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Nokia 6650 flip heading for AT&T

The Nokia N75 was a great phone when it launched in May 2007, but now it seems that the smartphone has now outlived itself. Nokia have now given the phone a much needed update by giving it a sexy brushed steel finish.

Nokia have now branded the phone 6650 in the U.S. and it is making its way to AT&T. The flip phone has been branded the 6550 in Europe. Nokia have packed a host of features into this cell phone, and they hope that this will be enough to persuade us to purchase it. Read more

Nokia N96 coming to U.S.A in fourth quarter

We have known for some time that Nokia are to release the N96, their latest handset from their N-Series range. Nokia have confirmed that this 3G HSDPA cell phone will be available in the U.S.A. during the fourth quarter.

The new handset comes with a large 2.8-inch screen, making it easy to use. The N96 also comes with a large 16GB storage, so you can keep a host of images, music and video files.

The Nokia N96 is sleek, smart and very powerful. Nokia hope that it will be able to compete with Apple’s iPhone. The new handset has some great features like support for popular video download services.

As an owner of the Nokia N96 you will be able to purchase and download your favorite TV show and movie direct to your PC then sideload them to your handset.

Nokia hope that the N96 will be the most complete all-round handset, but judging by the features the handset has been geared more towards entertainment.

Read the full press release from Nokia

New Nokia Smartphones: N79 and N85

Nokia has recently announced that they will be releasing their two new Nseries smartphones. One being the N79 and the other will be the N85. The release date is due to be tomorrow.

The N79 is said to be replacing the older version N78. The camera on this phone has been updated from 3.2 mega pixels to an improved 5.0. It uses a dual-LED flash. It is designed as a fashion phone that will have changeable back covers, so the owner can have to their taste. It is in a candy bar style and comes with full 3G, WiFi and GPS features. The 4GB microSD card lets you store more than the previous model. And for someone like me, who likes their music, that is a good thing.

Nokia’s N85 is the better model and is replacing the N81. This camera has also been upgraded to five mega pixels, and includes GPS. It also has an AMOLED 2.6 inch screen, which should provide a better color. It can run about 28 hours of music from just one charge.

This N85, like the previous N81 is thought to be an N-Gage friendly phone. It has an 8GB microSDHC card and also gives the owners an option of upgrading to an impressive 16GB or more later on if wanted. They can access the internet through the WiFi or HSDPA-based 3G, although we’re not aware if it has international support yet.

For more pictures or information on these phones visit Electronista.

Nokia’s Services & Software unit grows and focuses its efforts

Espoo, Finland - Nokia’s Services & Software unit today announced plans to refine parts of its global research and development activities. While Nokia continues to grow its investments in consumer Internet services, the unit plans to integrate some of our content delivery services into a single service to create a better experience for consumers and to continue increasing investments into key initiatives.

Nokia’s Internet services strategy continues unchanged with a focus on key service areas such as music, games, messaging and location based services Read more

Nokia today introduce 8800 Carbon Arte

Espoo, Finland - Nokia today introduced the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte, a new premium mobile phone that marries the timeless design of the Nokia 8800 Arte range with materials that reflect a new exclusivity based on refinement and authenticity. Engineered from carbon fibre, titanium, polished glass and stainless steel, the Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte is for individuals who appreciate uncompromised high performance Read more

Nokia Group Executive Board Changes

Nokia today announced that Mr. Esko Aho, 54, will join Nokia on November 1, 2008. He will become a member of the Nokia Group Executive Board as of January 1, 2009, when he assumes the duties of Executive Vice President, Corporate Relations and Responsibility, the position currently held by Mr. Veli Sundbäck Read more

Nokia E71 and the BlackBerry Bold do battle

While the Nokia E71 and the Blackberry bold are not going head to head in a battle for sharing the same market place, we have to admit they do have a number of things in common. Both handsets are for the enterprise market but they are two totally different breeds of handsets.

Both the Nokia E71 and the Blackberry Bold from RIM have a QWERTY keyboard along with that all important Wi-Fi. These phones also come with a camera, corporate email and superb battery performance.

If both handsets were to do battle with each other, what one would come out the winner?

No one can argue that the Blackberry Bold has to be one of the sharpest and cleanest looking Blackberry’s ever built. The handset has been built to a high standard and should be able to take what everyday life throws at it.

The Nokia E71 has to be one of the nicest looking Blackberry style phones, with its metal finish giving it a real slick look and feel.

Read a full comparison of the two handsets here

Other news on Nokia

Nokia enjoys 43% of UK market share

Research firm CSS has revealed that Nokia is currently enjoying a 43% market share in the UK, which is double what one of their closest competitors, Samsung is achieving at the moment.

This is clearly a step in the right direction for Nokia as they hope to dominate the UK market for many months to come. Elsewhere in the charts, LG are in fourth place after some positive sales, while Samsung’s growth rate slowed causing them to remain in second. Sony Ericsson however have showed the biggest decline in net profit.

Here is a statement from CSS Insight Analyst Ben Wood commenting on Nokia’s current dominance,

“Nokia is still head and shoulders above the rest. It is not just leading the market but controlling it. Sony Ericsson has really been put under pressure by Nokia’s new mid-range handsets and has struggled as a result. Samsung is the clear number two in the market, while LG has established itself in the big time. It has hit a sweet spot with a lot of its handsets recently.”

Read the full article over at Mobile Today

Nokia to use Microsoft Zune software for iPhone battle

It seems that Microsoft has to team up with Nokia to try and take the fight to Apple with their iPhone. As we know Nokia is losing the battle when it comes to sales of handsets against the iPhone, the reason behind this is how good the software is on the all in one handset.

One of the greatest features of the iPhone is how you are able to use iTunes to access your music on the phone like an iPod. It is that feature where Nokia does not have an answer for.

Well there might be some hope for the phone maker, as they are getting together with Microsoft to integrate the Zune software on to Nokia phones. This news has come as a bit of a shock, considering Nokia support every operating system except Windows.

Microsoft knows that they are taking a beating from Apple, which is why they have to support more than one platform now.

Many had expected Microsoft to launch their own phone to rival Apple’s iPhone, but it does make sense to partner Nokia who is the largest cell phone provider in the world.

So could Nokia and Zune be enough to kick the iPhone of its throne?

Source

LiMo Open-Source vs Google Android and Nokia’s Symbian Foundation

When you have three very big names all in the same basket you know things will heat up, and this is where the competition really spices up for open-source mobile devices and indeed platforms. According to Phones Review the LiMo Foundation on Monday revealed a host of new partners and devices that will go up against the likes of Google Android and Nokia Symbian Foundation.

Can LiMo really heat things up? can they really compete with the likes of Google Android and Nokia Symbian Foundation?

On Monday the open-source mobile consortium saw it increase its ranks to more than 50 partner companies in its drive to deliver open handset platform for the entire mobile industry. The eleven new members include the likes of Esmertec, Freescale Semiconductor, VirtualLogix, Telecom Italia, Longcheer Holdings, PacketVideo, MIZI Research, SK Innoace, Cellon, ZTE and Movial.

Well now according to the LiMo Foundation the latest line-up of partners are evidence that its contributor-led governance model can uniquely rationalize the increasing mobile ecosystem giving it more complexity and flexibility and of course sophistication.

LiMo Foundation revealed seven new Linux-based mobile phones which will indeed put pressure on Google and the Open Handset Alliance to create sophisticated handsets based on the Linux-based Android mobile operating system. The phones include Motorola’s Motozinet ZN5; FOMA N906i, FOMA N906i, FOMA N906iL and FOMA N706i from NEC; and the FOMA P906i and FOMA P706i from Panasonic Mobile Communications.

LiMo are hoping that its open-source based phones will be just as good if not better than the success of the iPhone, if they get close to this or even better it then we can see amazing competition on our hands.

Who will win?

Nokia N96 UK Release October 1

We have known for a while now that the Nokia N96 was coming, but we did not know the exact UK release date. Well now we do, the handset is due for UK release on October 1.

Nokia have kept the launch of this phone back, as they wanted to make sure that the N96 was up to scratch. Nokia are hoping that this mobile phone will become the next best selling phone since the iPhone from Apple, that’s going to be a tall order.

The advantage that the Nokia N96 has over the iPhone is the fact that it will be available on all the major UK phone networks. From 3, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.

Some of the main features of the Nokia N96 are 16GB of external memory, a TV tuner as well as a 5 megapixel camera and 3G speeds.

You have to wonder if the Nokia N96 will be able to topple the iPhone, judging by some of the features of the phone; it does have a very good chance.

For all the Specs on the Nokia N96 visit: Phones Review

Nokia Growth Partners gets $150 investment from Nokia

Nokia Growth Partners, a global private equity and venture capital management firm, today announced an additional commitment of USD 150 million from Nokia, increasing funds under management for direct investments to USD 250 million. Nokia began sponsoring funds and promoting venture investments in 1998 as a catalyst for innovation in the mobile industry. Nokia commitments to venture funding activities to date exceed USD 900 million.

Building on a track record of successful investments, Nokia Growth Partners, launched in 2004, will now establish direct operations in India and China and augment investment activity in the U.S. and Europe. With the additional investment announced today, Nokia Growth Partners will continue pursuing investments that are of strategic relevance to Nokia, and or complementary to their strategy.

In addition to its direct investment activities, Nokia Growth Partners will advise on Nokia’s other venture capital fund investments. Both of these activities focus on promising companies seeking change in the mobile landscape. Target investments include companies creating innovative mobile applications and services that encourage rapid adoption of mobile solutions, such as context and location based services, mobile payments, mobile advertising, music and entertainment and other mobile services and software. Read more

New Photos of Nokia 5800 Tube

This is the Nokia 5800 Tube in the wild and it was also shown briefly in the Dark Knight movie. The Nokia 5800 touchscreen phone features: a 3.2 megapixel Carl Zeiss optical lens with autofocus and dual LED flash, Fifth edition of Symbian S60, 16:9 display mode and a 640 × 360 pixel resolution.

If your familiar with the S60 menu and want a Nokia phone sporting some of the latest technology, then you’re looking at it. You can view more photos via the Nokia Blog (see link below this post).

Other specifications of the Nokia 5800 Tube include: a BL-5J 1150mah Battery, TV-out interface, 3.5 mm Headset interface, weighs only 104 grams and measures 111×52×14.5mm, 140 MB RAM, Built-in GPS, GSM / GPRS / EDGE / WCDMA / HSDPA / WLAN and Bluetooth.

You will love the finger touch operation on the 16 million color TFT LCD. This also provides vibration feedback when using.

Currently we have no idea of pricing or when the 5800 Tube will be released.

Read other Nokia news | Found via The Nokia Blog

Nokia News: Latin American users are joining the mobility wave

Thanks to mobile devices’ increasing availability and continuing accessibility for professional users, Latin American users are joining the mobility wave prevailing in developed markets.

Buenos Aires (Argentina) - With a 52% service revenue share in the telecommunications market, far exceeding that of fixed telephony (35%), mobile telephony services, including voice and data, are the industry’s top performer in Latin America, and show the regional users’ need to be continually connected Read more

eXpansys News: Nokia E66, HTC Touch Pro, HP iPAQ’s & Toshiba G900

Below is an update with this weeks highlights from eXpansys, the latest news and reviews on some of the hottest handsets.

Nokia E66 - eXpansys were given the chance to road test the Nokia E66 last week, and what a phone! With specifications similar to the E71, it features a polished steel finish, slide-out numeric keypad and a built-in GPS receiver. It has bags of functionality for a small handset, and is in stock now!

HTC Touch Pro (in stock in August) - The HTC Touch Pro is the Windows Mobile device that we have been waiting for this summer - and early August will see that long wait come to an end! This is promising to be the ultimate smartphone with full QWERTY keyboard - so all of you that rated the HTC TyTN II, it could be time for you to upgrade.

HP iPAQ 914c - The Windows Mobile 6 HP iPAQ 914c smartphone is dubbed the “Business Messenger”, featuring a BlackBerry-style form factor with a touch screen. Ideal for email on the move, it features WiFi as well as high-speed wireless HSDPA connectivity up to 7.2Mbps. It is in stock now.

Toshiba G900 now £199.95 - The Toshiba Portege G900 features a 3-inch WVGA screen, and comes with a version of Opera Mobile browser (the new beta version 9.5 has been announced by Opera recently - download link available on the G900 page). Now only £199.95, it also features wireless HSDPA connectivity, and is worth a look.

HP iPAQ 314 GPS - Now with £30 cash back!, The HP iPAQ 314 Travel Companion is a sleek personal navigation system that provides a unique 3D travel experience. Includes a high-definition 4.3-inch touch screen display and UK/EU maps.

Visit Expansys for some of the best phones around today, also read more cell phone news here.

Nokia and Qualcomm: Companies agree to settle all litigation

Nokia and Qualcomm today announced that they have entered into a new agreement covering various standards including GSM, EDGE, CDMA, WCDMA, HSDPA, OFDM, WiMax, LTE and other technologies. The agreement will result in settlement of all litigation between the companies, including the withdrawal by Nokia of its complaint to the European Commission.

Under the terms of the new 15 year agreement, Nokia has been granted a license under all Qualcomm’s patents for use in Nokia’s mobile devices and Nokia Siemens Networks infrastructure equipment Read more

Nokia 7610 Supernova fashion phone expected Q3 2008

When it comes to fashion cell phones, the Supernova from Nokia is right up there on people lists. Well the flagship from that the range, the Nokia 7610 Supernova is expected in Q3 2008. The phone sports a 3.2 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and autofocus. The camera can also capture VGA resolution video clips with up to 15 frames per second.

The Nokia 7610 Supernova is a capable media phone, thanks to such features as an FM radio and its multi media player, there is also an AV connector and TV output. All these features does add to the greatness of the phone, but there is no getting away from the fact that it is just another piece of fashion accessory, the mirrored surfaces as well as the interchangeable covers proves this. If you get bored with the look of your phone, then this is a way to keep your 7610 looking fresh.

When it comes to features on a new phone, the Nokia 7610 Supernova has one vital thing missing, and that is 3G. It seems that if you want your new handset to be able to compete now, it is 3G that most people are looking for. This handset does support EDGE date; this is all fine as long as your carrier uses it.

There is another downside to this phone its price, at €225 (around £180 / $360) before tax and subsidy, it’s not cheap. If you think about it, this new phone puts is in the same price bracket as a Nokia N81 and Nokia N77, and both of these have 3G; however these do not have a good quality camera like the Nokia 7610 Supernova.

So if you want a phone that is the perfect fashion accessory, then the Nokia 7610 Supernova is the perfect handset for you.

Source

Open Source Affect: Symbian free by Nokia, Microsoft and Apple listen

We reported yesterday that Nokia rule the Indian phone market and they are also the biggest handset provider in the world, but Apple’s 3G iPhone, Google Android and Open Source are threatening this title. The next generation iPhone will be in 22 countries on July 11 and over 40 more after that date, then we have Android that has been taken up by many of the worlds biggest phone brands and many of them will be launching phones with Android installed.

Will Nokia Stay Number One? Well they are going to try and one of the latest efforts is in buying the British software company Symbian. Nokia helped create Symbian and now they own it; they will make the software very attractive by making it free of charge. We touched on the power of Open Source yesterday and how this kind of software is affecting the “Pay For” software, Nokia are doing the right thing by making it free and many other brands like Microsoft and Apple might learn a few lessons here.

The Open Source Affect is happening and software that powers phones is crucial in the mobile phone business, Open Source makes products cheaper and also takes the power of many developers to create applications for mobile devices. The phones that have the best features for the best price and also the most third party apps are sure to win. This is where Google Android will really help phones shine and also open up the eyes of many consumers to the power of Open Source.

Symbian and Nokia’s position is really threatened now; although Symbian has 200m handsets in the consumers hands and 60% of the global smartphone market, do not think this is untouchable. The Google Android operating system will be coming at the end of 2008 and Apple’s iPhone is already making waves.

Nokia’s vice-president has said that buying Symbian and making it free had nothing to do with the threat from Apple and Google; this comment could be up for debate. If your the owner of a Nokia / Symbian phone, would you move to an iPhone or Android phone?

Nokia’s New Tool Set: Platform SDK’s for Java, Adobe Illustrator, Ikivo Animator and Sun’s NetBeans

Nokia and Ikivo bring designers and developers together to improve the productivity and creativity of mobile Java development, Today Nokia introduces complete development environment with Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to reduce costs, time to market for graphic UI design in mobile application projects. See the release below for more information.

Nokia and Ikivo, a leading supplier of rich media application enabling solutions based on open standards, today announced the joint creation of a complete tool chain that simplifies and allows efficient collaboration between graphic designers and software engineers in the development of Java applications for mobile devices.

The new tool set integrates Nokia’s Platform SDKs for Java, Adobe Illustrator, Ikivo Animator and Sun’s NetBeans to enable user interface designers to add their GUI designs directly to an application project and avoid the time-consuming process of “translating” those designs into Java code. Utilizing Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) to capture visual designs for optimized integration into software development projects, the new solution dramatically improves the productivity of mobile Java development, and reinforces the attractiveness of Java as an environment for creating compelling mobile applications with rich graphics and interactivity.

The new tool set’s utilization of SVG, an open standard for describing 2D static and animated vector graphics developed through the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), makes it possible to define a clear division of labor between engineers and graphic designers working on software development projects.

Using the new SVG-enabled tool chain developed by Nokia and Ikivo, graphic designers are free to concentrate on creating useful and exciting user experiences, incorporating designs in the final product without the need to help engineers translate those designs into code. Software engineers can concentrate their skills on the application logic and other non-graphic components of a project, where they can be the most productive.

“Nokia is pleased to be working with Ikivo and Sun to enable coders and creative professionals to work together toward creation of best-of-breed mobile applications with advanced user interfaces,” said David Rivas, VP, Technology Management, Nokia. “This collaborative effort shows how focused initiatives can empower mobile application developers with different fields of knowledge and expertise to work more closely together in bringing the next-generation mobile experience to the global marketplace.”

“Ikivo has been very pleased to work with Nokia and we’re happy to be taking this initiative to the next level, sharing our knowledge with the broad developer audience through Forum Nokia, the largest mobile developer community in the world,” said Brad Sipes, Chief Technology Officer, Ikivo. “This initiative further validates the power of the SVG technology integration with Java and we’re confident that the easy-to-use workflow will attract more developers to improve the graphics and user experience of their applications.”

SVG offers a scalable, efficient textual representation of graphic and animation objects, allowing for complex designs to be specified with a small in-memory footprint. Nokia supports SVG for Java development through its implementation of JSR 226, which is supported in new S60 3rd Edition and Series 40 5th Edition based devices. Nokia and Sun Microsystems support for JSR226 will be discussed at JavaOne 2008 during a technical session titled, “Developing Flashy Mobile Applications, Using SVG and JSR 226 .”

“The SVG-T technology and JSR 226 are important user interface enhancements for Java ME with current MSA and JSR 248 standardization,” said Arseniy Kuznetsov, Director, NetBeans Engineering, Sun Microsystems. “Developers can use rich content created by designer tools such as Ikivo Animator along with the NetBeans Mobility to create and deploy compelling applications with complex interactions to Nokia’s portfolio of globally distributed devices.”

“Progress in this Java ME tool-chain is significant for developers and designers, because it speeds up entire development process by making it more efficient and convenient,” said Michael Samarin, Project Manager and Technology Specialist at Futurice Ltd, a provider of mobile and Internet software services that has worked with the Ikivo Animator tool for the last four months and has wide experience with Java development tools. “Our GUI experts can now create the actual user interface, not just design drafts. What is also very important, these tools help to attract new developers by being more intuitive, robust and lowering the entry barrier.”

Ikivo’s role in the collaborative effort with Nokia has been essential to the rapid deployment of the new SVG-enabled tool set for developers and designers. Ikivo’s depth of experience with SVG enabled Nokia to react quickly to the issues that developers and designers have been reporting with creating compelling applications with rich graphics and interactivity for the Java mobile environment.

More information on the tool set can be found at forum.nokia.com and in order to download Ikivo Animator tool go to ikivo.com.

Devotec Solar Charger: Nokia, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, PSP/Digital Cameras and Ipod

Devotec Industries are proud to announce their smallest and lightest charger yet! Weighing in at a slim 80g and measuring about the same as a 1st gen Ipod Nano, the new solar charger still packs enough energy in its 1800mAh Lith-ion battery to charge a phone/blackberry/mp3 player 2 times or more before needing to be re-charged. And when the Solar Charger does need to be toped up, you can charge the device via its solar panel, or use either the supplied AC adapter or USB cable.

Retailing at a fantastic £19.99, ($40) this fully featured pack has a higher spec and more connectivity than solar chargers costing twice as much. And for added convenience, the Devotec USB Travel Plug can be added to the pack, giving access to charge the unit in over 180 countries!

Connectivity comes courtesy of the included adapters, with tips for Nokia (old and new), Motorola/Blackberry/mini USB, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, PSP/Digital Cameras and Ipod all being part of the package.

Lasting up to 3 months on a single charge, the Devotec Solar Charger has been extensively tested and re-engineered to include all the necessary accessories straight out of the box, including a stylish pouch to keep the solar panel scratch free when not in use.

The Devotec Solar Charger is a great way to keep safe and not have to worry about your phone or Blackberry losing battery when you are away from home.

Alex Devoto, founder and MD, said: “We are really excited about this release. After working to perfect this concept for three years, we feel we have a finely tuned product ready to meet the needs of the mobile consumer, with the widest selection of compatibility at an unrivalled price-point.”

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