ESPOO, Finland - Nokia is tapping on the lower mid-level segment of the market, for which it has announced two new 3G slider handsets, the Nokia 6700 Slide smartphone and the Nokia 7230.

The lower mid-level segment overlaps with the entry-level market, and the latter is one of the most profitable areas in the handset business, where Nokia maintains a record of the most successful mobile phone - the 1100, which stands at more than 250 million units sold. The manufacturer renews its confidence in the segment by constantly attempting to increase mobile phone functionality while keeping prices low.

The 6700 Slide has a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, allows imaging editing and uploading directly from the camera menu; the device also features a small 2.2" display, Bluetooth, HSDPA and HSUPA connectivity, FM radio, and microSD memory card support. It will be available in pink, red, petrol blue, aluminium, lime and purple colours.

The device will be powered by a 860mAh battery, which will provide it 300 hours in standby time and 4 hours of talk time in GSM, and 250 hours in standby time and 3 hours of talk time in 3G. The smartphone will run on Symbian OS 9.3 with S60 v3.2.

The 7230 is a cheaper handset which has a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.4" display, FM radio, and microSD memory card support. The phone will be powered by a 860mAh battery which will provide it 395 hours of standby time and 5.5 hours of talk time in GSM, and 370 hours of standby and 3.6 hours of talk time in 3G. It will run on the S40 software platform.

There are few 3G-enabled handsets in this price range, and even fewer with this colour variety. The Nokia 6700 Slide is expected to cost EUR 160 (US$240), while the Nokia 7230 is priced EUR 100 (US$150), both prices without subsidies or taxes. Release date for both handsets is scheduled for the first quarter of 2010.

[EUR 1 = US$1.49785]