ESPOO, Finland – Nokia set rumours flying a couple of weeks ago when pictures of an as-yet unreleased device were inadvertently uploaded to the Ovi Store. Well, now it’s officially launched – the Nokia 5250 is a touchscreen, music-centric device aimed anyone seeking a modern, multipurpose mobile that also offers great value for money. Read on for pictures and specs.

The device comes with a music player on the home screen and tracks can be downloaded from Ovi Music or your own collection. There’s 51MB of memory on board, but audiophiles can expand this to up to 16GB with a microSD memory card – enough space for 4000 songs. The device also offers an FM radio. Topping off its musical credentials, the 5250 comes with a free copy of the acclaimed Guitar Hero 5 Mobile: this is a phone that invites you to rock out while you’re on the move. The Nokia 5250 will ship with the all-you-can-eat music offering, Ovi Music Unlimited, in selected territories.

This is a highly sociable phone. Also on the home screen, you’ll find your favourite contacts and there’s easy access to Facebook, MySpace and the rest. You can also log-in to multiple email accounts such as Ovi Mail, Gmail and Yahoo! Mail, as well as instant messenger accounts from all the usual suspects. Extra applications can, of course, be added using the Ovi Store.

Battery life is also excellent. The device will last up to 18 days in standby or up to seven hours talktime. If you stick to music, then it can play for 24 hours without stopping.

The 5250 runs the Symbian^1 operating system and offers GSM/EDGE communications over four bands and GPRS for data. It has a 2.8-inch TFT screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. On the back, there’s a 2-megapixel camera, with Ovi Share installed to let you upload your snaps to the Web. Eminently pocketable, the device measures 104mm x 49mm x 14mm.

Before taxes and operator subsidies, the Nokia 5250 will cost just €115 and is expected to ship in the fourth quarter.