Nokia World is closing and we’re all expecting Nokia and Microsoft to unveil one or more Windows Phone-flowered devices. The Nokia SeaRay, Sun, Ace, 800 and Sabre are some of the names we have already heard. Moreover, there are many things Nokia should still talk around, and besides the aforementioned handsets, we also want to know details about the Symbian Belle-based devices as well as the new platform Nokia’s working on, Meltemi. Anyway, at this moment we must focus on Nokia Windows Phone smartphones. As the latest rumors state, Nokia’s first devices running WP will be launched in November, right after Nokia World.

As you’ve seen there are 5 devices the features of which have been speculating for a while. On the whole, once a particular device is announced to be launched, the tipsters begin to surface details and most of those details turn out to be true. So I deeply believe the rumored specs lists we have heard for these handsets will be confirmed mostly at the launch.

Anyway, Nokia and Microsoft have done a great job in fulfilling their cumulative goal. This refers not only to software developing plans, but also to marketing. So no matter the first WP device will be launched in November or later, we expect to have a product with outstanding features.

Source

Nokia’s first smartphones running Windows Phone platform will appear this year. Moreover, the date they will be unveiled is coming closer and the smartphone market’s getting more and more sensitive towards every new announcement Nokia or Microsoft make regarding it. AllAboutSymbian took a poll asking Symbian users how many of them will switch to Windows Phone. Almost half of the respondents said to buy these handsets as their next smartphones.

According to the poll, the 49.22% of Symbian users would consider purchasing a Windows Phone from Nokia. But when we look at the dark side of the moon, we see a huge number of users that will not get a Windows Phone powered device. This is for sure.

Of course, we are dealing with a custom poll, which can’t completely show the actual situation. But let’s not forget that many users are disappointed with Symbian, so if Windows Phone doesn’t offer something attractive and different from it (the same goes for  Android or iOS), they will get their next smartphones taking into account other factors.

We’re all waiting for Nokia to unveil its first smartphones running Windows Phone Mango. Though Microsoft’s platform is not as popular as those of Android and iOS, many analysts believe WP will still show itself. Probably, Nokia thought this way when signing a cooperation agreement. These companies, plus Samsung, are very serious and the first steps are already taken.

According to a source close to Mobile Today, Microsoft will spend £20 million to promote Nokia’s smartphones powered with WP Mango in the UK. That’s definitely not a shocking amount, but it shows Microsoft’s plans in promoting its native mobile operating system.

Microsoft’s also cooperating with Samsung. The first handset running Omnia W is already available for purchase. However, it’s not out of attention and Microsoft’s planning to spend £8 million for a marketing campaign.

The amounts I mentioned don’t make up the whole budget the three companies are going to spend on marketing campaigns for their smartphones, as each of them will promote a certain feature. Well, Nokia will promote Windows Phone Mango’s social networking features, apps and games, while Microsoft’s money will go to the “in-store marketing.” I guess something similar will happen with the Omnia W.

In my humble opinion, once the Nokia Windows Phone smartphones are launched, the budget will increase.

Nokia’s always in love with new technologies, and does its best to be the first in their “life.” The same thing’s happening with NFC. As you know this technology allows users to pay directly from their smartphones. Though this idea was welcomed by many manufacturers, not all of them hurry to bring it to their handsets. Unlike them, Nokia is actively promoting its new smartphones supporting NFC and is even designing different accessories for such devices. One of them is Nokia Luna Bluetooth headset.

The Luna headset is designed with taste and weighs only 5g. The pod is a little bit larger and heavier weighing 18.3g, but it’s done to provide longer battery life — sixty days of stand-by mode and eight hours of talk time. Removing the headset from the pod will automatically answer an incoming call, and putting it back in the pod will hang up a call.

The Luna headset is automatically paired with a Nokia NFC-capable phone by just tapping the two devices together. On the pod you can find support for multi-point connections and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.

All in all, the headset is designed quite well, and it will satisfy all those users who prefer glamorous accessories. The headset is expected to be launched by the end of 2011 with a price tag at 69 EUR (US$95).

Source

Most of the third generation handsets come with the universal search feature, something that was missing on the Nokia Symbian devices. Finally Nokia’s decided to get this feature on its Symbian devices by announcing the Universal Search application. It will allow the users to search the entire device and the Internet within the frames of a single box.

The Universal Search allows to quick access apps, contacts, messages, Nokia Maps, Ovi Store products and even internet websites. The application comes with improvement capabilities. This means the application works upon the history and tries to bring in the pages you’ve been looking for.  The feature uses the location of the device and tries to return with the relevant results. It kind of studies your preferences and habits. Other than that it always considers your location. Doesn’t this sound good?

The application also remembers the frequently used app and contact lists and gives a chance to have a one button launch for the apps and contacts. The application cannot be found in Ovi Store, but you can get it from the Nokia Beta Labs. The new application is compatible only with Symbian^3 devices, thus if you’re not among its users look for one of the latest Symbian devices.

Via 

Nokia launched the Nokia 603 at the media event in Istanbul, Turkey. This is a new device originally based on Symbian^3 Anna, but which comes with Belle update. Judging  by the codename of the handset,  it’ll be included in the mid-range series of Nokia.  The device is being described as “leading-edge features at a mid-range price-point.”

The main features of the handset include a 3.5 inch ClearBlack display with HD resolution (640 ×360), a 1 GHz single-core processor, a 5 megapixel camera with digital zoom and the possibility of shooting 720p HD videos, Symbian Belle OS, radio and NFC. The device supports WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 networks.

The device works with a four times faster browser than the rest of Symbian devices, thus offering the latest feature to meet modern web standards.

The device is now available only in two colors, Black and White, but the colors can be customized with the help of  removable rear panels, which come in six different colors. The device is expected to arrive sometime in the Q4 of this year. The price of the handset is expected to be something like € 200 (around $270) for the unlocked version. Most likely in case of the contract version, the device will be available for free.

Via

Currently Nokia’s working on more than three operating systems, specifically, it launches smartphones running different platforms. That sounds a little bit strange, because usually mobile manufacturers have one big partner and cooperate only with it. That’s beneficial for both sides. But Nokia doesn’t follow others’ examples and dictates its own rules. This is why, though Nokia’s in deep cooperation with Microsoft, the company continues developing its native Symbian, MeeGo, and I am already not talking about Maltemi. Anyway, we must focus on Windows Phone, as Nokia’s decided to give out free Windows Phone-powered devices to WP developers.

During the last months it’s the second time Nokia’s expressing readiness to help developers by giving them free handsets. At first it referred to the Nokia N950 launched only for developers, now the company’s doing the same thing with the WP developers. Of course, Nokia’s done such a bounty in the past as well, but at that time Symbian was the only platform Nokia’s handsets ran. Presently everything’s changed, but Nokia remains faithful to its “humanitarian” roots.

Nevertheless, this is not the only step showing Nokia’s serious when it comes to promoting Windows Phone OS — recently Nokia started offering Developers Incentives for Windows Phone 7 apps. Clearly, Microsoft’s platform is the future of Nokia, so it has to do its best to go out the existing situation. Well, the developers have to wait only two weeks, because it’ll be launched on October 26.

Source

We used to think Nokia got rid of devices with double codenames, such as the C5-01 or C2-01. Anyway, obviously it’s not so, because Nokia’s just announced the Nokia C2-05 and the Nokia X5-02.

The handsets will be available for sale by the holiday season and will come most likely at a cheap price. The Nokia C2-05 and Nokia X5-02 are both based on one of the earlier versions of Symbian OS, that is S^40. This operating system is known for using “Nokia’s own compression technology to deliver real mobile web pages quickly and at a fraction of the bandwidth, and cost, of other mobile phones.”

The Nokia C2-05 is similar to most of C2 series devices in its form factor. This slider’s equipped with a 2 inch QVGA display, FM radio, Bluetooth, VGA photo camera and microSD card support for up to 32 GB.  The main applications pre-installed on the device are Facebook and Twitter, while for the Chinese market the handset will be equipped with QQ app. The price of the device is expected to be something like €50 (around $68) without taxes.

The Nokia X5-02 has a candybar form factor, coming with a 2.2 inch QVGA display, media player, Bluetooth, VGA camera, microSD card support for up to 32 GB, Facebook and Twitter applications. This device will cost slightly cheaper than the Nokia C2-05. Most likely it’ll be €46 (around $62) without taxes.

So let’s have a look at the promotional videos of the handsets to see what else they have to offer.

Via

Nokia changes everything. This refers not only to the operating system Nokia’s high-end smartphones will be packed with, but also to the strategy and the way they will offer the apps. So Nokia‘s latest announcement was not surprising — Nokia’s renaming Ovi Store to Nokia Store.

Nokia made an overhaul with Ovi Store, and using Qt Quick completely redesigned it. According to Nokia, the new store is much faster, than Ovi Store was. Besides, the operations taken by users are smoother than with the previous version.  Thanks to a new navigation bar at the bottom of the store now it’s easier to discover new apps. Moreover, Nokia has also streamlined the purchasing process for paid apps. All these improvements have been made due to Qt, which is becoming more and more common especially in mobile devices.

At the moment owners of Symbian-powered devices are getting the new store as a software update. So before it’s available for your handset (I guess the update is coming region by region), you can take a quick look at the video below introducing details about Nokia Store.

You probably know Nokia announced a ringtone competition, where the winning ringtone will be placed on the upcoming devices. Well, the competition’s over and we have the winner, Valerio Alessandro Sizzi’s dubstep remix.

No matter you like it or not (as you always can change it with your own) one thing is certain — Nokia’s devices to be launched in 2012 will notify about incoming calls with this sound.

Nokia’s previous (still current) ringtone is the Grande Valse, the Spanish guitar tune that’s been burned into every Nokia user’s brain since 1994. As you see, it is quite aged and taking into account Nokia’s changing everything in its activity, the old ringtone should be changed too. Well, the company chose one among over 6000 entries (though some of them weren’t even ringtones, by the way). The winning ringtone was chosen from a panel of 7 judges, and as I said, the winner is 22-year old audio designer, who received a $10,000 prize.

Sizzi is very glad, as the ringtone made by him will soon be baked into the software of 100 million Nokia phones. Here is what he said:

“I just thought as a sound designer that a sparkling, up-to-date and with a certain coolness version of the Nokia Tune would have been perfect to attract young and “cool-hunting” customers.”

You can share your thoughts with us — I am sure the winning ringtone is not to everyone’s taste.

Source