Category Archives: nokia
Nokia clinging to handset lead by fingertips
Rating: Another bad quarter & Samsung becomes No: 1
Good news for Nokia mobile phone aficionados is that the company didn’t do as badly in Q3 2011 as some might have feared. The bad news is that if these trends are repeated in Q4 2011, Nokia could easily be overtaken by Samsung. It all kind of hinges on how well consumers react to Nokia’s first Windows Mango (WP7.5) smartphones. Data from Strategy Analytics showed that Nokia share of the global handset market fell by five per cent from 32.3 per cent for Q3 2010 to 27.3 per cent in Q3 2011. By contrast, Samsung’s share rose to 22.6 per cent from 20.9 per cent. However, if Nokia drops another 5 per cent in Q4 2011, Samsung’s share would only have to stay steady (and not even benefit from Nokia’s decline) for it to become the world’s No: 1 vendor of mobile phones. Continue reading
Registration for MWC 2012 has now opened
Rating: Get in quick whilst there’s still flights
How time flies. The GSMA – which organises the world’s premier mobile event – the Mobile World Congress – has just announced that you can register today [October 28th 2011] for the forthcoming event which takes place between February 27th and March 1st 2012. Notice how attendees no longer have to grovel to their loved-ones because the show usually takes in February 14th. So we can all be with our partners on Valentine’s Day. Whilst you are registering, you might as well take advantage of the 20 per cent discount the GSMA has negotiated with the Star Alliance airlines. Where hotels are concerned the GSMA claims that its official accommodation agency – Barcelona Business Pass (BBP), has managed to free room prizes at 2011 rates in most instances. Amazingly, even the Press can reputedly apply to register now. Which is important because you’d want full access to MyMWC – the app which lets you organise your visit to the show. Continue reading
Mangos from Nokia revealed as Lumia 800/710
1st Nokia WP7.5 (Mango) smartphones to ship November 16th
The first smartphones from Nokia to run Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) has been unveiled as the Lumina 800 and 710. Both are expected to become commercially available on November 16th [2011]. Those keen enough to trudge all the way out to the Nokia World developers conference in London’s Excel will have been lucky enough to see them first hand. Initially, however, Lumina 800 owners will only be able to access WP7 apps from Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace. Windows Phone apps won’t be available from the Nokia Ovi app store until a later date. Whilst other observers might dwell on which processor the Luminas will sport – a Qualcomm SnapDragon 1.4GHz single core chip – we see a much better feature. The handsets are equipped with screen that boasts a Gorilla Glass finish with a protective coating. It’s a 3.9 in OLED WVGA display in the case of the 800. So most owners won’t be wandering around with cracked screens – unlike users of a rival smartphone (iPhone) Continue reading
Vertu launches $15,000 ‘Constellation’ Symbian phone
Despite ongoing messages of economic doom and gloom across Europe and the United States, Vertu, the high-end arm of Nokia has released ‘Constellation’, its latest luxury offering.
This is the first smartphone from Vertu, running on the soon to be defunct Symbian platform. Nokia plans to continue to support the Symbian platform until at least 2015, but expect all future Nokia branded smartphones to be based on Windows 7. Continue reading
Intel acquires mapping expert – Telmap
Rating: Just as Nokia shuts down Navteq
Intel chose a keynote speech at app developers conference in Seattle (any irony here?) to announce that it had signed an agreement to acquire Telmap which will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel. The news comes at the same time Nokia was forced to announce that it is closing down its NAVTEQ mapping and location based services (LBS) operations in Bonn, Germany and Malvern, USA with an expected loss of 1,300 jobs. The contrast couldn’t possibly be greater. GoMo News can only speculate that Intel might have decided to go for Telmap as a means of avoiding any reliance on Google Maps. Don’t forget, Intel hasn’t entirely given up on MeeGo, either. Continue reading
Nokia aims phones at fans – 1D ones that is
Rating: One Diection (1D) is a boy band, apparently
[caption id="attachment_29139" align="alignleft" width="149" caption="It's Symbian as well as 1D"]
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Having recently questioned whether Nokia even has a clue where it is going with its handsets, GoMo News has discovered a new initiative which might well help to preserve its appeal with the UK’s young ladies. The handset vendor claims that it has created the first ever (music) fan’s phones via limited-editions of its Nokia C3 and C202 handsets. And just to make them even more limited, the company has struck an exclusive deal with distributor, Carphone Warehouse. The handsets won’t even ship until October 4th [2011]. Continue reading
Nokia counters rumours over WP7.5 delays
Rating: Actually, the company is more confident of 2011 date
Following increased speculation that there will be a delay in the release of the first WP7-based Nokia handset – taking the date into 2012, Nokia has been forced to act. Speaking on September 23rd [2011],Nokia – which is still the world’s largest phone maker by volume – told Reuters Canada here that it was “increasingly confident its first Windows Phone would reach consumers this year [2011].”This was obviously a move to counter the likes of The Street which posted a story on YouTube which blatantly claimed that a WP7 handset from Nokia wouldn’t arrive in 2011. The Street is a financial orientated publication and Nokia could have reacted to protect its share price. Continue reading
Chipmunk helps write keitai novel on a Nokia E6
Rating: That’s the rapper not the mammal
We’ve never heard of it before, but apparently ketai (see Wikipedia here) is a custom format for novels specially written for reading on a mobile phone. Now – working in conjunction with Nokia – the successful children” story writer author Terry Deary has written one on a Nokia E6. (We’re now sure of that but Nokia thought it was an E7). The novel is called The Perfect Poison Pill Plot and just to give it a boost, Deary has tied up with rap star and Londoner – Chipmunk. He’s released his narrated version in five short video clips which you can see on Nokia’s Facebook pages here. Continue reading
Check in for chocolate: Nokia makes Foursquare more rewarding
Rating: Checking in on Foursquare finally pays off
In celebration of Social Media Week 2011, Nokia has created the ‘Nokia Gift Machine’ to make Foursquare check ins more rewarding. The machine is currently installed at Social Media Week in Glasgow (#smwgla) from 19th – 23rd September.
Continue reading
Is Samsung going to take the bada OS open?
Rating: Is this a wise move Captain Mainwearing?
So, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) here has posted the rumour that ambitious smartphone supplier, Samsung, is seriously considering taking it own mobile OS, bada, down the Open Source route. This move makes sense on a whole bunch of different levels. One of the most obvious is that it takes Samsung’s battle to gain top position in smartphone sales right up into it’s arch enemy territory– Google’s. We all know that Android is ‘Open’ and look where that OS has got itself now. Plus, if Samsung has its very own OS then it won’t have to be so scared in battles over IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) which have broken about between the Korean manufacturing giant and California’s finest – Apple. Continue reading
Nokia/Symbian smartphone users still hanging on in there
Rating: Results from latest comScore MobileLens service
Nokia users are still hanging on in there. The latest data released by comScore as part of its MobileLens service covers the five prime mobile markets in Europe. These are France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. These figures are gathered from real smartphone users and are not guesswork. The latest research covers up until July 2011 and compared to the same period last year, the number of smartphone users equipped with a Symbian handset dropped to 38.7 per cent compared to 53.9 per cent in 2010. But Symbian is still the leader by a long chalk because the next biggest OS group is Android followed closely by Apple with RIM and Microsoft still clinging on. Continue reading
Location based app gets attracts major VC investment
Rating: Echoecho answers the Where R U? question
A location based app works that not only anywhere in the world but also works across multiple platforms (Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, and Nokia) – echoecho – has acquired $750,000 in seed funding from Google Ventures and the UK-based venture firm PROfounders Capital. The app aims to answer one of the most common text messages we send and receive – namely, “Where are you?” The company claims that with echoecho, in just two clicks you can ask anyone in your address book that question. And, as soon as your friend/colleague/relative accepts the request, you can both see each other on a graphical map. echoecho CEO, Nick Bicanic, commented, “We’ve all been in a situation when we’re near our friends, but can’t actually find them.” Bicanic believes his company solves that problem and provides a whole host of extra features. Continue reading
PingMe aims to make texting thing of past
Rating: Isn’t a BBM killer coz Blackberry version not out yet
A new division of the mobile ad network, RadiumOne, has decided to launch the free messaging app – PingMe Messenger. It’s cross-platform app alright because there are iOS and Android versions. Other news sites may tell you there’s a RIM/BlackBerry version out, too. But it ain’t out yet because GoMo News actually checks these kind of things. So RIM won’t have to worry that its BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) service is in danger quite yet. And the London rioters can’t switch to it, either. But, hey, PingMe makes it simple for friends and family to share their location with each other. And – providing you’re on the right kind of data tariff, then the service is absolutely free. Continue reading
iTunes Store and Android Market ain’t necessarily best
Rating: research2guidance says Ovi and BlackBerry AppWorld still cut it
The latest Smartphone App Market Monitor report from research2guidance – available here, finds that – despite all the hype surrounding the major platforms of Android and iOS, publishers are still overlooking the hidden potentials of the niche mobile OS players. Niche players like Microsoft’s WP7 [...]
