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Mobile Phone Offers Enhanced Text Chat

Nokia handset lets you send e-mail and chat messages to one or more people.

By Terho Uimonen, IDG News   

Aimed at younger users, the 3310 GSM handset's person-to-person chat capabilities are based on the Short Message Services messaging specification. It is scheduled to ship in this year's fourth quarter, the Espoo, Finland-based company said in a statement.

When in chat mode, the 3310 can be used to exchange text messages modeled on Internet-based chat services. Messages can also be sent to any SMS-enabled handset, Nokia said. Nokia Friday also launched FriendsTalk, a service that will allow 3310 users to participate in text-based chat sessions involving several people simultaneously.

In addition to enhanced chat functionality, other features of the 3310 handset include the ability to exchange picture messages with other Nokia handsets that support the feature; two new games, Space Impact and Bantumi; and fully editable profiles consisting of a screen saver, ring tone, and profile name that can be downloaded over the air. The handset, which supports 28 languages, can be used on both 900-MHz and 1.8-GHz GSM networks.

Weighing in at about 5 ounces, the 3310 offers talk time of up to 4 hours and 30 minutes and 260 hours of standby time using a standard battery, Nokia said. Pricing information was not available.

Earlier this week, Nokia announced a licensing agreement with EMI Group PLC's music publishing division that will allow songs in EMI's music catalog to be used for custom downloadable ring tones for Nokia's handsets.