Nokia 5730 XpressMusic

One of the things that stood out about the launch of the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic earlier today was the emphasis on music.

It was revealed that Nokia has sold 425 million devices with a digital music player and more than 700 million devices with an FM radio. So music is clearly big business.

The thing is, does the intended market for the 5730 even know they’re getting a whole lot more than just music? Let’s take a look…

At its heart, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is a S60 device, which makes it a smartphone right? It even shares many of the same design features as the Nokia E75, which is a smartphone targeted at the heavy data user and business-bod. So, why is Nokia selling the 5370 as just a music player?

Well, if 50,000 Fall fans, and 50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong, then 425 million devices with a digital music player and more than 700 million devices with an FM radio, sure talks a lot of sense.

Being an S60 handset, the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic comes with everything the OS implies – robust connectivity, instant access to Ovi services and an operating system that is built primarily for business but increasingly seems to be getting to grips with multimedia.

Then we have accessibility, we get HSDPA, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth in one package but the 5730 clearly isn’t aimed at the businessman, it’s aimed at what marketeers like to call, the ‘youth market’. The kind of person who wants a phone that looks great, before putting a heavier emphasis on social networking, music and movies.

Nokia has done a great job with the design but will people know that sticking all this on top of an OS that supports the latest tech means they can do everything faster and easier? They will when they start to use it, as that fast connection gives it one-touch access to Nokia Music Store and Comes With Music.

Nokia clearly sees the benefit of market segments but is the company playing clever and sneaking tech into its handsets knowing that people may well never really use it? We suspect that once people get used to having instant updates, Ovi Store, N-Gage and Comes With Music at their fingertips, then they’ll expect it the next time they upgrade, it all makes perfect sense now!

What do you think, is music the way forward or do you choose your handset for a whole range of functions?