In case if you are an owner of smartphone Nokia N900  and also the PlayStation 3 by happy coincidence, you have a great chance to save on the purchase of additional gamepad for the latter. You need nothing else than straight arms and a little time for that. It is sufficient to just download Extras-Devel emulator BlueMaemo Bluetooth from the repository, then to make a simple configuration and interface with the console. And that’s all – you have almost a full SIXAXIS (trade name of gamepads for PS3) at hand, the only difference of which from the original is that all the buttons here are with touch control.

The only serious drawback of this emulator is the absence of analogue joysticks, which are simply absent on-screen applications. So such “gamepad” is  fitting more for simple arcades of PSN, rather than to control the characters in serious actions or car races. In addition, it is not very convenient to press the “Shifts”, which in case of BlueMaemo Bluetooth are located in the corners of the screen.

Such a space is open for harmless trolling! You can, for example,visit an electronics store and control the exhibited console at the demo booth from your device quietly from the corner.

Nokia company has announced the launch of a line of Cseries devices, which will include models which are rich in features and affordable. Nokia C5 smartphone opens the new series, based on the platform of S60 third edition.

At the end of last year, Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said that next year the company would present many new smart phones at affordable prices. Today Nokia keeps that promise starting the line of the budget phones Nokia Cseries. Let us remind that the company’s portfolio already includes a line of Nseries, Eseries and Xseries. Nseries include devices with maximum functionality, oriented for “geeks” and, consequently, most expensive, Eseries include devices optimized for e-mail and messaging, mainly oriented at corporate users. Xseries include multimedia devices for active audience. Cseries will also include low-cost feature-rich devices, oriented at the mass market. HTC successfully launches devices with similar positioning, for example Tattoo.

Nokia C5 opens the new line, made in a classic form-factor and based on the platform of the S60 third edition. It is equipped with a 2.2-inch screen with resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, a 3.2-megapixel camera, a 3,5 mm AV jack, radio, GPS-receiver and support for third-generation networks. Nokia stresses that this model is equipped with a free step by step and automotive navigation, but this is not its unique feature – the appropriate application (Ovi Maps 3) works on other devices.

The phone book of Nokia C5 allows you to see the status of contacts in the Facebook social network, and the home screen allows you to place a link to three friends for quick access to functions such as voice calls and messages. There are applications for direct access to Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and other sites.

Nokia Messaging service allows you to automatically receive text messages from different email accounts and messaging services. Mail, however, can be obtained without Nokia Messaging – mobile phone is provided with applications to work with the email by protocols POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP. Work time of Nokia C5 in offline regime is up to 12 hours of talk time and up to 26 days in standby mode.

The smartphone will be available in white and gray colours and will be on sale in the 2nd quarter of 2010 for a suggested retail price of €135 excluding taxes. MicroSD memory card capacity of 2 GB will be included in the device. The maximum supported memory card size in thr mobile phone is 16 GB. In the future, other smartphones of the series will be produced, while the number five in the labeling of products means that the current device will be based on functionality for the middle model line.

Nokia’s share of volume shipments of mobile phones, according to Gartner, last year decreased to 36.4% compared to 38.6% in 2008. According to the results, the company sold about 441 million cell phones, which is 2.2 percentage points less compared to 2008. In order to strengthen its position in the global market, last year Nokia announced about its intention to reduce the range of models and begin producing more affordable smartphones. In addition, the company signed an agreement with Intel, within the frames of which Maemo and Moblin open software platforms were merged into the MeeGo project. According to analysts, the effect of this transaction will manifest itself not early than the second half of 2010.

First introduced in late August last year and already with a good reputation the cheap smartphone Nokia 5230 has finally arrrived to the United States, where it was officially introduced with the name 5230 Nuron – the first Finnish smartphone supported by the U.S. operator T-Mobile. This is not the first time that the manufacturer has offered free navigation with Ovi Maps 3.0.

As it is the American version, maps of U.S., Canada, Mexico were loaded in the smartphone, while, in addition, users will have access to additional 180 cards.

Like the European version of Nokia 5230, Nuron with T-Mobile logo supports 3G, has a 3.2-inch touch screen with a resolution of 360×640 pixels, full-featured HTML-browser, a 3.5-mm jack, a 3.2-megapixel camera and a slot for microSD memory cards.

Nokia has not reported the price of 5230 Nuron, but they say that T-Mobile will offer the smartphone at $ 69.99 price tag on a contract basis. It will be on sale “in the coming weeks”, almost simultaneously with the HTC HD2 and Motorola Cliq XT. It would be interesting to see which of these models will gain more popularity.

In recent years, many smart phones with GPS navigation has exceeded the specialized satellite navigation devices in cars. And now, Alpine company entered into a partnership agreement with Nokia for the integration of Ovi Maps via USB or Bluetooth into the mainstream automotive media system. According to the conditions of the agreement, Alpine will play the voice navigation accompaniment of Nokia through car speakers, and display cards on the LCD screen.

Alpine calls this mode of work “terminal” and they willn not stop only at the turn-based navigation. Once the system is connected to Nokia phone, users can play multimedia data through the car’s stereo system, as well as use the Internet widgets to get information about traffic, weather, news and much more. It is also possible to integrate location-based services.

There is no information about the release date of new products and prices yet.

The third version of the operating system brought a large number of updates.

A few weeks after the release of Symbian^3 Nokia revealed outlines of a prototype of the next version of the operating system.

The operating systems do not differ greatly by appearance. The third version brought a large number of updates and the most noticeable differences are the updated widgets.

Experts note in Symbian features that are characteristic for Android OS and iPhone OS. Symbian still has appreciable market share of mobile operating systems. And by updates of obsolete Symbian OS of the last generation the company tries to keep its users.

Perhaps the key issue for success of the new OS is the ability of Nokia to combine the updated platform with “iron”.

Nokia added a client of its popular programs for the Symbian operating system on its online store.

Skype, a free application that allows you to make calls to other devices with installed on client program via WiFi or 3G, has long been popular among computer and mobile users.

Today Nokia has announced that henceforth mobile client Skype for Symbian-devices can be downloaded from the online store Ovi Store, which opens up access to the program for more than 200 million users worldwide.

Currently Skype for Symbian supports the following models of Nokia phones: Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5530, Nokia E72, Nokia E71, Nokia E90, Nokia E63, Nokia E66, Nokia E51, Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 Gb, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 5320.

Nokia has decided to use a new system of marking of mobile phones. This step aims to facilitate the orientation of the usersto the model line of the Finnish manufacturer.

For example, yesterday, a phone was announced that is marked according to the new nomenclature system. It’s Nokia C5 smartphone, which is included in C series (available solutions). Apart this quite cool series there are also the following series: X series (music phones), E series (business-class smartphones), N series (flagship multifunction devices). But the phone which belongs to a particular series will be indicated through the corresponding letter, and the position among the series will be denoted by its main digits. The greater the number is, the stronger are the technical characteristics of the device . Thus, it turns out that the most advanced smartphone of Finnish manufacturer will be marked by N9 index.

Nokia Company believes that the new system of marking of mobile phones, developed early in 2008, will provide certain impression of the device, only by its name.

Only a year ago Nokia entered the market of touch phones, presenting the 5800 XpressMusic. Time passed and the market needed more affordable solutions optimized for finger control. One of them is Nokia 5230, presented by the Finns in August.

Touch phone Nokia 5230 will be available by the end of the year. New home screen is installed in the shell, which first appeared on Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. For the user this means a possibility of flexible configuration of interface and quick access to frequently used sources.

The indisputable advantages of Nokia 5230 is the price (in Europe – about 150 euros) and at least five colour options. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is also sold in several color options.

Display:
The display of Nokia 5230 is similar to the one used in Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – 3.2 inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16:9 aspect ratio, resistive. Generally, there are no differences.

Design:
The appearance of the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic can hardly be called impressive, and Nokia 5230 looks even less attractive – rugged, a lot of cheap plastic used in it. Keys of the new device are located in the same places as that of the first device, making the impression that this is the same phone. The 5230 is somehow thinner than the 5800 (16 mm and 14.5 mm respectively), although its weigh is 4 grams more (109 grams and 113 grams).

Processor:
The phone Nokia 5800 XpressMusic is equipped with ARM11 processor with a frequency of 369 MHz, while Nokia 5230 is equipped with 434-MHz ARM 11 processor. The difference of the 65 MHz is the advantage of 5230. It is assumed that due to this applications will work quicker and smarter.

Memory:
One of the serious shortcomings of the 5800 is the amount of available memory for users – 81 MB. Unfortunately, the 5230 does not have a significant amount of memory, only 70 MB. However, in both cases a microSDHC slot for cards up to 16 GB is foreseen.

Camera:
Nokia 5800 is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED-flash. Nokia 5230 comes with a 2 megapixel module without flash.

Other specs:
Both smartphones have FM-radio, wireless module for Bluetooth, GPS-navigation. Both Nokia 5230 and Nokia 5800 XpressMusic support networks of second and third generations. Nokia 5800 has a Wi-Fi module, which is not available for Nokia 5230.

Conclusion:
In this case it is not easy to recommend any particular model. Practically all current Nokia touchphones (except, perhaps, N900) are created like 5800 XpressMusic –some features have been added or removed, the corpus has been slightly retouched. Such a strategy can not be considered to be successful, because the user has to choose if he/she needs to take the base model 5800 XpressMusic or to save money, taking the 5230 without Wi-Fi or 5530 XpressMusic without GPS. A choice could be made based on the design, but the phones are too much alike. There are alternatives for bar form factor Nokia touchphones (N97 and N97 mini), but the difference in price is too much to consider it a fair competition.

There is no sense for the owners of 5800 XpressMusic to take 5230 for the sake of productivity and bold colors. Buyers should pay attention to the new Nokia 5230 if they want budget sensory decision, but they don’t like products of Samsung or LG – South Korean companies have presented very strong touch-lines in recent years.

Specifications of Nokia 5230:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/2100 MHz),
• Platform: Symbian OS v9.4, S60 5th Edition
• Display: touchscreen, resistive, 3.2-inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16 million colours
• Camera: 2 MP
• RAM: 128 MB
• ROM: 256 MB
• Processor: ARM 11 434 MHz
• Expansion slot: microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
• Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
• Accelerometer
• A-GPS
• 3.5-mm connector
• Audio: AAC, AAC +, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AU, AWB, eAAC +, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), Mobile XMF, MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, RMF, SND, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV, WMA, WVE
• Video: 3GPP (H.263), Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8
• Images: BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, MBM, OTA, PNG, TIFF, WBMP, WMF
• Battery: 1320 mAh
• Hours Talk Time: Up to 7 hours
• Hours Standby time: up to 19 days
• Time running video player: up to 4.6 hours
• Time running music player: up to 33 hours
• Dimensions: 111 x 51,7 x 14,5 mm
• Weight: 113 grams
• Date of announcement: August 2009
• Release Date: Fourth quarter 2009

Specifications Nokia 5800 XpressMusic:

• Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/2100 MHz),
• Platform: Symbian OS v9.4, S60 5th Edition
• Display: touchscreen, resistive, 3.2-inch, 640 x 360 pixels, 16 million colors
• Camera: 3.2 megapixels, Carl Zeiss, autofocus, dual LED-flash
• Built in memory: 81 MB
• Processor: ARM 11 369 MHz
• Expansion slot: microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
• Wi-Fi (802.11 b / g)
• Bluetooth 2.0, A2DP
• 3,5 mm jack
• USB 2.0
• FM-radio
• Battery: Li-Ion, 1320 mAh
• Hours of talk time: up to 9 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 5 hours in WCDMA
• Hours Standby time: up to 17 days
• Time running playing music: up to 35 hours
• Time running video: up to 5 hours
• Dimensions: 111 x 51,7 x 15,5 mm
• Weight: 109 grams

Models with QWERTY-keyboard, made in a bar form factor stand out among Nokia phones. Nokia E71 is one of the most popular smartphones of the manufacturer. Last year it received a successor in the face of Nokia E72. So let us consider seven pros and cons of E72.

Pros:
1. Camera
One of the most obvious superiority of E72 over the E71 is the camera. The resolution is 5 MP instead of 3.2 MP camera of E71. In addition to quality pictures of the phone is capable of recording more or less good videos (320 x 240 pixels at E71 and 640 x 480 pixels at E72).

2. Internal memory
Usually Nokia E71 has about 110 MB of memory available. Nokia E72, in turn, offers 250 MB of memory. The difference is 140 MB, which is a big plus.

3. Flashlight
It is impossible to overestimate the function of a flashlight – it may be useful both in the dark on the street and at home, when suddenly the electricity is turned off. You can turn of the flashlight of E72 by simply pressing the space key.

4. A 3.5-mm jack, microUSB for charging
Unlike the E71, which has 2.5-mm jack, E72 offers a 3.5-mm audio jack, compatible with most of  the headphones offered by various companies. We are pleased that Nokia said “no” to adapters.
Nokia E72 can be charged via a standard connector, similar to E71, and through the microUSB connector. If there is a PC and an appropriate cable, the phone can be easily charged as well.
The phones have identical batteries – BP-4L (1500 mAh), but the devices operate at different times. The new model has longer talk time.

5. Music search
A lot of users want voicecontrol phone, but the E72 offers a convenient feature. By pressing asterisk (*) on your keyboard from the Home screen and saying the song title or artist, a music player finds the desired track. No need to manually scroll through the whole huge library. Of course, the accuracy depends on the voice and pronunciation, but the effort is worthwhile.

6. Position sensor
The accelerometer of the Nokia E72 can be useful to turn off the alarm, games, or for counting steps and calories with the program Nokia Step Counter.

7. Free Lifetime navigation
With the release of navigation software Ovi Maps 3.03 owners of a number of recent Nokia phones have a lifetime subscription to the automotive and pedestrian navigation. E71 IS not a new model in contrast to E72, so only owners of Nokia E72 can evaluate all the charm of satellite navigation.

Cons
1. Battery compartment
One of the main advantages of the Nokia E71 is the assembly. Nokia E71 in this respect is a reliable device. We can’t say the same thing about E72, because if you drop the device the battery compartment lid is constantly going up. It can open up during everyday usage as well.

2. RAM
Both phones have 128 MB of RAM. However, E72 consumes an average of 25-30 MB more. As a result, E71 can be comfortable to work with 6-7 programs, while the E72 has difficulty digesting 3 – 4 simultaneously running applications.

3. Space Problem
The space key of Nokia E72 stops working from time to time. Restart helps to solve the problem, so the issue is of the software nature and should be treated with a firmware.

4. No podcasts
The new Eseries phones have no Podcasting and Internet Radio. For some owners, these can be important functions to lose.

5. Optical trackpad
Not all the new features are useful and optical trackpad may be one of them. Theoretically, it should be easy, but those who, for many years enjoyed the usual five-way button, can have some problems with addiction. Perhaps it makes sense to use an optical joystick only for the browser.

6. Keymap
Nokia has decided to dilute the lower number of extra keys, reducing the gap. Now it seems that the keyboard is too overloaded with buttons. Inconvenient to switch layouts are also worth noting.

7. Speaker
The speaker of Nokia E72 is not loud enough. It’s location (on the reverse side) does not make sound louder as well.

Nokia E71 Specs:
Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (900/2100 MHz),
Platform: Symbian OS v9.2, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1
Display: 2.36 inch, 320 x 240 pixels, 16 million colors
Camera: 3.2 megapixel, autofocus, flash, QVGA video recording
Additional camera: 0,3 Mp
Processor: ARM 11 369 MHz
RAM: 128 MB
ROM: 256 MB
Internal Memory: 110 MB
Expansion slot: microSDHC (up to 8 GB)
Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
Wi-Fi (802.11b / g)
A-GPS
microUSB 2.0
2,5 mm jack
Audio: AAC, AAC, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, eAAC, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), Mobile XMF, MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, 10, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV
Video: 3GPP formats (H.263), Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8,9 / 10
Images: BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, PNG, TIFF, WBMP
Battery: BP-4L, 1500 mAh
Hours of talk time: up to 10,5 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 4,5 hours in WCDMA
Hours of standby time: up to 408 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 480 hours in WCDMA
Hours in music mode playback: up to 18 hours
Dimensions: 114 x 57 x 10 mm
Weight: 126 grams
Form factor: bar with QWERTY
Type: Smartphone
Date of announcement: June 2008
Release Date: 2008

Nokia E72 Specs:
Network: GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSPA (850/1900/2100 MHz),
Platform: Symbian OS v9.2, S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1
Display: 2.4 inch, 320 x 240 pixels, 16 million colors
Camera: 5 megapixel, flash, autofocus, video recording VGA
Additional camera: 0,3 Mp
Processor: ARM 11 600 MHz
RAM: 128 MB
ROM: 512 MB
Internal Memory: 250 MB
Memory Card: microSDHC (up to 16 GB)
Bluetooth 2.0 EDR
microUSB
3.5-mm connector
FM-radio
A-GPS
Wi-Fi (802.11b / g)
Optical joystick, position sensors, compass
Audio: AAC, AAC, AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AU, eAAC, M4A, MIDI Tones (poly 64), MP3, MP4, RealAudio 7, 8, 10, SP-MIDI, True tones, WAV, WMA
Video: 3GPP, Flash Video, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, RealVideo 7,8,9 / 10, WMV
Images: BMP, EXIF, GIF87a, GIF89a, JPEG, JPEG 2000, OTA, PNG, WBMP
Battery: BP-4L, 1500 mAh
Hours of talk time: up to 12,5 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 6 hours in WCDMA
Hours Standby time: up to 384 hours in the networks of GSM, up to 528 hours in WCDMA
Time running conversation on VoIP: up to 13,6 hours
Hours during playback of audio: up to 37,5 hours
Hours during playback of video: up to 13 hours
Hours in video mode: up to 6,4 hours
Dimensions: 114 x 58,3 x 10,1 mm
Weight: 128 grams
Form factor: bar with QWERTY
Type: Smartphone
Date of announcement: June 15, 2009
Release Date: November 2009

As expected, Nokia has officially introduced a new smartphone Nokia C5. According to the company, the new product is suitable for communication in social networks and information exchange. This compact device will provide easy access to a range of Nokia mobile services, including free navigation.

Nokia C5 is the first model in the new “C” series. A key feature of this new line in the portfolio of Nokia is the special attention to the functions of social intercourse. Nokia C5 provides fast connection with all important to the user people with direct access to your favorite contacts from the device screen. It helps to update Facebook status directly from the phone book.

With this new device the user will have easy and fast access to social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, and Nokia Messaging service will allow to communicate in real time and exchange e-mails from different mail accounts, including Ovi. Nokia C5 is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera and comes with a memory card capacity of 2 GB. The possibility of high-speed data transmission makes it easy to upload photos and videos on various online communities.

Nokia C5 offers the latest Ovi Maps mapping service with a free pedestrian and car navigation. Also, thanks to Nokia C5 the user can easily search the Internet, smartphone will provide easy access to your favorite websites. Users can also quickly download their favorite music from online music catalog Ovi and various applications in the Ovi store.

Nokia C5 Specifications:

• Mobile networks GSM / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and WCDMA / HSDPA / HSUPA (900/2100 MHz)
• Software platform S60 3rd Edition
• 2.2-inch display with QVGA (320 x 240 pixels), 16,7 M colors
• 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash
• Supports A-GPS
• FM radio
• Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0, 3,5 mm jack for headphones
• 50 MB internal memory
• Slot for microSD format memory cards (up to 16 GB)
• Battery Nokia Battery BL-5CT 1050 mAh
• Time running conversation – up to 12 hours (GSM), up to 4.9 hours (WCDMA)
• Hours in standby mode – up to 630 hours (GSM), up to 670 hours (WCDMA)
• Dimensions – 112x46x12,3 mm
• Weight – 89.3 grams