Nokia launches 'iPod killer' with free music downloads

Nokia has unveiled a new mobile phone and music download store to take on Apple's iPhone.

The firm will offer unlimited music downloads for a year on selected phones in its range, including the "iPod killer" 5800 handset.

The Comes With Music service has more than two million tracks, and all of the major labels have signed up. Users can keep the downloaded music indefinitely.

Nokia hopes it will help it take on Apple, which charges £7.99 per album or 79p per track for the majority of its music.

However, Nokia users will have to pay £129.95 to buy their handset from Carphone Warehouse.

From 16 October, the service will be available on the existing 5310 XpressMusic handset, and its touchscreen tube phone later this year. "Trying out a music recommendationis spontaneous as customers can download without worrying about the cost," said Tero Ojanperä of Nokia.

But competitors said the service was limited. "It seems fatally flawed," said Ben Drury of 7Digital. "Songs downloaded through Comes With Music are not in MP3 format and cannot be played across a multitude of music devices." Nokia's first touchscreen phone has been a long time coming.

"The 5800 is a very well designed, if a little conservative. It is nowhere near as slick as Apple's iPhone, and menus feel a little sluggish."

The screen is excellent, and video looks superb. There is an excellent onscreen keyboard that vibrates under your finger as you press a key, rather like a real keypad, which works well for text messaging.

The 5800 trounces the iPhone with its high quality 3.2 megapixel camera, and also boasts decent stereo speakers.

As a straight phone, the 5800 is probably better than the iPhone. But in terms of style, speed and the "cool factor", Nokia is lagging way behind.

It's a valiant first effort, but iPhone is still undisputed king of the music mobiles.

Uploading photos is also easy on the Nokia, with support for online sites like Flickr.