The Nokia devices, which were lucky enough to get Symbian Anna update, now should prepare for another update. This new update will bring Symbian Belle to the handsets. The update will be available from October 26. It will be possible to get the update both from Ovi Suite and OTA.

The devices included in the list are the following: the Nokia N8, the Nokia C7, the Nokia E6 and E7, the Nokia C6-01, the Nokia X7 and most likely also the Nokia 500.

The release date of the update coincides with the starting day of the Nokia World 2011. This means the chances of the update to start rolling out soon are quite high.

As for those who are not sure what to expect from the newest version of Symbian UI, I offer to have a look at the demo video to see whether you should get this update or not.

Only 3 weeks separate us from the day of truth. Hopefully this will not be the only surprise from Nokia. We all wish to see the joint release of the first Nokia Windows Phone devices from Nokia and Windows.

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At Nokia World 2010 developers were asked to come up with smart ideas for apps and a test code in a limited amount of time. One of the winners was Facelock, now it’s available on Ovi Store, so you can download it and try out yourself.

The app has a simple logic — first you take a picture of your face, then hit the lock button to lock your phone. Well, when you want to unlock the device you should do the opposite actions — take another picture and if those two pictures match, you unlock your phone.

It really seems simple, but there’s one problem –- the app doesn’t work based on a face scanner, but a photo analyzer. So if you haven’t slept yourself sober, it’ll be better not to lock your phone using this option. I know what you’re thinking about right now, “How will I unlock if the pictures mismatch?” Don’t worry about that, there is plan B — enter the PIN code.

Do not hurry to ignore Facelock, currently it’s an experimental app, but I’m absolutely sure it’ll be improved and definitely run on future phones.

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The Q4 is already out there, which means that soon we’ll get the first Windows Phone Nokia devices. Most likely they will be the Nokia Sea Ray and the Nokia Sabre, which have been leaked for a long time now. In a few weeks we’ll have the questions answered, as Nokia will be holding its annual Nokia World conference. The list of the speakers from Nokia and guest speakers has been already announced.

Surely, the key speaker of the first evening will be Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop, who will introduce Nokia’s future plans. But obviously it’s not what we expect from the event. Most of us are waiting for Microsoft representative’s speech, which will be accompanied with the release of WP Mango devices. On the first day of the conference  Joe Belfiore will be the guest speaker, while on the second day we’ll have Brandon Watson.

So hopefully on the timing in between we’ll get the chance to witness the launch of the Nokia WP devices.

The event will be held in London on October 26 and October 27.

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The achievements the manufacturers register are beneficial not only for them, but also for other companies. One of the best proofs of my words is the HTC and Betas Audio cooperation. Now it looks like Nokia’s going to repeat something of that kind. The Finnish company’s going to launch a pair of Monster headphones.

An image was sent to Pocketnow showing a dubbed Nokia Purity HD Stereo Headset. Judging by the photo, they seem to be portable; they lack the cables. However, probably the headphones have cables, but as it usually happens, the headphone manufacturers leave unwieldy cables out of their press shots.

Honestly, I do not think this cooperation will reach the level HTC-Beats Audio cooperation has, though in my humble opinion Nokia’s on the right direction. These words refer not only to Monster, but also to Microsoft and its native Windows Phone operation. But not everything is perfect in this deal because Monster Cable is known for its peddling overpriced cables. But I don’t think Nokia will obstruct itself bringing expensive accessories to its hard-selling handsets.

Though many geeks are waiting for a single Windows Phone-powered smartphone from Nokia, we already have heard about three devices that are going to run Microsoft’s mobile operating system. One of them is the well-known Nokia Sea Ray, which is compared with the MeeGo-based Nokia N9. The other two smartphones have been spotted recently and we do not know much about them. It comes to the Nokia Sabre and Ace. Well, the fact Nokia has prepared three WP-flavored devices is not a secret, but when will they be launched? Currently this is the main question. Nokia SEO has an answer!

On the whole, it was known the first Nokia Windows Phone smartphones would be launched in Q4, 2011. Though earlier they were thought to appear in the market not sooner than in Q1, 2012. Fortunately, Stephen Elop broke all assumptions — the first Nokia WP handset will hit the market this quarter. Moreover, he said “their belief is that there is a clear opportunity for an alternative ecosystem,” which means Nokia is going to make changes in Apple/iOS duopoly.

I bet you’re wondering whether the Finnish company will succeed in this deal or not. But Nokia switched to Windows Phone from February, and it’s difficult to imagine Elop hasn’t a certain plan. Well, Nokia has planned an event on October 26, and many geeks think the company will unveil the first WP-powered devices on that day.

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Vertu is a respectable brand, but not everyone can afford buying a phone from its lineup. It’s mostly for the newly rich crowd in the Persian Gulf, Russia or China, but it doesn’t mean Vertu-branded handsets can’t be found in other countries. Note that there are Vertu stores in Paris or Beverly Hills.

Well, Vertu’s owned by Nokia, though it figures as a separate manufacturer. Moreover, if Nokia’s in chaos, Vertu is on easy street, that’s why Vertu boss Peter Oosting has enlarged the company’s staff. Moreover, Vertu’s decided to come up with a smartphone different from the earlier models.

On the whole, Vertu has been experiencing “high double-digit sales growth” since 2010, which means it has sold about 30.000 devices. Considering the fact the average price of a Vertu handset is $5800, it’s not difficult to count how much the company has earned. By the way, the most expensive phones of Vertu are the Signature line devices with $17.000 price tag. But all those devices draw attention with their stylish and luxury design, and not by their functionality. But with the introduction of the revolutionary smartphone,  the Vertu Constellation T, everything’s changed.

The Vertu Constellation T sports a 3.5-inch AMOLED, 32GB of internal memory, an 8MP camera with dual-LED flash and so on. Of course, it’s a bit difficult to classify the phone as a high-end device, but it is in the Vertu line. The Constellation T is not from the Signature line, so I guess the phone will cost cheaper. As soon as new details about the pricing and the launch date are available, I’ll keep you informed.

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It does not matter what the situation is Nokia at the moment, because it has signed a contract with Microsoft and these tech giants are doing their best to have this programm succeed. Generally, their cooperation is beneficial for both companies, and if Nokia has a goal to go out from the occurred situation, Microsoft tries to make its mobile operating system more popular and compete with Apple and Google equally. But the things are not only in launching high-end smartphones running Windows Phone 7, as there are many aspects impacting on platform’s popularity, too, say its app market. But Nokia is conscious of it, this is why it has announced it is ready to offer incentive to big developers for bringing their apps to Windows Phone 7.

This is a good chance for developers to become more popular and earn simultaneously, as their apps will be promoted with the help of Windows Phone Marketplace or appear in Nokia phones as pre-installed apps. Honestly, I do not know whether developers are interested in this offer, because nowadays all run to Android and iOS, that’s why App Store has reached 425.0000 app limitations, Android Market– 250.000. Anyway, according to many geeks, Windows Phone is a future platform, so we hope developers will offer many interesting and useful apps and Nokia Windows Phone handsets will be well armed when launched.

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Nokia is mixing all the cards and doing something nobody has expected — there are rumors that Nokia is working on a new linux-based operating system called Meltemi for its low-end devices.

I guess it seems ridiculous only at the first sight. Do you really think Nokia would bind its future with Microsoft only? I think Stephen Elop is too prudent to have only one strategy or bet Nokia’s money on one platform.

47 percent of Nokia’s shipped phones are feature phones, which means a huge part of Nokia’s incomes is formed from these handsets. So this platform can bring some recency to the low-end devices. Those who don’t follow Nokia’s activity may think this is a drastic step, but truly Nokia talked about this a while ago not hiding its intention to bring a touch UI to its Java-based Series 40 platform. Moreover, the company has already mentioned — and not once — its plans to work on touch and app enabled affordable devices. So it looks like Meltemi is the realization one of these projects.

P.S. Meltemi is a Greek word meaning the Northern winds hitting the Aegean sea in summer.

What do you think, why has Nokia chosen this name?

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We are still waiting for the first Nokia Windows Phone device to hit the stores of the popular carriers. And though the devices are not announced yet, the first applications for those devices are already available. Espoo has managed to publish information about the first Nokia WP application!

The new application is called “App Highlights.” It allows to have a quick access to different WP applications serving as an aggregator. And it’s obvious from the description of the application mentioning that it helps to find “the latest and hottest applications.”  The app is going to include not only blank applications but various features connected with the applications, such as the possible update packages, content and description of the applications, most wanted list for the apps in local and global market.

App Highlights is already available for download from Zune Marketplace. This means that the release of the first Nokia Windows Phone is close.

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It’s always interesting to see how a special operating system works on a handset that has been made to run completely another platform. Practically we can meet a lot of cases like that, and there are always enthusiasts to dig inside the system and offer something new, something different. Generally, MMMOOO are famous for such things as they have made several launchers on Symbian that imitated other platforms like Android and iOS. Nowadays, when everyone is talking about the Nokia Windows Phone smartphones, it is very interesting to learn how Nokia’s upcoming handsets running Windows Phone will look.

The group has made something they called “WP7 Green Launcher,” and it’s available at Ovi Store for free. A Nokia fan has downloaded and tried it out on his Nokia N8. WP7 Green Launcher offers:

• Green tiles, white background (cannot be changed)
• Can open relevant apps as indicated by tile
• Cannot swipe right into the app menu
• Does not have flick/smooth scrolling.
• Still early phase, MMMOOO say they will release a new version that will be more like WP7.

You also can watch this video to understand how Nokia Windows Phone smartphones will look and act.

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