As we noted on previous occasions as well, just lately, nothing too spectacular came from Motorola, the only two devices that were, according to general belief, worthy of more attention being the ROKR and the ZN – and that's about it. Were we to compare Motorola with Sony Ericsson or Nokia, in terms of the “wow factor” in handsets, it's crystal clear that it comes on the last position, having recently managed to show a complete lack thereof.

One possible reason for this could be the fact that, as of late, Motorola has seemingly focused its efforts on expanding its Android team from 50 to 350 members. So, it was somehow expected for the manufacturer to post a job add somewhere in order to get more people, since 350 is not a figure that can be so easily attained.

And this is precisely what happened, according to Android Guys, who claim that Motorola posted a job add for a Senior Staff Interaction Designer on Coroflot, saying that the candidate, among other things, would also participate in the development of the UI for the company’s new Android Social Networking Smartphone. While the job does not sound half that bad, there is something that doesn’t quite click about it. Now, the website features only one Motorola job, and it is for a Senior Manager, User Experience Design. So what could all this mean? Either that Motorola removed the add in the meantime, or that it never existed in the first place.Either way, provided the rumors are true, this could mean that Motorola is really into developing a strong competitor for HTC's G1, since social networking is becoming a more important part in the 3G mobile world.

Furthermore, seeing how the company has not been on a winning streak as of late, having to deal with several financial issues, developing a blockbuster device would only seem the right direction to take. Let's not forget that Motorola was one of the original partners of the Open Handset Alliance, which is behind the open-source mobile OS, the Android platform.

It seemed highly unlikely for Nokia to keep the N-series basic – if basic is a term that can be used to describe this series. One thing that was certain, however, was that the Finnish company would do something innovative and take the phones one step further.

Rumors have been circulating for some time regarding touchscreen technology added to the future N-series phones, and this weekend, they were confirmed. At a Nokia event in New Delhi, Devinder Kishore, director of marketing, Nokia India, said that, “We will have lot of touchscreen phones coming up, including an N-series device very soon.”

The N-series from Nokia is known as a product family that brings users multimedia smartphones supporting digital multimedia services like music playback, video capture, photography, this together with the mobile gaming experience and Internet services. It would quite abnormal if an N-series device did not support at least one high-speed wireless technology like 3G or Wireless LAN.Lately, the N-series phones have showed their high degree of versatility, when director Mike Hodgkinson filmed Eskimohunter's Surfing at 32°F video using N95, N93 and N93i. “Everything I imagined, the Nokia Nseries devices let me create. I really wanted to push the Nokia equipment to its limits, and each responded brilliantly. I’ve taken Nseries devices underwater, attached them to helium balloons and dangled them 100 feet above the Los Angeles River… and I’ve never lost a shot.” Hodgkinson said.

Going back to what Devinder Kishore said, we must take in consideration what "very soon" might mean, since it is unsure whether we'll get to see the new N-series touchscreen phones at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2009. Either way, let's hope that we'll have more information coming our way really soon, and perhaps even some leaked images of a touchscreen N-series device.

Nokia has unveiled its touch-screen smartphone - the 5800 XpressMusic.The 5800 XpressMusic introduces the 'Media Bar', a drop down menu that provides direct access to music and entertainment, including favourite tracks, videos and photos. The Media Bar also offers a direct link to the web and to online sharing. The phone supports Flash content and offers all the music essentials, including a graphic equalizer, 8GB memory for up to 6000 tracks and support for all main digital music formats, a 3.5mm jack and built-in surround sound stereo speakers."With the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, we set out to connect people through the one thing we all feel a universal connection to - music," said Jo Harlow, Vice President, Nokia. "The way in which people enjoy music is different around the world. With that in mind, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gives people the freedom to experience music they love in the way they prefer."
Ensuring a seamless music experience, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic also provides easy access to browse and purchase tracks from the Nokia Music Store, where applicable, while the newly updated Nokia Music PC software allows for easy drag-and-drop transfer of songs and management of any music collection.

The 'Contacts Bar' lets consumers highlight four favorite contacts on their home-screen and, through a single touch, track a digital history of recent text messages, emails, phone logs, photos and blog updates.

"As Nokia's first mass-market device with a touch screen, the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic turns a 'user interface' into a 'human interface' by truly putting people first. For example, we've introduced the Nokia Contacts Bar, which is like a digital RSS feed on your life," said Harlow. "By adding the benefits of touch screen technology to S60, the world's leading smartphone interface, Nokia is taking the familiar and giving it a human touch. We have used touch technology where it really adds value such as the Contacts Bar, Media Bar and clever shortcuts from the homescreen to menu items such as calendar, profiles and clock."

The phone features a 3.2-inch widescreen display, a 16 by 9 aspect ratio and 30 frames-per-second playback and recording.

Equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss lens, the phone allows images or videos to be shared via online communities, such as Share on Ovi, Flickr, or Facebook. Music playlist song titles can also be shared through Bluetooth, MMS or online sharing.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic supports 60 languages worldwide and offers a variety of input methods including a virtual alphanumeric keypad, a virtual computer-style QWERTY keyboard, a pen stylus - and for music enthusiasts, a plectrum.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will be available worldwide beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008 for an estimated retail price of 279 EUR before taxes and subsidies.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic featuring Comes With Music will be available early next year. Pricing is unavailable at the moment.