Nokia this morning introduced a series of ‘basic smartphones’ (Asha) and higher-end Windows Phone-powered smartphones (Lumia) at the Nokia World 2011 event in London.
The company has put up a whole bunch of videos featuring the phones on its YouTube channel, and also a few weird ads.
Below, you can find a few videos that highlight the Lumia phone(s), which I personally think actually look quite compelling, the longest video ad and the obligatory designer’s story.
Enjoy (after the jump) → Read More
One of the minor but noteworthy things Nokia announced today at its Nokia World event in London is the release of an updated version of its augmented reality browser Live View, previously available in early beta. You can download the app here.
Note that the app is still in beta, but the updated version brings many goodies if you’re into the whole augmented reality thing (and if you use a compatible Nokia phone). → Read More
It’s nice and early in London, and Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has finally put to rest months of speculation today by unveiling Nokia’s first batch of Windows Phones at the Nokia World conference. It’s been a long time coming — news of a Nokia/Microsoft partnership first broke back in February — but Nokia has at long last debuted the Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800. → Read More
We’re but a mere 14 hours away from the long-awaited unveiling of Nokia’s first ever Windows Phone 7 handsets, and it seems they just can’t keep the spigot plugged. A set of images seemingly detailing not one, but two of the handsets set to be announced has just leaked out. → Read More
It isn’t everyday that we’re afforded a look at what goes into making our favorite phones, but a new video from Nokia shows us how exactly their gorgeous unibody N9 handsets are made. → Read More
Over the weekend, Nokia launched a suite of casual games developed at Nokia Research Center which are meant to demonstrate how NFC can enable new forms of mobile gaming. The three new games include Nokia World Flags, Nokia Shakespeare Shuffle and Nokia Nursery Rhyme Shuffle. All can be played now on any Nokia Symbian NFC-enabled phone including the Nokia C7 Astound, C7-00, 600, 603, 700 and 701.
→ Read More
Nokia was nice enough to loan me a Nokia N9, its first and almost certainly last MeeGo-powered smartphone, after I not-so-subtly pointed out that I’d love to give the thing a solid whirl. After having played with it for a day now, I’ll tell you why I think it’s a phenomenal smartphone that rivals the best of ‘em, and why you would probably be better off not buying one anyway.
I’ll start off by explaining that I’m not qualified to be a professional smartphone reviewer, whatsoever. We have our former CrunchGear and MobileCrunch slaves for that type of stuff. That said, I’ve used a bunch of smartphones over the years, of all shapes and sizes, and I know damn well what I want. → Read More
OK, Nokia, we get it: you want to be cool. The Nokia/Monster headphones spotted a few days back was a start, but what better way to attract a hip young crowd than to jazz up your iconic jingle with some dubstep?
In fairness, Nokia didn’t actually design the thing themselves. Instead, they launched a contest last September where they asked people to submit fresh takes on Grande Valse, the Spanish guitar tune that’s been burned into every Nokia user’s brain since 1994. → Read More
It wasn’t that long ago that HTC partnered up with Beats Audio to give their phones a boost in the audio department, and now it seems Nokia may be contemplating something similar. A newly leaked pair of images popped up earlier today, and they reveal what may be the first Nokia-Monster phone accessory.
Given Monster’s history, it’s really no surprise that the first product to surface would be a pair of headphones. → Read More
Oops. A new promotional poster made an appearance in a store at T-Mobile’s German headquarters, where it confirmed the existence of a Nokia Windows Phone with a 3.7-inch display and Nokia’s Drive navigation service.
The poster was up only briefly, but a quick-thinking tipster snapped a few shots and fired them off to WinRumors. After running it through a quick and dirty Google translation, the poster’s copy mentions that Nokia Drive for WP includes a 3D navigation display like its MeeGo cousin, and support for voice control.
Thrilling, no? → Read More
It’s no secret that Nokia has put their faith in Windows Phone 7 to carry their future smartphones, but they haven’t forgotten the millions of customers who count on them for their lower-end handsets. A new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Nokia is hard at work on a Linux-based OS codenamed “Meltemi.” → Read More
Nokia this morning announced “plans to take additional actions to align its workforce and operations”. You know what that means: mass layoffs and then some. In a press release, the Finnish mobile giant says it will reduce its staff by at least 3,500 employees by the end of 2012.
Nokia also says there will be reductions in manufacturing; the company is closing its manufacturing facility in Romania by the end of this year and says it will be doubling down on its Asian factories instead. → Read More
Nokia this morning announced that its sleek new smartphone, the N9 – which will almost certainly be the first and only MeeGo handset to ever see the light of day – has begun shipping to customers who’ve pre-ordered the device, and retail stores.
The N9 features an interesting UI that’s controlled with a simple swipe. The buttonless smartphone features three home views (Applications, Events and Live Applications) that are designed to enable people to easily and swiftly navigate the interface. → Read More
Nokia this morning announced that it has appointed Henry Tirri, formerly Head of Nokia Research Centre, as its new chief technology officer and executive vice president.
He’s replacing former CTO Richard Green, who took a leave of absence for personal reasons last June (in fact, Tirri already took on Green’s day-to-day responsibilities at that time).
Interestingly, Tirri will be based in Sunnyvale, California, one of the major cities in Silicon Valley. → Read More
It’s usually a company’s social media reps that get caught tweeting things they shouldn’t be, but ex-Microsoftie Joe Marini was a bit higher up on the food chain than that. Formerly the principal program manager of the Windows Phone web team, Marini has resigned his post at Microsoft after tweeting his first impressions of a forthcoming Nokia-made Windows Phone. → Read More
It’s a tough environment out there for an OS. But a few have risen to the top of the food chain — most obviously iOS and Android. And at the very bottom, like an orphaned and endangered baby buffalo, sits MeeGo. Nokia has already fled from the burning platform, but now its only remaining parent, Intel, has reportedly decided to temporarily discontinue development of MeeGo. But for a platform with barely any traction and a comparatively weak portfolio of devices, temporarily could very quickly turn into forever.
And so the slow death of MeeGo begins. → Read More
While the patent wars continue to rage on, a recent move by Nokia may signal an aggressive new stance on handling patent infringement. Canadian IP firm Mosaid has announced a strategic purchase through which they gain control of nearly 2,000 patents out of Nokia’s library. The price tag for such a hefty acquisition? Absolutely nothing. → Read More
Nokia this morning announced that Tero Ojanperä, former CTO and currently Executive Vice President and a member of the company’s ‘Leadership Team’, is leaving the flailing phone manufacturer at the end of this month, after serving Nokia for 21 years.
He will take on a new role as managing partner of a new investment fund called Vision+. Amusingly, Vision+ has already formed a deep partnership with Ojanperä’s former employer. → Read More
More often than we’d like, phones are announced with absolutely horrifying names. Acer’s beTouch, the Casio G’zOne Commando, and the HTC ChaCha all fall hard into that category.
They leave you wondering what went down in the conference room where that name was born, and what could have possibly been going on in the minds of the people who approved them. But honestly, it’s much harder than you think to find a phone with a well-suited, nice-sounding, non-awkward name. Which is why Nokia is leaving it up to us. → Read More
Nokia has temporarily shut down its developer community website as a precaution, after a hacker gained access to a database table containing forum members’ email addresses and other information. The hacker last week exploited a vulnerability in the bulletin board software that allowed an SQL Injection attack that in turn enabled him (or her) to deface the forum website.
Nokia has now emailed all its developer forum members alerting them to the fact that not only has the website been defaced, but the hacker also gained access to records, which – fortunately for Nokia – did not contain passwords, credit card details or other sensitive information. → Read More
