Nokia injects ‘fashion’ into global CDMA range of handsets

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Friday, 30 March 2007 13:17

Your IT - Entertainment

CDMA, seemingly the poor cousin of the GSM dominated mobile phone world, has always struggled to get the sexy handsets available in GSM dominated countries. Will this change with Nokia’s new model?

While CDMA does have a big following in some countries, most notably in parts of the US and in Korea, GSM based mobile phone technologies rule the roost worldwide, having now evolved into 3.5G HDSPA networks now being rolled out around the world.

So, it should come as no surprise that, outside of places like Korea where CDMA and its upgrades rule the roost, phones are designed to work with the GSM standard first and foremost, and CDMA has always had to wait until cell phone manufacturers decided to release CDMA models.

While Nokia has long manufactured CDMA models for CDMA markets, Nokia has decided it’s time to inject some of the fashion and pizzazz of their “L’Amour” range into their new CDMA model, giving CDMA users the chance to buy a more fashionable handset. No longer does it have to be a bland, boring CDMA handset, but young hipsters stuck in a CDMA world can now tap into Nokia’s previously GSM-only fashion range to show off their cell phone bling.

Of course, there is debate as to whether or not Nokia’s flowery claims of ‘fashion’ for their L’Amour range are really all that fashionable, but whether you believe that Nokia’s handsets are fashionable or not, they certainly are trying to appeal to the massive youth market with handsets that are obviously trying to place an emphasis on ‘trendy and cool’.

The handset also comes with “a strong feature set”, as Nokia puts it, making sure that CDMA users don’t feel left out when it comes to the latest cool features.

The phone itself, briefly details in their press release, is the Nokia 7088. It comes in a two colors that includes iPod-style white and black, and has a ‘menu’ button in the center of the navigation button console underneath the screen which looks like a colored jewel, whether in a pink/purple color on the white version, or orange on the black 7088.

They have launched two other GSM phones as well, the Nokia 5700 XpressMusic and the Nokia 5070 which we’ll look at after we see what’s inside the CDMA-only 7088.

The Nokia 7088 is also the first of Nokia’s CDMA models to sport a sliding configuration, as opposed to a candy-bar or clamshell design. Slider phones have become quite popular of late, with this writer happily using a Samsung slider (while waiting for both the Nokia N95, also a slider, and the tablet-like Apple iPhone, to appear on the market).
 
Nokia certainly employ creative press release writers to emphasize how incredibly fashionable their press release writers are, some of which will hopefully rub off onto the phone.

Nokia’s release says that: “The Nokia 7088 makes a striking first impression, with attention drawn immediately to its jewel-like select key and carefully sculpted directional pad set into a metallic frame. Bold leather-inspired textures are found on front and back surfaces of the Nokia 7088, enhancing the tactile experience, and further accentuating the artful balance between technology and nature that is the hallmark of the L'Amour Collection's design ethos”.

Of course, leather-inspired textures mean that the plastic surrounding the phone has a nice feel to it, instead of being plain ol’ smooth plastic, but if you’re trying to make your phone different, that is no bad thing at all.
 
Larry Paulson, the VP and general manager of Nokia’s CDMA business, thinks that the 7088 will be a hit in its intended market, although that is hardly a surprise – it’s his job to be enthusiastic, after all. He says that “The Nokia L'Amour Collection has been enthusiastically received by design minded individuals around the world. We are pleased to be able to bring this bold expression of style and taste to CDMA customers. The Nokia 7088 is certain to attract instant attention with its beautiful form and generous set of features.  Coupled with Nokia's hallmark quality and easy-to-use interface, we are sure that customers will have a great long-term relationship with it as well.”
 
The phone itself offers an integrated video recorder and camera with LED flash, a two-way speakerphone, voice recorder, calendar and built-in mobile browser and will be available in selected markets in Asia/Pacific, Middle East, Africa, China and Latin America during the 2nd quarter of 2007.

So, what about Nokia's other two new phones? Please read onto page 2 to find out and for the conlcusion!