Nokia 5230 set for January 2010 launch?

Remember the Nokia 5230 that was announced back in August but then quickly dropped off the radar as we all started getting excited about the Nokia N97 mini and Nokia X6? Well, it looks like the Nokia 5230 is back and set for a January 2010 launch. Check out this touchscreen phone and what it has to offer the entry-level smartphone market…
The Nokia 5230 is a Symbian S60 5th Edition smartphone that will ship with a 3.2-inch resistive display and is cast very much as a device between the Nokia 5800 and the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. The screen will have a 640 x 360-pixel resolution and come with the same Contacts Bar and media bar as we’ve seen on the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. This means you’ll be able to load four of your favourite apps straight from the homescreen, including the likes of Facebook and YouTube.
Being an entry-level smartphone, we can expect a 2-Megapixel camera and Bluetooth but you’ll also find a super-fast HSDPA connection for getting access to email and the internet. Then there is a claimed 33 hours of playback from the media player, making this very much a device for music lovers .
The guys over at Dailymobile have managed to get their hands on a couple of Nokia 5230 handset and snapped a few decent pics of the phone in action. We’ve posted a couple of images below but it’s worth checking out their post for the rest.
As you can see from the images, the Nokia 5230 looks very much an entry-level handset aimed at the youth market. This can be seen in the choice of bright colours but also the quality of the plastic used. Along with posting images, the guys also claim that the Nokia 5230 won’t be hitting the shops until January 2010. However, this is still speculation at this point. Still, with an estimated price of around 149 Euros, SIM free, we should see it hit the UK PAYG market for less than £100 (inc. VAT).