Nokia officially announces the 5730 XpressMusic : Side Sliding Qwerty

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic was officially announced today. If you remember, this particular handset was leaked and reviewed way back in January.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is Nokia’s first music-optimized device to offer a full QWERTY keyboard – ideal for quick messaging. The heart of this music device is the Homescreen for XpressMusic, providing access and dynamic information on music, people, games, email and calendar.The Homescreen features an improved contacts bar with up to 20 friends and family members and provides direct access to music, N-Gage and other applications, like Facebook, Photos, Ovi Contacts, Maps, messaging and more. With Ovi Contacts, people see which friends are online, chat and even view what music they are listening to.

The Music shortcut offers a quick access to the music stored on the device as well as to the Nokia Music Store where they can find for information on artists, music and over-the-air downloads, directly on the device.

With the dedicated gaming keys the Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is a true N-Gage gadget. Direct access to the N-Gage Arena community and the preloaded N-Gage games invite to connect and compete and check high scores with online friends.

The Nokia 5730 XpressMusic is expected to begin shipping in the third quarter of 2009 for an estimated retail price of 280 EUR ( approx Us $350, Indian Rs 18,000) before subsidies and taxes.

I have to admit, the homescreen on this thing, looks pretty sweet. I love that Nokia is finally embracing this side-slider formfactor now (about time!). Another phone, that I cant wait to check out.