Nokia has clinched a partnership with Facebook that will enable users to upload location and status updates directly to their Facebook account from the Ovi platform.
Branded “Lifecasting”, the social networking app will premiere on the new Nokia N97 mini and N97.
Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said the partnership was part of the vendor’s strategy to increase the number of open partnerships it has with innovators.
Lifecasting with Ovi will be available for both the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini via Nokia Beta Labs. The Nokia N97 mini features new software that will be released in October as a free update for the N97.
Nokia vice-president Nseries, Jonus Geust, said “people want to bring their physical and online worlds together via the internet. The Nokia N97 mini is designed for this new social internet and to help navigate people and places.”
The application-ready Nokia N97 mini is expected to begin shipping in October 2009 for an estimated retail price of €450.
Nokia also unveiled the new music-centric handset the Nokia X6, which can support up to 35 hours of music, 32GB of on-board memory and a 3.2" finger touch interface.
The company has also put a price tag on its new Booklet 3G netbook.
Nokia's executive vice president for markets, Anssi Vanjoki, said the Nokia Booklet 3G netbook will have an unsubsidized price of $810 (570 euros).
It will include the Windows 7 operating system, a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor and 12 hours of battery life. The netbook also will sport HSPA and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Oistamo said the Booklet 3G and Nokia's new Linux-based smartphone, the N900, would eventually come to the US market, but he declined to discuss pricing, availability or whether the devices would be subsidized by wireless carriers.
Nokia's CEO also offered specific sales figures on the company's high-end devices. He said N97 and the 5800 shipments have topped 10 million in 10 months, with half of those sales in the past three months.
Finally, Nokia announced that Latin American operator America Movil will offer Ovi store services to its customers region-wide.
America Movil already offers a host of Nokia services, including Comes with Music and Nokia Messaging.