An iPhone rival has just been released by Nokia that is set to prove a popular – and cheaper – alternative to the all-powerful Apple super product. The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic has been a while in the making, having been initially announced last October, but now it has finally made its entrance on the world stage, where Nokia is hoping that it will help to dig it out of the financial mess that the company finds itself in.

The essential features include 8GB of memory for up to 6,000 songs, a 3.2Mp camera, and an FM radio. The 3.2 inch touch-screen also comes complete with a media bar to provide instant access to the music library, and a nifty feature called the ‘contacts bar’, which allows the user to instantly find all of the text, phone and email information between themselves and up to four top contacts. It also has a video camera, a feature that the iPhone is lacking.

It is being billed very much as a phone for music lovers, and excited fans had queued outside the Regent Street store to ensure they were the first to get their hands on it, although it didn’t go on general sale until the 30th of January. You should expect to pay £249 on a pay-as-you-go deal, but you’ll probably find it going free on numerous contract deals.

However, the release of the new phone almost directly coincided with the news that Nokia had seen a steep drop in profits in the fourth quarter of 2008, and was expecting a 10% drop in market volumes in 2009, which led to large slumps in the company’s share prices. Will its new super-product be able to turn the tide? Nokia is certainly hoping so.