Nokia’s massive scale allows them to drive down their costs drastically. While many, practically all of you, will never buy the 2710 Navigation Edition, there are people in emerging economies who are going to enjoy the safety of having a map in their pocket at all times and knowing where on that map they’re currently standing. I’ll never forget when the Nokia N95 came out; GPS in a mobile phone was unheard of at the time, and this was only 2 years ago. Yes the first version firmware made the GPS in the N95 unusable, but it was quickly fixed, and after Google Maps came out then everything changed. Having GPS isn’t always about getting from point A to point B, but also allowing you to explore a city while removing that extra mental burden of remembering how to get back home. They say that the killer application of the internet was email, well for mobile phones I truly believe that it’s GPS.
The Nokia 2710 Navigation Edition is due to be released in Q2 2010 for 110 EUR ($165) and along with the GPS and digital compass it will also have a 2 megapixel camera, 2.2 inch 240 x 320 pixel display, 3.5 mm headphone jack, quadband GSM/EDGE, and Bluetooth. It will fit in a package measuring 111.2 mm long, 45.7 mm wide, and 13.7 mm thick, while weighing only 87 grams. The 850 mAh battery should power it on standby for 18 days, and give you 4 hours and 20 minutes of talk time.
[Via: Nokia Press]