Toronto (ON) November 16, 2009 – TELUS and Nokia recently announced that the Canadian phone carrier will be adding the Nokia E71 in red and black to its smartphone line-up. The Wi-Fi enabled Nokia E71 for TELUS customers will come preloaded with the newest version of Ovi Maps, a personal GPS navigation solution and social location platform.

Perfect for people on the go

The Nokia E71 boasts top quality personal GPS navigation for both walking and driving – the realtime turn-by-turn walk navigation is optimized for pedestrians and calculates the shortest route via pedestrian paths, through parks and malls and the drive navigation includes voice guided turn-by-turn directions from just about anywhere in the world.

A recent Angus Reid survey*, commissioned on behalf of Nokia, found that 60 per cent  of Canadians say that it is important to them to have visually-guided, turn by turn pedestrian/walk navigation as a part of their GPS application. The survey also found that 70 per cent of Canadians say that it is important to them to be able to search for points of interest when using a GPS tool and half (51 per cent) want to be able to search for nearby events. Ovi Maps has the advantage of offering all of these features. In addition to telling you where you are, Ovi Maps lets you know which restaurants, hotels, hot spots and attractions are around you with thousands of points of interest pre-loaded into the device. Ovi Maps also provides Satellite and Terrain imagery and three dimensional rendering of famous buildings to act as a visual aid in identifying where you are.

“TELUS’ new 3G+ network gives Canadians access to a world class selection of compelling mobile devices such as the Nokia E71,” said David Neale, senior vice-president of Products and Services at TELUS. “The Nokia E71 is a user-friendly and affordable smartphone for both business and consumer users offering great applications for people on-the-go, such as Ovi Maps.”

Email made easy

The Nokia E71’s two separate customizable home screens allow users to easily switch between business and leisure modes with the touch of a button, making the Nokia E71 the perfect productivity tool for those wanting to maintain a work/life balance within one device.

Business users can access Mail for Exchange mobile email and have the ability to download attachments including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF files directly onto their device. Users can also access their personal email accounts with providers such as Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail supported.

“Nokia is delighted to be back with TELUS and offering its customers Nokia’s superior Ovi Maps services, an all-in-one personal navigation solution for mobile phones,” said Richard White, general manager, Nokia Canada. “Canadians want a great mobile device that can offer them simple solutions to make their lives easier. The Nokia E71 is just that device because it allows for easy transition between work and personal modes and with services like Ovi Maps, Ovi Share and Ovi Store, the Nokia E71 provides Canadians with a unique mobile experience.”

Designed for the way we live

Entertainment features include a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash. A second camera is used for wireless video calling. The Nokia E71 also comes equipped with a built-in music player and FM radio. The device features a full HTML browser with flash support. Nokia E71 users can also download numerous applications from the Ovi Store.

The Nokia E71 runs on the Symbian operating system and is enabled for Wi-Fi. It has up to 110MB of internal memory with support for up to an additional 8GB of memory with a microSD card. It comes with a 2GB microSD card in the box.

The Nokia E71 remains one of the thinnest smartphones on the market weighing only 4.4 ounces.  Its design optimizes the user experience inside and out with a one touch key to access email, a full QWERTY keyboard, and easy access to calendars and contacts. The stunning screen displays up to 16 million colours making it a pleasure to view photos, videos, maps and more.

The survey, which examined Canadians’ views and habits regarding GPS tools, also found that:

• Men (47 per cent) are more likely to use a GPS device than women (30 per cent).
• Only 38 per cent of Canadians are currently using a GPS device.
• People aged 18-34 are the most likely of any age group to use a GPS device on their cell phone.
• Over 60 per cent of Canadians are not currently using a GPS tool on their cell phones, but 31 per cent of that group would be convinced to do so if they had access to real-time traffic and safety information.

Accessorize for work or play

Whether at the office, driving, or walking, the following original accessories can provide the ultimate Nokia E71 experience.

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-103 – With this headset users can switch automatically between favourite tunes and important calls with the push of a button and enjoy wireless music and conversation in clear stereo sound.

Nokia Bluetooth Headset BH-804 – Nokia’s smallest wireless headset is the size of a piece of gum and boasts a discreet design, lightweight feel and a stylish aluminum cover. Enhanced audio quality with DSP makes it easy to keep conversations going while on the run.

Nokia Mobile Charger DC-4 – This high performance, lightweight travel charger plug allows you to charge your phone’s battery the conventional way – in your car.  Compatible with both 12 VDC and 24 VDC systems.

Nokia Speakerphone HF-510 – This stylish speakerphone makes it easy to stay connected while you travel with caller ID display and echo noise cancellation.

The Nokia E71 smartphone is available from TELUS for $29.99 on 3-year contract.

For more information on the Nokia E71, please visit www.nokia.ca or www.telus.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Demo handsets are available upon request.

*From October 26^th to October 27^th, 2009, Angus Reid Strategies conducted an online survey among a randomly selected, representative sample of 1,000 adult Canadians who are Angus Reid Forum panel members. The margin of error is ±3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current gender, age and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire adult population of Canada.