News
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The Phones Show 96 and PSC15 now live
Live this morning are The Phones Show 96, embedded below but of only tangential interest here perhaps, featuring an extended news, an introduction to the Nokia N900, a user story taking in iPhone, Nokia N97 and HTC Hero, and AAS's kevwright giving his Top 10 iPhone apps. Also live is Phones Show Chat 15, the hour long weekly audio podcast, in which Tim Salmon and I talk about our Nokia N97-centric (seemingly) universe(!), about Podcasting, about the Nokia E72 and about implications from Nokia's Capital Markets Day.
Steve Litchfield · 04 December 2009 -
Nokia's masterplan for 2010 and beyond (Capital Markets Day)
At its annual Capital Markets Day, Nokia has laid out its masterplan for 2010 and beyond. Extracts from the full press release are reproduced below (there are several nuggets of interest) and Rafe and Ewan weigh in with a few comments of their own. None of them will come as a suprise to regular readers, but it is good to see Nokia laying out a framework for the next 12 months.
Rafe Blandford, Steve Litchfield · 02 December 2009 -
"Is the rest of the world enough for Nokia?" asks Om Malik?
A fun discussion with Om Malik and Nokia's Services EVP Tero Ojanpera has been posted on GigaOm. Malik rightly points out that, given his previous coverage, this wasn't going to be a chat over tea and cream cakes for the Finn. Still, it's a good sign that it did happen. My comments below.
Ewan Spence · 01 December 2009 -
Qt 4.6 released - Symbian and Maemo support
Qt 4.6 was released by Nokia this morning. This is the first full release version of Qt to natively support Symbian and Maemo 6. Also released today is the second technology preview for Maemo 5, which enables (partial) common development between Maemo and Symbian for the first time. Additionally a technology preview of new Qt APIs, from the Qt Mobility project, has been released; these cross-platform APIs provide common mobile related functionality such as location, contacts, messaging and bearer management.
Rafe Blandford · 01 December 2009 -
Nokia alleges price-fixing in LCD markets
Nokia have filed suit in San Francisco against a number of LCD manufacturers (including Samsung and LG) claiming they colluded to fix pricing on LCD panels (reports Bloomberg). In Nokia's words “the liquid crystal displays were incorporated into Nokia mobile wireless handsets... [and] artificially inflated the price of liquid crystal displays ultimately incorporated into LCD products purchased by Nokia, causing Nokia to pay higher prices.”
Ewan Spence · 01 December 2009 -
Piracy is not the problem, piracy is the catalyst
Pinch Media, who provide analytic software for developers on Apple's phones, are estimating that piracy rates are as high as 60% on the iPhone (reports Pocket Gamer). You can be sure that this number is matched on Symbian, Windows Mobile other mobile platforms. The level of piracy nowadays is incredibly high. Apple's iPhone may be pointed out here, but a little bit of exploration online and every games console can be found to be exploited. Read on for my thoughts, though.
Ewan Spence · 19 November 2009 -
Nokia officials 'reveal' Nseries future and Symbian-Maemo transition
Nokia has (allegedly) officially spoken up (albeit at a Maemo-only event) about its plans for Maemo to take over new Nseries models by 2012, reports Ben Smith over at TRMP. According to the Nokia representatives at the event, although further Nseries Symbian-powered smartphones will appear in the meantime, it seems that after 2012, Symbian OS will power the new Xseries and Eseries smartphones and Maemo 5 will power the eye-candy-heavy Nseries top end. Of course, IF that is to happen, there's an awful lot of work needed by the Maemo team - watch for our analysis here both on All About Symbian and All About Maemo. Updated: Nokia official statement on the report below.
Steve Litchfield · 18 November 2009 -
Sygic turn-by-turn navigation on N900 by the end of the year
Sygic, a software company that creates voice guided, turn by turn, GPS navigation software for mobile devices, today announced that its product would be available for Maemo 5 and the Nokia N900 by the end of the year. The software will include mapping coverage for Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, USA, Canada, Mexico, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and all of Europe. Read on for further details and screenshot.
Rafe Blandford · 13 November 2009 -
Symbian to Maemo 5, N97 to N900?
There are a few people in the mobile ecosystem whose opinion I make sure to listen to. Mark Guim has been around the block almost as long as I have and here provides a (month) long term review of the Nokia N900, running Maemo 5, of course. If you're currently using an N97 (for example) and had been wondering whether the grass was greener on the other side, his review should answer your questions. Summary? If you live in the browser, you'll love the N900 - if you live in apps and media, then best stick with Symbian and the N97.
Steve Litchfield · 13 November 2009 -
N900 ships from factory, in stores soon
On Tuesday the Nokia N900 started shipping from the factory to retailers and distributors. N900s are currently being made in Nokia's Korean factory. Shipment from the factory to retailers usually takes a few days; you can therefore expect the N900 to start becoming available in retail channels at the end of this week. The N900 is shipping into Europe, North America, the Middle East and Russia. Availability will vary by country and retail channel.
Rafe Blandford · 12 November 2009