Nokia prepares to take on iPhone

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia is preparing to unveil its first touch-screen phone this week as it seeks to launch a direct challenge to Apple’s successful iPhone.

Finnish mobile phone giant Nokia is preparing to unveil its first touch-screen phone this week as it seeks to launch a direct challenge to Apple’s successful iPhone.

Two sources told news service Reuters that Nokia would unveil its new phone – code-named “Tube” – on 2 October at an analyst and media event in London.

“Nokia is under enormous pressure to deliver something that’s good,” Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Gartner Inc, told the Wall Street Journal. “People have been waiting for this for over a year now.”

The device, which will be called the Nokia 5800, is said to be more of a multimedia player than a full-blown smartphone.

The key to the device will be Nokia’s Comes With Music software, which will allow the company to take on Apple’s iTunes store head-on.

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