Nokia made it possible to access e-mails on move

Nokia Corp. launched three new handsets in the E series on Wednesday that will be available next year, a move to further quicken communications for business users. The handsets, the Nokia E60, E61 and E70, will enable customers to access e-mails on the move and will have fast push-to-talk features. They will be available globally in the first quarter of 2006.

"Nokia talked last month about introducing such devices that utilize open systems in e-mailing," said Erik Suckdorff, analyst at FIM Securities in Helsinki.

In September, the world's largest mobile phone maker said it would introduce a new application, known as the Nokia Business Center, that will join a host of mobile e-mail solutions. Besides Nokia's own application, the new handsets will support Blackberry Connect and GoodLink from Good Technology, among others.

"When we carefully considered the requirements of our customers when developing these devices, two clear new trends emerged: the need for IT departments to have a secure and manageable platform, and the need for devices to support a variety of employee preferences and different working styles," said Niklas Savander, a senior vice president at Nokia's business device unit.

The E series are built on the latest edition of the Series 60 smartphone software platform and will include a variety of GSM frequencies and third-generation, or 3G, features for seamless roaming across different countries as well as wireless local area network, or WLAN, functions.

Based in Espoo just outside the Finnish capital, Nokia is the world's largest mobile phone maker with sales in 130 countries and about 55,500 employees.

T.E.