Nokia has announced at the Nokia World conference in Stuttgart that they will be releasing a new mobile handset called the Nokia X6. The Nokia X6 is sure to turn a lot of heads with its stunningly beautiful design, but it also has a lot of features that could make it the phone of choice for the trendy teen this year.
The Nokia X6 seems to be the successor to the music orientated Nokia 5800, however it also has a 3.2 capacitive touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera, 32GB of storage, and 35 hours of music playback.
“With direct access to Ovi Store, the Nokia X6 is a hive of activity that brings 20 friends and virtual communities, like Facebook, to your homescreen.”
Nokia has also introduced a new social friendly feature called Lifecasting with Ovi; it lets you publish your location and status updates directly to Facebook from the home screen of the phone:
“Lifecasting goes beyond just publishing your status – it is about building deeper and closer connections between people. It triggers new kinds of communication patterns, such as sending messages or status updates or even navigating to a friend or a place. Lifecasting will premiere on the new Nokia N97 mini, companion to the successful Nokia N97.”
It took them a while, but Nokia has finally caught up to the fact that having a feature-packed phone is only half of the equation. Giving your users access to content and enabling them to connect and share with others is equally important, and their latest lineup delivers the goods. Read the full press release here.
We reported yesterday that Nokia was going to enter the netbook market and today it is official. The Finnish mobile giant has up until now only been involved in the mobile handset market, but now here are the specifications on their new Booklet 3G.
This is key because Nokia are the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world and when entering the netbook market they have tried to producing an amazing product and before Apple and others enter the market.
What are its specifications telling us? Well, it’s definitely big on connectivity: it’s got Bluetooth, WiFi, 3G and a SIM card slot, which makes it a netbook with all the connectivity options of a mobile phone. It has an integrated GPS plus a copy of Ovi Maps, which is also different from most laptops. The rest of its features are, well…netbooky, albeit nearer to the high-end of the specter: an Intel Atom processor, Windows 7, 10.1 inch screen, and all that encased in a 0.78 inch aluminum body.
Im now very interested to see what Apple bring to the netbook market in the coming month or so.
Nokia has always been a company to diversify. They started out as a logging company for god’s sake and now they’re making the worlds greatest smart phones. Now, company bosses have confirmed that Nokia is currently looking into the netbook market to see if they can get a slice of the action.
The Nokia CEO said “the PC and the mobile will continue to come closer and merge.”
NetBooks are becoming increasingly popular over the past few years. People need more mobility than ever. When their smart phone doesn’t quite pack the punch they need they can take out their thin 11” netbook.
A netbook from Nokia might not be such a bad idea. I would imagine it would run windows XP given the limited computing power available on netbooks. If they were to release one, their very image as a mobile phone company would certainly rub off on a small, portable netbook.
However, I wouldn’t get my hopes up just yet until we hear back from Nokia. Many times companies have announced plans that have never bore fruit.
I’m liking where this new trend of watered-down smart phones is going. Let’s face it. Not all of us want to or indeed can spend a week’s pay on a new smart phone such as the new Nokia N97. Yet many of us still want the cool features such as the touch-screen, 3G and entertainment. Now, many phone makers are slimming down their flagship models to make more affordable compromises for the average Joe.
Samsung did a great job slimming the Tocco down to the Tocco Lite. Now, there are rumours buzzing around the Nokia may have done the same with their new N97 Smartphone.
Pictures, which were nabbed by Engadget show what is being called the N97 Mini. The Picture shows a smaller N97(perhaps around 20-25% smaller) next to its bigger brother. It appears as through the D-Pad has been moved, along with smaller keys grouped closer together.
I’d much prefer to have the Mini rather than the original as long as it still had 3G. Sure I’d be making a cut back in performance and screen size but hey, it’s a recession out there!
Nokia haven’t said much except for just hmm and ahh at these pictures. These rumours were reportedly first uttered by a Vodafone employee on a forum earlier this week. If they are true, we’re in for one heck of a cool phone. But then, this could just be some cheap Chinese knock-off that looks like the N97.
Previously we have written a lot about Android phones, most recently how Nokia denied doing an android phone. However, we have now received reports that the HTC Click is Android powered. The HTC Click is a supposedly low-end Android device and the second one after HTC Hero to have no Google branding on it.
Less is known about this new Android beauty but from the looks of it, it won’t feature a trackball rather a D-pad for navigation and also we see rocker-key arrangement which is also found on the HTC Hero. It will probably also feature the HTC Sense UI found in the HTC Hero and will be released somewhere between September to October this year.
Looking at the device we can assume that HTC plans to sell it as a budget phone as the device does not feature anything unique or extraordinary (or maybe it does, who knows?) but it really pleases us that HTC is making use of Android more on its handsets than Windows Mobile.
Android devices seem to be the next big thing and are hotting up the market pretty quick with Google being the main warrior. However recently, there have been rumours that the old Finnish mobile giant Nokia were planning to jump into the Android platform and abandon its Symbian platform which the company actually owns.
The company bigwigs decided enough was enough and flat out denied any rumors that they would be releasing an Android phone onto the market at the Nokia World event in Germany this coming September. A report stating these predictions in The Guardian has been responded to by Nokia. “There is no truth to this story whatsoever. It is a well known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for smartphones”, said Nokia in a statement to TechRadar.
For a company to make such bold statements about its own future in the mass media it’s almost a sure thing that Nokia won’t be using the Android platform anytime in the near (or distant) future, preferring to stick to its own developments. As for the meantime, Nokia are continuing in their development of a new platform of their own called Maemo OS for their internet tablets. Outsourcing is not one of Nokia’s favourite habits.
The Nokia N97 has been released as scheduled. We previously stated that it would be released on the 2nd June and it has been launched a little later on the 10th June. The N97 will be available from flagship stores in New York and Chicago.
If you arent in the USA and not able to make it to these stores then head over to Amazon because they seem to have some in stock.
This release from Nokia comes right on the heals of the new and improved iPhone 3Gs announcement and adds some healthy competition to Apple’s reigning smartphone champion. The N97 sports not only a wide touchscreen display but also has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard to add some ease and speed to yourmobile communications. The internal storage capacity is boasted at a strong 32GB internal with an SD card slot supporting up to another 16GB. You’ll also find a 5 megapixel camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and the ability to shoot (and store) some nice-quality video.
Nokia has the price set at $699.99 and Amazon currently has $96 off of that bringing the N97 to just over $600.
Nokia’s much avaited application showcase the Ovi Store was launched today. The store contains both free and paid applications – “a mountain of mobile content” according to the the Nokia Conversations blog. The Ovi store is compatible with more than 50 Nokia devices, which the company believes gives them access to 50 million people.
Given the dominance of Nokia the Ovi store would be expected to have many more eyeballs than the iPhone App store, but at the moment their app section doesnt really seem upto scratch. I tried to download a new application but unfortunately the application was unavailable. The Ovi app section might not be fully operational with old Nokia handsets and thus they are waiting for replacement of handsets.
There are 1236 apps in all at the Ovi store, and navigation is, quite frankly, painful. The site is taking too long to load, perhaps unable to handle the first day traffic. Im quite surprised that Nokia released something that was this bad, but I kind of understand that they need to be in this market sooner rather than later even if they do have an inferior product.
A majority of the content available at the App store is paid, with one a few free applications. Paid content includes ringtones, mobile apps, games etc.
Overall the Ovi Store is very disappointing and I was expecting a lot more from Nokia. Im sure however with their resources and popularity over time they will get this right and will really challenge apple in terms of customers usability.
We have long thought that the Nokia N97 would be shipped out in July, but there is a new rumour that the North American version will be shipped on the 2nd of June.
The evidence: a screenshot from the site of a major North American distributor, as seen above.
Additionally the Vodafone UK website is now listing the release to be in June instead of July for the Euro edition.
However, June is supposed to be a very quiet month for new handsets in the USA, but im sure you will see the iPhone and the Pre releases be next to the N97.
Last week we reviewed the new Nokia N97 that is going to hit stores sometime in the next 3 months, but yesterday Nokia has released the E75. The E75 has Nokia Messaging built-in along with 2.4″ display, 3.2 MP camera, aGPS, WiFi, quad-band EDGE/dual-band HSDPA, and QWERTY keypad. The E75 also works with Ovi services and ships with Ovi Files.
iPhones seem to be everywhere these days and even the release of the G1 phone hasn’t really had an impact on their growing marketshare. Palm have also announced that they will soon be launching their new smartphone called the Palm Pre, which is getting a huge amount of buzz at the moment. Thus bringing us to the final major player in the market who is yet to release a smartphone that can actually take marketshare and thats Nokia.
Nokia announced about three months ago that they will be releasing the N97 which is their rival to the iPhone. The N97 will be release in the 2nd quarter of 2009 and its sure to raise some eyebrows.
Here at Crenk we are still yet to get our hands on a new N97 test version, but I thought I would provide our readers with a basic overview of the phone and how it compares to iPhone and G1.
32GB Onboard memory (expandable through microSD card upto 48GB as total capacity)
(neither iPhone nor G1 go beyond 32 GB as total capacity )
Battery : 1500 mAh (Heavy duty ! )
(iPhone : 1400 mAh ; G1 : 1150 mAh )
5 MP Digital Camera (DVD quality video capture)
(iPhone : 2.0 MP ; G1 : 3.2 MP )
OS : S60 5th Edition
(iPhone : iPhone OS 2.2 ; G1 : Android 1.0 )
Weight : 150 g (approx.)
( iPhone : 133 g ; G1 : 158 g )
Price : $550 (before network subsidies so expect it to go way cheaper than this)
(iPhone : $199(min.) ; G1 : $179(min.) )
Conclusions:
After a direct comparison with all the feature of the n97, G1 and iPhone3G the Nokia is by far the leader from a hardware perspective. However, it terms of the software and the OS, Nokia is a long way behind Google and Apple but this is expected.
The key also is that the App Store has made a huge impact on making the iPhone such a big success, and with the Android Market just being launched I’m sure that the G1 will slowly gain more and more marketshare. Where does this leave Nokia? Nokia really need to think hard and long about how they are going to open up their software to outside developers and then allow the average user the ability to pick and choose the applications that are right for them. OS has never been a strong point for Nokia, but it is about time they actually improved this sector if they are going to continue to be a major player in the smartphone market.
Also that the ‘App Store’ is something that has played a very critical role in making iPhone a worldwide success and now the same thing is occurring in the form of ’Android Market’ for G1, Nokia(being ‘new’ to open developer support for apps) can’t afford to reach the standards set by the other two veteran smartphones(specially iPhone)
Google has just announced a new deal with Nokia to see the worlds best search engine on Nokia mobile phones. The Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is where the announcement was made and it will provide access to Google search on Nokia devices via Nokia Search. (Nokia Search is an application that combines web search services like Google with the ability to search for applications and files on your device.)
Thus, the roll-out will begin with Nokia N96 and N78, 6210 Navigator, and 6220 classic, Google search will be available on Nokia devices in more than 100 countries, serving mobile users in 42 different languages.
This is another win for Google Search over its main competitors, Ask, Live and Yahoo. Is there really anyone that can compete with Google in their strongest area?
Nokia has always been a company to diversify. They started out as a logging company for god’s sake and now they’re making the worlds greatest smart phones. Now, company bosses have confirmed that Nokia is currently looking into the netbook market to see if they can get a slice of the action.
I’m liking where this new trend of watered-down smart phones is going. Let’s face it. Not all of us want to or indeed can spend a week’s pay on a new smart phone such as the new 
The Nokia N97 has been released as scheduled. We previously stated that it would be 
