Nokia unveils low-end 1325 / 1265 handsets for international markets

by Darren Murph, posted Dec 10th 2006 at 11:23AM

Nokia seems to be on its own campaign trail, releasing a few new phones each time it makes a stop in a new country. Not too long after taking the wraps off four new handsets over in Amsterdam, the firm is unveiling two new low-end handsets that are getting ready to hit the international front. At the 3G World Congress in Hong Kong, Nokia announced the forthcoming availability of two new candybar-styled CDMA mobiles, stripped down and ready to rock. The 2.5-ounce 1325 features a 64k color screen, wallpaper / ringtone customization, speakerphone, 90-second voice recorder, 3.5 hours of talk time, and up to 6.5 days of standby time. The 1265 goes way back, by offering up a monochrome screen, 60-second voice recorder, predictive text software, speakerphone, alarm clock, and the same battery life on both fronts as the slightly more luxurious 1325. Both of this units are slated to hit "select markets" within China, Asia-Pacific, Middle-East Africa and Latin America during "Q1 2007," but the presumably low prices still remain a mystery.

[Via I4U]

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, CDMA

Tags: 1265, 1325, africa, asia, basic, china, international, latin america, LatinAmerica, low-end

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

a_n @ Dec 10th 2006 12:04PM

So the only non-high-end candybars that Nokia seems to be releasing are for the "mobile third world"? And CDMA? They killed off their in-house CDMA development, with Pantech borrowing the Nokia badge for some of the Verizon offerings.

It's pretty sad out in CDMA land if you're a fan of the bar or slider form factor. Between Sprint (no phones) or Verizon (all phones from Samsung, LG, Motorola, or Pantech; all of them assimilated by the sluggish red UI Borg), you can barely find two bar or slider form factors. The Chocolate VX8500 (that iPod-knockoff abortion of a user interface) is about your only bar/slider in the CDMA realm, and of course you can't just get any compatible phone for them to activate.

My current phone is a Nokia 6015i on Verizon, but I'm contemplating jumping over to T-Mobile and making them activate a RIZR (when, or if, it ever gets officially released, and the asking price takes a nosedive). I just don't like clamshells; they're annoying to hold for extended periods of time.

I miss you, CDMA candybar.

Neutral

KC @ Dec 10th 2006 1:50PM

So what, were these sitting on a shelf somewhere and Nokia decided to launch them while cleaning out their CDMA R&D lab?

So is Nokia out of the CDMA game or not?

Considering one of the main reasons Nokia stated for leaving CDMA in house development was that CDMA handsets were to expensive to produce to make it worth while to capitalize on the developing markets with ultra cheap phones so it's quite strange for Nokia to be launching what appear to be two in house designed ultra cheap CDMA phones.

Nokia. Here's what you need to do. Make up your mind and stick with it and play nice with Qualcomm so you can have those super cool 3G CDMA chipsets that are all the rage these days.