Nokia 770 Internet Tablet Ships

Nokia 770 WiFi Tablet ShipsWe first reported the news of the existence of the Nokia 770 back in May 2005, when Janne Jormalainen, Vice President of Convergence Products, Multimedia at Nokia showed it to a slightly stunned crowd at LinuxWorld Summit in New York. Now it’s shipping.

At the time, we enthused – naturally. How else could we react to a WiFi-powered Web browsing tablet with a 65k colour screen, that gives 3 days of browsing or 7 days of standby? We saw it as the TV watching buddy that we’ve always wanted. We could finally dump the laptop, removing its leg-heating characteristics at the same time.

Nokia 770 WiFi Tablet ShipsWell today, Nokia are announcing its actual availability and they’ve expanded its capabilities to enable Web browsing using Bluetooth via your mobile.

We were naturally straight on the phone to Nokia, lining up our review copy. We’d been aware of a version floating around for a while, but knew the release of software it had on it really didn’t cut the mustard. Soon, dear reader our impression of it will be revealed.

Nokia 770 WiFi Tablet ShipsFor Linux hackers everywhere, there’s the great excitement that the 770 will be running Debian Linux, with the new platform – derived from the Linux GNOME UI – going under the name “maemo”. Development on maemo has continued since May and the end of October saw the release of maemo 1.1 Release Candidate 5. They’ve even given it the fancy new name of Nokia Internet Tablet 2005, if you please.

Nokia are actively encouraging ‘Hackers’ to produce software for it. They’ve even got a maemo WiKi (shock, horror).

Nokia 770 WiFi Tablet ShipsVoIP was hinted at back in May. It’s now been confirmed by our old mate Janne Jormalainen, “During the first half of year 2006 we will launch the next operating system upgrade to support more presence based functionalities such as VoIP and Instant Messaging.”

For once with a technology product, Europe will be seeing this little beauty first, with the US having to wait a whole week longer. Prices appear to have shifted a little, upwards sadly, to €350 ($412, £240).

Nokia 770

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 Announced

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedNokia has announced three more Nokia N series multimedia devices, the Nokia N92 (the world’s first mobile device with a built-in DVB-H receiver), the Nokia N71 and the Nokia N80.

All three multimedia -tastic handsets support all GSM bands, 3G, WLAN, corporate email access and advanced voice functionality (including IP PBX connectivity over WLAN), and come with integrated security features.

Nokia N92

Most interesting is the Nokia N92, which has the honour of being the world’s first mobile device with a built-in DVB-H receiver, letting users watch and record live TV on the move.

A curious swivelling, flip-top affair, the N92 comes with a large (2.8″) anti-glare QVGA screen supporting 16 million colours and dedicated media keys

The Nokia N92 sports a shedload of functionality for watching and searching for TV programs, with an Electronic Service Guide (ESG) offering information about available TV channels, programs and services

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedUsing the built in software, users can also create personal channel lists, subscribe to TV-channel packages, set program reminders and interact through services such as voting, program feedback and additional web discovery.

For web surfing, the Nokia N92 comes with the new Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map, which displays a semi-transparent zoomed-out view of a web page, enabling users to quickly zip about a large page on a small screen.

Branded as a Nokia XpressMusic device, the handset offers up to 2 GB memory card support, and ships with built-in stereo speakers and stereo headset.

The N92 also comes with a digital music player, FM radio with Visual Radio support (providing interactive information on playing songs and artists) and an onboard 2 megapixel camera.

Connectivity is ably taken care of with Wi-Fi, infrared, Bluetooth and USB 2.0 support.

Based on S60 3rd Edition and Symbian OS, the Nokia N92 is expected to be in the shops by mid 2006 in Europe, with a price tag around €600.

Nokia N80

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedSporting WLAN and 3G, the Nokia N80 is being touted as the world’s first handset to feature UPnP technology, and has the ability to be used as a remote control for wirelessly swapping content between PCs, audio equipment and TVs.

So long as all the gear is compatible, images and video stored on a Nokia N80 can be viewed on a TV, while MP3s on the handset can be played through an audio system.

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedPhotos snapped on the Nokia N80 can also be printed wirelessly to any UPnP-enabled printer or photo kiosk.

Nokia N80 is also the first quadband handset designed to work on 3G (WCDMA 1900 or 2100), WLAN, EDGE and four GSM bands (850/900/1800/1900).

The phone features a sliding design with a high definition, 352 x 416 pixels display.

There’s a hefty 3 megapixel camera with capture key, full-screen landscape capture, a close-up mode switch and CIF video capture with inbuilt video stabilisation.

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedStorage comes in the form of 40 MB of internal memory, with support for miniSD cards of up to 2 GB.

The Nokia N80 has a built in digital music player and stereo FM radio with Visual Radio support.

Available in the first quarter of 2006, the price is expected to be €500.

Nokia N71

Finally, we come to the N71, another member of the Nokia XpressMusic family.

Billed as a “pocket-sized entertainment system”, the Nokia N71 comes with a stereo FM radio, support for digital music and videos and new Nokia Web Browser with Mini Map.

Nokia N92 With DVB-H Receiver, N80, N71 AnnouncedWe could only find a teensy-weensy picture of the 3G clam phone as we went to print, but we can tell you that is has two displays and two cameras, one of which is a 2-megapixel camera.

Speaking at the Nokia Mobility Conference, Nokia Chairman and CEO Jorma Ollila bigged up digital convergence:

“We expect the market for convergence devices to double to 100 million units in 2006. Developers, media companies and enterprises are shifting their focus to Nokia’s S60 smartphone platform, as they see the business potential of using it to offer content and ensure secure remote access to corporate applications”

“Convergence is opening up a world of opportunities for our customers and partners, and Nokia is committed to developing the tools, solutions and products to make the promise of the digital industry a reality,” Ollila added.

Nokia

CoolZone: Nokia Open Another Content Channel

CoolZone: Nokia Open Another Content ChannelToday Nokia announced CoolZone, a Bluetooth-based distribution system that lets mobile phone users locally browse, pay for and download content on their mobiles while they are in shops supporting it.

When entering a CoolZone, the mobile user can download an application, customised for the retailer or service provider. Through this they can browse and download music, ringtones, wallpapers and videos which can be DRM protected. Paying for the content will be done at the shops till or using premium-rate SMS.

Firmly throwing the ‘retail opportunity’ language switch to on Sakari Kotola, Director, Nokia Ventures Organization said “Rich digital content is widely available and requires an efficient distribution channel. Local mobility solutions create new types of business possibilities to individuals, location owners and enterprises. CoolZone is a Bluetooth technology based content distribution system available to any retailer or location owner who wants to offer or sell digital content to their customers, and thus enhance the in-store experience,”

CoolZone is the short hand term to describe the Nokia Local Content Channel Solution. This consists of client software for the phone (Symbian client for Series 60, Java for Nokia Series 40 and other manufacturers’ phones), a small multiradio Nokia Service Point (LCP10) installed in each service location and the Nokia Service Manager (LCM10) for centrally managing the service points and the content. While the service is currently Bluetooth based, WLAN will be one of expected additions in the near future, as more phones will offer WLAN capability.

CoolZone: Nokia Open Another Content ChannelAs the user of the service needs the user to download an application to use the service, we can imagine little hacking groups are already forming plans to hang around near these shops offering their own ‘applications’ with similar names to unsuspecting, or inexperience users.

While see this as a good step forward as a new ways distributing content – frankly we’re surprised it’s taken so long to come to reality, we’d thought of it years ago – it’s acceptance among retailers will depend on the financial deal for the operators of these shops. Any retailer considering this will need to realise that anyone in their shop using this service will not be looking at the goods on their shelves when they’ve got their face stuck in their mobile, figuring out which tracks they want to download.

This could go some way to explain why the first limited trial is publicly available at three Free Record Shop music stores and three Rober’s Coffee cafés in Helsinki area, Finland – they have no conflict of interest.

It may be that the slight headless-chicken-mode surrounding digital music current – as those who don’t really understand what is happening but are wowed by the huge growth of iPod – will lead the retailers to blindly jump forward to have CoolZones on their premises.

CoolZone will also be demonstrated at the Nokia Mobility Conference 2005 in Palau de Congressos de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain during November 2-3, 2005 with content from EMI.

Nokia CoolZone

Nokia Unveils L’Amour Collection

Nokia Unveils L'Amour CollectionMobile phone giants Nokia have announced three new phone models aimed at the “style-conscious” market.

The new models, the 7360, 7370 and 7380, are to form part of Nokia’s ludicrously named “L’Amour Collection,” expected on the market in the first quarter of 2006.

Alastair Curtis, Vice President of Design at Nokia’s Mobile Phones division was on hand to trot out the airy-fairy waffle, “For many consumers, the mobile phone has truly become an extension of their personal style – it is a fashion statement as well as an advanced communications device.”

Like Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on steroids, Curtis continued, “Every detail of these products, from the nature-inspired graphics to the velvet-lined pouches, has been carefully considered with the style-conscious individual in mind. We are very confident that consumers who appreciate design and attention to detail will fall in love with the L’Amour Collection.”

The PR team were clearly caught up in the general arty-fartiness, trotting out a load of tosh about how the Nokia 7380 was a “reflection of discerning taste”, the Nokia 7370 “designed to make heads ‘turn’ and the Nokia 7360 somehow managing to exhibit “charming, graceful and compact” qualities.

Trying our best to avoid the loud klaxon noise emanating from our nearby BS Detector, here’s the phones in more detail:

Nokia 7380
Nokia Unveils L'Amour CollectionDesperately described as a phone for “trend-setting men and women who enjoy being the centre of attention,” the highly distinctive 7380 looks like it’s come from the same bonkers design studio as the 7280.

Sporting a keypad-less form and clad in leather with a mirrored display, the slimline fashion phone packs in a 2-megapixel camera with 4x zoom, an MP3 player and intuitive voice dialing.

Fashionistas can expect to fork out around €500 (~£340, ~$600) for the 7380 and should be able to start strutting around and making dramatic mobile fashion statements in Q1, 2006.

Nokia 7370
Nokia Unveils L'Amour CollectionEmploying a sliding keypad, the Nokia 7370 comes with a 2-inch QVGA colour screen (320 x 240 pixels), stereo speakers with 3D sound effects and a 1.3 megapixel camera (8x zoom) onboard.

The designers have gone to town on the fascia, emblazoning it with “beautiful patterns, etched into the elegant metal trims” which are contrasted by “leather-inspired faceplates” which, somehow, add a “romantic appeal and an element of the exotic.”

To be honest, we’d be a bit worried if we met someone who found their mobile phone romantic, but I guess it takes all sorts.

The Nokia 7370 comes in two colour schemes, coffee brown and warm amber, each with matching graphics and screensavers.

The phone should be knocking out for around €300 and available in Q1, 2006.

Nokia Unveils L'Amour CollectionNokia 7360
Looking somewhat more conventional but still, apparently, a phone for “trend-conscious men and women” (albeit cheapskate ones), the bottom of the range Nokia 7360 comes with an integrated VGA camera, stereo FM radio and MP3 ring tones.

It also sports the same silly ‘designer tag’ sticking out the side of the phone as the rest of the range, and is available in the two “signature L’Amour Collection colour schemes”, i.e. brown and amber.

The phone will cost around €200 and gyrating down the nearest catwalk in Q1, 2006.

Nokia

E60; E61; E70: Nokia Launches Eseries Phones For Business Bods

Nokia Launches Eseries Phones For Business BodsNokia has announced the Eseries phones, a new range of devices designed for swivel action execs and be-suited business bods.

With the range initially comprising of three new phones aimed at money-rich, time-poor office types, all the Eseries will run on the Symbian Series 60 platform 3rd Edition, sport QVGA or better displays and incorporate push email including BlackBerry and attachment editing.

The Nokia E60, Nokia E61 and Nokia E70 claim superior voice functionality and quality, with the devices supporting advanced voice services like Internet (Voice over IP) phone calls, Push to talk and SIP-based services, backed by a range of local connectivity options including WLAN, Bluetooth and Infrared and USB.

Nokia Launches Eseries Phones For Business BodsThe devices are the first in the industry to support remote device management based on OMA DM*, letting IT managers remotely control and protect corporate data on the device and fiddle about with phone configurations. Or just have a good nose about.

“When we carefully considered the requirements of our customers when developing these devices, two clear new trends emerged: the need for IT departments’ to have a secure and manageable platform, and the need for devices to support a variety of employee preferences and different working styles,” said Niklas Savander, senior vice president of Nokia’s business device unit.

Nokia E60 (above)
Starting off the new range is the E60, an attractive, traditionally styled 3G phone with VoIP, speakerphone, a 24-bit 352 x 416-pixel display, and a low-voltage RS-MMC slot.

Offering useful business features like integrated speakerphone, conference calling and voice-aided applications like Push to talk, and IP-based telephony, the phone supports GSM/EDGE 900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 2100.

Nokia Launches Eseries Phones For Business BodsNokia E61 (right)
Next up is the E61, which looks to be shoving its slimline oar (0.55 inches) into Treo/Motorola Q/Blackberry territory, with the device supporting multiple mobile email clients like BlackBerry Connect, GoodLink, Nokia Business Center, Seven Mobile Mail, Seven Always-On Mail, and Visto Mobile.

Looking like an E60 after an encounter with an elephant, the wide and flat E61 sports a full QWERTY keyboard, landscape 24-bit QVGA display (352 x 416-pixel display), miniSD slot and quad-band GSM/EDGE and WCDMA 2100 connectivity.

Full attachment handling (documents, spreadsheets, presentations, PDF viewer and ZIP manager) is built in with an editing function for documents, spreadsheets and presentations included.

Nokia Launches Eseries Phones For Business BodsNokia E70 (left)
Finally, the E70 features the same, slightly strange, flip-open QWERTY keyboard phone seen on Nokia’s 6800 series.

The phone comes with a full party box of gizmos and gadgets, including a 352×416-pixel display, 2 megapixel camera with CIF-resolution video capture, USB 2.0, miniSD slot, and Wi-Fi 802.11g/e/i.

The phone will be available in a GSM/EDGE 850/1800/1900 version for the Americas, plus a 3G version for Europe and Asia.

All three Eseries phones are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2006 worldwide.

Nokia

UK Risks Being Left Behind In Mobile TV

UK Risks Being Left Behind In Mobile TVThe UK production and development community is in danger of losing out to competition from overseas if it doesn’t wake up to the potential of mobile TV, said Mark Selby, Nokia’s Global Vice President for Multimedia, (pictured right) at the inaugural Mobile TV forum in London today.

“There is already activity in many other markets,” he said. “The UK is perceived as a technology capital by the rest of Europe, but it could lose this advantage. Its approach to mobile TV is being seen as luddite.”

Nokia has staked its claim on DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds) as the best technology for future delivery of mobile TV services. DVB-H is a one-to-many technology; it’s cost effective and provides what could be seen as highly attractive content to consumers (ie. like existing broadcast TV channels).

UK Risks Being Left Behind In Mobile TVBut many claimed that the lack of spectrum is holding DVB-H back in the UK.

David Harrison, senior technology advisor at Ofcom, (pictured left) also speaking at today’s conference, confirmed that no new spectrum would begin to be available until the start of analogue switch-off in 2008. [Ed: Following that they’re keen on a spectrum auction, see below for further information on their current proposal]

Harrison’s comments left the floor wide open for Glyn Jones, Operations Director, Digital One, (pictured below right) to remind the audience that there is an alternative to DVB-H – Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB). There’s no coincidence about his comments – Digital One owns the spectrum for it.

UK Risks Being Left Behind In Mobile TVDigital One owns the UK’s only nationwide commercial DAB multiplex – but the capacity allocated for DMB is minimal.

The word in the halls over coffee was that recent events such as London winning the 2012 Olympics and the London tube bombings, are causing the UK Government to re-think its mobile TV strategy. Mobile TV could have a positive use in mass crowd control, telling people what to do should another terrorist attack happen.

In the next 12 months, Nokia will be hoping for a change in policy.

Nokia
Ofcom
Spectrum Framework Review: Implementation Plan – Interim Statement
Digital One

XpressMusic Brand And Nokia 3250 Music Phone Released

Nokia Release Nokia 3250 Music Phone and Finnish mobile giants Nokia have come up with the Nokia 3250, a new music-driven mobile phone featuring dedicated music keys and storage for up to 750 songs.

The phone was announced at Nokia Trends, an electronic music festival in Berlin, Germany over the weekend.

Like Chubby Checker in a hula-hooping competition, the unique design twists 180 degrees around to transform the phone keypad into dedicated music keys.

Through its onboard microSD memory card slot, the Nokia 3250 can store up to 1 Gigabyte (750 songs) of high quality music with a battery life quoted at 10 hours of music play (talktime of up to 3 hours).

The music player supports a wide array of digital music formats such as MP3, WMA, M4A and AAC, with the ability to download songs over the air.

Nokia Release Nokia 3250 Music Phone and Songs can be converted from CD and transferred from home PCs using the “drag and drop” Nokia Audio Manager software.

There’s also a beefy two megapixel camera built into the triband GSM 900/1800/1900 phone, with an FM radio with Visual Radio client complements rounding off the main feature list.

The camera is activated in the landscape mode by twisting the Nokia 3250’s phone’s keypad around 90 degrees, and images can be shared by MMS or printed on a compatible printer via Bluetooth.

The Nokia 3250 is based on the popular Series 60 platform and Symbian OS, which gives users access to a wide range of third-party applications.

Nokia XpressMusic

The Nokia 3250 phone features the new “Nokia XpressMusic” mark, a dedicated feature brand designed to make it easy for punters to identify products in Nokia’s growing music-optimized mobile range.

Devices emblazoned with the logo share key features like dedicated music key(s), music pause/resume on incoming calls, ‘substantial’ storage, support for standard 3.5 mm headphone connectors and an extended battery life.

Nokia Release Nokia 3250 Music Phone and “Nokia connects people to their passions – music – and as the world’s largest manufacturer of digital music players, Nokia is leading the charge to make mobile music widely accessible. The XpressMusic feature brand, also introduced today, makes it easier for consumers to identify those Nokia devices which are specifically designed to listen to music,” purred Kai Öistämö, Senior Vice President, Mobile Phones, Nokia.

“One of the first devices to feature the XpressMusic mark is the Nokia 3250, which is going to stop music fans in their (favourite) tracks. Its unique twist design makes it quick and easy to switch between the music keys, the regular keypad and the camera mode.”

Nokia

Nokia 6630 Music Edition Announced

Nokia 6630 Music Edition AnnouncedActing like they’re fearful of not appearing hip to the mobile music revolution, Nokia have added their own rival to the Apple/Motorola ROKR and Sony Walkman phones, a special edition of the highly rated Nokia 6630 – despite having had music-playing on their phones for yonks.

Shipping later this month, the Nokia 6630 Music Edition offers a new music player and a bundled memory card to offer “enhanced music functionality.”

The updated music player bundles in a 256mb RS-MMC (with memory card support up to 1 gig), which Nokia claims will hold up to 15CDs of music, giving it an edge over the 100 iTunes song limit on the Motorola ROKR.

Music can be transferred to the phone using the included Nokia PC Suite software or with the bundled Nokia USB MMC/SD reader, with the Nokia Audio Adapter letting users plug in their favourite headphones (or “cans” if you’re a DJ) into the standard 3.5 mm stereo jack.

“The Nokia 6630 Music Edition is a fantastic combination of music, smartphone and 3G,” frothed Tuula Rytilä-Uotila, Director, Imaging EMEA, Nokia.”

“You can carry a good portion of your music collection with you wherever you go and with the Nokia Audio Adapter, you can quickly connect your favourite set of music headphones,” Tuula added.

Nokia 6630 Music Edition AnnouncedThe phone comes in two colours – Aluminum Grey for hip, fast living, city slickers and Rustic Red for cow-bothering, straw chewing, country types.

Being based on the well-rated Nokia 6630, the phone also includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, mobile broadband access with WCDMA networks, mobile email and streaming video.

Nokia have also launched the Nokia Music Pack, a bundled package of enhancements for mobile music, which includes the Nokia Audio Adapter, the Nokia 256 MB MMC Card, the Nokia USB MMC/SD reader and Nokia Stereo Audio Cable.

The only question we’ve got – is where’s the Nokia N91 we got excited about last month?

Nokia

Nokia Grabs Lead In 3G Phone Market

Nokia Grabs Lead In 3G Phone MarketNokia has risen to become King Of The Hill of 3G phones with a market share of 17%, with its attractive range of 3G phones trouncing products from rivals NEC and LG.

According to a report by Strategy Analytics, the phone-shifting Finns scooped a 17% of the 3G handset market in the three months from April to June, 2005.

Chris Ambrosio, director of the Strategy Analytics wireless device strategies service observed that Nokia’s hefty share of the 3G market represents nearly half of its global overall share in the global mobile market, currently standing at 33%.

Nokia Grabs Lead In 3G Phone MarketPrevious 3G front-runners Motorola and LG have been overtaken by Nokia, with the report warning the manufacturers that they “have significant work to do to match up in the next battle for WCDMA phones priced below US$200 (~£111, €164~) wholesale, which will present significant mass-market opportunities in 2006 to 2010”.

The study notes that the market for 3G phones is still comparatively small, with only nine million units shipped in the second quarter of 2005 – small beer compared to the total sales of 185m handsets for the same period (source UDC).

“WCDMA (3G) technology, which accounted for just 5% of total handset sales during Q2 2005, remains a market in the early stages of development, but it is worrying for a cluster of aspiring Asian vendors that Nokia has already become best in class,” commented Chris Ambrosio, director of the Strategy Analytics’ wireless device strategies service.

Nokia’s market lead has been assisted in no small part by the popularity of their acclaimed 6680 3G handset, recently lauded as the “best-in-class 3G phone” in Western Europe.

Nokia’s triumph means long faces in the Motorola offices, with the company failing to make much progress with their 3G phones, despite their funky ‘lifestyle’ GPRS phones like the V3 Razr proving a hit.

Strategy Analytics

Nokia N91 with iTunes – Yes/No

Nokia N91 with iTunes - Yes/NoSpeculation about Reuters reported than Kari Tuutti, spokesman for Nokia’s multimedia division said, “There is no commercial agreement between Nokia and Apple to integrate iTunes into the N-series devices.”

Nokia N91 with iTunes - Yes/NoIn a making-the-most-out-of-a-difficult-situation way, Kari went on to say, “But since this is based on a computer platform, anybody — including Apple if they so wish — can very easily develop this kind of application and offer it to consumers, via the Internet for example.”

Apple have publicly been working with Motorola to take iTunes to some of their new phones, including the E680i and E725.

As you’d imagine with any story attached to iTunes, there’s been a lot of excitement and words written about the now long promised beauties from Motorola. As yet, they haven’t been seen in public – which we feel must be pretty embarrassing for them. Reuters reports that one of them should be with US operators by the end of September.

Nokia
Apple