Looking for all the world like a non-descript mid-range candybar, the S60 powered '6120 Classic' has been announced by Nokia. There's nothing stunning here for the long term Symbian users (2 megapixel camera with digital zoom; QVGA screen; quad-band GSM and WCDMA; MicroSD and around 20mb of executable RAM) but that's not the point.This is yet another step from the high-spec digerati toys of the last few years and getting Symbian OS into the hands of regular users. That helps drive the numbers up, creates a much wider user base (admittedly one which can't be counted on to understand '20mb executable RAM'😉 and provides more licensing revenue to Symbian. 2007 is clearly going to be the tipping point year of mass market adoption. Expect the device before Q3 2007 for around 260 Euros unlocked at 260 Euros.
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remember, Nokia now always tells the price without tax. If a german shop would communicate this price, this would be illegal. So it is rather around 300 Euro. Still, fairly cheap for a hsdpa-device.
"remember, Nokia now always tells the price without tax. If a german shop would communicate this price, this would be illegal."
Nokia isn't based in one country, so they can't tell you the price with tax because there is no single sales tax system. In Britain it's only 17.5 %, but in Finland it's 22%, so there's no one "with tax" price.
A German shop only tells you the with tax price in Germany, which isn't that useful to someone in a different country with a different tax rate.
"So it is rather around 300 Euro. Still, fairly cheap for a hsdpa-device."
Can you find any other smartphone that has LAUNCHED for a lower price? Don't forget, the launch price always drops a few months afterwards, so most people don't buy devices at launch prices. For example the 5500 launched for about 350 euros (incl taxes) but six months later it now costs 250 euros (incl taxes).
Incidentally, for anyone who wants a cheap S60 3rd Edition with a big screen right now, you can get a E50 without a camera for about 250 euros including 22% taxes (so that's about 200 euros without taxes).
It's not just about driving profits for Symbian either, if Symbian phones become truly mass market instead of just 5% of the total, it means the Symbian third party software ecosystem will suddenly get several times the number of potential customers.
Following Krisse's comments, yet another "mid-market" S60 phone has to be good, it's devices like this (and the 6110, 6290, N75 and N76) that will move the masses onto S60 from phones like the 6230i and the KRZR.
My only gripe is that perhaps the specs are a little low, perhaps the costs are good reason, but I can't see an FM radio in the 6120. The camera also is "only" 2 megapixel and there's no wifi or gps, but perhaps Nokia feel they need to make people lust after "better" devices like the Nseries.
The actual specs for the 6120 seem rather hard to get right now - the Forum Nokia 6120 page itself mentions the 6290, and Visual Radio - so I've thrown the best bits I can find so far onto my wiki - http://feetup.org/wiki/Nokia6120
"My only gripe is that perhaps the specs are a little low, perhaps the costs are good reason, but I can't see an FM radio in the 6120. The camera also is "only" 2 megapixel and there's no wifi or gps, but perhaps Nokia feel they need to make people lust after "better" devices like the Nseries."
I don't think it's a question of wanting people to lust after "better" phones, not everyone wants high spec phones. In fact many people loathe the way phones have extra features they never use, they feel it's a waste of money, and would rather have something more limited. My parents live in a city and don't have a car, so for them GPS would just be money down the drain.
"Better" higher spec phones aren't actually better if you're interested mainly in price. The 6120 seems to be aimed at filling this gap in the market: a budget option for people who want an S60 3rd Ed smartphone but don't want or need immensely expensive extras.
Come to think of it, a lot of people on the N-Gage Arena boards have been talking about this exact subject for some time now. Many of them can't get an Nseries because they can't afford one, but they do want an S60 3rd Edition so they can play the next gen N-Gage games. Budget S60 3rd models are exactly what these people are looking for: S60 3rd software compatibility without the immense price tag of a cutting edge handset.
It's easy to forget, but phones are far more widely used than any other portable device, and there's a very low ratio of technophiles to ordinary users in the phone world. There's 1000 million mobile phones sold every single year, which is probably more than all other portable devices sell put together.
The average price of a handset is about 100 euros, so the vast majority of sales are clearly of budget models. If S60 phones eventually reach the 100 euro pricepoint (you never know, they're already getting close to 200), they have the potential to become a truly global computing standard instead of just a luxury item. In many regions of the world mobile phones are the first computing device that has reached a mass audience.
all true, but what happened to the announcement some time ago that all future s60 devices would get wifi and a 3,5mm jack? was that meant for nseries devices only? did i get it wrong?:con?
"all true, but what happened to the announcement some time ago that all future s60 devices would get wifi and a 3,5mm jack? was that meant for nseries devices only? did i get it wrong?"
I don't remember that, do you have a link?
If there was, I suspect it would have only covered Nseries devices, not S60 in general, as Nseries has always been about multimedia.
Nseries are made by Nokia Multimedia, but the numbered S60 phones are made by Nokia Mobile Phones which is a completely different division of the company. Eseries are made by yet another division, Nokia Enterprise.
They all market their phones completely separately, that's why there are no Nseries Xpress Music models because it's a Mobile Phones brand. I imagine the divisions would only make announcements about their own S60 models.
All I can recall about wifi is a comment from Nokia a long time ago that it would be included in all enterprise phones (i.e. E Series), and the comment on 3.5mm jack I saw was for N-Series (although they announced the N76 without the 3.5mm jack after that comment was made, but that is hopefully the last one without it). There may of course have been other comments/announcements from Nokia that I am not aware of.
"All I can recall about wifi is a comment from Nokia a long time ago that it would be included in all enterprise phones (i.e. E Series), and the comment on 3.5mm jack I saw was for N-Series"
That would make sense, Eseries are businesss-oriented and businesses love connectivity, while the 3.5mm jack is multimedia-oriented and of course Nseries is made by Nokia Multimedia.
Its always nice to watch a smart company at work and it looks like Nokia are really marketing s60 intelligently. Pretty soon we'll be seeing s60 everywhere. What really cracks me up though is how they go on and on about HSDPA in their promotion above. They make it sound like its cutting edge technology never before seen and invented by Nokia lol.
I'm also interested in how the build quality of these cheap smartphones compares to Nseries devices.
Cheaper smartphones are all well and good but it is still possible create good looking phones. I mean look at the 6120, 6290.... you can't get duller than these.
Boom
I think this phone looks great compare with WM smartphones such as O2 atom. It is compact and packs with great features for its price. This baby even has the same CPU as the N95. (Check it out! http://forum.nokia.com/devices/6120 ). I hope it will make its way to Oz soon....:icon14:
Again, just like the beautiful N95, it appears this lovely little phone won't grace the shores of the USA. Damn!