Last Updated: 4/14/2004 5:34:02 AM
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Nokia in fresh bid to woo gamers

Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone maker, announced a new version of its gaming and mobile phone hybrid N-Gage on Wednesday in a fresh bid to win over the gaming market.
"After six months on the market with the N-Gage platform, we wanted to expand our device portfolio based on the feedback we've received," said Ilkka Raiskinen, senior vice president of games.
The latest launch comes a week after Nokia reported a fall in sales and cautioned that first-quarter earnings would be at the low end of expectations after failing to provide enough products in the high margin middle-market segment for mobile handsets.
While the loss of market share focused on supply of clamshell handsets, the company conceded in February that sales of N-Gage were below expectations and in the lower quartile of the bracket it had set as a goal.
Some of the feedback from potential users of the original unit included concerns over pricing as well the technology associated with loading games.
Although the N-Game QD game deck will have all the gaming features of its predecessor, Nokia said it had made a number of adjustments based on customer demand.
These included removal of the MP3 player, including a hot swap for game cards, a reduction in the size of the unit and a reorientation of the speaker and microphone to support 'classic talking'. The N-Gage Arena launcher software will also come pre-installed.
The planned price range of the new N-Gage QD will begin at $99 with a contract, to $199 as an unsubsidised, untaxed retail price. This compares with a launch price for the original unit of about $299.
The new unit will support existing N-Gage gaming titles and is expected to be available in Europe and Asia in May and in the Americas in June, Nokia said.
Source: FT.com