Supernova and more from Nokia

Mobile-review have posted an article discussing Nokia's latest phones. Here is the final roundup.

In this write-up we have lifted the veil of secrecy only from a handful of Nokia�s upcoming phones � outside the scope of this article are still a dozen other phones that are set to debut in 2008. Although there aren�t many milestone products among them. Nokia�s main concern for the foreseeable future is their portfolio, to be more specific, they want to beef it up with a variety of solutions building upon some basic model, yet coming with a couple of characteristic touches here and there. Whereas previously they tended to withdraw that original solution pretty quickly, these days they prefer to roll out 4-5 more iterations of it and capitalize on them, prolonging the life cycle of the phone (even if it means serving it in different wrappings every time). Curiosuly, other manufacturers aren�t into this strategy, with Samsung being the only exception (although they employ it sparingly).

In 2008-2009 Nokia will be aiming to spread N82-esque cameras across the market, effectively making it the new benchmark for the mass-market. And going into 2009 Nokia will hold the leadership in terms of image quality on the mass market. Don�t get me wrong, it doesn�t mean will offer unrivaled quality and experience � for instance, Motorola�s upcoming offerings seem more capable and powerful overall � it only means that as far as the price/quality ratio is concerned, Nokia will be ahead the competition.

Another milestone they have reached in 2008 is ubiquitous GPS on S60-based devices, plus it will infiltrate their S40 portfolio in 2009 too. On top of that, one of the most prioritized tasks on Nokia�s list is unification of both platforms in terms of ergonomics and basic functionality, so that the underpinning concepts would be the same across all their platforms.

Touch-based handsets aren�t the ultimate goal for Nokia � for now they are just giving this field a go, showing what they are capable of. As it stands today, the 5800 XpressMusic is a fairly good performer, but nothing out of this world. However, this line-up should start flourishing during the second half of 2009, but until that time, neither the XpressMedia, nor some other solutions won�t look particularly strong on the market and will rather catch the attention of a narrow circle of enthusiasts. Nevertheless, within the company it�s one of their top priorities; ironical, isn�t it � you can�t get it all in one day, even if you the market�s leading company.

Speaking of Nokia�s portfolio for 2008-2009, even the showcased prototypes (that were accidentally leaked into the Web) can serve as a solid proof that the company has some interesting and potent solutions up its sleeve, that trump the competition hands-down.