WhatsApp is a popular application on iPhone and Android devices. Now it has come to the Nokia Asha 210 feature phone running on Nokia’s propreitary Series 40 operation system.
Nokia’s Asha 210 targets the consumers in emerging markets looking into an alternative to the Windows Phones. At a targeted price of £47 ($72) Nokia decided that the device’s 2.4in (6.1cm) screen would not be touch-enabled. It comes with a Qwerty keyboard and navigation button and a dedicated key gives you instant access to WhatsApp for messaging over the WiFi/3G. The app comes with the phone is free and do not require yearly subscription.
There has been a lot of speculation that Windows Phone 7.8 firmware upgrade won’t appear until 2013. It proved otherwise. It looks like the Windows 7.8 upgrade firmware are now appearing on navifirm for all the older 1st generation Nokia lumias. Here is a list of all the upgradable phones.
SINGAPORE – At the Nokia Connection event in Singapore today, Nokia introduced the Nokia N9, the first-ever pure touch smartphone that is all about making things simpler. Nokia N9 focuses on the most important things that people do: use apps, get notifications and switch between different activities. Navigating the UI is done with a simple gesture, a swipe of a finger. Let’s have a closer look at what the Nokia N9 is bringing to the game.
SWIPE
The team behind the MeeGo-based Nokia N9 brought together elements of industrial design, software development and user interface advancements, as well as a developer platform to create a better way to use a phone. All that’s needed to use the Nokia N9 is a simple gesture, a swipe of the finger. It is an intuitive way to use all the different features and functions. Whenever you are in an application, you just swipe from the edge of the screen to go back home.
UNIBODY DESIGN
The Nokia N9 has a beautiful one-piece, unibody design where the hardware and software fit together seamlessly. The large, 3.9 inch curved glass AMOLED display lets the applications shine and take full benefit of the user interface. Thanks to the innovative laminated display technology, it looks like applications are literally floating on top of the screen. The body of the Nokia N9 is made from the best in polycarbonate material engineering today, enabling superior antenna performance over most other competitors’ smartphones. This means better reception, better voice quality and fewer dropped calls. The Nokia N9 comes in three colours: black, cyan and magenta and with large storage capacities of 16GB and 64GB on the two variants to be made available.
NO BUTTONS
The Nokia N9 is the world’s first pure touch screen phone without any front-facing buttons at all. You unlock the phone by just double-tapping the screen.
THREE HOME VIEWS
The user interface in Nokia N9 is designed around the things people typically use the most. This is why there are three recognizable home views arranged in a carousel: 1) Applications for launching and organizing your apps. 2) Events for social networking feeds and notifications for calls, texts, calendar events, etc. 3) Open applications for switching between all live apps you have used recently. You can pinch and zoom the screen to see either four or nine open app icons. In fact, the Nokia N9 delivers the best multitasking experience on any phone!
POWERFUL CAMERA
The 8MP auto focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, dual LED flash and super wide 28mm lens works faster from start to capture than any other manufacturer’s smartphone camera in the market. HD video and true 16:9 resolution photos are supported. You can share your photos via MMS, email, NFC and many online services including Flickr and Facebook.
FAST WEB BROWSER
The fast web browser is built on the latest Webkit 2 technology. Even while loading a web page, the screen remains responsive. You can have several browser windows open in the open applications view and switching between them is, again, fast and easy. Favourite websites are shown as visual thumbnails, supported by a full browsing history. Wide HTML5 support offers access to rich web applications and fast video playback.
LATEST MAPS
The Nokia N9 has the latest Nokia Maps with free, voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation for walking and driving. There is also a dedicated Drive app for in-car navigation, which lets you start navigating to your destination instantly after entering your destination. Public transport routing in 85 cities means you can find the quickest route on foot or by tram, metro or train. You can also discover nearby places with cafés, shops, hotels and more, all marked along the way.
DOLBY SOUND
Dolby Headphone and Dolby Digital Plus support on the Nokia N9 turns regular stereo audio into personal surround sound on any headphones – first on any mobile phone.
NFC-ENABLED
Pairing between NFC-enabled accessories is easier than ever before – you do Bluetooth pairing only once and after that you can connect to them just by touching. You can also share content like photos or business cards via NFC.
The things that make the Nokia N9 unique – the industrial design, developments in software and user interface, and the ease of developer experience with Qt – will live on in a variety of ways in Nokia. You can go and experience the Nokia N9 for yourself at swipe.nokia.com. The site is full of interactive videos that show how the product works in real life – it is the second best thing to actually having the product in your hand! The Nokia N9 will be in stores later this year, with availability and local pricing to be announced closer to the sales start date. NB: You can click through all the images to see them full size; click again on the attachment page to see the high-res images.
Big-screen entertainment
Experience all the thrills of high-definition gaming on the massive 4” touch screen. Enjoy the very best HD games from leading publishers – all available at Ovi Store. And when it comes to music, Nokia X7 has it all. Scroll smoothly through album art and control your tracks right from the home screen with one touch of the music app.
4” AMOLED touch screen
A beautifully unique design
Nokia X7 takes smartphone design in a new direction to create something special and truly unique. The brushed stainless steel finish and distinctive lines bring a contemporary look and feel. But great design is about more than just looks. The gently curved body fits perfectly in your hand while the large 4” touch screen is ideal for viewing HD videos and full web pages.
Email and social networks
Designed for staying in touch
Everything is ready straight out of the box with fully integrated email and social networks. For you this means real-time emails from your work and personal accounts direct to your home screen. You also get live Facebook and Twitter feeds 24/7 to keep you constantly up to date. Simply choose what’s right for you.
Fully customisable home screens
Real-time emails and live updates 24/7
This is where it all begins. From day one your home screen is live and always up to date. New emails and instant messages, the latest Facebook and Twitter feeds, news headlines and much more – everything you need at a glance. And simply add shortcuts to the three customisable home screens to access even more of your favourite apps with one touch.
Free GPS navigation
Discover more with Ovi
With Ovi you always know exactly what’s happening around you. Instantly find the best of everything in your city – cafes, shops, hotels and much more. Millions of places reviewed and rated worldwide, with expert tips from Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet. And best of all, Nokia X7 comes with free lifetime walk and drive navigation including turn-by-turn voice guidance.
Go to Maps at Ovi.com
Fast, effortless browsing
Experience much more from the web
Enjoy the best the web has to offer with Adobe Flash™ videos, animations and other interactive content right on your smartphone. And there’s no need to wait around – the loading times are faster than ever. Plus the new and improved browser is incredibly easy to use. One swipe is all it takes to view or hide the search and address bar.
Web TV on demand
Instant access to CNN, BBC and more
Imagine being able to watch TV any time you like. On-demand Web TV gives you instant access to CNN, BBC, National Geographic and many other channels through a fast 3G or Wi-Fi connection. Add your favourites to the home screen and get automatic updates as soon as new content arrives. And download many more channels from around the world at Ovi Store.
Go to Ovi Store
Which mobile phones and tablets to see at CommunicAsia 2011 ?
CommunicAsia 2011 will be held in Singapore from 21 to 24 June in Singapore. This year, we will see less mobile phone manufacturers participating in this event.
Samsung is out as it has it’s own trade show held annually. LG also pulled out since 2010.
Sony Ericsson will not be participating at the CommunicAsia as usual. Instead it will have it’s own media event on the 2nd day of CommunicAsia. They have invited regional media and there are already rumours that they will be launching a dual core Android powerhouse. So, far details are sketchy but we will soon know in the coming days.
Nokia which held Nokia Connections event yearly is back in a big way at the event though. Will Nokia be announcing showcasing their phones based on Windows Phone 7.
As usual the two biggest Chinese players, Huawei and ZTE should be there and they might be showing more tablets based on Android as that is in the in thing right now.
Stay tuned at OCWORKBENCH in the coming days for more.
Microsoft pushed out an update to the Zune desktop player, indicating that an update could be on it’s way to WP7 phones.
The version number in the Zune About screen doesn’t change, staying at 4.7.1404.0, so it would appear this does nothing but allow Windows Phone 7 updates. What is visible if you poke around deep enough is ZuneWmdu.dll and ZuneWmduResources.dll are updated and those two files are known to be necessary for the WP7 update process.
Would this update also indicate a support for upcoming Nokia phones (if they marry Microsoft to run WP7 ?)
Looking for a cheap mid range symbian phone with silder qwerty keyboard. The Nokia C6 might just suit your basic needs as a phone, social use with 5 mega pixel camera. Check out our unboxing video and upcoming review of this phone.
From now onwards, you can view OCWORKBENCH NEWS on your mobile phone. Be it a Nokia, Android, iPhone, it will have that streamline view. If you have a larger screen that renders html, you can choose to view it in web view.
Just point your phone’s browser to http://en.ocworkbench.com and the system will take care of it. Here is how it looks like :
The annaul CommunicAsia 2010 trade show is about to begin in 2 days time in Singapore. This annual event has attracted trade visitors and media from around the globe to check out the latest wireless technology and most importantly mobile phones.
As usual, the major brands will be missing from the show. Sony Ericsson and Nokia will be holding their own private events at hotel ballrooms on two seperate days. Koeran companies LG will have no presense at the exhibition as well. Japanese giant NTT Docomo will have a more significant presense this year, showcasing it’s LTE technology and Xperia series of Sony Ericsson phones at the show.
In conjunction with the event, the local telcos won’t be sitting back. It is said that one of them will be announcing more exclusive phones to their stable of Android phones. Perhaps, one of the three might just announce the availability of iPhone 4 and iPad for the local market during this period of time.
So, stay tuned while we bring you more this coming week.
First deliverable from Microsoft and Nokia alliance aims to simplify mobile collaboration
SINGAPORE, 5 May 2010 – Today,Microsoft and Nokia launched the first application from their alliance around mobile productivity, Microsoft Communicator Mobile for Nokia devices. This new unified communications client connects directly with a company’s communications systems to streamline mobile collaboration. Owners of a number of Symbian based Nokia Eseries smartphones can download the English version today from Nokia’s Ovi Store, the easiest place to get content on their Nokia device.
“Our alliance with Nokia aims to bring the Office productivity experience to the millions of people using Nokia smartphones around the world,” says Kirt Debique, General Manager at Microsoft. “With the arrival of Communicator Mobile for Nokia today, we have a great start to fulfilling our joint vision.”
Communicator Mobile enables people to see their colleagues’ availability, and click to communicate with them using the best method, from IM to email, text to phone call. The names and status of colleagues are embedded directly into the devices’ contacts application, enabling people to update their own presence, start and join instant messaging sessions, and begin calls directly from the contact card.
“This application really provides a much more efficient way to work with others as you can see if someone is busy or available, and the best way to start a conversation with them,” says Ukko Lappalainen, Vice President at Nokia. “It also meets all of the requirements for enterprise: cost effective to implement, secure, familiar and reliable.”
The launch is the first product from the alliance – announced last August – which was the first time either company had embarked on an agreement of this scope and nature. Since then, the two companies have been collaborating on the design and development of new solutions, as well as embarking on joint marketing efforts around others they already share.
“As part of our push to constantly enhance our unified communications proposition, we are keen to extend the collaborative benefits of Microsoft Communicator Mobile to Nokia devices,” says Scott Petty, Director at Vodafone Group Business Services. “Communicator Mobile offers great potential for our large corporate customer base who have already deployed Communicator for desktop and now are looking to extend that existing infrastructure to mobile.”
“We trial all potential offerings ourselves and have been very happy with the internal response and productivity increase we have experienced using Microsoft Communicator Mobile,” says Roger Wüthrich-Hasenböhler, Executive Vice President at Swisscom / Webcall. “Having these two companies work together is really helping us serve the needs of our customers.”
This new application, available initially for Nokia E72 and Nokia E52, adds to the work Nokia is already doing in optimizing direct access to email and other personal information with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync. The companies plan to deliver Communicator Mobile for Nokia pre-installed on select Nokia smartphones in the future and plan to support additional devices, including the recently announced Nokia E5.
Social networking and messaging brought to life with the Nokia C3, Nokia C6 and Nokia E5.
Singapore, April 13 2010 – Nokia has announced three new handsets – the Nokia C3, Nokia C6 and Nokia E5 – designed to put better messaging and social networking tools in the hands of more people around the world, at affordable prices. These new handsets feature full QWERTY keyboards, and enable access to a range of different email accounts, IM communities and social networks.
“Our messaging device range is very successful,” said Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia’s Head of Markets. “Services that provide easy access to the world’s consumer and corporate email and instant messaging are really popular on our QWERTY smartphones such as the Nokia E71, Nokia E72 and Nokia E63. People want the best messaging and social networking experience on an affordable device, whether it’s sending a simple text or instant message, an email, or a direct message from their Twitter account. The Nokia C3, Nokia C6 and Nokia E5 are made for just that.”
The Nokia C3 is the first device to bring a full QWERTY keyboard to the world’s most popular mobile phone platform – Series 40 – and is the first in the range to enable access to social networks directly on the homescreen. People can view, comment, update their status and share pictures to their favourite social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
At an estimated price of EUR 90, before taxes and subsidies, the Nokia C3 also comes with Ovi Mail and Ovi Chat, meaning first time users can set up email and chat accounts straight from the device, without the need for a PC. Other notable features are the Wi-Fi connectivity, a two megapixel camera, rich color 2.4 inch screen and support for up to an 8GB memory card. The Nokia C3 is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010 in a variety of appealing colors, including golden white, slate grey and hot pink.
The Nokia C6 is a Symbian-based smartphone combining the benefits of a 3.2 inch touch screen with a full slide out keyboard. The large screen provides a great Internet experience, as well as offering access to Facebook feeds directly on the homescreen. A full suite of email and social networking capabilities means the Nokia C6 is perfect for people who want to stay up to date while on the go.
Expected to be available in the second quarter of 2010 at an estimated price of EUR 220, before taxes and subsidies, the Nokia C6 has an impressive feature set including a high quality five megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, and Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation. In addition, thousands of apps – from games and videos to news aggregators and web services – are available in the Ovi Store.
Rounding off the trio is the latest addition to the Nokia Eseries range, the Nokia E5. Designed for those that want to be productive in both their professional and personal lives, the Symbian-based Nokia E5 follows the successful blueprint of devices such as the Nokia E71, Nokia E72 and Nokia E63. The Nokia E5 combines high quality business features with all of the personal networking and entertainment capabilities that a busy professional expects from a smartphone.
The Nokia E5 is perfect for managing busy schedules with a variety of productivity applications available in the Ovi Store. And with direct access to over 90 percent of the world’s corporate email through Mail for Exchange and IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, it’s easy to keep in contact from anywhere.
Estimated price of the Nokia E5 is EUR 180, before taxes and subsidies, with expected availability in the third quarter of 2010.
Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 get free navigation, today
SINGAPORE, 7 April 2010 – You spoke, we listened: Free walk and drive navigation is now available for the Nokia E71 and Nokia E66. The latest version of Ovi Maps with free walk and drive navigation has been available on a range of devices such as the Nokia E72, Nokia N97 mini, and Nokia X6 since January. After listening to customer feedback though, the Ovi Maps team has now created a version that works on Nokia E71 and Nokia E66.
To enjoy free navigation with Ovi Maps on Nokia E71 and Nokia E66 devices, users should follow these simple steps:
1. Download the new Ovi Maps application from nokia.com/maps to your PC
2. Install the application using Ovi Suite to your device
3. Go to applications folder and start using Ovi Maps
Note to users : If users do not install the new Ovi Maps application, they will be prompted to pay the one year navigation license of 9.99 EUR if they start using the drive and walk navigation feature.
Users will be able to use Ovi Suite to sideload the latest country maps onto their devices so they can enjoy offline map browsing alongside free navigation. The process of making the latest version of Ovi Maps available for existing devices is quite involved, but the team managed to include complete navigation functionality. Due to technical constraints in backporting the app to existing devices, it isn’t possible to offer further premium content such as Michelin and Lonely Planet guides. These two devices will also be the last of our S60 3.1 and older devices to sport this version of Ovi Maps. But every upcoming Nokia smartphone will come with free walk and drive navigation out of the box.
These two Eseries devices join the recently compatible Nokia N86 8MP, which some users discovered earlier than anticipated. See below for a full list of compatible devices.
The update is available now from Nokia.com/maps, and will also be available in Ovi Store.
Ovi Maps compatible devices include the Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, Nokia 5800 Navigation Edition, Nokia E52, Nokia E55, Nokia E72, Nokia 5230, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6730 classic, Nokia X6, Nokia N86 8MP and with different functionality the Nokia E71, and Nokia E66.
