Nokia readying full-keyboard Nseries, E71 phones?

Nokia could be taking its first serious steps into popularizing its full-keyboard smartphones, say a pair of leaks. A new claim by BGR suggests that the company is in the early stages of developing its first Nseries phone to sport a full QWERTY keyboard; the device would be smaller and more candybar-like in keeping with the Nseries focus but have many of the benefits of an Eseries keyboard, the tip suggests. It will also be the first such phone to have multimedia features that have been locked out of Eseries phones for business reasons. A 5-megapixel or greater camera, true GPS, and high-res video capture and playback should be present.

The device should also be accompanied by a strict business model that shares some of the design language and feature set, says a historically accurate source from the Mobile-Review forums. So far known as the E71, it should replace the common E61i but shrink the dimensions considerably: the design will be relatively narrow and just 10mm (0.39 inches) thick, the report notes. It will also bundle 3G Internet access over HSDPA, Wi-Fi, live GPS, and a 3-megapixel camera.

Release dates for each device may vary. The E71 may be announced as early as the 3GSM expo, which typically occurs in February but will reportedly not be followed by the unidentified Nseries phone the second half of this year.

E71 mockup (via Mobile-Review forum)