Nostalgic Nokia Dusts Off Invincible 'Stone Age' Phone

Despite predating fancy smartphones by over a decade, the sturdy Nokia 3310's claim to fame was almost total indestructability combined with a battery that seemed almost never-ending. Today, the cult device, "retired" in 2005 after selling some 126 million units and becoming Finnish cellphone giant's biggest success to date, is poised for a return, Finnish national broadcaster Yle reported.

HMD Global Oy, the Finnish manufacturer, which acquired the rights to market phones under the Nokia brand from Microsoft, is all set to launch an updated version of 3310 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this month. The new version of Nokia's former "workhorse" is rumored to cost just over $60.

​Besides die-hard fans who actually never gave up using the "Chuck Norris" of phones despite modern-age temptations, the remake may potentially interest a hipper public who has grown wearyweary after having one touchscreen shattered after another on their pricey smartphones. The robust 3310 has been ascribed supernatural strength for its unmatched capacity for surviving crashes onto hard floors or asphalt and may even stand in for a hammer, if necessary.

For more mainstream users, vanquished giant Nokia will launch a couple of garden variety smartphones, equipped with touchscreens and 12-megapixel cameras. Nokia once dominated the global mobile market, but failed to adapt to the smartphone craze and gradually lost its market share. Nokia sold its billionth phone in 2005 and at its peak in 2007 commanded 46 percent of the global handset market, as opposed to 3.1 percent in 2013. While the dinosaur of mobile phones will hardly outsmart today's smartphones, it will strike a nostalgic note for all that happened during the turn of the millennium.

In the meantime, Nokia lovers can play Snake as a warm-up for the return of the iconic phone.

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