Nokia touch-screen iPhone-a-like resurfaces

(Credit: Crave UK)

With the 3G iPhone launch finally out of the way, we thought Nokia would start trumpeting its own touch-screen darling. It hasn't yet, but that doesn't mean a Nokia touch-screen phone isn't already out there--in fact, there are pictures to "prove" it.

A few months ago, a blogger got hold of a supposed Nokia touch-screen phone, but the pictures were dark and not very clear. Now more pictures have surfaced on a now-defunct Flickr stream, this time with a Vodafone logo on board.

So, if we take the pics at face value, what can we make of the phone--dubbed by Talkaboutnseries.com as the Nokia 5800 Tube? The first thing that hits you, aside from the large screen, is the stylus. Styli are fiddly, uncomfortable to use, and basically negate the point of having a touch screen in the first place. If it's not good enough for fingers, just use buttons. The Vodafone logo implies that it's a real product, and one not far from production.

Another image of the Tube shows a 3.2-megapixel camera with a dual LED flash. Hopefully the Tube will have HSDPA and Wi-Fi, but we'll just have to wait and see. We have no idea when this phone is going to be officially announced, but we assume it will come out later this year.

(Source: Crave UK)

[jCounsel]

I do not agree that a stylus is not useful. A drawing program could use one better than a finger for fine lines. Marking documents with a finger could be a pain if the phone allows editing of documents to add "screen-touch" text or data.

The Treo 650 had a nice touch screen and a stylus, and I used both--and the keyboard. It really depends on what use the stylus has with the phone. Some people like different options. Just like you obviously dislike the stylus and like the on-screen options, others may prefer a keyboard, a stylus, or any combination of the above.

To each their own, but a stylus does not say anything about the usefulness or features of the "alleged" device.