"Nokia today announced the Nokia 603, a low cost Symbian Belle handset, which the company says is designed to appeal to first time smartphone users and those upgrading from older devices. Key features include a 1GHz processor, 3.5" ClearBlack Display touchscreen, durable design designed to "withstand the knocks of everyday life", and comprehensive connectivity options (pentaband 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC). The 603 is expected to start shipping this quarter at a cost of €200 before taxes and subsidies. The 603 has a sleek design; it is notably thinner (12.7mm) than some of the handsets it is replacing (e.g. C5-03 - 13.8mm) and also has a smaller screen bezel. From the start, Nokia is offering a choice of colours (black or white on the front, with back covers of black, white, fuchsia, green, yellow and blue). The Nokia 603 offers excellent value for money, with a competitive feature set too: price ratio and ticking all the main hardware functionality boxes (3G, WiFi, GPS, NFC). Its base specifications are very similar to the more expensive Nokia 700 (€270) and 701 (€290), with the main differences coming in component type (e.g. TFT screen, not AMOLED) and materials used in construction (greater use of plastics). The Nokia 603 is €20 more expensive than its sister device, the Nokia 600. However, it offers a larger screen (3.5" versus 3.2") and a sleeker design; on the downside it does not offer 2mm charging and there's no FM transmitter.Added to the rest of the Symbian Belle range, Nokia now has a broad range (Nokia 600, 603, 700, 701) of devices in the mid tier, ranging from €180 up to €290. The existing Symbian^3 and Symbian Anna devices will further diversify this choice when they receive the Symbian Belle upgrade later this year and it is likely we will see further Belle announcements before the end of the year.

Tuula Rytila, Senior Vice President, Nokia, said:

"The Nokia 603 continues the renewal of our smartphone range with products that are uniquely matched to the needs of people around the world. Whatever the price-point, our aim is to ensure all Nokia smartphones are crafted for use, have Nokia's trusted quality, are better connected, and contain unexpected surprises like the ability to tap to pair and share with NFC."

Key hardware features

• 113.5 x 57.1 x 12.7 mm in dimensions, 109.6g in weight, 74.4cc by volume; monoblock touch form factor
• 3.5 inch ClearBlack Display TFT touchscreen; 640 x 360 pixels resolution (nHD); scratch resistant front window made from toughened glass.
• 1GHz processor with GPU co-processor for accelerated graphics and video (2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0 support).
• 5 megapixel full focus (EDoF) camera (no LED flash); HD video capture at 1280 x 720 (720p and 30 frames per second)
• Integrated GPS with location support for GPS, A-GPS, WLAN and Cell-ID location techniques.
• Compass (magnetometer), accelerometer, proximity and ambient light sensors.
• 3.5 mm Nokia audio connector for audio out
• FM Radio with RDS
• microUSB (USB 2.0) for file transfers, charging and USB OTG functionality
• BP-3L battery with easy access battery cover (standby time of 19 days and talk time of 16 hours (GSM) and 7 hours (WCDMA).
• WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 (HSDPA Cat 10 - 14.4 MBps, HSUPA Cat 6 - 5.76 Mbps)
• WiFi: WLAN IEEE802.11 b/g and Bluetooth 3.0
• Processor: ARM 11 at 1 GHz, RAM: 512MB 
• 2GB mass memory and microSD card slot (supports sizes up to 32GB), 340MB user memory (C: drive)
• Initially available (Q4) in black or white (front) and back covers of black, white, fuchsia, green, yellow and blue.
• In box contents: Nokia 603, Nokia Battery BP-3L, Nokia Connectivity Cable CA-179, Nokia Headset WH-207, Nokia High Efficiency Charger AC-10.  

Key software features

• Runs Symbian Belle (Symbian^3 with second major software update)
• Symbian Belle additions and updates include a fresh UI look and feel, support for up to six homescreens, new style homescreen widgets (variable sizes), updated notification system, updated application launcher, multiple application updates, improved enterprise support, and richer NFC functionality. More details here.
• NFC experiences include tap to share (contacts, photos, videos), tap to pair (easily connect accessories) and tap to play (Angry Birds Magic and Fruit Ninja)
• Ships with Nokia Maps 3.6 (free lifetime car and pedestrian navigation).
• Nokia Store for downloading additional applications and personalising the device." via allaboutsymbian.com