Claim: Nokia's first touch phone due Oct. 2

Nokia's defining 5800 XpressMusic is due at a previously rumored October 2nd special event, claim sources for Reuters. The news outlet points to the media gathering, most likely also to include Nokia's already discussed Comes With Music plans, as the starting point for the company's first ever touchscreen phone. The device has been nicknamed the "Tube" and is widely known to be pitched as a non-smartphone but high-spec alternative to handsets like the iPhone, with a sharper 640x360 display and 3.2-megapixel camera countered by the lack of large built-in storage and reduced support for third-party apps.

Although it represents the single largest phone manufacturer in the world with over 40 percent of total market share, Nokia has been one of the slowest to add a touchscreen phone to its roster and during the summer warned that it was losing share to the iPhone and similar hardware as their heavily subsidized prices drew customers away from the company's higher-end phones.

At the time, the Finnish phone maker also referred to delay in releasing an unnamed but high priority mid-range phone that is now believed to be the 5800 XpressMusic.

Filed under: iPhone, industry, mobile phones, Apple
Other story tags: Nokia, XpressMusic, Comes With Music