Nokia's XpressMedia 5800 "Tube" makes cameo in The Dark Knight

by Chris Ziegler, posted Jul 19th 2008 at 2:09PM

So apparently a healthy exchange of cash and a captive audience glued to one of the biggest flicks of the year are all it takes to land early dibs on Nokia's elusive Tube. The Tube -- which will likely be branded either XpressMusic or XpressMedia and carry model number 5800 -- represents Nokia's first serious foray into the wide world of touchscreen smartphones (don't even try to pull the Series 90 card, people), so there's quite a bit of buzz building around it. Just like there's lots of buzz aroudn this new Batman joint. Coincidence? We think not!

Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian

Tags: 5800, batman, nokia, the dark knight, TheDarkKnight, tube, xpressmedia, xpressmusic

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Fernando @ Jul 19th 2008 3:28PM

That may mean that a dead guy might have used the tube before it was announced (joker). That'd be pretty rad.

Highly Ranked

Omagus @ Jul 19th 2008 3:30PM

I hate product placement in movies. But I will be keeping my eyes open for this when I go watch it.

Highly Ranked

Sarig @ Jul 19th 2008 7:18PM

I only mind when it's dead obvious, like the Apple stuff in Blade: Trinity.

There's tons of product placement in every movie, the trick is to be subtle about it.

Neutral

mira @ Jul 20th 2008 8:25PM

Now that Batman's doing it, every is going to be doing it; figures..ha ha

Neutral

carcomptoy @ Jul 19th 2008 7:47PM

Why do you hate product placement? Only when it's so unsubtle-ly done is it disgusting. I can't think of a movie I've seen that is so blatant about product placement. Perhaps the biggest offender that comes to my mind is Casino Royale, with all its electronics being Sony [Ericsson] related, but even then, that's only obvious to the techie.

In any case, I was EXTREMELY excited that the Tube was in Batman, or that every cellphone was a Nokia (other ones include the 5100 and the 8800 in the drawer with the Tube). Do you think that the production Tube will have the same features, though? :-p

Neutral

Dave @ Jul 20th 2008 11:28AM

No, all the product placement in Casino Royale was blatant, such as the use of nothing but Ford/Land Rover/Aston Martin vehicles, nothing but Sony Ericsson Cell Phones (would James Bond really use such a crappy phone?), and Sony DVD Players (security room in hotel), Sony Laptops, etc. It was pretty sad...someone even did a montage of all the product placement: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naBRz1Y0cc8&feature=related

Neutral

PantechGuy @ Jul 21st 2008 10:55AM

I guess you've never used a Sony Ericsson K800. It's actually a great device.

Neutral

rseijas @ Jul 19th 2008 10:25PM

I saw The Dark Night today and all I can say is WOW! Awesome movie, lots of action, but it was a tad long-ish - close to 3 hours! Still, it's a bona-fide blockbuster.

As for the Tube, it was pretty subtle. I didn't notice any Nokia branding. It was a "wowee" gadget for sure, but it didn't scream Nokia pretentiously. Truth be told, I don't know if I'm going to like the form factor. What little I saw of the OS, if it wasn't a movie prop OS, was pretty slick. Odd shape for a handset though. I guess that's what you get in a handset called "Tube".

Neutral

boss-hogg @ Jul 19th 2008 10:41PM

looks nice!

Neutral

zephxiii @ Jul 20th 2008 7:38PM

it said Nokia right on it.

Neutral

Magnus @ Jul 22nd 2008 11:46AM

What? Don't pull the S90-card on this? Please, the fact remains that Nokia made a serious run at touchscreen UI with the S90-powered Nokia 7710, eons before the iPhone was even your wildest dream.

The Dark Knight + Nokia 5800 XpressMusic = Coolest product placement yet!

The hottest movie of the year, even the decade and Nokia scored big time!

Neutral

Nacho @ Jul 26th 2008 2:33PM

The first product placement I really remember sticking out was in Spiderman with the Dr. Pepper can. Then going back, there was all kinds of stuff in childhood movies that I didn't remember from then. Yet some how watching Home Alone never made me want to drink a Pepsi.

Neutral