GLOBAL – The second of Nokia’s new Symbian devices announced at Nokia World, the C6-01, officially starts shipping today. The boxes have been filled, the vans loaded and the factory gates opened. Soon they will be with retailers and operators near you. Join us after the break for a reminder of why you might want one.

The new Nokia C6 is the smallest and most affordable of the new family of Symbian devices. The C6-01 measures 103.8 x 52.5 x 13.9mm and weighs in at just 131g. Like its siblings, it’s a fully functional communicator with support for 3G and WiFi on board. It’s got a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touch-screen featuring the new ClearBlack display technology for the first time (more about that in a later post). The C6-01 is also one of Nokia’s greenest devices to date, featuring the use of bioplastics and recycled metals for much of its construction.

It doesn’t skimp on multimedia, either, with an eight-megapixel full focus camera with dual-LED flash. The camera’s also capable of shooting 720p high-definition video. The usable internal memory (340MB) is probably a tad tight for that, but can be souped-up with a microSD memory card for over 32GB of storage. There’s a 2GB card to get you started in the box. Like all the recent devices, it comes with free navigation through Ovi Maps, extra apps from Ovi Store and tunes from Ovi Music.

“The Nokia C6-01 is designed for the consumer who wants to stay on top of their social life while on the go,” said Jo Harlow, head of smartphones. “The new Symbian platform makes social networking fast and easy, while from the design point of view the Nokia C6-01 fits perfectly in your palm. Even the smallest of hands can reach every corner of the screen!”