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  • Stephen Elop in an Interview About Nokia and Windows

    In an interview with people at The Verge, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, was extremely pleased regarding the company’s performance after the first year of strategic partnership with Microsoft.

    Being obviously aware of the negative consequences of the radical strategy change, of which the most important is workforce reduction, Stephen Elop said that Nokia is currently in the middle of transition. Regarding the transition to Microsoft, Nokia CEO said: “One year after making big decisions on the company, I’m surer than ever that I made the right decisions”.

    Nokia’s impact on the development of Windows Phone starts to be felt just now, and the Finnish company still wants to influence the direction of this platform. Given that Microsoft is centralizing the entire ecosystem around the Metro interface, examples being Windows Phone, Windows 8 or Xbox Live, Stephen Elop showed confidence in expanding the Nokia’s influence towards multi-platform horizons, but this influence is currently in an early stage, details still being premature.

    As expected, in what concerns the tablets, Elop has shown interested in the field but also the reluctance, trying to make the best decision in this crowded market.

    Asked about the amalgamation of smartphones launched at MWC 2012, including those under the Nokia brand, Stephen Elop gave a cold and calculated answer: “Which one do you remember?” Unfortunately, a lack of differentiation between terminals it only reflects in a lot of terminals that will not keep the headlines too much.

    Regarding the last star in MWC 2012 – Nokia 808 PureView – and the decision to boost it with Symbian OS, the CEO said that the technology had to come out, being the best method at this time.

    In what concerns the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign, Stephen Elop has also shown his appreciation and enthusiasm. He said such an aggressive campaign based on tests and usage scenarios, rather than tables of specifications, is exactly what the platform needed in order to win in growth.

    However, it remains to be seen what Nokia will be up to over the next year or if Nokia will still exist…

    Read the full interview at The Verge.

  • MWC 2012: Nokia Launches New Handsets and Services

    Nokia announced a new range of products, services and partnerships at Mobile World Congress. Stephen Elop, President and CEO of Nokia, presented the fourth terminal Lumia, smarter mobile phones and a new range of services.

    Lumia Portfolio Expands
    Nokia has extended its range of products with Windows Phone by introducing the new Nokia Lumia 610, the most affordable Lumia terminal released so far. The manufacturer plans to expand availability of Lumia 900 in several markets outside the U.S.

    Created for those seeking a first affordable Lumia handset with Windows Phone, Nokia Lumia 610 provides quick access to social networking, web browser, music, games, navigation and applications in Windows Phone Marketplace. The phone will be available in four colors at an estimated retail price of only EUR 189 before taxes and subsidies, and deliveries are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of this year.

    Nokia Lumia 900, launched in January as the first Nokia smartphone compatible with the LTE standard, will be available with the dual-carrier HSPA technology of up to 42.2 Mbps. The top experience of the content displayed on the 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack capacitive screen of the handset and the battery with extended capacity will be available in several countries worldwide.

    Nokia also announced the application Nokia Reading, which will provide an integrated experience of reading. With Nokia Reading, users will enjoy easier and faster news, books, audio books, including a catalog of reading material in local languages and the ability to access content offline.

    Ads come after a year when Nokia launched Lumia 710, 800 and 900 before the dates anticipated, the devices being well accepted in the industry.

    Nokia 808 PureView
    Nokia 808 PureView is the first smartphone with the exclusive imaging technology Nokia PureView, which allows integration of a wide range of high quality photo experience on Nokia products in the coming years.

    Nokia 808 PureView combines a large sensor of high resolution, 41 megapixel (!!!), Carl Zeiss optics and oversampling technology developed by Nokia. The result consists of razor sharp pictures, to the smallest detail, superior performance in low light conditions and the ability to save images as smaller files to send via email, MMS or distribution in social networks.

    Nokia 808 PureView also includes Nokia Rich Recording for CD quality audio recording, HD 1080p video recording and playback and exclusive technology Dolby Headphone, which transforms any stereo content into a personal surround sound experience, regardless the headset used.

    Asha, Smarter and Smarter Mobile Terminals
    Finnish manufacturer makes the transition from terminals with basic capabilities to smartphones, launching three new Asha handsets for users who want to work, learn and play.

    Designed for urban consumers and entrepreneurs, Nokia Asha 302 is a premium device with QWERTY keyboard, providing a mobile work experience with push email, calendar and contacts synchronization with Mail for Exchange support – a new capability offered by Nokia S40 handsets.

    Designed for quick access to social networks, Nokia Asha 202 and 203 bring the touchscreen on affordable products and offers a package of 40 games from Electronic Arts. Asha 202 also offers the Nokia Easy Swap technology for dual-SIM terminals, which allows users to easily switch between SIM cards and to enjoy the benefits  of tariff plans offered by operators.

    Another different factor is represented by the update of the well-known service Life Tools, renamed Nokia Life, which provides useful information on Nokia S30 and S40 but also on the new Asha 202 and Asha 203 as well.

    Users in India, China, Indonesia and Nigeria will receive helpful tips for daily life, child growth and education, education, agriculture and entertainment, delivered via SMS.

    The new Asha handsets complete the Nokia Asha range, now available in over 100 countries worldwide.

    Further, Faster
    In the location-based services, Nokia and Groupon plans to launch competitive offers and discounts on market. Nokia also announces a new version of Nokia Drive for Windows Phone, which will include full support for step-by-step offline navigation. In addition, Nokia Drive will retain personal paths with the public transportation, will provide traffic information and will automatically reconfigure routes in order to avoid traffic congestions.

    Nokia also plans to launch a version for Windows Phone of Nokia Transport, which will provide information on the routes on foot, by metro, tram, suburban trains and buses in over 500 cities in 45 countries worldwide.

  • The 2012 Global Mobile Awards Nominations

    The GSMA announced nominees for the 17th annual Global Mobile Awards. The winners will be presented on Tuesday, 28th February at the GSMA Mobile World Congress. In total, 158 nominees have been shortlisted.

    For 2012, the GSMA introduced 18 new awards, with notable developments in categories such as ‘Apps of the Year’, ‘Mobile Innovation’, ‘Mobile Marketing and Advertising’, and ‘Social and Economic Development’. In addition, the ‘Best New Mobile Handset, Device or Tablet at the Mobile World Congress’ will be selected from those on show at the annual mobile event.

    Here are the nominees:

    Best smartphone
    Apple iPhone 4S
    HTC Desire S
    Nokia Lumia 800
    Samsung Galaxy Nexus
    Samsung Galaxy S II

    Best Feature or Entry Level Phone
    Nokia C2-03
    Nokia C3-00
    Nokia C3-01
    Samsung Ch@t 335 (Samsung S3350)

    Best Mobile Tablet
    Acer Iconia Tab A500/501
    Amazon Kindle Fire
    Apple iPad 2
    Asus Eee Pad Transformer
    Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

    Best Consumer Application
    Facebook Messenger
    Talking Tom Cat 2
    Angry Birds Rio
    Blast Monkeys
    Hanging With Friends

    Best Enterprise Application
    Cisco AnyConnect
    GoToMeeting
    Citrix Receiver
    Share Plus: SharePoint Mobile Client
    Forsquare

    Best Application – jury selection
    Evernote
    FlipBoard
    Google Maps
    LinkedIn
    WhatsApp

    Most Innovative Application
    biNu
    Divide
    Google Wallet
    Thrutu (TM)
    Shazam App
    SwiftKey X

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  • LG Optimus 3D and Nokia X7: The Battle Continues!

    Apple, HTC and Samsung are very popular brands among users, but LG, Nokia and even Sony Ericsson do not even think to give up the fight to attract customers. In terms of smartphones, some would say that Apple is the benchmark, the most successful competitors being Samsung and HTC. But, as past experience shows, this classification does not remain the same forever.

    Four years ago mobile phones were the latest fashion, and one of the producers which is now criticized by analysts, was then the absolute leader of the mobile phones market. It is about Nokia. Finns have not yet given up the pursuit of success in the touchscreen segment, which are coming up with the X7 model, a smartphone described as a powerful and aesthetic smartphone, running the latest version of Symbian 3, namely Anna.

    LG wants to succeed too and tries through innovative powers to emphasize: LG P920 Optimus 3D is the first mobile phone that can capture images and record video in 3D and play it on display without requiring special glasses. This is definitely a premiere.

    But are they offering enough novelties in order to come closer to the success recorded by the renowned producers?

    LG Optimus 3D

    If there would have been any competition, then LG would have won: South Koreans were able to release the first 3D mobile on the market. The technical benchmark P920 Optimus 3D is available on the market for around $ 800. In addition, in exchange for that price, the customer is offered more than a standard smartphone with 3D functions. Optimus is part of the new upper class mobile telecom.

    Nokia X7

    With the X7, Nokia enters a scene where are already several candidates. Only HTC has five smartphones with 4-inch or larger screens. Large displays’ charm is revealed very quickly in practice. Whether it’s about games, movies or surfing the Internet, those who held in hand a smartphone with a 4-inch display will hardly like a smaller display. Not only playing multimedia content is more pleasant but also writing and editing text with a virtual keyboard takes advantage of the large surface.

    You may also want to read:
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  • The Year in Which the World Divided Between Samsung and Apple

    South Koreans have surpassed the U.S. in sales of smartphones in 2011, but the holidays can bring Apple into the top.

    "For Europe, the fourth quarter is not marked by the usual craziness of the holidays. Economic problems made users more demanding," said Carolina Milanesi, analyst at Gartner. In this context, difficult from the economic point of view, experts have estimated that in the last quarter of 2011 will be sold over 140 million smartphones. The absolute leaders are Samsung and Apple, while Nokia, HTC and Research in Motion are only collecting the crumbs.

    Regarding the latter, analysts are not too confident. "Basically, it’s only about the iPhone family and the Samsung Galaxy family. Only they are flying off the shelves. The rest gather what's left," said a specialist at the analysis firm Strategy Analytics.

    In fact, 2011 marked a radical change of the mobile phone market, the third quarter being the one when the South Korean manufacturer Samsung has come first in top sales of smartphones. Apple responded with iPhone 4S, but the results of the final battle will appear at the beginning of 2012, when manufacturers will make the sales stock. South Koreans have counted on the two flagships – Samsung Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Nexus – while Apple has had success with the new 4S. According to Reuters, the company founded by Steve Jobs estimates the sales during the holiday season will reach almost 28 million units, an increase of 70% over the fourth quarter of last year.

    At the same time, although being leader at the total number of terminals sold, Samsung is unable to compete with the Americans in terms of individual sales. Thus, the Galaxy SII – the most valuable product of Asians – has reached this year 10 million units sold, well below iPhone’s. Holidays will be defining and stabilizing the market position of Galaxy Nexus, the first phone with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and with technical specifications far better than those seen on the iPhone 4S.

    2011 has brought Nokia’s decline

    Although has introduced new Windows phones, Nokia is not able to regain the leadership lost in the second quarter of 2011. Although still in the top with the total number of terminals sold, Finns are particularly preferred for their very cheap devices, but that do not reinforce the commercial power of the Finnish producer. According to latest data, in the UK, Nokia Lumia 800 is only the sixth most popular phone. The bad news continues: in the last quarter, Finns’ sales will fall by 31% compared to the same period last year.

  • RIM Takeover: Microsoft, Nokia and Amazon Are Interested

    Bosses of Microsoft and Nokia have carried out several discussions in the recent months with the Canadians from RIM (Research in Motion), the manufacturer of BlackBerry phones, in an attempt to build extensive partnerships regarding the future of RIM, company whose shares have reached the minimum value of the last eight years.

    Amazon was also interested in the RIM takeover, but Canadians are determined to reject all the bids, following the idea that they can solve the company problems on their own.

    Discussions status is unknown, but the fact that this kind of discussions took place highlights the severity of the problems faced lately by RIM.

    The company posted results below expectations in Q4, while RIM shares are trading now at a value of more than four times less than 12 months ago.

    Currently, RIM capitalization is 2.83 times the annual income, the figure being the lowest among all players in the telecommunications industry with a value of over $ 1 billion.

    RIM is facing lately with a lot of problems, the company announcing recently that it will delay the launch of its latest BlackBerry handsets.

    In addition, BlackBerry smartphones have steadily lost market share against its competitors, Apple’s iPhone or terminals equipped with Android.

    RIM has failed on the tablets market too. Its 7-inch Playbook tablet launched this year by the Canadian company, recorded sales well below expectations. In order to counter this fail, the device was gradually reduced in pricing from about $ 500 to about $ 200, another fact proving the delicate situation faced by the Canadians at RIM.

  • HTC Failed With the New Smartphone Range – Sales Drop by 30%

    HTC hardly manages to attract the interest of users with the current range of smartphones, ending November with disappointing sales – 30% less than previous month. The trend is even more worrying in the context of the upcoming winter shopping season, usually marked by increase in sales and significant earnings.

    The company has not explained why the steep decline in demand for its products, but it’s easy to understand: HTC bombarded us lately with many new models, most of high quality, well built, but with an undiversified design, which simply don’t manage to attract public attention.

    Sales for November dropped to $ 1.03 billion, compared with $ 1.46 billion in October. Really worrying is the 20-percent decrease from the same period of 2010, when HTC recorded sales of $ 1.27 billion.

    Even if it’s too early to compare HTC with Nokia, it’s clear that both companies need to reinvent themselves in order to survive in the increasingly dynamic market of smartphones and tablets.

    HTC currently enjoys a large number of fans, but they are not nearly as numerous and devoted as those of some heavy competitors like Apple. In the absence of some production facilities with resources comparable to Samsung, for example, HTC cannot bet too much on models with an extravagant design, through which to seduce its users. On the other hand, the company focused more on services and custom software, but without much enthusiasm.

    Unfortunately for HTC, software features such as Sense UI begin to lose their importance as Google continues to improve the native interface of their Android operating system, so that HTC needs more than ever to focus on the product itself and not on additional features, otherwise risking taking the same way as Nokia.

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  • Nokia Sells Luxury Division Vertu

    Nokia wants to sell the luxury phone line Vertu as part of restructuring the company. Given the problems faced by the Finnish phone manufacturer and the quite difficult adoption of the Microsoft’s operating system for its phones, Nokia has done a pretty natural step in thinking about selling the luxury division Vertu.

    Nokia missed the trend of technology and now is struggling to get rid of all its businesses that suddenly became unprofitable. After closing several factories all over the world, where they were producing cheap phones, Nokia is now trying to get rid of its “Crown Jewel” – Vertu luxury handset division.

    The UK-based subsidiary that manufactures phones with a starting price of at least 1,000 pounds, designed for those who can afford throwing money on a weak terminal in terms of performance, but with a case made of rare materials and with inlays in rubies or diamonds.

    According to sources close to the talks, it seems that Goldman Sachs mediates this sale. Although no one knows the value of the Vertu Company, its annual revenues are estimated at EUR 200-300 million.

    Vertu was considered an exclusive brand, and even if, technologically speaking, the phone wasn’t that brilliant, the handset compensated through the materials used – gold, silver, diamonds, sapphires. Thus, the phone was seen more as a luxury accessory than a functional object, needed every day.

    The latest model of the company – Constellation – which has a 3.5-inch AMOLED screen and 8-megapixel camera has a price of £ 10,000 if purchased with options such as crocodile leather and diamonds.  True value of these terminals does not come from the sum of technical specs or materials used but from certain VIP service of specialized consultants that can make recommendations about any field and set up meetings with other exclusive members worldwide.

    There are no details about potential buyers, but according to international media, there are only several investment funds interested in purchasing the Nokia subsidiary. Whoever will take over Vertu, will have a lot of work to do – phone design is exceeded, while the gold and the diamonds cannot compensate the performance needed by users.

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  • Nokia N9, Love at Second Sight

    Nokia N9, the charismatic smartphone with MeeGo OS is one of those gadgets that after an initial period of time conquers you irremediably thanks to its outstanding design and its fresh and different operating system.

    You cannot feel a certain sadness at the thought that the N9 will get a limited release and the promising MeeGo will be placed somewhere on a shelf where it will be getting dusty.

    Slim and stylish
    Nokia N9 has a minimalistic casing, with a thickness of only 12 mm and a curved AMOLED ClearBlack screen of 3.9 inches, having a resolution of 854 x 480 pixels. Its colorful menu icons, displayed by the splendid screen, perfectly contrast with the black matte case.

    Nokia had the kindness to include in package a case designed to protect the casing from scratches. Its casing impresses primarily by impairing the phone’s design, going almost unnoticed, which unfortunately cannot be said for many smartphones.

    Fresh air
    Nokia N9 uses MeeGo 1.2 Harmattan, the most refined version of the operating system developed by Nokia in collaboration with Intel. For those familiar with Android’s key layout or with the iPhone’s Home key, the no-button interaction used by N9 will definitely be an interesting experience.

    After using intensively the Android OS and the iOS, MeeGo seems a breeze of freshness. Vivid icons, fluid animations and a very modern look dominate the N9 operating system's interface. An example is the clock – in order to set the alarm you have to turn the two disks associated with hours and minutes.

    The menu and the applications are working excellent, despite the fact that the hardware used by Nokia N9 is not very impressive. The phone has a Cortex A8 processor at 1GHz, but is helped by 1GB RAM and a GPU PowerVR SGX530. The internal memory is 16 or 64 GB.

    Camera
    Upon hearing the news that Nokia will launch the N9, many fans were expecting the smartphone to have an even better camera than the one on N8. Things are not quite so, the Finnish giant preferring a different approach for the N9. The phone has an 8-megapixel camera with a smaller sensor than in N8 but with the same excellent Carl Zeiss optics.

    N9 also offers 720p video shooting, something not very impressive considering that we already have plenty of smartphones with 1080p. Videos are also decent, but nothing remarkable.

    Camera interface is complex, providing access to a multitude of options, from setting the ISO exposure, geo-tagging, formatting or selecting one of the six different scenes.

    Applications
    The ecosystem of applications should be the Achilles heel for Nokia N9, taking into account the somewhat limited offer from Ovi Store, but things are not so. You will not have access to the hundreds of thousands of applications in the App Store, but you will find applications mainly covering the needs list and also some top games. You have access to dedicated applications for Facebook, Twitter, multimedia playback applications or games like Angry Birds or NFS Shift.

    Nokia N9 supports a wide range of files, both office and multimedia. With the Documents application you can open text files or PDFs, while the video player supports MKVs. No shortage of navigation applications Maps and Drive or the Ovi Music service.

    Nokia N9 shows those who criticized the lack of innovation of the Finnish giant that the flame has not yet been extinguished and that Nokia can still be a milestone in the mobile world. The problem is that Nokia N9 arrived a year too late, has a pretty high price and is not enjoying the deserved attention.

    We will probably see phones with hardware and design similar with N9’s during the Nokia World event, but that will run Windows Phone Mango.

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  • iPhone 5 Arrives Today!

    Today is the day when the long-awaited launch of iPhone 5 will take place, during the “Let’s Talk iPhone” event held in Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, at 10:00am PDT.

    The new smartphone is expected to be presented by the new Apple's CEO Tim Cook, but it’s possible that Apple’s founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs, will make his appearance at this much-coveted event.

    Apple hopes to produce five, maybe six million units in October, and by the end of the year to reach the impressive number of 22 million.

    According to sources inside the company, cited these days by international media, the new iPhone 5 would feature a 4-inch retina display, with a resolution of 960×640 pixels, 1 GB RAM and a new A5 Dual Core processor of 1.4 GHz, 60% faster than the one used on iPhone 4. Apple’s new product is expected to have an 8-megapixel camera, capable of HD recording in 1080p.

    The new smartphone would also include the iCloud technology, which allows user to store music, movies and other files, that can be accessed remotely. In addition, the new iPhone 5 would have the possibility of being charged wirelessly.

    The same sources said that iPhone 5 will be available in only two versions, black and white, of 16 and 32 GB respectively. The pricing would start from $639, according to a screen capture that represents a mock-up post which “came to surface” on the telecom operator’s website, Cincinnati Bell.

    Interestingly, Apple representatives might launch today a cheaper version too, called iPhone 4S, which will cost only $99. This one will have a 3.5-inch display, a 5-megapixel camera and A5 Dual Core processor, according to the rumors.

    What the market expects and what Apple has to win

    Brian White, analyst at the financial intermediation company Ticonderoga, believes the demand will be so big that Apple might establish a new sales record by launching iPhone 5, after its predecessor has sold in 1.7 million units in the first three days of presence in stores. The analyst also said that he expects the new model to have a casing similar with MacBook and that Apple will need to upgrade the speed of its processor in order to face the competition with Samsung Galaxy S II.

    Apple has become in the second quarter of this year the producer with the biggest sales of smartphones worldwide. Thus, the company sold 20.34 million units in the second quarter, surpassing Nokia, which was leader in smartphones sales in the first quarter with over 24 million units.

    Even though Apple became leader, the most significant increase in units sold was recorded by Samsung, by selling 19.5 million smartphones in the second quarter. Apple has sold only with about 2 million units extra in the second quarter, while taking the leadership was also caused by the huge loss of Nokia.

    We think that after today’s launch and by enlarging the supply chain, Apple will definitely maintain its leading position. We also expect the launch of the new generation of iPhones to stimulate the sales of the previous Apple’s models by putting them on sale.

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