Nokia To Embrace Touch Screens

Posted by siva , , Friday, April 10, 2009 3:54 AM

After coming late to the market, the world's largest cell phone manufacturer is expected to jump in with several touch-enabled handsets.


Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will reportedly look to touch screens to help it fight off competition from the likes of Apple, BlackBerry, and Palm.

The world's largest cell phone maker was arguably late to the game, as it introduced its first mass-market touch smartphone last October and will be releasing the high-end touch-enabled N97 this summer. But reports from The Street said Nokia will introduce at least three more touch-screen devices this year.

These devices will reportedly utilize haptic feedback technology from Immersion to make the touch screens easier to type on. Some complain that typing is very difficult on touch screens because there's not physical response to input, and haptic feedback may help solve that issue.

Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM) has been successful because its BlackBerrys are good mobile messaging devices, and it tackled the feedback issue in a unique way when it released the touch-screen BlackBerry Storm. The smartphone utilizes a technology called SurePress, which means users have to physically press down on the screen to type. This method of typing takes some getting used to, and it led to the Storm getting many mixed reviews.

Nokia did not comment on the matter when reached by the press, but reports suggest one of the devices is code-named "Nautilus" and will have a touch screen and full physical QWERTY keyboard. The handset is expected to have an ultrathin keyboard that slides out and withdraws when the user activates a sensor.

While Nokia still leads the world in smartphone sales, Apple's iPhone 3G is rapidly gaining traction because of its touch interface. Nokia also will continue to see stiff competition in the touch-screen field from the likes of HTC, Palm, and LG.