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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We can’t say that we’re as excited as we could be, but we’re still pleased nonetheless that the latest entry in Nokia’s business orientated E-Series, the E75, has begun shipping and has arrived safe and sound in some retail locations across the globe. Nokia seems to be quite proud of the E75 as it is the first of their handsets to ship with Nokia Messaging pre-installed, a service which not only includes support for Nokia’s own corporate email client, Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveller but consumer email services like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail and Windows Live Hotmail. We guess it can’t hurt that the E75 has a sliding QWERTY keypad, 2.4″ display, 3.2 megapixel camera, aGPS, WiFi and quad-band EDGE/dual-band HSDPA connectivity and runs on , either.

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It’s been a long time in the making but Nokia has finally announced the culmination of its recent development and acquisitions: Nokia Messaging. The service is essentially a combination of messaging applications rolled up into what should be a nice and tidy little package. Mobile email, PIM management, Instant Messaging, push delivery services and more are all covered by the new Nokia Messaging product. There will also be an available web portal into the service (and how about a desktop suite built with Adobe Air?) that will allow users to send and receive email, manage files and more from any web browser. Tom Furlong, Senior Vice President, Consumer Messaging, Services & Software had this to say:

We believe everybody should have mobile messaging – it’s not a privilege service that’s meant only for a certain segment of the market. With Nokia Messaging, our customers can simply and affordably gain mobile access to the world’s most popular email and IM accounts. We are making mobile messaging an affordable experience for everyone, not just for those with specialized phones designed for messaging, but for everyone with a Nokia device.

We’re not exactly sure which comparable mobile devices don’t come with messaging as the beginning of that quote alludes to, but more options are always a good thing. There will be cost associated with this service of course, or at least with certain parts of it, so we can only hope Nokia doesn’t use carriers to force Nokia Messaging on users who might still prefer whatever free option they are accustomed to.

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