Nokia made quite an impressive appearance at the 2009 edition of the annual Mobile World Congress event, held in Barcelona. Apart from the five handsets that were officially launched at MWC, Nokia made an announcement regarding its new application store called OVI. Ovi Store intends to offer users all previous services, such as Download!, MOSH and WidSets into a single tool.

Basically, it will deliver games, applications, WidSets as well as media content according to several criteria, or what Nokia calls 'Social Location'. To be able to put up such an online portal, Nokia has partnered with EA Mobile and Glu for mobile games delivery, Qik - which offers live video streaming from users mobile, and social networking sites MySpace and Facebook.

Nokia's app store will be commercially available in May. The Finnish giant expects exciting new content by summertime, based on the high number of developers included in its Forum Nokia community (over 3.5 million).

The most thrilling multimedia handset officially announced by Nokia, N86, is also the first Nokia mobile phone to feature an 8 Megapixel camera. With Nokia N86, the company seriously involves itself in the fight for camera phone supremacy. Featuring a not-so-cool design, the dual slider boasts a single ARM 11 434MHz CPU and 8GB internal memory, expandable to 24GB. The built-in camera includes the usual Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, flash, but also video recording capabilities at 30fps (frames per second).

In terms of connectivity, both GPRS and EDGE class 32 assure a cheap solution for those with expensive data plans, but it also features HSDPA 3.6 Mbps as a faster and better alternative. Other connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology, microUSB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, Built-in GPS with A-GPS function. Multimedia features are emphasized by the dedicated music/gallery keys, MP3/MP4/eAAC+/WMA player, Stereo FM radio with RDS (FM transmitter included), Stereo speakers, 3.5 mm AV jack and dual slide design, that turns the screen to landscape mode when it's slided downward. What I find most appealing is the high autonomy of the 1200 mAh Li-Ion battery: up to 312 h in standby mode and 6.3 hours in talk time mode. Also, Nokia stated that the handset can offer up to 25 hours of music listening on one charge. The Nokia N86 8MP is expected to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009 with an estimated retail price of EUR 375, before taxes and subsidies.
There's no MWC without Nokia launching an Eseries device, and this year they announced two: Nokia E55 and Nokia E75. Even though both phones add to the same series, they're different in terms of specs and performance. The main difference is the fact that Nokia E55 features an ARM 11 600MHz CPU, while E75 embeds an ARM 11 369MHz. Also, the first one comes with a 2GB microSD memory card in the sales package, while the latter features a better 4GB microSD memory card. It looks like Nokia made a joke and mixed all the goodies in both phones, so if you were to fit them into a single device, you would have one of the best Nokia phones on the market.

At first glance Nokia E55 quad-band includes a 2.4 inch TFT display with support for 16M colors, half-QWERTY keyboard, 60 MB user memory, HSDPA 10Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology, microUSB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, Built-in GPS with A-GPS function (Nokia Maps 3.0) and Digital compass and a builtin 3.2 MP camera (autofocus, VGA video and flash). Nokia E55 will be available in Q2 2009 at an estimated price of 265 euro before subsidies and taxes.

Nokia E75 quad-band slider includes the same 2.4 inch TFT display supporting 16M colors, full QWERTY keyboard, 50 MB user memory, HSDPA 3.6 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology, microUSB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, Built-in GPS with A-GPS function and a built-in 3.2 MP camera (autofocus, VGA video and flash). Another important difference between the two is the battery. While Nokia E55 features a 1500 mAh Li-Polymer battery (672h standby and 8h talk time), Nokia E75 includes only a 1000 mAh Li-Ion battery (264h standby and 5h and 20m talk time). Both phones run on the same Symbian OS, S60 rel. 3.2 platform with FP2. Nokia E75 will be available next month at an estimated price of 375 euro before subsidies and taxes.
There's also a Navigator series device that cannot be left out from the round-up – Nokia 6710 Navigator. It runs on the Symbian OS S60 release 3.2 platform, featuring FP2. Optimized for localization services the slider features built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS function and Digital compass. The application included for the GPS is the highly acclaimed Nokia Maps 3.0. Powered by an ARM 11 600MHz CPU, Nokia 6710 Navigator offers a smooth navigation experience. Moreover, the compatibility with HSDPA 10.2 Mbps makes it even snappier.

Other features if the device include GPRS and EDGE class 32, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, UPnP technology, Blutooth 2.0 with A2DP, microUSB 2.0 and a built-in 5 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video capabilities (VGA 15fps) and flash. The user has only 50 MB of internal memory available, but there’s a 2GB microSD card included in the sales package. If that's not enough you can expand to 16GB maximum. The only drawback I could find is the battery (950 mAh Li-Ion), which I'm not sure that will be in line with the official statements regarding its autonomy: 444h standby and 7h and 30m talk time. Nokia 6710 Navigator will be available in Q3 2009 at an estimated price of 300 euro before subsidies and taxes.
The classic series Nokia handset announced at the MWC, 6720 classic is no less 'disturbing'. Even if it suffers in terms of design, as it features the same boring Nokia bar look, the phone surely impresses through its technical specifications. HSDPA 10.2 Mbps capabilities, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS support, built-in 5 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, video(VGA@15fps) and flash, TV out and 1050 mAh Li-Ion battery (492h standby time and 8h 30m talk time). The phone is powered by the same ARM 11 600MHz CPU as 6710 Navigator and also runs on the Symbian OS, S60 release 3.2 platform, featuring FP2. Although the available internal memory is only 50MB, you'll be able to expand it to 8GB. The sales package includes a smaller 1GB microSD card. Nokia 6720 classic will be available in Q2 2009 at an estimated price of 245 euro before subsidies and taxes.

Overall, I believe the new handsets announced by Nokia are far superior to what we saw last year. This proves that even though they’re not always in the front line of innovations, Nokia is able to learn from rivals and adapt to market demand.