Finnish telecom giant Nokia has launched two new e-mail-capable handsets for business users and vowed to defend its position as the world's leading mobile phone maker.
Nokia said the E71 and E66 were pre-loaded with Microsoft's e-mail programme and would cater to business professionals who wanted easy and instant access to their messages.
The two phones would be available in July and support e-mail accounts from key Internet service providers such Yahoo! and Google's Gmail, the firm said.
It said there were an estimated 1.5 billion e-mail users globally and that there were set to be four billion mobile users by the end of 2009.
The business mobile sector is currently dominated by Canada's Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smart phone combining a mobile phone and personal digital assistant (PDA).
The BlackBerry allows users to browse the Internet, use e-mail and make calls and has proven a big hit with business executives worldwide.
Apple is also taking aim at the corporate market with the launch of its touch-screen-activated 3G iPhone, which will come with faster Internet access and more features for business users than its initial iPhone.
South Korea's Samsung yesterday unveiled its latest smart phone, a touch-screen model to be commercially launched in Southeast Asia this week.
