Multi-touch coming to for Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, sort of

Yes, you read it right. A developer created a simple game introducing the multi-touch implementation. The application itself reminds the popular Guitar Hero console games, but its breakthrough may established a whole new path in the mobile software.

Jamie Fuller, a UK programmer, successfully created the first multi-touch application for Symbian S60 5th edition or Nokia 5800 XpressMusic in particular. The app it's still at it's alpha stage, but you can easily get the idea.

The real news today is that the multi-touch game called Space Dancer is now available as a free download from Jamie Fuller's website. The basic game reminds of the popular console series Guitar Hero, where your objective is to touch the correct music notes flying on screen in accordance to the currently playing music track.

Up until not long ago it was considered impossible running multi-touch apps on resistive touchscreen displays but there are some companies such as Stantum, for instance, that are already working successfully on the task.

Now we see the same feat managed by a third-party developer using only software methods - and best of all, running on a popular handset. The exciting opportunities are overwhelming.

If we've got you interested, you can watch the short video demo below showing the application in its early stages almost two months ago.

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Nokia 5530 XpressMusic rumored as Nokia's third full touch phone

As rumors have it, Nokia seem to have another full touch phone in store for us - one that's even cheaper than Nokia 5800. The unannounced Nokia 5530 XpressMusic is said to be due for September and will be more compact and won't have a GPS receiver.

A "reliable source" to Daily Mobile claims that the upcoming 5530 XpressMusic is another touch-based device form Nokia. The rumored specs include a 2.9-inch touch display, Wi-Fi, FM radio, 3.2 megapixel snapper, 3.5mm audio jack and 150MB internal storage expandable via microSD slot.

As you can see there is much similarity with the 5800 XpressMusic, but the screen is smaller. There is also no info on GPS or 3G support, but the OS remains Symbian S60 5th Edition.

It seems the 5530 XpressMusic is a smaller sibling of 5800 and hopefully it will be cheaper due to the smaller screen size and missing GPS receiver.

According to the source the phone will be introduced in September this year.

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Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets new firmware update

Today Nokia released new firmware update for the 5800 XpressMusic. Being quite a major release it brings improvements in a number of areas. According to Nokia it should improve the performance and the user interface as well as add some new applications.

The new firmware version brings in the Mobile Dictionary and Application Update Apps to the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic. The first one offers you voice playback and text-to-speech, supporting 38 languages.

As the name suggests Application Update manages the new updates for your installed apps, making them easy to keep up to date.

The 5800 XpressMusic new firmware revision also brings two new camera features. The first is the burst mode, which allows the primary camera to take multiple photos with a single key press. The second is enabling the secondary camera to take photos. Up until now it could only be used for video-calling.

As usually lots of bug-fixes and performance improvements complete the change log. According to Nokia the 5800 XpressMusic handsets that get the new firmware should have faster user interface and greater download speeds.

Considering the enormous popularity of the 5800 XpressMusic it's hardly surprising that Nokia are rushing to fix all those irritating bugs that plague its first S60 full touch handset. Despite some hardware issues it had recently, the handset is selling in volumes, making it quite likely that this is not the last firmware update it will see.

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Nokia unveil 5730, 5330 XpressMusic and 5030 handsets

The new trio by Nokia doesn't seem so groundbreaking as some of you might have hoped, but it expands the music-centric portfolio of the company with some nice new handsets with balanced functionality. Nokia 5730 XpressMusic has already leaked in the past with quite a few details on its specifications, and now this unusual QWERTY-enabled music handset is finally officially out.

Quite similar to the Nokia E75, the new Nokia 5730 XpressMusic runs on the Symbian S60 OS and has got a 2.4-inch 16M color QVGA display, built-in GPS receiver, Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. Some of the other extras include a 3.2 Megapixel snapper with Carl Zeiss lens and 3G with video-call support.

Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

Music-centric features include the stereo speakers, the dedicated 3.5-mm audio jack, a stereo FM radio, and stereo Bluetooth support. There will also be an 8GB memory card included in the retail package.Much like the Nokia 5630 XpressMusic that was presented at this year's MWC, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic comes with N-gage support and the the innovative Say-and-Play feature that allows you to control the music player with your voice only. There's also the Music presence with Ovi Contacts, which shows you what music your Ovi friends are listening to right now.

Nokia 5030 XpressRadio

Nokia 5030 is the Nokia's first phone with an internal FM radio antenna, which eliminates the need for a headset to be connected. The Nokia 5030 is also the first device to come out under the XpressRadio branding. The Nokia 5030 XpressRadio has one touch FM radio and station selection keys on the side for easier control. When placed sideways on the table, the back of the handset looks just like any portable FM radio unit.

Nokia 5030

Targeted at the emerging markets, the Nokia 5030 offers some of the differentiating Nokia entry level features such as a built-in flashlight and the speaking clock and alarm. It has dual-band GSM support and runs on the entry-level S30 user interface. The 1.8-inch display has a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels.

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