Nokia's New Phone Straddles Two Worlds

Without hoopla or fanfare, Nokia introduced a GPRS/GSM cell phone on Tuesday that may represent the next generation of mainstream handsets for the general public.

The Model 6800 is not a smart phone, and it does not have a high-tech operating system from Microsoft, Symbian, Palm, or Research In Motion. But it does have one unique feature that up until now has been missing from handsets: a keyboard.

Nokia appears to be the first manufacturer to include a keyboard in an ordinary cell phone, setting the unit apart as a legitimate text messaging device. It also includes Instant Messaging; multimedia messaging service and Short Messaging Service; access to any POP3 or IMAP e-mail account; and an x-HTML Web browser.

The handset, which will ship in the second quarter of next year, uses Nokia's own proprietary Series 40 OS and browser, not its newer Series 60 design. The Series 60 is the platform design that Nokia is selling to other handset manufacturers such as Sendo, which includes the Symbian OS plus an HTML browser from Opera.

Killer App?

One industry analyst believes interim devices like the Model 6800 represents an intelligent marketing decision.

"In North America they are smart enough to know there is no killer app. The collective of IM plus MMS, plus business mobile office applications will generate the growth that the carriers require," says David Kerr, senior vice president of global practice for Strategy Analytics in Boston.

In terms of volume, Kerr believes that enhanced handsets will outsell handhelds four to one.

"The handheld market is 15 million, the handset market 400 million," Kerr says.

In the second half next year, Nokia will upgrade the phone to include the RIM BlackBerry software for access to corporate e-mail.

Pricing from carriers along with service is expected to be about $250, according to Brannon Perkison, product manager for business applications at Nokia in Atlanta.