Nokia takes the wraps off three new handsets

Nokia this week unveiled three new phone models, two mid-market 3G options and one designed for the high end, which will be available in the second and third quarters of this year respectively.

The Nokia 6500 Classic is a thin 3G-enabled phone, and has quad-band for global use, as well as a micro-USB connector. The 9.5 mm thick phone, one of Nokia's thinnest, will cost €320 ($430) before taxes and subsidies, claims the mobile giant.

It also features the familiar Nokia Series 40 interface and 1GB of internal memory.

The 6500 Slide is also a 3G phone, but it features a 3.2 mega pixel camera and a stainless steel body.

When it becomes available later this year, this model is expected to have a €370 price tag.

"Nokia is a recognized trailblazer of the 3G revolution and a pioneer in the use of new and innovative materials for mobile phones. With the Nokia 6500 classic and Nokia 6500 slide, Nokia is skillfully combining these areas of expertise to deliver a compelling blend of design and technology at a mid-range price point," said Peter Ropke, senior vice president, of Nokia's broad appeal business unit.

"While features like the aluminum 'loop' structure of the Nokia 6500 classic or the Carl Zeiss optics found in the Nokia 6500 slide separate these devices from the pack, it is the skillful balance of features and style that will make them irresistible to customers."

The high-end option, the Nokia 8600 Luna, is a design-driven stainless steel and glass phone with a 2 mega pixel camera. It is expected to sell for around €700 euros before taxes and subsidies.

"An obsession to every detail marked each step in the development process of the Nokia 8600 Luna," said Heikki Norta, senior vice president of mobile phones for Nokia.

"We took painstaking effort to ensure that the experience delivered by every surface - from the smoothness of glass against the face to the warmth of stainless steel in the palm to the superior tactile feedback of the keypad - would surpass any and all expectations. Even the name holds special significance. Much like the Nokia 8600 Luna that we named in her honor, Luna, the goddess of moonlight, was often represented by the Romans as a mysteriously captivating beauty encircled in a soft, yet radiant light."

Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.