More and more information appeares about the upcoming smartphone from Nokia, which will be the first device running Symbian^3. The expected presentation of Nokia N8 was not held in the middle of this month, instead it became known that the camera phone will be available only in July.

At present the sensational novelty of Nokia has been in the hands of journalists from a number of web sources, the result of which was a short review of the device.

Thus, the images of the new device, which appeared late in March corresponds to reality. The smartphone is made in a bar form factor, is equipped with a large touchscreen supporting multi-touch. On the back is located the expected 12 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, capable of shooting video in HD-resolution (720p), near the camera you can see a flash. It is noted that the pictures of Nokia N8, are not distinguished with something striking, though their quality is better than the quality of the pictures taken by Sony Ericsson Satio. There device has HDMI-output, which, though it may seem strange, is smaller than the usual slot.

The smartphone operates quickly in case of no content in its memory, but if the content is filled, there will be rather unpleasant inhibitions. In general, observers found no obvious differences from other S60-smartphones. And Symbian^3 represents something “combed, washed, but not polished”, that is the functionality of the platform has not been improved sufficiently.

Well, let’s see whether Nokia N8 will become the flagship or disappointment for users in the future.

Nokia has released a new firmware update (version 31.023) for smartphone E72. Apart from correcting the most of existing errors, the new firmware includes several new applications, along with opportunities for updating the present applications.

The new firmware contains:
- New pre-installed applications: Ovi Sync, Advance Communication Manager (which provides additional features, such as the creation of black lists), Smart Connect and Internet radio.

- Ovi Maps (a free version of the navigation), Web (full support for Flash Lite 3.1), Ovi Store (v1.5.436), Share online (v4.3.10.02), My Nokia, Start up and Email wizards (v2. and v2.05, respectively) were updated.

At present , the new firmware will be available only through the Nokia Software Updater, which means that you will need to connect Nokia E72 to a PC to update it.

We’ve already written about the details of the new cameraphone Nokia N8. The complete list of specifications of Nokia’s new device, which release was postponed because of unavailability of Symbian^3 operating system is already available.

It is known that Nokia N8 smartphone will work in GSM / GPRS / EDGE (850/900/1800/1900 MHz), WCDMA / HSDPA (850/900/1700/1900/2100 MHz) networks. The information will be displayed on the 3.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen, the resolution of which is 360×640 pixels and the number of displayed colors is 16 million. A distinctive feature of the display is the support for multi-touch function.

The clock frequency of the device is 680 MHz, RAM size is 256 MB , while the ROM is 512 MB. For memory expansion, you can use a slot for microSDHC memory card (up to 32 GB).

The smartphone is equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, A-GPS, position, light and proximity sensors, FM-radio, stereo speaker, microUSB 2.0 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, HDMI-connector.

Dimensions of the new smartphone are 113.5x59x12.9 mm, the device weighs 135 grams. Due to the BL-4D battery, the capacity of which is 1200 mAh, the device will be able to work in the standby mode up to 719 hours in GSM networks and up to 603 hours in WCDMA networks, in talk mode – up to 7.7 hours in GSM and up to 5.4 hours in WCDMA networks. Nokia N8 will be able to play a HD-video within 7.3 hours and record it within 3.2 hours.

The main pecularity of Nokia N8 smartphone is its 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, which is able to shoot HD-video in 720p resolution at the speed of 30 frames per second. The camera is equipped with face recognition function, autofocus and xenon flash.

According to certain information the long-awaited device will be on only in September this year.

Sometimes we come across a situation when we cannot get rid of the distance separating a group of people to organize a physical conference. Here it’s much better to use the option of conference calling either via the landline and cell phones.

The simplest way to do so is to use smartphones. They will be providing an opportunity to connect people with explicit numbers to the same “meeting room”. And this not only gives an opportunity to connect people without paying for the airline and other means of transportation, but also save money on the long distance calls especially in cases when you have an opportunity for the free conference calls.

Conference calling needs to be organized while taking into account some of the most important issues. Firstly you should make sure that your device fully supports conference calls opportunities and learn the best ways for making free conference calls.

As one of the most reliable models we can mention Nokia smartphones due to their opportunities of much better connection capabilities: they offer you strong reception and call qualities which are the most important items for the teleconferencing. From the wide range one of the best options is Nokia N900.

”EuroCom”, the representative of Nokia in Israel, has announced a new multimedia device Nokia 5230, equipped with an intuitive touch interface and the ability of access to an entire music library. In addition, within the frames of the new device presentation the company provides a unique opportunity for owners of 60 series devices – free downloading of Mecanto music application.

The smartphone Nokia 5230 is equipped with a touch screen that provides convenient control of functions of the device. It is assumed that the youth will be the main target audience of the new device.

Nokia 5230 offers an attractive modern design, advanced technologies and a whole world of musical entertainments. The new smartphone allows you to control the tracks through an improved media player, listen to your favorite radio stations using the FM-radio and connect to the world of music through the “Music OVI” service. In addition, the built-in modified menu allows you to classify music by artist, album and playlist.

At the presentation of the new smartphone Nokia provides all owners of 60 series devices with the opportunity to download free Mecanto application for three months in Ovi Store.

Mecanto application is a service for storing your music collection online and access to it from any computer. This application automatically synchronizes your compiled collection of new songs and albums from with your home or work computer, and in the nearest future with the TV-set too. There is no need to download music and copy it on the phone, as it will always be available.

Nokia is preparing its own tablet PC. According to Ashok Kumar, an employee of the investment bank Rodman Renshaw, who has long been cooperating with the Finnish corporation the tablet may appear in the market this falll According to the American edition of The Street, now Nokia can be registered in the list of competitors to Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Google, Dell and other giants of IT industry.

The experts notice that this year Nokia has released no new devices. Apparently, all efforts were made for the creation of a new tablet.

Such a device was been  offered only by Apple. All its hopes are linked with the prospects of iPad. According to specialists, those who need to combine the functions of a smartphone and a laptop in one device will be the main buyers of this tablet. iPad fans assert that for such devices in future, they will turn upside down the market of electronics and mass communication, the skeptics point to the same price – they think that $500 is too much for a toy.

Nokia has already tried to get into the market of computers. In early 2000, a device called N770 appeared. It was like a compact device allowing to connect to the Internet. But at that time the idea failed. Last year, another Nokia model – Booklet 3G tried to gain the attention of the buyer unsuccessfully.

However, the company has every chance to succeed in niche of tablets. Nokia has its own MeeGo operating system, is in good relationship with the manufacturer of microchips – Intel corporation.

According to an analyst of MKM Partners Tero Kuittenen the support from Intel can be a very important start up. He is convinced that the tablet from Nokia will be able to change the alignment of powers in the market for mobile computers.

The flagship of the market -iPad is still well sold, for the first week Apple intends to sell 1 million devices. But the real boom in tablets will begin later – when ordinary users appreciate all advantages of such mobile equipment.

Citing Nokia’s representatives Reuters report we see that the Finnish  company Nokia has postponed the commercial launching of Symbian ^ 3 platform to the third quarter of 2010. The reasons of transfer have not been disclosed.

Nokia decided to jump over Symbian ^ 2 and immediately proceed to use Symbian ^ 3. Symbian ^ 1 is the S60 of the fifth edition, with support for touch screens. This platform is used in Nokia 5800, N97, C6 and other devices. The company promises that Symbian ^ 3 will have 3 times higher performance as compared with S60, will support multi-touch screens with gestures and will be equipped with completely overworked simplified graphical interface.

Earlier the general manager of Nokia Markets Anssi Vanjoki promised that the devices on Symbian ^ 3 will work well, that is their owners will not have to wait for software updates after the purchase. Recall that the flagship N97 smartphone appeared in the market in June 2009 in a very raw state and the corrected firmware was released only six months later.

Nokia has acknowledged that in the past three months, it has deliberately reduced prices of its products. According to web sources, the prices of Nokia mobile phone have decreased by 10%.

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the head of Nokia, told The Financial Times, that the company “is still facing hard competition in the niche of high-end smartphones”.

Representatives of Nokia in different countries have confirmed the general trend of the company: to make products accessible to a wider range of the customers.

The official explanation for this is the competition with the popular iPhone smartphone of Apple. The latest direct competitor for iPhone from Nokia was the N95 model, released in 2006.

Since then, most mobile manufacturers have filled the market with several models with touch screen, which were intended to compete in this niche with Apple and Nokia. And now the Finnish company has obviously felt its inferiority in this race.

Experts also consider that the Finnish manufacturer is trying to retain its positions in the face of the growing South Korean group Samsung.

Like other companies, Nokia has published the results of its work for the first quarter of 2010. The report of the Finnish manufacturer states that, Nokia’s sales increased by 5% as compared with the previous year and amounted to 9.5 billion Euros. Net sales of Devices & Services subdivisions are equal to 6.7 billion Euros, 8% more than last year’s performance and 19% less as compared with previous years, and the Services subdivisions is 148 million Euros.

During the first three months of this year 107.8 million Nokia devices were sold, this figure has increased by 16% as compared with the first quarter of 2009 and decreased by 15% as compared with the fourth quarter of 2009. 21.5 million Nokia smartphones and mobile computers were sold, which is 57% more than last year and 3% more than in the previous quarter.

The share of Nokia in the mobile phone market has increased to 33%. It should be noted that a year ago, it was equal to approximately 32%, and in the fourth quarter of last year it was equal to 35%.

The Finnish company Nokia has enriched its portfolio of TD-SCDMA devices with two new phones: Nokia X5 and Nokia C5. You already had a chance to read about the first of them in our blog, when we first became aware of the existence of this device, and of the fact that it will work in EGSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 900/1900/2100 networks and will be equipped with Bluetooth .

Nokia X5 is a smartphone running the 3rd Edition of Symbian S60 operating system. It is equipped with a 2.4 inch TFT-display with a resolution of 240×320 pixels, a 5 megapixel camera with dual LED-flash, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR.

The built-in memory is 256 MB, in addition there is a slot for microSDHC (up to 8 GB) memory cards. The 3.5 mm audio jack can be used to connect headphones, there is also GPS  and access to all of the Ovi Store services. The appearance of this Nokia smartphone in Chinese market is scheduled for the second quarter of this year. The buyer can choose among the black, white and red colors.

The second device – Nokia C5 – is not entirely a new smartphone, of course. The model is just intended for Chinese TD-SCDMA third-generation networks.