Nokia unveils C6, C7 and E7 smartphones

Nokia has announced one E-series handset and two C-series devices at the company's annual Nokia World conference in London.

The Nokia E7, which had its debut at the show, was inspired by the original Nokia N9000 Communicator from 1996, said the company.

"It's big, but it's beautiful and all business... It's a premium-class business device to help you manage your world on the run," said vice president of mobile solutions Anssi Vanjoki, introducing the newest enterprise-class Nokia handset.

The Nokia E7 is inspired by the original Nokia N9000 Communicator. Photo credit: Nokia

The E7 has a sliding and tilting four-inch touchscreen display sitting on top of a full Qwerty keyboard, all housed within an anodised aluminium chassis. It also has a 720p, 8-megapixel camera, HDMI output and support for Dolby Digital Plus surround sound.

The E7 will provide access to Nokia's Ovi range of products and services as well as Microsoft's Quickoffice Premium. Professionals will be able to use Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync on the handset, which provides access to corporate email inboxes and other applications.

The two C-series devices — the Nokia C6 and the Nokia C7 — both run on the new Symbian^3 platform, along with the E7 and Nokia's previously announced N8 smartphone. The C6 and C7 place an emphasis on social networking features, integrating them throughout many aspects of the device. The phones are designed to receive live updates from social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

The C7 has the same social networking integration and display as the C6 but has a larger screen and greater storage capacity. Vanjoki described the C7 as "the sleekest, smoothest device in the world".

"The new devices, which are tightly integrated with enhanced Ovi services and apps, reinforce Nokia's vision of a mobile industry that is increasingly being defined by socially connected, location-based devices and experiences," said Niklas Savander, an executive vice president at Nokia.

The Ovi platform — Nokia's services and app repository — will come preloaded on the two devices when they launch along with the E7 later in the year.

Ovi has been given a minor makeover, with a slightly revamped user interface and the addition of in-app purchasing and operator billing. Key Ovi apps, such as Maps, have also acquired new features, with Ovi Maps now providing features for pedestrians.

Nokia said that by 2013, 800 million people will be using GPS-enabled devices. "It will transcend the user experience as we know it today — and it's a space that we want to own," Savander said.

The E7 and the C6 feature Nokia's anti-glare ClearBlack Display (CBD), which was introduced alongside the new devices at the Nokia World 2010 event.

Vanjoki said that the CBD display provided higher contrast viewing than traditional displays. "The background is blacker than black because of the way the polariser is positioned, which means you get a brighter, more dynamic image with lower power consumption," he said.

Vanjoki — who announced his departure after two months as the company's smartphone chief on Monday — also said that more Microsoft collaboration is on the horizon, playfully quipping that "that'll somehow probably be easier now", in reference to the recent appointment of Stephen Elop as the new chief executive of Nokia from his previous position as the president of Microsoft's business division.