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Nokia India’s Online Store Launches In Partnership With Indiatimes; 7 Day Return Policy

Vaibhav Sharma — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:44:59 +0000

Online retail is gathering serious momentum in India and Nokia has partnered with Indiatimes to ride the wave. Their brand new online store has just gone online and is available at nokia.indiatimes.com. Alternatively, Nokia India’s website also directs you to the Indiatimes portal, should you choose the buy online option.

Judging by the option to select your ‘preferred retailer’, it seems as if Indiatimes is just the first partener with whom Nokia has tied up. I won’t be surprised if more sites are added to the list in the coming weeks/months. The portal has Nokia’s entire portfolio of phones on offer and promises delivery times of upto 4 working days.

Payments can be made via credit and debit cards, netbanking, gift certificates and a few other modes. The best bit is that you can choose to pay over 6 months in interest free installments. There is also a 7 day return policy should you decide to return the ‘unused’ device.

Having an ‘official’ online presence is a good first step, but I’d like to see Nokia leverage the plethora of Nokia retail shores and warehouses across the country to cut delivery times. Same day or next day delivery is something that can really induce implulse buys and Nokia is well positioned to tap that. I’d also like to see accessories on sale, specially Nokia’s amazing lineup of stereo bluetooth headsets.

[via: Fonearena]

Nokia Music Goes DRM Free In India & Why It’s a Huge Deal

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 05:56:51 +0000

Nokia Music Unlimited has been around in India for a while now and the model it followed was that with every purchase of a compatible Nokia handset, you got access to the millions of tracks on the Nokia Store for one year. You were free to download as many tracks as you liked and keep them after the expiry of the one year period, but there was a catch they were DRM protected.

That meant you couldn’t play that music on your other devices, and if you didn’t have a Windows PC, you couldn’t play them on your computer as well. So Mac users were out cold and that was never good. Next problem was that you could only use so many PC’s to download music from, so if you didn’t have WIFI or an unlimited data plan you would again hit a wall.

But all that has changed since last week. Along with the Nokia Asha 200 and Nokia Asha 300 and Nokia X2-02, Nokia announced that its Nokia Music service would be going DRM free. So with each subscription, you can now download as much music as you like, send it to friends, copy it to your other devices and that’s great. For once you have access to unlimited legal music downloads that come with all the metadata and album art intact. For over the air downloads, the tracks will be compressed so that downloads over EDGE will also finish in a minute or two.

Further, unlike the old way of activating the service via a coupon, Nokia Music will come pre activated with each phone. On low cost devices like the Asha series the service will be free for the first three months with the option of renewing the service by paying from the device itself. You will be able to opt for 3 month, 6 month and 12 month packs by paying a fee that hasn’t been revealed yet. Previously you got access for one year and that was it. If you wanted more, you had to get a new Nokia handset.

The beauty of the Nokia Music Unlimited service in India is that in addition to international music, it offers an extensive selection of local music, including some really old tracks that you’ll have a hard time finding anywhere else. Nokia Music Store includes wide-ranging catalogues from major global labels like Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music and Nokia’s local partnership with Indian Music Industry (a consortium of more than 150 music companies), Hungama that represents major labels including Yash Raj, Tseries, and SIMCA (South Indian Music Companies Association), amongst others. Basically, it’ll have pretty much everything you are looking for. Plus, through things like the Nokia Music Theater, you’ll also find a selection of content from great local artists who haven’t become quite so popular, yet have excellent music.

I have been a huge fan of Nokia Music Unlimited, and the move to DRM free music makes the purchase of a Nokia device an almost no-brainer. For a lot of people Nokia Maps has been a huge motivation for purchasing Nokia devices, but free DRM-free music could easily take over that role. So for consumers who are looking at the best value amongst the competition a combination of free navigation and music will be hard to resist.

The service is limited to the just announced Nokia Asha 200 and Nokia Asha 300 – and Nokia X2-02 for now, but the move to smartphones is a natural progression. Nokia has already said that Nokia Music will be coming to the Lumia devices in Q1 next year and you can be pretty sure it’ll come with DRM-free music.

One feature request I have is that Nokia offer higher quality downloads over the air in addition to the compressed versions that are currently available. If I have a 3G plan, or am on WIFI, I shouldn’t be forced to download the compressed track. Additionally, high bitrate versions should be available for download on Macs as well.

People want to pay for music, but the pay per album or track model would not be successful in India and its great to see a service that offers them a way around it. If Nokia can keep the renewal price of its Nokia Music service reasonable, I’m sure a lot of people will only be too happy to ditch songs.pk!

Nokia Lumia 800 Pre Orders Start In India

Vaibhav Sharma — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:33:14 +0000

We were promised a mid December launch for the Lumia 800, and everything seems to be on track for that timeline. Today Nokia India has started taking pre-orders for the device across the country via its Nokia Priority Dealers and partners. You can pre-book the Lumia 800 with an upfront payment of Rs. ~~2000~~ 3000 and can expect to receive the device between the 15th and 20th of this month. However reports suggest that dealers are taking pre-orders with upfront payments of even Rs. 1000, so its best to check locally.

The India price of the Lumia 800 has still not been revealed and I’m told that it is because of the currency fluctuations in the market. Your local Nokia stores will also have the new look that the Lumia marketing campaign brings and there should be enough live units of the device to play with, considering this is the largest amount of seeding devices Nokia has put out in the market, ever.

Here is a little more about Nokia’s new retail strategy that promises to offer consumers a premium shopping experience. I recommend you head over to your local stores and give the device a play, it is quite catching. Alternatively, you can also register your interest on this official Nokia India page and they’ll have a dealer call you with the details. Expect my review later this week, but if you are itching to pull the trigger, here are my detailed initial impressions.

Tizen Gets An Asia Summit: December 8-9, Beijing

Vaibhav Sharma — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 10:26:01 +0000

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.

Notes From Nokia India’s Lumia Launch: Mid December Availability, New Retail Experience To Boot

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:54:45 +0000

Nokia India yesterday held the official India launch event for its Lumia branded Windows Phones, outlining the strategy and philosophy with which the devices will go on sale. Both the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 are expected to be available mid December in India, making it one of the first few countries in the world to get the latest and greatest from Nokia.

There was no official word on pricing in India but it expected to follow global cues, the Lumia 800 is priced at 420 Euros before taxes, while the Lumia 710 is priced at 270 Euros. Correspondingly, I expect the Lumia 800 to launch around the 30,000 INR mark, while the Lumia 710 will retail at around 19,000 INR. The reason for the lack of an official price was pegged on the prevailing fluctuations in the global currencies, we can expect a official quote when pre-orders go live in early December.

We have extensively covered the Lumia 800 and the Lumia 710 before, so this post is focussed on the maketing strategy that Nokia India will adopt to market these devices. The first step in this direction will be an all new retail experience, with 5000 top Nokia retail outlets getting a makeover. This includes 2D and 3D branding and a flood of live demo units in the new Nokia arc, the number of live units so placed will be the largest ever for Nokia. The idea behind all of this is to bring the Nokia retail experience in India to a premium level, something which according to Nokia India MD D. Shivakumar has been missing so far. Infact, to ensure that the consumers experience the Lumia devices in the best possible way, sales will be limited to only those Nokia stores that will have received a facelift, so not every store across the street from you will be selling these devices.

Next a significant focus will be also be to train employees across these stores so that they can help the consumer with everything from questions before purchase to setting up devices after sale. So much so, that on the day the Lumia devices first go on sale across the country, each and every Nokia employee will be at one of these Nokia stores showing off the latest devices. Additionally, Nokia India will also be leveraging its Nokia Care centers to get the word out, all of which will feature what Nokia likes to call the ‘Lumia Experience’.

Finally, a few notes on the devices and services. Needless to say they will ship with Nokia Maps and Nokia Drive for free navigation across the India and the world. The India centric coverage has really improved in the last few months and a lot of cities also support 3D landmarks. Second, Mix Radio, Nokia’s genre based streaming service will also be available in India. Next, unlimited music downloads (similar to Comes With Music/ Ovi Music unlimited) are also coming to Lumia devices next year, and there is reason to hope that Nokia will try and go down the DRM free path this time, just like it distributes music in China.

Finally, here is a short video showcasing Nokia’s retail strategy and how it plans to attract consumers to its stores.

Major Software Update For The Nokia N9 Now Available

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:00:45 +0000

A major update has just been rolled out for the Nokia N9 in the form of version 20.2011.40-4. The update is 218.6 MB in size and can be installed over the air. It brings music controls to the lockscreen, improved multitasking and NFC Tag reading amongst other things. Another major reason to update is the presence of Swype, which you can enable it by going into Settings> Time and Language> Text Input.

Along with the update, a bunch of pre-loaded applications including Twitter, Facebook, Store, Ovi Music, Galaxy on Fire 2, Nokia Drive, Angry Birds, AccuWeather, NFS Shift, Real Golf 2011 and the User Guide have also been updated.

It is possible that the update isn’t available for all product codes just yet. But if your device hasn’t informed you of the updated already, you can go to Settings>Applications>Manage Applications>Updates and check for updates manually.

The updated Twitter application should bring the ability to Twitpic images, something we have missed since the start. The Facebook client gets a few bug fixes too.

Once downloaded, the update seems to take a while to install so make sure you have enough free time before you begin the update.

[Update: Find the Swype for N9 hand-on video here].

The official changelog:

NFC tag reading to instantly interact with NFC tags
Music controls on lock screen
Photo and video shooting with color filters: black & white, sepia, vivid, negative, solarize
More powerful multitasking with improved memory handling
Swype for fast typing
Faster MfE synch, synchronizing only active folders
Noice cancellation reduces background noise so that your friends hear you better
Close apps easily with swiping down, this now on by default
New indicators for standby screen like charging and calendar
Pre-loaded apps including: Twitter, Nokia Store, Facebook, Real Golf, Ovi Music, Galaxy on Fire 2, Nokia Drive, Angry Birds NFC, AccuWTwitter, Nokia Maps and the User Guide have also been updated.

ChevronWP7 Labs Windows Phone Unlocker Live: Opens Doors To Side Loading Apps

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:45:23 +0000

Windows Phone 7 just like iOS, restricts users to its official app store. So if you want to install an app on your shiny new Lumia 800, the only option you have is to goto the Marketplace. If you wanted to side-load an app, just like Symbian or Harmattan, you need a developer account and a AppHub registration which costs 99$ and comes with the ability to publish apps to the marketplace.

Enter ChevronWP7 Labs, they developed an hack that allowed to side load apps and in a way ‘jailbreak’ your Windows Phone. However that wasn’t Microsoft approved and they were soon approached by Microsoft and here’s where you’ll be surprised. Instead of just shutting them down and threatening to void warranties Microsoft actually started working with Chevron Labs to reach a middle ground in order to support homebrew development. The result is the Microsoft blessed ChevronWP7 Labs.

In their own words, ‘ChevronWP7 Labs was designed to allow hobbyist developers to install, run, and debug unsigned applications on their personal Windows Phone’. But even if you’re not a developer and want the ability to side-load apps, its 9$ away. There’s already a few apps that you may like including a screenshot utility and a battery status live tile. So to ‘unlock’ your device ‘You log into the site with your Windows Live ID, pay a small fee, and presto — you’re ready to write and share some homebrew code’.

Here’s how all of this will work in a little more detail:

All you need to get started is a Windows Live ID. It’s important to note that we don’t need the Windows Live ID tied to your phone. We simply require any Windows Live ID to simplify the registration and login process.

After registering, users will have the ability to purchase and manage what we’re calling “unlock tokens”. One token equals one unique Windows Phone device registration. (You get unlimited re-registrations of that device should the need arise.) Tokens will cost $9.00 USD and be sold via PayPal. If having a Paypal account makes you cringe though, you can elect to check out with a credit card instead.

On the desktop, you’ll run our custom version of the unlocking tool. It’s very similar to the official “developer registration” tool, however instead of requiring an App Hub account, it requires an unlock token. Oh and it looks prettier. Otherwise, it behaves identically. No magic spells. No exploits. Your phone’s warranty and support lifelines will remain intact.

When using our tool, you may notice the “unlock queue” – you’ll be put into one. This queue exists to serialize our unlock requests for various security and administrative reasons, so we’ll just apologize for the inconvenience right now. We’ll be monitoring these queues to ensure they’re kept short and will add capacity where needed.

The team also adds:

We know that our work is sometimes misinterpreted as promoting “jailbreaking” activities. This is not the case. Our goal is to help bright people do awesome things without infringing upon the developer community with apps in the Marketplace. In fact, we had many conversations with Microsoft to make sure we do this the right way. It may be the long way around, but we feel this approach is ethical, the best way to ensure that the program stays alive and hobbyists like us get more access to cool toys.

So there you go, Microsoft isn’t willing to just let anyone side load apps just yet, but if you’re looking for a way to do so, its good to know there’s an official option available. Nokia users have been used to side-loading apps all the time, and may be the company will be able to use its influence to open the platform up a little. But till that time, there’s always ChevronWP7 Labs. In an ideal world Microsoft should directly let users ‘unlock’ their device for free, with all the disclaimers attached. But this move still shows that they seem to ‘get it’.

Nokia India’s Mystery Competition – Promises An Amazing Adventure, Invitations To Events & More

Vaibhav Sharma — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:18:19 +0000

Nokia India is running a competition on its Facebook page that challenges you to think out of the box. Up for grabs is an ‘amazing adventure’ that promises sneak previews of Nokia devices and exclusive invites to events among other things. Once you’re on their Facebook page, all you need to do is enter a few details about yourself, answer a few questions and hope to be picked for the adventure.

There is no indication about what devices will you able to preview, but considering the fact that the Lumia 800 is coming to India before the end of the year, I’m sure access to Nokia’s Windows Phones will be on the cards.

Head over to Nokia India’s Facebook page to take part.

Nokia’s Dual Core Windows Phone Chip Supplier Confirmed To Be ST-Ericsson

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:32:16 +0000

My Nokia Blog has the scoop on what chips Nokia’s next gen Windows Phones will run on, while Marketwatch has the press release from ST-Ericsson stating that they have been chosen as Nokia’s key partner for its Windows Phones. Specifically, its the company’s NovaThor platform that has been selected and it packs powerful chips such as the U9500, U8500 and U5500, all of which are dual-core.

“We are pleased to have been selected by Nokia as a key partner for Windows smartphones, in line with our goal to be present in all segments and major operating systems,” said Gilles Delfassy, president and CEO of ST-Ericsson. “Our NovaThor platforms continue to gain traction as they enable customers to bring great smartphones to the market.”

This is great news for the ecosystem, as competition between chip makers is sure to ensure faster innovation, which means speedier and more efficient performance for us. Earlier, Qualcomm was the only supplier for Windows Phone chips and thus enjoyed a monopoly of sorts. While this doesn’t mean that Nokia will abandon using Qualcomm altogether, I’d sure like to see a Nokia flagship running on that DB9500 chip.

If you’re curious about what to expect from the U9500:

Full HD 1080p camcorder, multiple codecs supported (H264 HP, VC-1, MPEG-4)
High-resolution, touchscreen display support up to WXGA
Simultaneous dual display support up to dual XGA
High performance 3D graphics
Dual camera support with Integrated ISP 20 Mpixel and 5 Mpixel
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and FM enabled platform
Built-in USB 2.0, HDMI out
Support for major operating systems
Optional support for mobile TV standards

Although the press release doesn’t mention any of these chips specifically, there are only three NovaThor chips listed on the ST Ericsson website.

[via: My Nokia Blog]

Lumia 800 Ads Take Over London’s Heathrow Airport, Yet Nokia’s Store There Shuts Down

Vaibhav Sharma — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:40:40 +0000

Just as you enter Terminal 5 of London’s Heathrow airport, you are literally bombarded with Lumia 800 ads. There are six of them, playing on giant screens across the hall, so no matter where you eneter, the Lumia 800 Ad is impossible to miss. It looks great, feels fresh and draws you to it, giving Nokia’s new launch some necessary eyeballs.

As you can see, screen after screen playing the one minute ad, again and again. Infact, its the only advertisement that one can spot before you clear security. Here what it looks like:

Great. But, I do have one problem with Nokia’s approach. There used to be a Nokia Store at Terminal 5, showcasing all the Nokia products in an exclusive setting. That store closed one week before Nokia’s big Lumia reveal. One week before their phones became cool again.

So instead of walking in, seeing the ad and then checking out the Nokia devices in the ad I’ve seen, now I can see the ads and then – nothing. I cross security and I forget about it, or as Nokia would hope, remember to then specially goto a ~~Nokia Store~~ operator/multibrand store to check it out.

(Nokia’s Terminal 5 Store As It Was)

I have been a big advocate of retail stores and I possibly could not understand why Nokia was shutting down its own online AND retail stores. Even if they don’t make money for you Nokia, its important to keep them. Most people will come checkout the device and if they like it, buy it at a store which was selling them for a lesser price, and Nokia should be fine with that. So even if the Heathrow store just sold 10 Lumia 800′s in a month, it would be fine because of who knows how many people have would have gone back home and ordered that device online or via their operator based on the lovely experience at Nokia’s Store. What’s better than showing off your top device in a place which you control, and thus guarantee that the customer walks away with the best experience ever?

The prices at Nokia’s official retail stores was always more than the bargain people were getting online and that’s why the model seemed to be failing for Nokia. Yet, when priced right retail stores indulge impulse buys and devices like the Lumia 800, have the potential to cause exactly that.

So we need to see Nokia’s Stores come back, online and in the real world. I sure hope some of that marketing money is going this way, because it’d suck for Nokia if they made Windows Phones feel cool with all their spending and then people walked into a multibrand store and picked up a Samsung Focus or a HTC Titan.

Nokia Lumia 800 Hands On Pictures

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 10:47:26 +0000

Here at Nokia World, the first Windows Phone devices from Nokia have just been made official and the first of the two is the Lumia 800. The design of the device is the same as that of the Nokia N9, with the 3.9″ display giving way to a 3.7″ variant to accomodate the touch sensitive Windows Phone buttons, and the only other difference is the addition of the camera shutter key on the side.

Internally, its a whole new ball game, because of the Windows Phone chasis requirements, the Lumia 800 runs a 1.4 Ghz Qualcomm processor, aided by hardware acceleration and a graphics processor. It however shares the camera module with the Nokia N9, an 8 megapixel shooter with a f 2.2 aperture. The screen may be slightly smaller, but it is every bit as nice as the N9′s with everything almost floating on the top.

Needless to say, the Lumia 800 runs Windows Phone Mango and will be shipping next month itself in select countries, in line with Nokia’s new policy of announcing new devices closes to launch. The Lumia 800 will come in black, pink and cyan and will retail at 420 Euros before taxes or subsidies.

Here are a few hands on pictures of the Lumia 800, stayed tuned for a ton of hands on coverage as the day progresses.

New Nokia N8 Firmware v25.007 Now Available [Symbian Anna]

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:42:48 +0000

Nokia has just started rolling out an update to the Symbian Anna release on the Nokia N8 (and quite possibly other Symbian Anna devices like the C7, E7 as well) in the form of the v25.007 firmware update. The release brings bug fixes and performance improvements to Symbian Anna and is available over the air or via the Nokia Software Updater.

The update is tiny, weighing in at a little less that 1 MB over the air, so don’t expect any drastic changes. The N8 and other Symbian Anna devices support user data preservation, so your data should be safe post the update as well. Look for the update on the E7, C7, C6-01 and the X7 soon.

The update could very well also serve to prep the phone for the Symbian Belle update, we’ll know soon. If you don’t see the update, its possible that it isn’t available for your product code yet.

[via: S60 Inside]

Nseries & WOM World Nokia Evolve Into NokiaConnects.com

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:49:52 +0000

Change is in the air for Nokia, right from switching from Symbian to Windows Phone, Ovi to Nokia, their new naming scheme, new icons, a few font and perhaps even a new Nokia. In line with these changes comes a fresh new portal, Nokia Connects.

While the website looks great with its minimalist design and the official Nokia font, it brings all the good things that we’ve come to experience from WOM World Nokia and the Nseries blog, both of which are spinning into it.

The trial a Nokia programme is still there, so are all the interesting, yet sometimes non mainstream things about Nokia. There’s even a fun meet the team page. I have it on good authority Nokia Connects debuts now on a bigger, better scale with plenty of exciting new features and competitions lined up!

There’s a ton of awesome content to look forward to and you should follow @Nokia_Connects on twitter to keep on top of everything, specially those fun competitions. Check the website out, and let them know what you think!

Nokia’s Windows Phones Only Coming To India In Q1 2012

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:37:17 +0000

We now have confirmation of what many suspected for a while, Nokia’s Windows Phone devices will only be coming to India next year. In an interview to Economic Times, Nokia India’s outgoing Managing Director, D. Shivakumar said:

“Work for the Windows phone is on track and it would be launched in the first quarter of next (calendar) year.”

The Mobile World Congress 2012 is only happening at the end of Feb. 2012 and Nokia is expected to make a splash there. It is possible that phones announced at the MWC will come to India immediately, in line with the company’s new policy of announcing devices closer to the release date. However, we also know that Nokia is planning a rapid release model for its Windows Phone devices and therefore there is room for India getting other devices that are announced before the MWC 2012.

We’ll probably know more at Nokia World, which is happening in less that two weeks from today.

[via: ZCJ]

MeeGo Makes Way For Tizen, An All New HTML5 Centered OS

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:41:39 +0000

In some very big news coming on the sidelines of Intel’s AppUp Elements Conference, the LiMo Foundation and the Linux Foundation today announced a new open source project, Tizen, to develop a Linux-based device software platform. Tizen will be a standards-based, cross-architecture software platform which supports multiple device categories including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems.

We had been hearing rumors about how Intel was going to pause MeeGo development after Nokia backed out, and today we’ve received official confirmation, its all about Tizen from now.

Meanwhile, a post has also gone up on the official MeeGo blog taking about Tizen and ‘What’s Next For MeeGo?’. The question on everyone’s mind is why Tizen? Also, why didn’t they just incorporate all the new capabilities into MeeGo? The answer on the official post to that is:

We believe the future belongs to HTML5-based applications, outside of a relatively small percentage of apps, and we are firmly convinced that our investment needs to shift toward HTML5. Shifting to HTML5 doesn’t just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux, even one aimed at mobile, as MeeGo has been. Emphasizing HTML5 means that APIs not visible to HTML5 programmers need not be as rigid, and can evolve with platform technology and can vary by market segment.

Granted, this is a judgment on our part on which reasonable people could disagree, but that’s the conclusion I came to.

My guess is that if Intel needed a big manufacturer to step into Nokia’s place, they needed to get rid of the MeeGo brand. No one would start developing for a platform which Nokia thought was not worth it, nevermind the underlying technologies, the name had to go. There was a lot of chatter about Samsung stepping up, and it seems a the companies got together, decided to work together and better MeeGo with deeper HTML5 support amongst other things and call it Tizen.

Infact, a few very interesting words can be found on the Intel AppUp Developer blog post commenting on Tizen:

For those speculating on rumors per Intel & Samsung, I trust this news is more encouraging than what was bounced around in the blogosphere. This is not a two company story. With the Tizen platform, the Linux Foundation and LiMo unite, driving more choice and open innovation.

Tizen’s development will be led by Intel and Samsung and an initial release of Tizen is targeted for Q1 2012. The first devices running Tizen are expected to come to market in mid-2012.

DEVELOPMENT

MEE-GO?

So is MeeGo well and truly dead? The answer to that again comes from Intel’s App Developer blog:

MeeGo continues for our devices in market. MeeGo is a great choice for emerging markets and we’ve seen amazing devices already like the ASUS EeePC x101. AppUp continues to support MeeGo and we encourage MeeGo developers to continue to build and submit apps for our netbook devices in market. We also encourage MeeGo developers to consider a common development framework of HTML5 to bridge development between MeeGo and Tizen devices. And on the netbook side the MeeGo neetbook apps in the Intel AppUp center will be compatible and will run unchanged with Tizen netbook. So for those developers who invested in MeeGo for netbooks your apps will continue on Tizen netbooks.

Since MeeGo is open source, it will never truly be ‘dead’ in technical terms, but will it ever go mainstream? No. For that there’s Tizen. Therefore the MeeGo blog states:

Over the next couple of months, we will be working very hard to make sure that users of MeeGo can easily transition to Tizen, and I will be working even harder to make sure that developers of MeeGo can also transition to Tizen.

So there you go, here’s another open source operating system that sees Intel partner with a large smartphone manufacturer. The Nokia partnership was a bust, but Intel is looking to learn from those lessons and come back hard with Samsung as a partner this time.

The Nokia N9 Starts Shipping, Nokia Promises Future Software Support

Vaibhav Sharma — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:57:22 +0000

Nokia Conversations has just let word slip that the Nokia N9 is now well and truly on its way to consumers around the world at an unsubsidized price of EUR 480 for the 16GB and EUR 560 for the 64 GB variant. Sadly there are no specifics about which countries are getting the device, so you will still need to visit your local stores to find out.

The only thing that’s certain is that the N9 will soon start popping up in the wild and you will start seeing more and more unboxing videos. Nokia had opened pre-orders in certain countries a couple of weeks back and consumer demand seemed to have been huge, with the Finnish pre-orders threatening to exceed the supply.

In another post, Nokia while promising future software support for the device states that ‘The first updates will be based on feedback received from operators and consumers and they make the device even more intuitive than before. The availability and content of the updates will be communicated closer to the download start‘.

While it seems the N9 will not be coming to a lot of the major markets around the world, you should be able to import the device from other markets very soon. With Nokia World and the first Nokia Windows Phones under a month away, are you considering getting the N9?

Interview: Elop On Windows Phone, Steve Jobs, Googorola & More

Vaibhav Sharma — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:15:29 +0000

With less than 50 days left before Nokia World where Nokia promises a huge show, Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop has been on frequent trips around the globe to prepare for the arrival of the first Windows Phones and see how Nokia’s been doing around the world. He was in China recently and in India yesterday taking to the media about how well the dual-SIM Nokia devices are doing in the country.

The guys at Sina sat down with him to quiz him about Nokia’s Windows Phone plans, the Google-Motorola deal, Apple after Steve Jobs and how will Nokia aim to distinguish itself in the market post the arrival of Windows phone devices.

Among other things, the key points from the interview are:

Nokia Windows Phones will be available in Q4, and follow a staggered rollout with one country after another getting the devices. Nokia is in talks with operators in China to determine when would it be a good time to bring the Windows phone devices to the country.

The Nokia N9 will play a key role in China.

On the chances of Microsoft acquiring Nokia – He sees Nokia acting as an independent company in the long term.

On differentiation between iOS/Android/WP – Windows Phone is a people focused OS, compared to other which are App focused.

On the future – He says that Nokia is not only a hardware player, but will also work on software and services. Some of which will be available on other Windows phone devices, while some will remain Nokia specific.

On Googorola – He thinks that participants of the Android ecosystem will be very concerned about the acquisition.

Here is the full interview:

If you were listening carefully you’ll see how Elop was asked specifically about the Sea Ray, but he was careful not to use that name in his reply. It is quite certain that Nokia will be announcing its first Windows Phone device(s) on October 26th and will start shipping them very soon afterwards, the real question is which will be the lucky countries that’ll get first dibs on it.

[via: @nokonpar]

Symbian Belle Powered Nokia 600, 700 & 701 Announced

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:40:08 +0000

In Hong Kong today, Nokia has just announced three brand new devices called the Nokia 600, Nokia 700 and Nokia 701. These new smartphones will run Symbian Belle out of the box and start shipping within the present quarter, which translates to about 35 days from today. The Symbian Belle OS will also be be available for existing Symbian^3 devices that were only recently upgraded to Symbian Anna.

(image via AAS)

All the devices announced today come with NFC, a pentaband radio, WIFi, HSUPA 3G speeds and Gorilla glass protected screens. While all the three devices have been positioned as mass market options with aggressive pricing, each device boats a unique characteristic to it.

Built for those who like to enjoy music on the go, the Nokia 600 is the loudest smartphone with the loud speaker inside it rated at 106 phon. It also packs an FM transmitter and an internal antenna so that you do not need to plug in the headphone to listen to FM radio. Specifications wise, it runs on an ARM 11 1 Ghz processor, comes with a 640 x 360 pixel 3.2-inch nHD capacitive touch screen and measures 111 x 53 x 13mm while weighing in at 100g.

It comes with 2GB of mass memory, a microSD card slot and packs a 5MP EDoF camera capable of shooting video at 720p. The Nokia 600 will be available for in EUR 180 ($260) before taxes or subsidies in Black, White, Lime and Pink. More on Nokia Conversations.

For the size conscious, the Nokia 700 boasts of being the most compact smartphone in the market today with dimensions of 110 x 50.7 x 9.7mm and a weight of just 96g. Like the Nokia 600, the 700 also packs a 3.2″ capacitive display and a 5 megapixel full focus shooter that is capable of recording video in 720p HD.

The 700 also gets the honour of being Nokia’s greenest phone till date. It will be coming in cool grey, silver/white, coral red, peacock blue and purple varieties and will retail at EUR 270 ($390) before taxes or subsidies. More at Nokia Conversations.

Completing the trio is the Nokia C7 based, 701 that features the brightest screen in the world on any smartphone. While the design of the Nokia 701 may be similar, it improves on the C7 by adding a 3.5-inch IPS LCD display with ClearBlack technology, a 1 Ghz processor alongside a brand new graphics co-processor with a faster clock and four times the graphics memory of previous Symbian smartphones. The 701 measures 11 x 56.8 x 117.3mm and weighs in at 131g.

The camera remains unchanged from the C7, a 8-megapixel full focus camera with a dual-LED flash on the back that can shoot video at 720p. The 701 comes with 8GB of internal storage and a microSD card slot of an additional 32 GB of space. The Nokia 701 will be available in steel dark, silver light, amethyst violet, and white variations at an unsubsidized price of Euro 290 ($420) without taxes. More at Nokia Conversations.

The big story here is the introduction of the all new Symbian Belle OS that overhauls the Symbian UI with the homescreens, status bar, dialogs and menus all getting a fresh modern look. A complaint that a lot of people had with Symbian was its aging UI and with the Belle update, that has changed. With Qt applications coming thick and fast, the trio of devices announced today presents a pretty compelling proposition for someone looking for a mid-range smartphone.

We will be looking at the Symbian Belle OS in a little more detail in the coming days, in the meanwhile let us know what you think of the new OS and the devices announced today in the comments section below.

Symbian Anna Now Available For The N8, C7, E7 & C6-01

Vaibhav Sharma — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 06:29:42 +0000

The much awaited Symbian Anna update has finally started rolling out to all the Symbian^3 devices, which includes the Nokia N8, the E7, C7 and the C6-01. The update is being progressively rolled out across the world with the update already being available in the majority of European and Asian markets.

Symbian Anna is available as a 22+ MB over the air update or via the Ovi Suite application on the computer. Post the update your firmware should read as 22.014. All the data, settings etc would be preserved on the Symbian^3 devices even after the update, but its recommended that you create a backup nevertheless.

I recommend that you update to Symbian Anna as soon as possible to take advantage of functionality such as a split screen portrait QWERTY keyboard, a new web browser, drag-able homescreens, a much improved Mail client that’s faster and split screen month/day views in the calendar. Also present are improvements to the mail for exchange implementation, device encryption, and Anna also updates your handset to the latest version of Qt. Symbian Anna also unlocks the NFC capabilities of the C7.

If you notice any other changes, please let us know in the comments section below.

Now that Symbian Anna is here, the focus will inevitably shift to the yet unannounced Symbian Belle which is expected to be unveiled later this month in a event in Hong Kong. But before you start waiting, don’t expect to see it on existing devices for the next two months.

[via: AAS]

Stephen Elop On The Google Motorola Deal – ‘Watch out’ Android Manufacturers

Vaibhav Sharma — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:46:21 +0000

We’ve heard from the major Android manufacturers, we’ve also heard from Nokia on the Google acquiring Motorola Mobility deal, but this time its the turn of Nokia’s CEO to chime in with a warning to Android manufactures to ‘watch out’.

Reuters has been able to track a few comments he made about the deal in a seminar in Helsinki, and here’s what he had to say:

“If I happened to be someone who was an Android manufacturer or an operator, or anyone with a stake in that environment, I would be picking up my phone and calling certain executives at Google and say ‘I see signs of danger ahead”

AND

“The very first reaction I had was very clearly the importance of the third ecosystem and the importance of the partnership that we announced on February 11, it is more clear than ever before,”

Both statements don’t differ very much from the official statement Nokia put out day before that effectively said the same thing, although as an undertone. However drawing an inference and reading something in such a cut and dried form from the proverbial horse’s mouth is an entirely different thing. While Elop’s very direct statements are somewhat expected of a man trying to push the Windows Phone ecosystem, that fact doesn’t make them any less true.

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