Nokia takes strides in different directions

Product: Nokia 7700 Price: Not yet announced Pros: Nokia's first serious effort at a PDA/phone hybrid Cons: Some people may think it resembles a burrito

Product: Nokia 7200 Price: Not yet announced Pros: First Nokia clam-shell phone, customisable, funky features Cons: None significant

Aiming to fortify its weakening position as the world's dominant mobile phone brand, Nokia last week announced two new handsets that promise to push the vendor in two new directions.

Both phones are firsts for Nokia - its first clamshell phone and its first to dispense with a keypad. Unfortunately, neither will be available until early next year.

The most striking of the two is the big-screen 7700, a touch-screen PDA that is a radical departure from Nokia's old 9 series Communicators. Where the old Communicators were criticised for stuffing low-tech circuitry into a hi-tech case, the 7700 manages to be a pretty sophisticated mobile with a burrito body that looks like the N-Gage's big brother.

On the communications side, the 7700 is a triband phone that supports both Edge and high-speed circuit-switched data (HSCSD).