At a media conference held last week in Nairobi, Nokia unveiled its latest C-series mobile handsets. Three models in total we’re launched which included the Nokia C1 trio as well as the new dual-SIM Nokia C2. The most affordable of the Nokia C1 trio is the C1-00 which is the first Nokia to have a 2-in-1 double SIM solution.

Alex Lambeek, vice president at Nokia said that “by simply holding down a key, people are able to switch between SIM cards. This enables them to take advantage of reduced call rates, flexibility when traveling from one country to another, or helps with sharing a phone within a family and still use their own SIM. This is a great added convenience feature considering the low price of the phone.”

Nokia C1 owners will also benefit from a standby battery time of up to six weeks, the longest ever for a Nokia mobile phone, especially useful in those parts of the world where access to electricity is sometimes limited. The standard flashlight – often someone’s only means of bright light – is paired with a vivid color screen and FM radio with standard headphone jack, meaning the Nokia C1 is as much about entertainment as it is about convenience.

The Nokia C2 features a dual SIM with dual standby capability. Along with the many capabilities of the Nokia C1, the Nokia C2 can also keep both SIM cards active; meaning calls and text messages can come to either number while the phone is on. The first SIM card on the Nokia C2 sits underneath the battery and the second is ‘hot-swappable’, a feature unique to Nokia which means it can be removed and inserted when the phone is on.

Where available, the Nokia C2 also offers a wide range of information covering healthcare, agriculture, education and entertainment via Nokia’s Ovi Life Tools, as well as the email account for the developing world, Ovi Mail. In addition to Ovi Mail, people’s favorite consumer email and chat accounts can be pushed direct to the phone via Nokia Messaging. Listening to music is simple with the FM radio and music player, with a massive amount of music storage with the phone supporting micro-SD cards of up to 32GB.

The second and third devices in the Nokia C1 family (C1-01 and C1-02) are both single SIM products, and Nokia’s most affordable devices offering microSD compatibility, enabling people to store up to 32 GB of music, photography, or whatever other media suits them. Both new devices bring very individual designs and exciting colors, bright color screens, web browsing over GPRS and access to Nokia web services such as Nokia Messaging. In addition, owners of the Nokia C1 (C1-01) will also be able to take video and photographs using the built-in VGA camera.

The estimated retail prices of the new Nokia mobile phones, before taxes and subsidies, are:

• Nokia C1 (C1-00)    EUR 30
• Nokia C1 (C1-02)    EUR 35
• Nokia C1 (C1-01)    EUR 39
• Nokia C2 (C2-00)    EUR 45

The Nokia C1 (C1-00) is expected to ship in the third quarter of 2010, with the Nokia C1 (C1-01) in the early fourth quarter, and the Nokia C1 (C1-02) and Nokia C2 towards the end of the fourth quarter 2010.