Nokia 7700

Region

France; Australia; Finland

Associated With

Nokia Corporation - announced the device

Defining Feature

Landscape 640 × 320 touchscreen for mobile media

Status

Cancelled - planned retail release abandoned; limited partner trials announced

Overview

Nokia 7700 was a planned Series 90 media phone, announced in October 2003 but never commercially released.

Nokia presented a landscape 640 × 320 touchscreen with a web browser, music and video playback, a VGA camera and FM radio. These were announced capabilities of a device intended for mobile Internet and media use.

Shipments were planned for Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific in the second quarter of 2004. A June report said the retail launch had been cancelled, although units would remain available to selected partners for limited multimedia-service trials, including Visual Radio.

Why It Mattered

Nokia’s Visual Radio proposal paired FM broadcasts with images, text and interactive material delivered over mobile networks. The 7700 was intended as a platform for demonstrating such services, linking handset development with the work of broadcasters, operators and software developers. The surviving plans record how Nokia sought to expand the role of a phone through both its screen and the services around it.

Announcement and Release Plan

• Nokia announced the 7700 on 28 October 2003 at events in Nice, France, and Brisbane, Australia, as its first media-category device.
• The company planned Q2 2004 shipments in Europe, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
• Nokia abandoned the commercial release in June 2004, before the planned retail rollout.

Announced Media Platform

• The planned Series 90 handset had a 640 × 320, 65,000-colour touchscreen, GSM/GPRS/EDGE connectivity and web browsing.
• Nokia listed music and video playback, a VGA camera and FM radio among the intended media functions.
• The 2003 release promised handwriting recognition, though the Mobile Phone Museum records that the 7700 lacked it; the prototype or firmware difference is unclear.

Trials and the Series 90 Successor

• Phone Scoop’s 18 June 2004 report said Nokia would keep the 7700 available to selected partners for limited multimedia-service trials, including Visual Radio.
• Reporting on Greater Helsinki mobile-media pilots and Kiss FM’s Visual Radio testing documents the Finnish service context, not a consumer 7700 rollout.
• The Mobile Phone Museum identifies the later 7710 as the commercially available Series 90 handset.

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