New Phone Offers Touch and Type with One Hand
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CREDIT: Nokia
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Nokia today launched a new line of phones that combines a touchscreen with an old school 12-key pad, a feature the company calls "Touch and Type."
"Our research tells us consumers who have invested years in becoming fast one-handed, one-thumb texters want to maintain their speedy edge for SMS, chat and instant messaging - yet enjoy the benefits of touch as well," Mary McDowell, executive vice president of mobile phones at Nokia, said in a company statement.
The retro-style candy bar phone uses two-thirds of its face for the 2.4-inch touchscreen and one-third for the keypad. Nokia has added dedicated keys for links to music and text messaging . The phone uses Nokia’s proprietary interface Ovi for connections to social media , email and instant messaging.
While ideal for old-fashioned one-handed texting, the X3 has been updated with a super slim form at .38 inches, 3G capability, Wi-Fi connectivity, a memory card slot for up to 16-gigabytes of storage, a music player, FM radio and a 5-megapixel camera with 4X digital zoom.
The X3 is expected at retail this fall for about $160, but could be much less with a new two year contract. No carrier information has yet been released.
