Today Nokia announced three new devices that it hopes will makes serious inroads in emerging markets. While they certainly aren’t much to write home about from a phoneaholic’s perspective, they are definitely interesting in that they place particular emphasis on entertainment and social media. Nokia seemingly feels the time is right to thrust mobile internet and social networking upon the up and coming masses and we’re more than eager to see how it works out. Provided data costs are reasonable, Nokia’s effort could certainly provide a means of low-cost entertainment that is well placed in emerging markets. Hit the jump for more details on the 2720 fold, 2730 classic and 7020.

2720 fold – It’s shiny, it flips, has access to email in three-easy steps (Billy Mays style) via Ovi Mail and might even come pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools if you’re lucky enough to live in one of the “selected territories” that have yet to be disclosed. Other than that, there’s an FM tuner, MP3 ringtones and Bluetooth. Look for it sometime in Q3 for 55€ ($74 USD).

2730 classic - Touted as the most affordable 3G phone in the Nokia catalog at 80€ ($108 USD), the candybar 2730 classic is equipped with a 2-inch QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, FM tuner and comes pre-loaded with Ovi Mail while select markets will also receive Nokia Life Tools. Expect to see the 2730 classic ship in Q3 for 80€ ($107 USD).

7020 – A phone that is sure to prove itself popular in emerging markets, the 7020 is a clam shell device that has a monochrome external display, 2.2-inch internal color display, 2 megapixel camera, FM tuner, support for microSD cards up to 16GB and MP3 playback. What makes the 7020 the most interesting of the three new handsets however, is its focus on social media — the device comes pre-loaded with Nokia Life Tools, Ovi Share, Ovi Store, Nokia Messaging, Opera Mini and Nokia Maps in addition to Facebook, MySpace and YouTube bookmarks. The 7020 will run for about 90€ ($121 USD) in Q4.

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Never mind the fact that they’re just doing it to get free publicity and a head start on pre-orders, we absolutely love it when retailers give it to the manufacturers in the junk and out the specs of their phones just days before they’re official. Expansys is no stranger to this process and has done it again with the Nokia E75. We’ve seen the E75 countless times before and while we want it for reasons we can’t really describe we’re now in a position to say that the E75 won’t suffice to stave off our hunger for the upcoming N97. Why? High cost, a tiny display and poor screen resolution will do the trick every time. If you’re an S60 nut however, chances are you’re going to love what the E75 has got:

• Quad-band GSM / EDGE, dual-band HSDPA (900/2100) at 3.6Mbps
• 2.4″ 240×320 QVGA display
• 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus, digital zoom, LED flash
• 30FPS QVGA video recording
• aGPS
• WiFi
• FM radio
• microSDHC
• 3.5mm headset, Bluetooth 2.0, microUSB
• Nokia Maps, PDF Document Viewer, ZIP File Manager
• Dual home screen (work/personal)
• 1000 mAh battery
• 630 mins talk, 408 hrs stand-by time

So what’s all of this going to cost? Early estimates are that the E75 will ship on March 13 for £389.99 SIM-free ($580 USD) or free on select tariffs from T-Mobile UK. Fail.

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Today Nokia announced the latest handset that runs on its S40 platform, the 6260 Slide. The 6260 takes its styling queues from the 6220 Classic and boasts an amazing 2.4″ 320 x 480 HVGA screen. It basically is the perfect handset for those who want nearly everything and more from a mobile phone but for some odd reason don’t want a smartphone. Why someone would want this much juice but not want it to run on S60 is a question in and of itself, but we’ll leave that for another time. Specs from the Nokia data sheet are as follows:

• Series 40
• 99.4mm x 46.5mm x 15.4mm, 114g
• Quad-band EDGE with tri-band HSDPA/HSUPA
• WiFi and aGPS (with Nokia Maps pre-installed)
• 2.4″ 320×480 HVGA display
• 200MB internal memory, up to 8GB microSD
• 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens
• Front-facing camera for video calling
• Bluetooth v2.1 w/ A2DP/AVRCP
• TV-out and 2.5mm AV connector
• microUSB
• 950 mAh battery
• 4/6 hours talk time, 370/400 hours stand-by (3G/EDGE)

Expect to see this mobile hit Europe in early 2009 with an estimated MSRP of €299 before taxes and carrier subsidies.

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