First photos of Nokia ‘Tube’ surfaced

Rumors about the next generation Symbian S60 phone, the one with a touch-sensitive display, have been floating around during the week, with the code name “Tube”. Symbian-Freak.com now has posted the exclusive photos of the first such device, which is expected to launch in the Q1 of 2009 (really that late?). It will be neither a flagship model (one with that technology may come out soon after), nor an N-series device. If what we see is true, there is an XpressMedia label, so Nokia may market it as the bigger brother of the XpressMusic phones.

The specifications listed at the moment look fine, but nothing spectacular, especially when we talk about a 2009 release, so it should really be a mid-level. It will be quad-band GSM with HSDPA (no word on bands), WiFi and GPS (including geotagging). The camera is said to be with auto-focus and overall, better than the iPhone’s (which one isn’t?), but a step behind the top-notch N-series devices. The display will be with 16:9 aspect ratio and a size between 3 and 3.5 inches. It won’t support multitouch, but will have tactile feedback when ‘pressed’. The good news is about the phone’s dimensions, which will be about the size of the N73. The bad is the UI, which in order to be familiar to current S60 users, brings tiny buttons and icons, which would require the stylus to be used.

source: Symbian-Freak via EngadgetMobile