The deal between Microsoft and Nokia was rumored and discussed much. Analysts tried to imagine different ways of its progress, and I have to say that most of them were pessimistic. However, Kai Oistamo, Head of Corporate Development at Nokia, says the the deal is on track and soon the contracts will be signed.

As you remember, Nokia began the negotiations with Microsoft on February 11, and Stephen Elop said it would take them about 2 months to make the deal and to sign the contracts officially. Now it seems we are close to see one of the most awaited contracts signed.

According to the initial agreement, Nokia’s smartphones running on Microsoft’s platform will be designed for those people who need high-end smartphones and expect much from them. The market is full of Windows Phone 7 smartphones like the HTC Arrive or Samsung Omnia 7, so it’s quite natural Nokia wants to offer another kind of devices not to repeat the strategies other manufacturers run. That’s a good decision, since if we take any of the above mentioned devices, the HTC Arrive, for example, and look at the HTC Arrive review, we’ll see the smartphone has much in common with other similar devices. And here people can ask why they must choose the Arrive and not something else, if they have almost the same features…

So if the deal between Nokia and Microsoft is based on the provisions the Finnish manufacturer has offered, Nokia’s smartphones powered with Microsoft’s mobile platform will probably succeed, because they will be different from all the other smartphones.

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Confirming last year’s promise, the Finnish manufacturer has announced the closedown of the flagship store in the centre of America. The weakness of the presence of Nokia in the American market forces the company to turn a costly storefront.

Let’s remind that in December 2009 it became known that at the beginning of 2010 Nokia will close the leading stores in New York and Chicago. It is clear that these commercial outlets, launched in 2006, were mostly demonstrative sites of the vendor’s product portfolio, rather than its retail stalls.

According to Nokia, the awareness of American consumers about the phones of the company has reached a sufficient level to be able to fully focus on the usual sales through the operator’s channels. In North America, more than 90% sales of phones are implemented by signing contracts with providers of cellular operators. Nokia will also strengthen relationships with a few American online retailers such as Amazon and Best Buy.

According to rumors from our American colleagues, the next Nokia smartphone of the Eseries line will be available for the network of T-Mobile USA in the coming month (June 16). The business collection will grow thanks to the Nokia E73 model (the commercial name is Nokia Mode).

Nokia E73 will develop the ideas of Nokia E72-the previous bar form factor with QWERTY-keyboard. The main focus is on e-mail and messaging. In the promotional material of E73 there is support for 3G and Wi-Fi. The smartphone is based on the Symbian version which has not been installed yet. The preference is apparently given to S60 3rd Edition.

Let’s remind that earlier Nokia has announced Nokia E5. The affordable business phone will go on sale in the third quarter of this year.

Nokia has presented a new video of its global campaign “Highway”, that has started this spring. If the previous commercials of the campaign only informed that the Finnish phone manufacturer has made SatNav navigation service free to all users of smartphones of the company, the new video tells the reason of such an action.

In the 60-second video from Wieden + Kennedy the situations in recent past, when satellite navigation was a very expensive entertainment and in a mobile version it could be affordable for only a few people, was presented.

With the development of technologies more people have been able to use it, thus now Nokia wants to make satellite navigation accessible to all, and according to the video, it’s not just a business strategy aimed at attracting new customers but the company’s philosophy, expressed in the slogan “Connecting People”.

Harman and Nokia have announced that they were working together on a project to develop a standard of data transmission between smartphones and on-board computing devices of the car. These devices will exchange data on GPS navigation and media-data, information services and data from the device’s sensors. Thus, in case of a low balance of fuel in the tank the phone will be able to find the nearest gas station, and in case of necessity – to book a room at the nearest hotel.

It is also planned to bring in an expanded assistance to the drivers and inform them about safety in different situations. In addition, other applications of the smartphone will also be integrated with the computer of the car – thus, the car owners will be able to view the content of the smartphone on a big screen.

USB devices and Bluetooth have been selected as an interface to connect to various devices.

In spite of the participation of Nokia in the project, partners plan to establish an independent standard, which could be used by other manufacturers too.

In mid-March of this year, Nokia organized a project called Design by Community. There was a voting for approximately two months related to the creation of the concept of an ideal smartphone. The best option of device appearance was chosen, when users defined the best materials, shape and size of the case. The display, operating system, camera settings and communication capabilities were also selected.

At the moment the first part of the Design by Community is over and a team of Nokia designers are already working on the creation of concept sketches. It is noted that over the past seven weeks over 74 thousand users have participated in the voting.

Thus, the ideal model is a smartphone equipped with a 4-inch capacitive touch screen, which case is made of aluminum. The thickness of the shell should be equal to 10 mm. An 8 megapixel camera with dual LED and xenon flash will be ideal for operation with photos and videos, 4 x optical zoom is capable to shoot videos in HD-quality. The best Nokia smartphone should be equipped with a Wi-Fi 802.11 n / b / g module, GPS, USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, support for Dolby Surround technology, a temperature sensor. The best device will not be deprived of multi-tasking, support for two operating systems with open source code simultaneously.

In the network rumors have appeared that Nokia is working on the innovation of E-series called Nokia E7-00, which will be based on the  Symbian3 operating system.

According to the available information at the moment, the device will be equipped with retractable side of the QWERTY-keyboard, 4-inch touch screen AMOLED-display, which will be located at a comfortable angle when the smartphone is open. Memory of Nokia E7-00 will be 256MB, but volatile – 1024MB. Despite the fact that the novelty will be a side-slider, the thickness of the case will be only 14 mm.

Here, of course, one can’t help remembering Nokia N98, tentative performances and images of which appeared in mid-February. Perhaps, Nokia E7-00 is the same N98.

Continuing to talk about the exterior of the novelty let us note that its case will be made of anodized aluminum, in the front panel of which only one key will be present. There  is also information about the date of the release of Nokia smartphone in the market. It is said that Nokia E7-00 will appear in some markets in July 2010.

Jo Harlow, the head of Nokia smartphones corporate, told about the future of the Symbian operating system and phones based on it.

According to Harlow, the devices running on Symbian ^ 3 will support multi-touch technology and high-performance graphics processing. In addition, Nokia representative hinted that his corporation will fully focus its efforts on touchscreen smartphones, and smartphones with touch screen and QWERTY-keyboard.

Manufacturers of cellular phones like to embed gadgets into their most unusual devices – from electric shavers and lighters to portable projectors. A new step in this direction was made by the engineers of the Finnish company Nokia, equipping the device with radar.
The device, named “mobile radar”, performs the same function as the common traffic police radar – it measures the distance, direction and speed of a moving object. During the presentation, the mobile phone has successfully identified the direction and speed of walking of an ‘experimental object “- one of the staff members of Nokia Research Center.

One of the possible applications of the unusual feature can become the remote control of the phone, – said Nokia Conversations. This radar differentiates even the hand movements and allows, for example, to increase or decrease the volume of a built-in player with mere gestures.
It should be noted that the control of the surrounding space is made without the participation of the camera, by only electromagnetic waves. Therefore, mobile radar “can be used without taking the phone out of the pocket or backpack. It recognizes even objects that are behind a wooden door.
Radar is just one of more than 40 inventions, over which works the company’s research center at present time. All of them are aimed at improving and expanding the functions of mobile communication, but not all will be transformed into real serial devices, said The Independent. In particular, the company says nothing about the expected deadline, when its phones can have their own radars.

Nokia makes all navigation services on its smart phones free.
January 21, Espoo – Nokia announces that all services of automotive and pedestrian navigation on Nokia smartphones will be free in the new version of Ovi Maps, which can be downloaded from its official website. This step can double the size of the mobile navigation market.

The new version of Ovi  Maps will include all the functions of pedestrian and car navigation, step by step voice instructions for 74 countries in 46 languages, information about the state of more than 10 countries, as well as detailed maps for more than 180 countries.

“Why to have a separate mobile phone and a car navigation device that works only in a particular country or region? Connect two in one, make this offer free and global, and you will double the potential market for mobile navigation,” – said Anssi Vanjoki, the Vice President of Nokia. “Nokia is the only company that offers worldwide car and pedestrian navigation, and unlike the manufacturers of car navigation systems, we do not limit the consumer with a card of one country or region. You do not need to buy a license for another country, even if you have come for few days. We offer maps and navigation services for free, with all the high quality functionality that consumers expect. “

5 key features of Ovi Maps
Maps of all the countries, automotive and pedestrian navigation – all for free
The new version of Ovi Maps provides free high-quality navigation during the unlimited use your smartphone. You need no additional licenses for other countries, regions or services, you do not need to acquire information about the state of motion and guidebooks. Free detailed voice instructions, both for pedestrians and for car navigation. You will only pay for the cost of the Internet access from your phone.
It is not necessary to permanently connect to the network during navigation.
You will not need expensive access the network thanks to a unique hybrid technology of Nokia. You can pre-download maps on your Nokia smartphone and transform it into an offline mode; this will save the battery consumption, and the navigation system would continue working. This is especially useful for people traveling abroad and concerning about the cost of connectivity in regions with poor or no coverage at all.

More than 180 countries around the world – the best global coverage
You take your mobile phone wherever you go, so we offer cards for more than 180 countries around the world, as well as voice and pedestrian navigation for 74 countries in 46 languages. This is the best global coverage, and, moreover, it’s free.

Unique hybrid vector maps
Ovi Maps are based on advanced technology of hybrid vector maps. These cards provide high image quality, but the amount of transmitted data is smaller and this will allow you to continue the navigation, even in the absence of cellular communication. Maps downloaded or updated via an Internet connection via mobile operator are about two times smaller than the map data for applications of other providers of mobile maps. Hybrid technology allows you to save downloaded maps on your device for later use, unlike other providers.

Voice support and information about the state of traffic for motorists and pedestrians
For motorists, our proposal includes help in choosing the traffic lane, information about the traffic, radars and warnings about the maximum permissible speed. For pedestrians, we offer the choice of optimal routes in parks and pedestrian zones in more than 80 cities in the world, as well as the 6000 3D-labels in more than 200 cities.
Since March 2010 all the new models of Nokia with GPS-receiver will be supplied with a new version of Ovi Maps, with regional maps, as well as free functions of pedestrian and car navigation and access to Lonely Planet and Michelin catalogs.