The latest Nokia Play To app beta is giving a chance for the Nokia users (those who are still using Symbian^3 OS smartphones) to wirelessly stream media from the devices to DLNA locations. The only cool smartphone which is not included in the list is the Nokia E6. This might be because of the larger screen size and its resolution.

The application is somewhat similar to the popular Samsung AllShare, except of the fact that you will not be able to receive media on your phone. But anyway, you will still be able to watch HD videos and movies on your TV without any cable.

If you have plans of transporting Wi-Fi streaming apps, the phone and DLNA gear, like TV or audio system, those need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network. Otherwise you will be required to spend some time to get high quality videos.

I think that most of you are actually Symbian^3 users and the best thing that you would like to know about the applications is its functionality. Thus not to disappoint yourself,  I’m offering you to watch the application in action in the promo video of the Nokia Play To app below. Enjoy!

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Several months have passed since Nokia announced its switching to Windows Phone from Symbian, but the conversations around this don’t stop. Geeks wonder why the Finnish company chose Microsoft’s platform instead of Google’s Android, which dominates in the market nowadays. There are many non-official versions, but recently Nokia CEO Stephen Elop answered this question.

While many tech specialists and simple users are thinking Nokia’s decision was conditioned with Elop’s previous post, i.e. he preferred Windows Phone because he had been working in Microsoft and knew its inner world. So it’ll be easier to negotiate with Microsoft than with Google. I remember there was a time when people were saying Stephen Elop is a mole, but be honest and say Elop has come to Nokia in a very difficult time, so it is unfair to accuse him. Anyway, Elop is a professional and his decisions are based on experience and knowledge.

In his interview to D9 on Wednesday afternoon Elop said:

“The biggest question for us was what degree of influence could we have over Android to ensure differentiation. Is sustainable long-term differentiation possible with Android? We felt the opportunity for that was better with Windows Phone?”

To be honest, I have such thoughts, too, but without logical justifications. I just thought Microsoft has more experience than Google and Android’s success is short-term. However, Elop added “This is no longer a battle of devices, it is a war of ecosystems.” And truly Microsoft can beat Google with its strategy, because it is in software market for a long time and knows how to satisfy users.

No one can say whether Elop was wrong or right, only time will show.

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Nokia denies the info that the company will soon be sold to Microsoft. Stephan Elop, chief executive of Nokia, says that the information is baseless. “We have a great plan for our future, and we’re focused on executing that plan,” he said.

Speaking about the rumors, Elop added the following: “The rumors are all over the place. There’s no basis for them.”

The information was also covered by many analysts, including Doug Dawson, the spokesman for the Espoo, a Finland-based company, and Adnaan Ahmad, analyst at Berenberg Bank in London.

The Finnish analyst in a telephone interview said that the rumor about Nokia’s acquisition is “completely baseless.”

The second analyst says the following:

“M&A was realistic before the Microsoft deal, but that option has more or less gone away,” and continued that “from a Microsoft perspective, they are getting what they would have got from M&A for free.”

The rumors about Nokia to be possibly sold came during the event where Nokia was introducing its quarter results. Those are not that impressive, but considering the recent changes, the situation will be changed after the cooperation with Microsoft and its Windows Phone.

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Every day we’re hearing new rumors about Nokia. Some speak about the company’s new deals, others introduce the Finnish company not in bright shades… And now Eldar Murtazin says Microsoft is going to buy Nokia for $19 billion.

At the first sight it can seem unbelievable, as Nokia has come a long way and wouldn’t lay down arms so soon. On the other hand, Nokia’s collapse is lasting for several years, and, according to analysts, its cooperation with Microsoft is the last chance to save its authority in the mobile world. In the frames of this cooperation Nokia will provide some software support to the Redmond-based giant, and we’ll see new Nokia devices running Microsoft’s operating system. Well, everything seems so easy, but…

If their cooperation doesn’t succeed, the only one to suffer will be Nokia, as Microsoft provides its mobile platform to several companies, namely to HTC, Samsung, Dell and LG, so Nokia’s failure doesn’t change anything. So this means the trump is in Microsoft’s hand, and it can use it to get what it wants… if Microsoft has such goals, of course.

Perhaps you think this can’t happen, since Microsoft is known for its cruel strategy — destroy everything in its path; if Microsoft has such an objective, we would have heard about it earlier. But I think the treasure is buried deeper…

First Apple and Microsoft were PC OS companies, and, admit it or not, they have been enemies all the time. Then Apple guessed the moment and shifted to mobile software, which provided its success in this market. Now it offers three very popular devices — the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod, but the smartphone market is growing and now Apple is more dedicated to it. It’s not accidental as during the last year there were sold more smartphones than PCs, which shows the potential of this market. Well, everything is clear with Apple’s history, and now I guess you wonder what does it have to do with Microsoft and Nokia. Don’t you think Microsoft is going to repeat the same moves? I think it’s quite possible, because it is an accepted practice when software makers acquire hardware manufacturers to spread their products.

Moreover, I think Nokia knew this could happen sometime, and was actively developing its own platform, Symbian, but unfortunately it was classified as a “burning platform.” I usually do not believe such rumors, but this time Murtazin’s information can be true…

Excited with BGR

We have a few questions to Nokia, and the most popular of them is when we’ll see the first Nokia WP devices. This question has been discussed for many months starting from the beginning of 2011 when Nokia-Microsoft partnership was getting closer. Now seems like Nokia will launch its first Windows Phone-powered devices in Q4.

We are not worried about the fact whether those devices will ever be launched, since recently Nokia officially confirmed its first WP devices (though we don’t know anything about their specs or design). There are two whole quarters until their launch, so now we can calm down for a while as anything we say about them won’t be more than rumors and assumptions. So it’ll be better to read this official announcement and wait for others.

One thing is clear Nokia won’t hurry with them as WP7 devices can be the salvage for the company after Symbian was classified as a “burning platform.” I guess this is one of the main reasons why Nokia decided to release these awaited handsets in Christmas time. Of course, at that time Mango will be improved and maybe it will start to make some real competition to Android and iOS. Nokia is aware of these points better than you and me, look what Stephen Elop said:

“We recognize the need to deliver great mobile products, and therefore we must accelerate the pace of our transition. Our teams are aligned, and we have increased confidence that we will ship our first Nokia product with Windows Phone in the fourth quarter 2011.”

Nokia is not doing well now, because the company has really low sales and the switching from Symbian to Windows Phone is one of the main reasons of it. This is why Nokia said “it is no longer appropriate to provide annual targets for 2011.”

As you see it’s a difficult time for Nokia, but we hope Elop will carry the company to a brighter future, and probably Nokia WP devices launching by the end of 2011 will be the locomotive Nokia needs.

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Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia, says the main reason of Nokia’s failure is the popularity of Android.

Here is what the China case says:

A good example of this is the CDMA technology in China, where that technology has seen quite an increase in market share in China. And as you know, we don’t currently have CDMA products, but clearly, that’s something that we’d be considering in the future. So there’s some dynamics like that that we have to deal with.

As for the European market, the main reason is called to be the price of the devices:

In Europe, that’s not the case on the management perspective. It’s very much about competitive pressures. We’re seeing, for example, a large volume of Android devices really coming into the market. They’re largely undifferentiated from one another, which is putting pricing pressure thereupon, which in turn affects the overall ranging decisions of the operators; so there’s definitely pricing pressure going on.

Unfortunately, I don’t really think that these are the only regions that Nokia has to worry about. The fact that they had to close up a few stores in the U.S.  is also bothering. So where is Nokia going to distribute its devices if not even in Europe?

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I think some of you are already familiar with the features of Androidify that allows to create interesting modified avatars. You can create your own MeeGo avatar if your device is one of Nokia’s masterpieces. MeeGo Avatar Creator has a list of cool features that will allow you to make any kind of desired changes.

The newly created avatar can be made public in social networking sites, your own computer and your smartphone. You can even use your own image and transform it into the MeeGo mascots.

I really like this program, which, by the way, was created by Intel. And what I like most is that you can choose between a range of shapes and colors to make your avatar as “YOU” as possible. There is one more really cool thing about this app — you can have a pet next to your avatar, if your pet’s from the following list: Bird, penguin, cat, dog, squirrel and even OCTOPUS…

If you like this cool application, you can use this link to create your cute MeeGo avatar.

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Finally Nokia is getting some news from ITC. The United States International Trade Commission finally decided to re-investigate the patent infringement claims that were filed by Nokia against Apple. The case includes two patents. The whole story started last year, but the situation is not solved yet.

The patents that go under the numbers of 6,895,256 and 6,834,181 deal with the following issues: Speech and data transmission, device positioning, and antenna configurations, that is “multi-tasking operating systems, data synchronization, positioning, call quality and the use of Bluetooth accessories.”

Making claims against each other became quiet a popular practice among the mobile manufacturers last year. Paul Melin, Nokia’s VP of the intellectual property, claims:

“Our latest ITC filing means we now have 46 Nokia patents in suit against Apple, many filed more than 10 years before Apple made its first iPhone.”

The list of the patent files against Apple does not end up in the borders of the United States. There are a lot of cases in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. Florian Mueller, an independent analyst of the patent claims, states:

“There is a significant degree of frustration shining through Nokia’s announcement … but more than anything else, Nokia is sending out a strong and unambiguous message that at the end of this epic battle Apple is going to have to send royalty checks to Finland.”

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We learned about CNN and Nokia cooperation during the Royal Wedding Ceremony, when they were using Nokia Maps 3D for the translation of the program. And now everything is made official. They are going to use the same service for a list of location-tracking based programs. In addition Nokia users will get the chance to enjoy the presence of CNN on their devices. There’s even a chance for the Nokia users to upload videos for the popular CNN program called iReporter.

“This collaboration is a great fit for us as both companies share a similar philosophy on connecting people beyond borders through the combination of compelling news content and highly sophisticated technology. The international scale of each of our businesses makes the scope of the collaboration particularly exciting,” was told by Tony Maddox, Managing Director of CNN International.

“Nokia and CNN share the belief that news is now mobile, powerfully democratic, and can immediately be shared by people around the world,” said Jerri DeVard, Chief Marketing Officer, Nokia. “We are pleased that CNN wants to use Nokia’s innovative mapping services for its international news platforms, and we are excited to work with CNN to deliver a compelling news service to users of Nokia phones,” was added by Jerri Devard, CMO of Nokia.

This is the second time that CNN is trying to get to the devices. The first try was connected with the adjustment of the Android Gingerbread with its application. The formal CNN application can be downloaded from the Ovi Store even now!

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Nokia has been working tightly with MeeGo until February, when Stephen Elop announced about the future corporation with Microsoft, and the decision to shift from Symbian to Windows Phone OS was made. But even after that Stephen Elop confirmed the idea of creating an experimental MeeGo device. Three months have passed since then, but we didn’t hear a word about this interesting smartphone.

Jo Harlow,VP of Nokia’s Smart Devices, re-announced that we will be able to see the upcoming device soon in a short quote:

“You’re going to see the first MeeGo device soon.”

And when the journalists decided to ask more about the device based on what they heard from media rumors, the VP claimed:

“I’m not going to comment on what’s been floating around the Internet. It’ll be more of a high-end device that certainly will attract the early-adopter geek. I think there’s some innovation there that we believe captures the imagination.We made the decision not to continue to develop the MeeGo platform simply because it wasn’t mature enough yet to build a whole portfolio around.”

The main rumor for now is that the upcoming device will be the first smartphone equipped with Intel Atom processor, which is rather interesting.  Another good point is the name of the device. There are two main options: the Nokia N9 or the Nokia N950. I’d prefer the Nokia N9 — at least it’s short.

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