A Nokia employee has revealed how it could have had pole position on the whole iPhone fad in 2004.

However the outfit did not put it into production because it did not think that anyone would have been daft enough to pay that much dosh for it. Ari Hakkarainen, a former marketing manager for Nokia, told The New York Times that the firm created a prototype handset that had web-access and a large touchscreen display.

Apparently he was giving demonstrations of the device in 2004, three years before the arrival of the Apple iPhone. Hakkarainen said that touch screens were expensive to produce, so there was more risk involved for Nokia. To make matters worse Nokia had come up with the idea for selling apps through an online service in 2004, but also didn't follow through. (Ouch. sub.ed.)