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Nokia E72 in stores now, somewhere
Amazon's US pre-order site hasn't heard the news yet nor has Nokia USA's on-line store. Nevertheless, Nokia assures us that the E72 is "in stores now" and should cost €350 (as announced) before taxes and carrier subsidies are applied. Remember, this S60-powered followup to the much loved E71 sports a new 5 megapixel autofocus camera, 3.5-mm headphone jack, microSD slot (4GB included in the box), A-GPS and integrated compass, 10.2Mbps HSDPA, and new optical navigation pad right where a thumb would like it. The E72 also packs the latest version of Ovi Maps and Nokia Messaging with homescreen access to your IM accounts. Now scram buster and let us know if your pre-orders have been filled -- this baby's not going to unbox itself.
Nokia, Microsoft drop while Apple stock soars
While Apple stock is up over seven percent since its positive earnings report and conference call yesterday afternoon, both Nokia and Microsoft have released dourer reports about their financial outlook. Microsoft said that it will lay off up to 5,000 people, about five percent of its workforce, over the next year and a half, according to the Seattle P-I. 1,400 of those jobs would be eliminated today. The news comes as the company announced earnings per share two cents less than their quarterly guidance -- 47 cents versus 49 cents -- on revenues of $16.63 billion. Analysts had expected revenues upwards of $17 billion. Nokia today posted a 69 percent drop in profits for its last quarter [Ed. Note: source link broken]. Nokia stock earned 15 euro-cent per share in profit, compared with 47 euro-cent in the same quarter last year. Sales fell 19 percent to €12.66 billion, missing forecasts of €13 billion. What can we take away from this? Perhaps this is understating things, but Apple appears to be doing very well against its competitors. In yesterday's conference call, the company announced that it had grown sales and revenue even in the face of challenging worldwide economic conditions. In both retail and iPod sales, much of the growth was outside the United States. Apple sold 88 percent more iPhones than they did the same time last year, although much of that may be attributed to pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G. At midday, AAPL is $10 higher than its record-low close on Tuesday, trading at around $88 per share. Both NOK and MSFT are trading down about $1.65 each. [Via Daring Fireball.] Update: Sony, too: It's posting a record annual loss of $3 billion, and plans to close factories and lay off workers.
Nokia E65 spotted dressed in purple and pink
And we were thinking the Nokia E65 would find its niche in the business segment, with all that UMTS and WiFi goodness on board. Regular folks need that daily wireless-everything fix too, so Nokia decided to dress up the proper E65 into something more casual, as in pink and purple shells. Word is that these two beauties will be landing somewhere in Europe soon, but no info on where or how much a color premium these two will carry once they're in the wild for real.
Nokia acquires Twango, gets deeper into media sharing
Nokia is once again shouting that it wants to be a major player in the mobile media sharing arena by acquiring Twango. If you're big into sharing pictures, video and other digital garb, you may know Twango (founded by former Microsoft employees). And since Nokia sold over 140 million connected digicams (almost all cellphone-based) in 2006, it makes sense for the company to ensure customers are, you know, using all that mobile multimedia goodness as much as possible. Nokia's Multimedia division head puts it great: "the Twango acquisition is a concrete step towards our Internet services vision of providing seamless access to information, entertainment, and social networks - at anytime, anywhere, from any connected device, in any way that you choose."
Nokia 6275i debuts at Leap Wireless
Cricket customers needing a non-EV-DO handset in Nokia's standard candybar shape needn't look any longer. Leap Wireless announced that the Nokia 6275i is now immediately available from its Cricket retail locations for $199.99. Although the lack of EV-DO disturbs us a bit, the 6275i still offers a 2 megapixel cam with flash, MP3 capability, microSD slot, infrared, Bluetooth, USB and of course, the staple FM radio that Nokia seems to be in love with. The 6275's physical size, at 4.29 x 1.68 x 0.677 inches, is a tad portly for 2007, although at 3.7 ounces it is still pretty light. But Cricket, come on -- $199.99 for this? We're thinking free out the door with a new contract, mkay?
Nokia licenses Immersion's VibeTonz haptic goodness
Immersion hopes we're creatures of mobile haptics, as the company has licensed its VibeTonz whole-mobile haptic engagement software platform to Nokia. VibeTonz, already licensed to Samsung and included in the SCH-W559 from Verizon Wireless (and many more Samsung handsets), slaps multi-stage vibrating haptics into mobile games, ringtones, menu systems and more. Immersion calls it a "multisensory experience," which we find to be an accurate description. With Nokia onboard, we would not be surprised to see the cellphone sales leader start touting VibeTonz as a "must have" feature in its newer handset models. After all, no retrofit is needed -- VibeTonz is basically software control over vibrating motors only (no extra hardware required).[via MobileTechNews]
Nokia's phone business units now under one umbrella
Nokia wants to get all its mobileheads into one hierarchy or org chart, so the Finnish mobile phone giant is consolidating all of if mobile development into a brand new business unit. This new department within corporate Nokia will be curiously called the "Device" unit, which we see as a direct but unflattering name nonetheless. This new business unit will handle all of Nokia's mobile devices from normal cellphones to Symbian smartphones to N800-esque tablet devices, as the three separate divisions that handle these devices will now be combined. Nokia is also creating two new divisions in this reorganization -- Software & Services and Markets -- to replace existing structure in those areas as well.
Nokia to Qualcomm: stop infringing on our MediaFLO!
In the latest edition of the love-hate Nokia-Qualcomm legal nastiness that's taking up way too much time these days, those mobile phone giants in Finland have asked a Texas court to make Qualcomm stop infringing on six of its MediaFLO implementations. Nokia has some gall to countersue Qualcomm over some specific tailoring of the MediaFLO and BREW standards seing as both are Qualcomm technologies. Those Finns are accusing Qualcomm here of "effectively copying Nokia's innovations." And, Nokia says that its patents are at the core of MediaFLO (broadcast quality) and BREW (application download enabling). Why don't these two just get in the ring and rumble? Enough with silly suits/countersuits already.
Qualcomm spat may slow 3G rollout, says Nokia
While Nokia and Qualcomm continue various spats and other legal nonsense to the nth degree, the future of 3G may be at risk. Well, not really -- but Nokia says it could very well slow things down, and mobile WiMAX and other technology that Qualcomm can't claim exclusive license to may be a possible answer. Qualcomm may be in for a bit of shock as the world's transition to 3G technology will mean more and more reluctance to pay any entity royalties. One thing seems clear here -- these two companies don't seem eager to settle on anything these days.[Via mocoNews.net]
Nokia E90 gets reviewed
Nokia Communicator fan? If you've quite not found the cash or willingness to spring for the newest Communicator (the E90), take a look at the mobile-review review (after the break) and sink your teeth into it. We've peeped the E90 a few times already, but it's good to have another stab at the thing (yeah, we admit -- we're too close to the E90 now). Mobile-review's summary? Here you go: weak vibration, good reception quality, excellent email handling and web browsing capability, good and tactile QWERTY-ness and two great screens -- and it seems less like a "smartphone" and more like a portable PC. We like the comeback of the Series 60 platform (3rd. edition, FP1) in the E90 as well. All in all, this Nokia beauty looks incredibly capable for the user who will want one.
Nokia's curious semi-absence from the U.S. wireless market
As Nokia's long-awaited N75 clamshell starts hitting AT&T virtual shelves for sale today (finally), the cellphone manufacturer appears to be at a U.S. crossroads. The N75, after all, was supposed to go live in Cingular customers' hands late last year. Come to think of it, where are all the Nokia handsets from top U.S. mobile carriers these days? The N75 delay was allegedly due to "operator testing," leading to an interesting point: Kallasvuo states that Nokia has four customers in the U.S. -- the carriers themselves -- and each has exacting customization demands. Sadly, in these parts, carriers have yet to accept their roles as ISPs to which customers bring their own equipment, forcing carriers to cater not to the actual users of their devices (imagine that!) but to the carriers' whims. Is Nokia headed towards direct sales only in the future? Doubtful, but you never know.
Nokia Siemens pumps virtual MIMO networking
After some recent testing, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is on the verge making Virtual Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) the transmission protocol for Long-Term Evolution (LTE) networks. Translation: the wireless networking company is going to be squeezing more data bits into existing allocated spectrum -- which is sure to please heavy-use data customers (and moreso to carriers). The NSN team used SDMA (Space Division Multiple Access) techniques to link two separate mobile devices with a base station simultaneously -- and on the same radio channel. Technically, that is quite a feat since radio communication becomes directional and quite efficient, unlike traditional cellular networks. Using current GSM or CDMA systems, wireless customers and towers broadcast in a 360-degree pattern -- but not so with SDMA technology. NSN's results included data uplinking at 108 megabits per second. That is a data rate we can get excited about -- and so should carriers needing to use existing spectrum more efficiently. Seeing as NSN just opened its doors a month ago, this is quite an impressive announcement, no?
Nokia N95 sees crippling by UK carriers
Are you one of those Windows Mobile handset VoIP hackboys / hackgirls (wireless Skype, anyone)? How about that voice minute-less wireless VoIP on that Orange or Vodafone Nokia N95 handset? Wait, let's go back a bit -- right back to that Nokia S60 flagship handset in Europe. It appears that Vodafone and Orange in the UK have removed an important feature from carrier-branded N95s there. In what can be considered one extreme example of handset crippling, the two carriers have apparently stripped the N95 on store shelves of is VoIP capability in an attempt to preserve voice revenue. The solution -- as always with GSM carriers -- is to buy the more expensive, unlocked N95 and install your Symbian VoIP client of choice. Did we say we can't stand carrier-branded madness like this?
Nokia releases widget platform for S60
If you're a fan of Apple's Widgets and Microsoft's Gadgets, Nokia's software engineers hear you. Nokia's Symbian-based S60 platform now has support for dashboard-like widgets thanks to the recent introduction of its "Web Run-Time" tools for web developer types. Nokia is claiming its S60 widgetry to be a first for a mobile platform, although Microsoft may be readying the same concept for Windows Mobile 6. So, if you're ready to stock up that slicker-than-slick N73, just remember that you're going to need Nokia's S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 to get those new widgets -- then let the WeatherBugging begin.[Via Mobilewhack]
Nokia to start selling WiMAX phones in 2008?
With Sprint's 4G commitment to WiMAX and the support of handset vendors Motorola and Samsung, Nokia wants a piece of the action, too. After all, the world's largest handset manufacturer needs to... well, remain the world's largest. Anyhoo, those Finns have said that it intends to sell "mobile devices using WiMAX Internet technology" as early as 2008. Do we see a heated battle between Nokia and Motorola on the WiMAX handset front next year? Sprint's announcement of a national 4G WiMAX network should be producing fruit by then, we think, so the more manufacturers want to get in on the action (Samsung included), the merrier.
Nokia and Samsung working to standardize mobile TV
With DVB-H and MediaFLO both having a presence in the quest for mobile television (which is getting better), Nokia has announced that it will be working with competitor Samsung to further open mobile television standards involving the company's platform of choice, DVB-H. Hmm -- it seems that handset makers are realizing now more than ever that agreement on a standard and moving forward is the best way to eventually land paying subscribers at carriers' doorsteps. With DVB-H, DMB and MediaFLO all competing for the same piece of the pie, both Nokia and Samsung DVB-H handsets will soon work using the OMA BCAST standard for mobile carriers.[Via textually.org]
Nokia makes play for Linux developers
Nokia's had a long-standing relationship with mobile operating system maker Symbian, but that doesn't mean the world's largest mobile phone maker wants to limit itself. Nokia's newer "Open C" for use with its own S60 software development kit (SDK) is an effort to encourage open source application developers to take a stab at porting their existing apps to the Symbian platform on which S60 is based. Potential result? Getting some of those cool mobile Linux apps sitting on that sweet Nokia S60 handset you may have.
Nokia 2610 officially available from AT&T
If you've been itching for a new entry-level Nokia handset for that low-tech relative or even as a backup phone, consider yourself served: AT&T is now carrying the Nokia 2160 for a mere $20 on contract as a replacement to the aging 6030. The 2160 has a CSTN screen, US dual-band GSM (850 / 1900), 2MB of memory and Class 6 GPRS. In other words, it's kinda a lowly phone with nothing to get exited about past being a voice device -- but it may just fit your bill if the need arises. What's with the Cingular branding though, AT&T? Isn't it time to move on?[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
N73 Godfather Edition: Nokia makes an offer we can't refuse?
We're not sure this is a legit item from Nokia proper, but we like it anyway. The Nokia N73 "Godfather Edition" is apparently coming out 35 years after the first Godfather film was released to commemorate the occasion. We're not sure if we like the box or the all-black N73 better here, but for your viewing pleasure the full Godfather movie comes on a 256MB memory card thoughtfully included with the phone. Even if watching the movie on the miniscule screen doesn't satisfy, it'll at least remind us to bring out that full DVD soon for a special viewing.
Qualcomm files five new patent suits against Nokia
We're just about to give both Nokia and Qualcomm some fightin' gloves if the two can't find some happy middle ground between their constant sparring in the press and on the telecom stage. In the latest round, Qualcomm has filed two new lawsuits against Nokia for -- you guessed it -- alleged infringement of five patents. Of concern to Qualcomm this month week is the company's apparent ownership of anything related to the abbreviation CDMA, as it sees Nokia using its technology used in some of its phones for the downloading of applications over wireless networks and related infringing against speech encoders used in certain Nokia handsets. Qualcomm, 0. Nokia, 0. For today, at least.
