A lot of people at one point in time or another have waited in line for a shiny new Apple product, and Samsung’s decided to go all in, toss subtlety out of the windows and mock them for doing so. The one minute ad focusses on the insecurities of the buyers, the iPhone’s battery issues and the lack of ’4G’.

What are they pimping instead? The Galaxy S2 of course!

[via: The Verge]

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Remember Tizen? The brand new open source platform that MeeGo made way for back in September, yes that one. Tizen is backed by Intel and Samsung and an initial release of Tizen is only intended for Q1 2012, while devices are only expected in mid-2012. So its not surprising that we haven’t heard much about it for the last few weeks. However it seems its not all quiet on the Tizen front.

The first Tizen Asia Summit has been announced and taking place in Beijing on the 8 and 9th of December. But there’s no need to expect major announcements yet, as the Summit is being organised by Nomovok, a software supplier for Open Source based embedded devices and not Intel or Samsung or the Linux Foundation.

The program of the Summit is more along the lines of ‘why Tizen’ and why it makes sense, so if you’re interested in open source development and are in the neighborhood, it may make sense to drop in.

With Tizen, the aim is to use HTML5′s capabilities and cross platform flexibility and the Tizen SDK and API will allow developers to use HTML5 and related web technologies to write applications that run across multiple device segments, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, in-vehicle infotainment, and netbooks. Intel’s AppUp center will be expanded to support Tizen with Intel AppUp as a store front for multiple Tizen device implementations.

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Nokia’s made the big move to Windows Phone, and that means it’ll be a fresh start for its developers. While Windows Phone with Microsoft’s backing has had some success getting the big name developers to deploy apps on its platform, it still has a bit of catching up to do.

But as we’ve seen, it’s not just about the big brand apps that have global appeal. A lot of the times, the end users care about the fact that whether or not their local bank has an app on the App Store or whether their favourite multiplex has an app that lets them book tickets to their favourite movies on the go. So here’s what I propose.

Nokia is clearly willing to spend a lot of time, effort and money to promote Windows Phone, and make sure its customers have an amazing experience.

• So just like the Ideas Project, Nokia should have a local site, divided by countries where users can suggest and then vote for their ‘local’ apps. The idea is not to find new and innovative apps, but help find out which apps are possible deal breakers for users in their desire to switch to Nokia or Windows Phone devices in general. For example, my local multiplex PVR Cinemas has an Android app that I use regularly. I’d very much like such an app to be available on Windows Phone. Same with my bank, and so on.

• Once this is website is setup, e.g. india.ideasproject.com, uk.ideasproject.com etc, I could then go there, search for the ‘PVR Cinemas’ app to see if someone has already requested it, if yes, vote for it. If not, add it so that others can also vote for it.

• Then every month, the local Nokia people in each country who are associated with developer engagement, look at this list and pick the top 5 out of those apps. They then try to get those companies or developers to develop for the platform. This push could range from just approaching the company/developer and showing him the benefits of developing for Nokia/Windows Phone, to hooking them up with hardware and support, to even fully or partly funding the project, the last option of course used cautiously because you just don’t need a version 1, you need the developer/company to keep supporting the app, adding new features etc.

This would not be for any prizes or fame for the end users, nor does Nokia need to promise that they’ll be able to get 5 of those apps into the Marketplace. But the fact that Nokia is listening and very actively trying to get its users what they need, would reassure a lot of people who are wondering whether to switch. I’ve heard Nokia was influential in getting Whats App onto the Windows Phone platform, and I’d see them use their influence more and more.

What I have in mind is a very broad outline, and I’m you guys can think of a better way to do it. Have something specific in mind? Please comment, I’m sure Nokia would want to know!

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We are just 5 days away from the start of the second MeeGo Conference and a very interesting video has just popped up, a promo for Nokia’s first MeeGo device, the N9. The video is nothing more than a teaser, but does manage to reveal a bunch details about the device which may even be called the N950. The only problem is that the OS the phone is running looks a lot like upcoming Symbian releases, right down to the icons, so may be the teaser that Pocket Now has scooped was a work in progress, with the MeeGo parts to be placed in later.

Nevertheless, the hardware does look solid. First, it packs an auto focus camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a dual LED, no EDoF unit here. My guess is a 12 MP.  Then there is the all aluminum body, with a physical QWERTY and a 4″ screen in a very E7ish design. Here are some images that promise to reveal more.

• Looks like a 12MP AF, dual LED camera with a Carl Zeiss lens.

• The earpiece, just under the top end of the phone. It does have a very narrow bezel.

• Looks like a great QWERTY keyboard, in an all aluminum body.

• Fairly large screen, possibly 4″.

• It’ll come with Ovi Maps with driving navigation.

• An app in action.

• Looks like a very capable browser, with the speed dial screen shown perhaps.

• The QWERTY virtual keyboard.

• The tilt up slide mechanism which is a lot like the E7.

• The bottom of the device, with the camera and speaker grill.

• The calender in action.

• Notice how thin the bezel is.

• The face of the N9/N950, with a front camera. It does look good.

• Notice the sliding transition to move to the next screen.

• Nokia calls it ‘Our Next Sense’. Perhaps they want to get back at HTC.

Now for the video that Pocket Now has been able to scoop:

We’ll probably know more on Monday when the MeeGo Conference kicks off. I’ll be there to bring you the latest.

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The behind the scenes stories about what goes on in the dark corridors of billion dollar politics is always an interesting read and the Wall Street Journal has just put together a compelling read about how Microsoft went all out to woo Nokia. As it turns out, Android was very much on the table till the very end.

“Mr. Ballmer and his lieutenants headed for Helsinki in January to show how serious Microsoft was about cutting a deal. The plan was for Mr. Ballmer to fly privately into Helsinki, where he would then travel to a private Nokia facility, Mr. Elop added.

Mr. Elop said he instead got a call from Mr. Ballmer informing him that because of snow and fog, the plane wouldn’t be able to land in Helsinki. About to run out of fuel, Mr. Ballmer instead landed in Stockholm. At that point, the fastest way for Mr. Ballmer to reach Helsinki was to fly commercially, Mr. Elop said, despite the greater risk that he could have been recognized.

While Mr. Ballmer was waiting quietly in the lounge, his cover was nearly blown when he was paged by name over the loudspeaker because of an error related to his plane ticket”.

Its a recommended read – “Nokia’s Flirtations Put the Fear of Google Into Microsoft“.

[Image Credit: TOI]

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The #N8Producers Competition has just gone live and what’s on stake is a zero gravity flight experience for 8 people from anywhere in the world.

To put it simply, you shoot some awesome (read as: innovative, creative and exciting!) video on your N8, share it and if it finds a mention in the top 8 submissions you and a friend (that’s 16 people in total) will be headed to an exclusive N8 Producers Zero Gravity flight in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

But what if you don’t have a N8? Don’t worry, just head over to this page submit your idea and you could get a N8 Producers trial pack to make the idea a reality. You have time till January 31st 2011 to submit your entries, but if you need a N8 trial pack then the last date to submit your idea is the 10th of Jan. The winner will be announced in early February.

If you were wondering about the trial pack, well here is what it could look like. Instead of wrist strap you could also get a waterproof case, helmet strap and so on.

Head over to the N8 Producers site to get started.

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The rumors about Nokia making an Android or even a Windows 7 phone (now that they have an ex-Microsoft CEO) never seem to die because there is always someone fueling the fire. Soon after Ari Jaaksi’s resignation, TechCrunch put out a story about how Eric Schmidt and Stephen Elop were talking about a ‘possible’ Nokia Android device.

“We’ve heard from a good source that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has called Elop to discuss the possibility of Android running on Nokia phones. We actually heard this information about a week ago, but today’s news makes it potentially more interesting. Around the time Jaaksi was resigning, Elop and Schmidt were talking.”

You have to admit, it makes for a very juicy story and an interesting point to mull over. But before you waste time thinking about this, let me put some things in perspective.

Nokia for years has now said that it wants to be a internet/services company and they have spent millions of dollars trying to do just that. They didn’t get off the floor too well, but now their services are beginning to take good shape. If they put Android on a Nokia device (lets call it the N10), where does Ovi go? Lets look at it in the light of their most successful Ovi services, Maps and the Store. Will the N10 suddenly run the Ovi Store instead of the Android Market? Will Google let Nokia replace Google Maps with Ovi Maps? People will say sure, they are free to load their own version on top, Android is ‘open’ you see. But does it make sense for Nokia to try and compete with Google on its own turf? An Android device needs you to sign in with your Google Account to get started. Will Google let Nokia replace that with an Ovi sign-on? Even if they do, it’ll be a huge mistake for Nokia to plan into their hands.

Now lets look at applications. Nokia recently spent over $150 million to acquire a company called Trolltech. Why? Because they were the ones behind Qt, the cross platform development environment. Nokia is telling developers, ‘make your app with Qt, here’s our toolkit and deploy to millions of Symbian, Maemo and MeeGo devices’. They are literally throwing millions at developers. With my own eyes I saw Stephen Elop handover the $1 million prize at Nokia World. Not to mention the $10,000 for this and $10,000 for that kind of awards that handed out in addition. One thousand free N8′s? Who can forget that.

Forum Nokia has been having developer conferences all around the world and they’re targeting America hard. Just yesterday, they gave all attended of the Nokia Developer Day a free N8 as well. You will not see it today, but the developers are really warming up to the idea of Qt and developing for Nokia in general. If Nokia even makes one Android device, all of that is gone. No developer will ever come back. Millions wasted.

Assuming Nokia does make the N10 (our fictitious Android device), what would it be like? Like a Nexus One or a Galaxy S with a better camera? Or perhaps like the new HTC QWERTY Android device with a better camera? Is there anything else they can add to the experience? Lets assume they hire Android engineers and put them to work on a slightly custom Nokia UI for Android. It will take at least 8-10 months before something even remotely usable can come out. Also by then, Nokia would have relegated themselves to being virtually a box manufacturer.

In the time that happens, MeeGo will be ready to take on the world anyway, backed by Qt. Making the apps that devs have already written for the N8 and other Symbian ^3 devices run on MeeGo is not a huge jump at all. They will also have sold a ton of Symbian ^3 devices, with Symbian ^4 on the way. After using the ‘new’ Symbian, the general distaste people have for it these days would have died down as well. 2011 is a perfect time for Nokia to reap results off their long term strategy.

Symbian ^3 for the low-mid end, with devices like the new C6 announced at Nokia World. Symbian ^4 for the mid-high end, debuting with the N8 successor perhaps. MeeGo for the absolute high end with Qt bridging the gap, and seamless Ovi Services keeping people happy.

Why would anyone want them to go Android is beyond me. Aren’t similar device from Motorola, Samsung, HTC enough? Anssi Vanjoki already told the world what he thought of other manufacturers using Android, ‘Like young boys peeing in their pants for warmth’. Sadly, he will soon be gone.

[Image via Engadget, Quote via TechCrunch]

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The number one thing that I have wanted Nokia to do for a long time is shout about its products, tell the world how awesome they were instead of letting them speak for themselves, have powerful aggressive keynotes and take the competition head on whenever, wherever they could and this precisely why this Nokia World came as a very pleasant surprise.

Just one day before Nokia World Anssi Vanjoki quit, which was two two days after OPK had left. I imagine that does dent the morale and bring at least a little uncertainty in. So more than anything, my eyes were on they keynote’s tone and tenor instead of the device announcements because the devices will come and go, but the tone Nokia set on September 14, 2010 would define how they shape up in the next 5 years.

But the moment I walked into the Nikalas Savander and Anssi Vanjoki keynote, I could literally see the change. Nokia was talking about the competition, they virtually kick-started Nokia World with Apple’s use of the words ‘Connecting People’. Nokia never does that. Then came Anssi Vanjoki, all charged up and it was treat to see him in action. There were points made left right and center, no one was spared. Here are a few of my own tweets, I think they would capture my reaction better than what I could write now.

• Scott at Apple shown off. The connecting people words played with. Sweet. #nokiaworld

• We’ll not apologise for not being Apple, Samsung and so on. We are Nokia. I like the tone of this keynote. #nokiaworld

• Oh yes. Nokia sells more smartphones than Apple + Android combined. #nokiaworld There in your face. ‘We shift into high gear for high end’

• *No matter how you hold them* #nokiaworld

• “Nokia and not #google is the leader in mapping” #nokiaworld Nokia is taking them on aggressively.

• Shoutout to people who said the N8 is the same old @Symbian by looking at the homescreen. ‘You’re wong’. #nokiaworld

• An aggressive Anssi on stage. @nokia ‘s tone is like it has never been before. #nokiaworld

So there you go, Apple, Samsung, Google all talked about. There were even phrases like ‘One more thing’ used. ‘You want numbers, here are a few numbers’  was said before the smartphone number were discussed. Here are another couple of  things that I missed during the keynote.

• ‘Cooperation with Microsoft will be even easier and better now’. Anssi Vanjoki while talking about more enterprise features that will come to the Nokia E7.
• He also mentioned avoiding ‘Speeding tickets’ while talking about Ovi Maps. If you don’t get the context, here’s some.

At his last Nokia World, Anssi Vanjoki went out all guns blazing. He will be missed. But that’s not the only pleasant surprise. On September 15, the second day of Nokia World, HTC decided to hold its own event in London and they were sending buses to Nokia World to collect people. I am not kidding. What would the old Nokia have done? Just sit there and let it pass. But oh no, things are changing and they did something I least expected. They made survival kits and handed them everyone who was headed to the HTC event from Nokia World. What did it have? See for yourself.

An HTC sandwich. I thought it was brilliant. There was tongue in cheek humour, and loads on fun. Sadly, some sections of the media, (specially the ones headed there themselves!) didn’t see the joke in it and started branding Nokia’s move as one in bad taste. Bad taste? Your competition virtually hijacks your annual event and you cannot even joke about it? Nokia suddenly looked like the ‘bully and not the ‘victim’. But if were in Nokia’s shoes, I’d still be happy. Bullys’ get things done, victims remain just that, victims.

Nokia is coming back in a big way. Brace for impact.

PS: If you are wondering, why the red balloon reference? Nokia also sent some teenagers with red Ovi Maps balloons to the venue for HTC’s venue! The cherry on the cake?

[Image Credit Engadget]

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For the last two years, the world (?) has been going on about how the Symbian UI is old, clunky and must go. It must be written again from ground up if Symbian has to have any chance. At any rate, these rants have managed to dent Symbian’s brand name by a huge margin and affect Nokia’s fortunes adversely.

So much so that even supporters of the OS, were taken in by the storm and only a very few loyalists remain. The good thing is that even the loyalists are not fanboys per-se, but people who would like to see the OS improve and mature into a world class OS that it is. Anyway, that’s not why I am writing this post.

Yesterday, I was out with friends and since they know I would probably be rocking the latest and greatest device of the time, my phone is generally passed around and comments made on it. I happened to be using the Samsung Galaxy S, a phone that I really like, I might add. I was sure they would be taken in by the huge gorgeous screen, ‘modern’ UI, the amazing size and weight and would come out impressed.

So on being asked, I immediately whipped out the Galaxy S, unlocked it and handed it over. It was back in my hands in a hardly a minute. Why you ask?

The reason was simple, he fiddled with the homescreen a little bit, tried to go into the apps and was probably thrown back by the sheer number of them I had. Ten seconds of poking here and there and his decision was made. The Galaxy S was not for him, it was simply too complicated.

For the vast majority of The Handheld Blog readers, that’s unfathomable. How could he not wrap his mind around something so easy and natural? But for a large chunk of the population that IS the case. For them the mobile is not nearly as important as it is for some of us. Its not as if they do not want Facebook, Email and apps in general, they really do, but they couldn’t be bothered spending time and energy fussing over these things. Whether we admit it or not, we’ve all seen it with friends and family.

This brings me to the debate, Symbian ^3 looks just like the old Symbian experience, but is that a bad thing after all? Lets look at it from my friend’s example. He’s looking to update from his N95 8GB which has served him well. Despite Symbian’s hidden shortcuts and folders, even he probably knows them inside out by now. The N8 comes along and he’s still at home with the UI and thus the phone. Isn’t that a win for Nokia?

Thoughts?

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While reviewing the Mobile Fun Desk Genie, I happened to catch this Mobile Phone Tripod in their catalogue and because these things are pretty hard to find, I requested a review unit to see if this one was any good. With camera quality improving all the time and HD video capture coming to a more and more phones each day, it makes a lot of sense to have a one lying around.

So lets cut to the chase right at the start and I will give you the bottomline upfront. The Tripod is plastic, but the build quality is good and gives you absolutely no reason to complain, given its price. Does its job perfectly. Now lets get on with the review in detail.

The tripod has two major parts, the legs of course and the mobile phone grip which is screwed onto them. The grip can be adjusted to the desired length depending on the phone you want to mount and the holder can be stretched to accommodate phones of various sizes. I tried it with the N900, the N97, the E52, the Samsung Galaxy S and a bunch of other phones and had no problems. Depending on the phone the volume rocker can sometimes get in the way, but with a little bit of adjustment you should be able to setup most phones just fine.

The mobile phone holder stretches to accommodate the phone and snaps back to a tight fit and the phone is never at the risk of slipping. The problem with however is that placing the phone inside can become a little tricky, but nothing a little practice won’t fix. Another thing that I liked about the holder was the fact that there are foam pads inside it so that the devices do not get scratched when you put them in. Taking them out is a bit of a hassle because of the tight grip, but its nothing that would stop me from using the tripod and infact is sometimes comforting to know that the phone is secure when you want the phone to be held at an angle.

The ball head ensures that you can use the phone at different angles and takes a second to adjust. The mobile phone holder can also be completely unscrewed off the legs and used with another tripod. This great when you want to use your phone on a full size tripod for panning shots or video capture.

Likewise, the legs can accommodate different point and shoot cameras so your are not restricted to your phone with this tripod and can simply unscrew the mobile holder and screw the camera on in its place. The legs can also be extended by pulling out the extensions, handy if you need additional height.

All in all its a lightweight tripod that’s easy to carry, has great value for money and is a must have if you own a good camera phone. You can get it at Mobile Fun for about 18 Euros/23$/1100 INR currently and they ship worldwide.

Final Score: 9/10

Available At: Mobile Fun

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I was in the market for a deskstand and when the folks at Mobile Fun suggested that I review their Desk Genie, I agreed and kept my expectations low. However, Mobile Fun’s Desk Genie is one of the most flexible and multipurpose desk stands that I have come across and if you are looking to get a desk stand for your phone, you search might just have ended. It is not perfect but comes very close to it considering the price you pay for this incredibly useful desk accessory that does a ton of things in a pretty compact design.

Lets go over a few of the things it does:

• Mobile Phone Stand: A mobile phone stand that features a non-slip surface on which you can simply place your phone. It is at an incline so keeping the phone and picking it up is easy. The surface leaves no residue on the back of the phone and since there is no contact on the sides, there is no question of the phone getting scratched. Lastly, since its just a large non slip surface you can place any device on it and it serves as a universal holder.

• Charger: The Desk Genie can also act as a charger for your mobile phones and comes with a bunch of adapters (proprietary Nokia, Mini USB, microUSB, iPhone etc) so that you can use it with devices from different makers. It connects to your computer via USB and draws power from it, so don’t expect charging to be superfast, but that’s true for all desktop chargers.

• USB Ports: The Desk Genie also has two additional USB ports so you can plug in flash drives and other peripherals. Good to have if you own something like a Macbook which has just two USB ports.

• Card Reader: Next is a multi-format (8 formats according to the website) card reader that can take SD cards, microSD cards and a few other formats. Needless to say, a very welcome functionality indeed specially because you don’t need to find that microSD to SD converter anymore.

As you can see from the above list, the Desk Genie packs a number of features that none of the other regular desk stands come close to. More importantly it is something that keeps lying on your desk, ready to be called into action and when you need that extra USB port or your card reader, you do not need to go hunting for it.

The device is made of plastic and the finish is not the most wonderful that you will find but doesn’t give you a reason to complain either. The non slip surface loses its ability to keep phones secure over time as dust accumulates over it. Fortunately this has an easy fix, all you need to is wash it with a bit of water and the surface will once again become as good as new.

In the last few weeks that I have been using it I have found it to be a handy little accessory. I regularly use it as a card reader and as a desk stand for whatever phone I happen to be using and thoroughly enjoy this universal device compatibility. All in all it manages to remain compact despite packing so much functionality and is great value for money specially if you think some of the other functionality it packs can come in handy for you.

You can get one for yourself at MobileFun.co.uk, its about 20 Euros/26$/1200 INR currently and they ship worldwide. While you are there, you also might want to have a look at their other Nokia Accessories.

Basics:

• Dimensions: 59 x 102 x 106mm (approx)
• Weight: 95g

What’s in the box:

• 1 x Non-slip Holder 2 USB Ports
• 1 x 90cm Mini USB Cable
• 1 x Charger Output Cable
• 9 x Mobile Phone Connectors
• 1 x User Manual

Available At: Mobile Fun

Final Score: 9/10

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Apple’s just dragged Nokia into the antennagate controversy again this week with a video showing how it drops signal if held in a particular manner. At their press conference on Friday last week they had mentioned Nokia as part of the manufacturers whose handsets also drop bars when held in the hand, but had not shown off a video of this happening on any Nokia. Today their page was updated with the Nokia N97 Mini ‘death grip’ video.

Soon after the Apple Press Conference, Nokia had issued a statement saying that they prioritise antenna performance over design and this is perhaps a way to get back, but at this point its just funny and in very poor taste. This becomes clear when you look at the way the N97 Mini is held, in a very tight fist, virtually shielding the antenna. Now there’s a huge difference between a touch leading to signal loss as in the iPhone’s case and a tight grip shielding the antenna completely. What is worse for Apple, the N97 Mini still doesn’t loose signal completely.

In any case, this post is not about shielding the N97 Mini, but about how a lame reason is being stretched to the point when it actually becomes funny. Speaking of funny, CJ over at ZCJ has found a spoof on Apple reply to Antennagate, its a must watch.

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As you may be aware, we have been holding the ‘Maemo Master’s Invitational’ here on The MeeGo Blog for the past four weeks, and its time to move into the final week of the contest. Under this we have partnered with Nokia India to bring you the ability to purchase a ‘Maemo Masters Edition’ of the N900 that comes with special goodies including a Maemo Masters T-Shirt and a cool BH-214 stereo bluetooth headset.

So basically, you pay the same price that you normally would have, but also get to take home some very cool swag, I specially like the BH-214 which allows you to plug-in any headset that you like and turn it into a bluetooth headphone. Since this is the last week and I am feeling generous, I’ll make entering the ‘Maemo Masters Invitational ‘ super easy. There are three ways to enter:

• Simply comment on this post with a valid email address; or

• Follow @TheMeeGoBlog on Twitter and send us an @ reply letting us know that you are interested; or

• You can also enter directly by using this contact form to send us an email. Please use ‘Maemo Masters Invitational’ as the subject.

For week 3 and 4′s winners, I’ll be in touch via email. Good luck.

Note: Only valid if you are in India.

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Thanks to @_Nexus on Twitter, I’ve just come across these short ad films that Intel’s produced to showcase MeeGo. If MeeGo has to succeed in a big way, advertising and brand recognition will have to play a major role and its good to see Intel start now.

The ad film is more developer focused, but I though you might to watch it anyway.

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Bill Perry of Nokia’s just published the latest Ovi Store stats for the month of June, what is missing is figures like total number of downloads, growth vis-a-vis last month and so on, but his post does provide an insight into the handsets people are using to download content off the Ovi Store.

Off the cuff when you think of apps stores, you think of (at least I do) people with high end smartphones busy downloading the latest apps but in reality as these stats show, its about the volume which comes from low-mid end devices that may or may not be smartphones. One thing that I have noted over the last few years is that the average guy on the street may have no clue what apps are, but if you look at his phone, he will have a few custom themes on it and I can image such would be items people are downloading off the Ovi Store for devices like the Nokia 2700 Classic.

Bill goes on to provide a few highlights which are reproduced below:

• Nokia touch (Symbian 5.0) comprise a majority of the top devices
• 5230 is one of the top devices in six of the top countries
• N900 is one of the top devices in five of the top countries
• The new C3-00 is one of the top devices in Indonesia

Below is all of the specific information for the top 15 countries.

Top 15 countries (in alphabetical order)

China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

Top Ovi Store devices by country (as of June 14, 2010 in alpha-numeric order, bold denotes new addition since last month)

• China: 5230, 5233 (China Only), 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E63, E72, N86 8MP, N97, N97 mini, X6

• Egypt: 2700 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5310 XpressMusic 5800 XpressMusic, 6300, E71, N75, N96, N97, X3

• France: 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E71, N95, N95 8Gb, N97, N97 Mini, N900, X6

• Germany: 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E71, E72, N97, N97 mini, N900, N95, X6

• India: 2700 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5310 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, 7210 Supernova, E71,  N79, N97, N97 mini

• Indonesia: 3120 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5300 XpressMusic, 5630 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, c3-00, E63, E71, E72, N73

• Italy: 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, N73, N95, N95 8Gb, N97, N97 mini, N900, X3

• Russian Federation: 2700 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, 6303 Classic, 6303I Classic, 6500 Slide, 6700 Classic, N97

• Saudi Arabia: 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E71, N75, N79, N82, N86 8MP, N96, N97, N97 mini

• Spain: 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E71, N85, N86 8MP, N97, N97 Mini, N900, X6

• Thailand: 2700 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, 6500 Slide, E71, N97, N97 Mini, X3, X6

• Turkey: 3120 Classic, 3600 Slide, 5800 XpressMusic, 6500 Slide, E71, E72, N73, N79, N97, X6

• United Kingdom: 5230, 5530 Xpress Music, 5800 Xpress Music, E71, E72, E73, N97, N97 Mini, N900, X6

• United States: 5230, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, E63, E71, E71x, E72, N97, N97 Mini, N900

• Vietnam: 2700 Classic, 2730 Classic, 5130 XpressMusic, 5530 XpressMusic, 5800 XpressMusic, 6300, 6500, 7210 Supernova, E71, X3

Similar Posts:

• Nokia N900 Pre-Order Details/Offers
• Is The Nokia N9 Only Coming To 23 Countries? India, UK, USA To Be Left Bereft?
• You Can Now Publish To The Ovi Store For Just A Euro – Plus The Latest Ovi Store Figures
• New Browser, Ovi Maps & Emoticons Coming To Older Symbian Devices
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The N97 Classic has just received an update in the form of a the v22.0.110 firmware. The update is a 4.9 MB download over the air and the new firmware will soon also be available via the Nokia Software Updater. In addition to bug fixes and general speed  improvements, v22 comes with Ovi Maps 3.3 pre-loaded so you don’t need to install it separately if you want free navigation. This saves you a good 9-10 MB of precious phone memory, but if you choose to update to the 3.4 version of Ovi Maps, you’ll again loose the free space you just gained.

The update also brings RAM optimizations and according to Steve over at AAS after a fresh install (firmware update + format) you will have 55MB free on disk C: and almost 60MB of free RAM at first boot. I’d recommend giving your N97 a fresh start, so to format it you can enter *#7370# in the dialer and follow the prompts, this will wipe the entire phone memory so its prudent to take a backup.

If you are in for the finer details that a changelog brings, you might want to check this post by Norman over at Symbian World.

Similar Posts:

• A Handy Solution To Formatting Woes
• Rant: Nokia – Your Firmware Update Apparatus Needs A SERIOUS Overhaul
• Both The E71 & E66 Updated – Now Up To v.110 (Changelog Inside)
• How To Recover Phone Memory On Your Nokia N97
• Demo: The N900 Dual Booting Maemo & MeeGo

Last week we announced five winners who’d won the title of ‘Maemo Masters’ which enabled them to purchase a ‘Maemo Masters Edition’ of the N900 that comes with special goodies (including a Maemo Masters T-Shirt and a cool BH-214 stereo bluetooth headset) for the readers of The MeeGo Blog.

For those of you who missed out, I have some great news. If you entered the first or second week’s contest, I will also consider the same entry for the contests coming in the following weeks AND you can also take part in the third week’s contest again to triple your chances of winning! Sweet?

For those of you who’ve just seen this contest, don’t worry we still have 3 weeks and 15 Maemo Masters to be crowned. So how do you enter this week’s contest? Simple, just enter your name in the comments section to enter. No questions to answer. Good luck!

Winners of week 2:

• Aruj Ali
• Mahender
• Samir Kshirsagar
• unitechy
• Salil

Many congratulations! I’ll be in touch via email with the details.

PS: Please note that this contest is geographically limited to those of you in India only.

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• First Week's Winners Of The Maemo Masters Invitational & How To Enter For The Second Week
• Announcing The Maemo Masters Invitational
• Here's Your Final Chance To Enter The Maemo Masters Invitational
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• Here’s Your Chance To Win Nokia Music Store Vouchers & Get Questions Answered

Last week I told you that we had teamed up with Nokia India to host the ‘Maemo Masters Invitational‘ in which I would be able to invite 5 of you each week for 5 weeks to purchase a ‘Maemo Masters Edition’ of the N900 that comes with special goodies (including a Maemo Masters T-Shirt and a cool BH-214 stereo bluetooth headset) for the readers of The MeeGo Blog.

Today’s its time to reveal the names of first 5 Maemo Masters:

1. Anurag Jindal
2. Nithish Rajan
3. Nithin
   
4. Vinu Jose
5. Ajit

Many congratulations! I will be in touch via email with all the details.

For those of you who missed out, I have some great news. If you entered the first week’s contest, I will also consider the same entry for the contests coming in the following weeks AND you can also take part in the second week’s contest again to double your chances of winning! Sweet?

For those of you who’ve just seen this contest, don’t worry we still have 4 weeks and 20 Maemo Masters to be crowned. So how do you enter this week’s contest? Simple, answer the following questions in the comments section below:

• Can the N900 act as a remote control? (Hint)
• In what resolution does the N900 capture video?

Good luck!

PS: Please note that this contest is geographically limited to those of you in India only.

Similar Posts:

• Week 3 Of The Maemo Masters Invitational – Get Your Entries In
• Announcing The Maemo Masters Invitational
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I am not someone who likes changing themes often. I like themes that look elegant, polished and definitely not brash. Over the last seven or so months of owning the N900, I have tried almost every theme that is available and have come away with the following as my picks.

Most of these themes comes from the Maemo repositories so make sure you have them enabled. Then just type the name to search in the Application Manager and install. So without further adieu, here are my must have themes for the N900, in no particular order.

• Black Plastic – The lists in this theme are shaded differently, nice change.

• an-DROID – One of my favorites. Love the colours on this one.

• Bossa Teal - For times when you want custom icons. Seems to slow down the phone though and takes 6MB in rootfs.

• Carbon – Brilliant. Dark. Polished. Makes the N900 look good.

• D-Theme Red – I like red themes. They go well with the black on the N900. This is part of the D-Theme series, check them out for different colours.

• iStyle Black – Part of the iStyle series. Best of the lot.

• Matrix – Its here because it goes amazingly well with the Matrix live wallpaper. Plus I like the vibrant colours too.

• Red Alert – Another red theme, but sadly not part of  the repositories so you will have to manually download and install if  you liked it. Get the .deb here, locate it in the file manager and tap to install.

• R-Style Green – Part of the beautiful R-Style series that features similar design in new colours. Green is easily my favourite.

So there you have it, those were my picks. Think there is a theme that deserves to be in this list that I have missed out? Please let me know. What themes do you like?

Similar Posts:

• Eight Killer Themes For The Nokia 5800
• Eight Killer Themes For The N96
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Right after the N900 India launch event, I sat down with a group of bloggers that Nokia had invited to talk all things N900. The best part was that it was a diverse mix, which included bloggers from different avenues.

Some of us were very familiar with the in’s and out’s of the N900, while we also had people who were still new to the device. While we were talking, I was filming so here’s a 10 minute video capturing everyone’s thoughts with a few agreements and disagreements thrown in.

In alphabetical order:

• Anirudh Sharma
• Harsh Agarwal
• Prashant
• Thejesh GN
• Vaibhav Sharma (Your’s truly!)
• Varun Krishnan
• Vinu Thomas

If you are new to the N900, what do you think about it?

Similar Posts:

• The 5800 XpressMusic Goes On Sale In India
• MWC 2008 Video Recap
• Introducing “thesymbianblog.com” !!
• Welcome to MaemoCentral.com
• How To Block Unwanted Callers On The N900