Posted 10/23/09 at 05:46:20 PM by Jason Barry

Nokia has lost significant mobile domination due to new smartphone players, namely Apple. Well, Nokia isn’t sitting idly by; it is suing Apple for the infringement of 10 patents “fundamental for devices using GSM, UMTS and/or local area network standards” according to Nokia. The patents all pertain to wireless data, speech coding, security, and encryption inherent in all iPhone models.

Without a doubt, this will be a long drawn out battle. Both companies have enormous legal teams and huge amounts of cash. It is also extremely unlikely to affect either bottom-line. According to Avian Securities analyst Matthew Thornton, “we have a hard time seeing a material risk to either company.”

The frivolous lawsuits are getting a touch out of hand. At the same time, if you stand on the shoulders of technological giants, the least you can do is offer them a cold lemonade. What other choice do these companies have?

Image Credit: Wired

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Posted 10/14/09 at 09:53:47 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Nokia has announced that its upcoming netbook, the Booklet 3G, will make its U.S. debut in November. AT&T and Best Buy will serve as the Finnish mobile phone giant’s launch partners. The netbook will be available for $299 with a two-year AT&T service contract.

Those not too keen on a two-year contract can buy the untethered version for $599. The choice seems to be between Mt Everest and K2. In an attempt to tap the launch of Windows 7, Best Buy will begin accepting orders for the netbook on October 22nd.

The Intel Atom-powered device features Windows 7 Home Premium, a 10.1” screen, Wi-Fi, inbuilt 3G connectivity, GPS, a 120GB HDD and 1GB RAM.

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Posted 09/17/09 at 03:07:19 PM by Jason Barry

Nokia is looking out for its visually impaired cell phone users.  While most blind people have no problem using cell phones—reading text messages presents a challenge.  Short of dynamic polymers to magically create bumps on a touch screen to simulate Braille, it takes some ingenuity to try and solve this problem.

Screen reading software has been around for some time and provides an adequate solution to phone navigation and text messaging.  However, a silent implementation remained out-of-reach until recently.  Nokia Labs developed a solution for its latest touch screen phones that uses a combination of tactile vibration techniques to simulate Braille reading. 

You can (ironically) watch a video of the app in action as well as grab the free download.

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Posted 09/03/09 at 07:30:40 AM by Paul Lilly

Nokia last week confirmed plans to release a netbook under the 'Nokia Booklet 3G' moniker, but other than a claimed 12-hour battery life, the handset-maker has kept tight-lipped about what's inside its first netbook. Until now.

Under the hood, the Booklet 3G will sport an Intel Atom Z350 processor (1.6GHz), 1GB of DDR2-533 memory soldered to the motherboard, and a 120GB hard drive with 8MB of cache. Other goodies include 802.11 a/b/g/n, 3G/HSPA with hot swappable sim card, an HDMI port, 1.3MP webcam, and a 16 cell battery.

On the software front, Nokia's netbook will be built around Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 OS and come pre-loaded with a couple of trialware apps, including MS Office Small Business and F-Secure Internet Security 2010.

More details here.

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Posted 08/28/09 at 04:45:25 PM by Paul Lilly

Nokia on Thursday officially unveiled its N900 smartphone. Built around the open-source, Linux-based Maemo software, Nokia says you can expect "a PC-like experience on a handset-sized device."

Under the hood, the N900 sports an ARM Coretex-A8 CPU, up to 1GB of application memory, and OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics acceleration. According to Nokia, this combination gives the end-user PC-like multitasking, allowing many applications to run simultaneously.

Other features include a high-res WVGA touchscreen, full Adobe Flash 9.4 support, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 32GB of storage expandable up to 48GB via a microSD card, and a built-in 5MB camera with Carl Zeiss optics.

Nokia says the N900 will launch in October for select markets at a price of 500 EUR, or about $718 USD.

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Posted 08/26/09 at 09:53:28 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Asustek may have put its plans to develop an Android-based smartbook on the back burner but that is unlikely to deter other companies from dabbling in smartbooks. According to Digitimes, Taiwan’s leading technology rumormonger, Nokia is said to be working on an ARM-based smartbook. The news comes from Digitimes’ sources at Taiwanese handset makers.

The handset makers expect Nokia to launch the smartbook only after its maiden netbook, the Nokia Booklet 3G, hits the market sometime in early 2010. The smartbook, if it does materialize, would most likely run Symbian or Maemo QS. Windows does not currently support ARM processors and Microsoft has categorically vetoed any plans to make the two compatible.

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Posted 08/24/09 at 12:27:23 PM by Paul Lilly

Rumored no more, Nokia today finally confirmed plans to release a netbook, or a mini-laptop if you'd prefer to call it that. As for Nokia, it's calling the portable PC the Nokia Booklet 3G.

The Booklet 3G weighs less than 3 pounds (1.25kg) and measures just over 2cm. It boasts a 10-inch glass HD ready display, an Intel Atom processor, built-in A-GPS (works with Ovi Maps), WiFi, an HDMI port, and an SD card reader. But the biggest spec might be the claimed 12 hour battery.

"Nokia has a long and rich heritage in mobility and with the outstanding battery life, premium design, and all day, always on connectivity, we will create something quite compelling," Nokia wrote in a press release. "In doing so, we will make the personal computer more social, more helpful, and more personal."

Nokia said it will unveil other details, including detailed specifications, availability, and price at Nokia World on September 2, 2009.

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Posted 08/13/09 at 06:28:44 PM by Andy Salisbury

According to Gartner, Inc., a business technology research company, cell phone sales totaled 286.1 million units during the second quarter of this year – a 6.1 percent decrease over the second quarter of last year. But, smart phone sales picked up considerable steam surpassing 40 million units in sales, a 27 percent increase from the second quarter of last year.

“Despite the challenging market, some devices sold well as consumers who would usually have purchased standard midrange devices either cut back to less expensive handsets or moved up the range to get more features for their money,” stated Carolina Milanesi, a research director at Gartner. “Touchscreen and qwerty devices remained a major driver for replacement sales and benefited manufacturers with strong, touch-focused midtier devices. However, the decline in average selling price (ASP) accelerated in the first half of the year and particularly affected manufacturers that focus on midtier and low-end devices, where margins are already slim.”

A great deal of this is credited to Apple’s expansion to a larger number of countries, which has had a clear effect on volume. Still though, companies like Nokia with their N97 and Research In Motion (RIM) with their popular BlackBerry line continued to dominate the number one and two positions respectively.

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