juha Putkiranta, senior vice president at Nokia, said in a statement.

The phone is designed for GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) networks. It will cost about $614 and will come in versions for both Europe and the United States.

Tracking employees using Nextel phones

The phone maker said 6670 is the first Series 60 product that will support antivirus software developed by F-Secure. The phone is also compatible with Nokia's wireless global positioning system receiver for location-based applications and services.

Separately, the company announced a wireless home-monitoring system that can send text messages, images and video directly to a mobile phone. The unit combines a digital camera and a GSM transceiver, and is capable of capturing megapixel-quality images and video clips when motion is detected or at predetermined intervals. It also can notify consumers about temperature variations, Nokia said.

The device is likely to be available in the last quarter of this year in Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region for about $554.