Finally launched: Nokia's iPhone beater

Nokia has finally launched one of the world's worst kept secrets: its would-be iPhone killer, the Tube.

Nokia's XpressMusic 5800: GPS, Facebook, a camera, music, the works...

Officially called the 5800 XpressMusic – something else that was already widely known – the curvaceous communicator sports a 3.2in touchscreen and the ability to connect users to the web over HSDPA 3G and Wi-Fi.

But what other, less well-publicised features have now been confirmed? The music-focused phone can be used with a single hand, thanks to a drop-down music bar that gives access to the phone’s audio catalogue. Nokia’s Music Store can also be thumbed through, literally.

A single-handed style of operation is hardly revolutionary, but useful if you’ve got a steaming latte in the other hand. Music moguls can store up to 16GB of tunes on the phone, thanks to an integrated Micro SD memory card slot.

Many of the phone’s music features, such as song management, are handled through dragging and dropping. There's a graphic equaliser, and music is delivered to your ears through 'phones plugged into a standard 3.5mm headphone socket.

If you prefer talking, then you’ll get around nine hours of natter time from the 5800, or it’ll just sit awaiting orders for up to 17 days. The 5800 will play tunes continuously for 35 hours.

As for the camera, it’s a 3.2-megapixel camera snapper that’s also able to capture 30f/s video. Assisted GPS is incorporated too, for navigation and geo-tagging your snaps and videos.

Nokia’s 5800 XpressMusic phone will be available sometime before Christmas. It’ll come bundled with an 8GB Micro SD card, but the official price isn’t known yet.

Click for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Photo Gallery