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Nokia Series 40: over 1.5 billion served
Nokia has announced a major mobile milestone: over 1.5 billion (with a b) Series 40 handsets sold since the first device -- the 7110 -- was introduced in 1999. "We are incredibly proud to reach this milestone," wrote Nokia's Executive VP of Mobile Phones, Mary McDowell. "It is gratifying to consider how Series 40 devices have made mobile technology accessible." Breeze on past the break for the official PR with more information about the Asha 303 handset knighted number 1,500,000,000, then feel free to weigh in on how long will take the Lumia line to reach the same milestone.
Gresso's Grand Premiere: an Avantgarde phone with a behind-the-times OS and a $50,000 price tag
Whenever Gresso's not crafting expensive new threads for iDevices, the company makes its own featurephones from the finest materials mother nature has to offer. The new Grand Premiere is the latest from the company's Avantgarde collection and carries on this incongruous tradition. Its frame and keys are made from more than five ounces of 18-carat gold, with numbers and letters laser-etched on its sapphire crystal skin. We don't know the internals of the 12mm-thin candybar, but we do know it's running Symbian S40 and is probably packing anemic hardware like other Gressos we've seen -- you're paying for exclusivity and the shiny stuff, not benchmarking abilities, after all. Only 30 Grand Premiere's will be made at $50,000 pop, so all you conspicuous consumers with money to burn better move fast. Wouldn't want to be the only luddite at the yacht club without luxury handset, would you?
Mobile Miscellany: week of November 28, 2011
This week was packed with news on the mobile front, so it was easy to miss a few stories here and there. Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of wireless for the week of November 28, 2011: Last week, the FCC announced that it had approved AT&T's request to purchase 700MHz spectrum from Qualcomm -- previously used to support MediaFLO service -- but it hasn't finalized the process yet. So, the company recently met with the FCC to ask if the deal can be sped up. [Phone Scoop] The Nokia Lumia 800 is rumored to finally be available at O2 beginning December 9th. [Unwired View] Nokia also announced the X2-02, a Series 40 dual-SIM handset geared towards music. It comes with an audio processing feature that brings clear sound, dedicated music keys and a feature that lets you play recordings directly from the FM radio. It also offers a 2.2-inch QVGA display, dedicated Facebook and Twitter clients, 2MP camera and 9.7 hour talk time. Sadly, the phone doesn't come with 3G included, and no markets or launch dates were announced, but it'll be priced around €60 before subsidy. [Unwired View] Cincinnati Bell added the HTC Radar 4G to its lineup this week and is available for free to new customers with a two-year commitment and after a $100 mail-in rebate; existing customers eligible for an upgrade can get it for $100 on contract and after $50 mail-in rebate. [BusinessWire] Samsung just released SDK 1.0 for the S Pen, also known as the stylus for the Galaxy Note. As to be expected, the kit will aid developers in writing apps that will take advantage of the pen. [Android Police]
Nokia Asha brings Angry Birds to the developing world, Mighty Eagle soars (video)
Well we're pretty Angry ourselves, being that Nokia nearly foiled our liveblog plans and made it all but impossible to transmit photos and video thanks to an absolutely miserable attempt at providing internet access. But Nokia World is not without mobile gaming opportunities, and a few minutes with the Birds seemed to do the trick (shifting our moods, at the very least -- there's still no reliable internet). We met up with Mr. Angry Birds himself, Peter Vesterbacka, who took us through a demo of the game on one of Nokia's new Asha Series 40 devices. The game, which has already seen an absolutely massive 400 million downloads, will come preloaded on the Asha 303, giving Vesterbacka and Rovio a chance to bring the game to emerging markets in China, India and Africa, where touchscreen devices are currently priced out of reach. The game seemed to perform just as well as it does on other platforms, so expect the same Angry Birds experience here as well. Jump past the break for a hands-on with Rovio's Mighty Eagle.
Nokia unveils Asha lineup, bringing Series 40 to emerging markets: 200, 201, 300, 303
Nokia has unveiled the Asha lineup, a spate of lower-end devices that run Series 40 and blur the line between featurephone and smartphone. The devices -- named the 200, 201, 300 and 303, are all designed to encourage the "next billion" users to access the web, and seem directed toward emerging markets. The 200 includes an Easy Swap option that lets you throw in multiple SIM cards, and can offer up to 32GB of storage for media playback -- 52 hours of it, in fact. It, along with the 201, have exceptionally loud speakers that work great for parties and those crazy all-nighters, though the latter lacks the multi-SIM support. Both of these phones will be available for €60 ($85); the 200 is going to ship before the end of the year, while the 201 will be ready for your purchase by Q1 2012. The 300 and 303 are the touchscreen handsets of the bunch; the 300 is a candybar with a numeric keypad and offers a 1GHz CPU, 5MP camera and 3G. It'll be priced at €85 ($120) and will be available in Q4 2011. Similarly, the 303 offers the same types of features with a 2.6-inch display and full QWERTY experience, and should be ready before the end of the year for €115 (about $160). All four Asha devices are made of polycarbonate and come with a Nokia Browser, which is powered by the cloud and compresses data by up to 90 percent, saving users from racking up excessive charges. Oh, and did we mention Angry Birds is coming to Series 40? Be sure to check out the vids for each Asha phone -- as well as the press release -- after the break. %Gallery-137548%%Gallery-137529% Sharif Sakr and Dante Cesa contributed to this post.
Vertu Signature Precious is awash in sea of sapphire...and regret (video)
It may not feature GPS, an accelerometer, or even a camera, but if you've run out of disposable items to encrust with jewels, then Vertu's Precious -- the latest revision to its aging Signature lineup -- may be the mobile phone for you. While its basic array of quadband GSM, 2100 / 850 MHz 3G, Bluetooth and WiFi may seem a touch modest, varieties come slathered in platinum, three types of gold (yellow, white and red), leather, ceramic, and enough jewels to make Her Majesty blush. Its face, known as the "sea of sapphire," is mostly obscured (save for the OLED display), but you high rollers can take comfort knowing it spent more than two weeks in a 2000°C oven to appease your discerning taste. Also hidden are 4.75 carats of ruby bearings, which are said to give the keys a frictionless, satisfying click. The ring tones are exclusive compositions by Dario Marianelli and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra -- though we were bigger fans before they sold out. For a quick glimpse of how the Precious comes together gem by gem, just follow the break. There's no word on pricing or availability, but if you're considering putting up your first born as collateral, you might want to reconsider this cringe-worthy creation. [Thanks, Radi]
Nokia debuts C2-03 at CommunicAsia (video)
Nokia's Mary McDowell announced the company's third dual-SIM device, the C2-03, at CommunicAsia. It's a portrait slider with a 320 x 240 touchscreen display paired with the company's Touch and Type interface. Like the C2-00, it's based on S40 and supports Easy Swap -- a handy feature that lets users hot swap their SIMs. Additionally, the phone sports a new version of Nokia's web browser that compresses data up to 90 percent, and Nokia Maps for Series 40 -- which provides location search and routing while offline. Amazingly, standby time is rated at a hearty 400 hours, and while the built-in memory is somewhat paltry (10MB), the storage can be expanded up to 32GB. It's expected to be released in Q3 for €77, and will roll out across India, China, the south-east Asian-Pacific region, Eurasia, the middle east, and Africa. The C2-02, a single-SIM variant will debut alongside the more intriguing sibling, but we know you're most interested in the dual-SIM darling, so hop past the break for an extended peek.
Nokia outs 1GHz Series 40 handset with ClearBlack display
According to Nokia's Manager of Marketing Services in Argentina, an S40-based mobile phone with a 1GHz processor and ClearBlack display is coming -- and for our part, we're hoping to see it next week at Nokia Connection 2011 in Singapore. There, company leaders (including the outspoken CEO himself), will debut new products aimed at emerging markets. Granted, there's nothing definitive to connect the dots, but given the operating system, it would make perfect sense to get a glimpse at this mystery device -- along with the Nokia C2-06 -- at next week's conference. The Argentina-based tweets that originally outed this handset have been snuffed, but they've been preserved in the form of a retweet and screen caps, letting this casual mistake ripple through the web. Don't feel too bad, Nokia... as mobile fanatics, we're big fans of the unintended reveal. Now, how about outing those sweet Mangoes?
Nokia's upcoming C2-series slider spotted in India, keeps the low-end in check
A prototype of Nokia's C2 series dual-SIM phone was recently spotted in India, adding a resistive touchscreen to the manufacturer's mix of budget offerings. This glossy T9 slider was spotted with a two megapixel camera (sans flash), and sadly forgoes such niceties as WiFi and 3G connectivity -- presumably in the name of keeping cost down. There's no word on pricing (yet), though we do know this handset is running Series 40 6th Edition, and thankfully features Bluetooth (revealing the name of the device as C2-06). All told, Nokia is far removed from the bleeding edge on this one, although it's always comforting to know they're looking out for the little guy.
Unnamed Nokia Touch and Type slider leaks out
Nokia has said that it'll continue to push Series 40 hard as it transitions from Symbian to Windows Phone on the high end -- and some concrete evidence of that strategy has leaked out this week. This attractive little gadget appears to be a slider remake of the X3-02 Touch and Type launched late last year, combining a numeric keypad with a touch-enabled version of Nokia's mainstream dumbphone platform. The fact that they're concealing the keypad here seems to be a tacit admission that the UI is designed to be completely usable from end to end without hitting buttons, which is the way everything's going these days. The name of the new model is unclear -- if you zoom into the upper left of the image, it looks like this phone's got "C0" on it, which is the generic model number Nokia slaps on most of its prototypes -- but considering the shape, we wouldn't be surprised if it ended up falling into the C series. [Thanks, momchil]
T-Mobile launching Nokia X2 on February 16th?
Considering the rumors of the canceled Nuron 2 launch, it seemed like T-Mobile USA might be on less-than-rosy terms with Nokia -- but check this out: we've got shots here suggesting that the X2 will be hitting America's Number Four in just a few days' time. For the record, the X2 isn't a smartphone in the strictest sense of the word -- it's a portrait QWERTY handset running a recent incarnation of Series 40 -- but to its credit, Series 40 is one of the most capable feature phone platforms in the biz. Follow the break for a shot of the device in T-Mobile livery. [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Nokia X3-02 Touch-and-Type review
It's a difficult time for feature phones, with smartphones fast becoming a viable option at the low-end of the market. On the one hand, most users are expecting smartphone features such as touchscreens and WiFi from their feature phones. At the same time, some folks still want an affordable, solid device that focuses primarily on making calls and sending text messages, with the occasional foray into entertainment and data-based communication. The Nokia X3-02 Touch-and-Type (not to be mistaken with the other Nokia X3) attempts to be that device, by adding a dose of touch and WiFi to the venerable Series 40 platform. Does it succeed? Read on. %Gallery-115007%
Mobiado 105 Damascus handled on video, which is the closest you'll ever get to one
Mobiado's 105 series of Series 40-based luxury candybars is nothing new -- in fact, it's quite old -- but as Vertu has discovered over the years, customers that are looking to spend four or five figures on a phone are apparently often uninterested in smartphone capability for some reason. On that note, the 105 rolls on with the recent introduction of the 105 Damascus, coated in hand-forged Damascus steel from Sweden with sandblasted (or rather, glass bead-blasted) steel buttons and screws to match. That's neat, but you know what isn't neat? The 2 megapixel camera, the 2-inch display, or the "more than" 1GB of memory available. Anyhow, enough venting -- point is, the recently-announced device has gotten a little hands-on time courtesy of Vietnamese site MaiNguyen, and though the steel edges are admittedly pretty beautiful, they wouldn't seem to come anywhere near justifying the phone's heart-stopping $4,500 asking price. Judge for yourself in the video (paired with a hands-on of some neat Damascus steel pen) after the break.
Nokia SVP of Symbian Smartphones talks portrait QWERTY, Symbian 'bashing,' and MeeGo devices
Jo Harlow, Nokia's Senior VP of Symbian Smartphones was in Amsterdam for the kickoff of the Symbian Exchange and Exposition, giving us the chance for a sit down with the seven year Nokia veteran. How could we resist given the recent launch of Symbian^3, Nokia's new iterative approach to Symbian updates, and then Monday's (expected) bombshell that the Symbian Foundation would hand over operation responsibility for the OS to Nokia. While the full transcript is available after the break, we wanted to highlight the following: Symbian user interface improvements are Nokia's top priority. According to Jo, "We are planning a few user interface improvements in early 2011 including split screen text input, portrait QWERTY -- there will be other improvements coming shortly after particularly in the visual appeal of the graphics of the device." While Jo stopped short of saying that changes in the Symbian Foundation will accelerate Symbian updates, she did concede that it eliminates a step making things "simpler" -- and that's a positive thing. Jo also reminded us that Nokia's plans for MeeGo stretch beyond traditional handset formats. And just like Symbian handsets will form a "fat center" in Nokia's device portfolio, she expects Nokia's more diverse MeeGo offerings to be "pretty big and fat as well." Read on for the full interview in addition to Jo's thoughts on Symbian's "infinite possibility to surprise people," Stephen Elop's performance in his first two months on the job, and her frustration at not being able to move faster amidst all of the "Symbian bashing."
Nokia C3 Touch and Type hands-on
Nokia continued the precedent set by the X3-02 at Nokia World last week by rolling out the C3 Touch and Type, its second Series 40-based handset to make use of that pretty unusual touchscreen / numeric keypad combo. Unlike the X3-02, the new C3 variant features a more traditional keypad layout by dropping the *0# row down below the 789 row, but since T9 only makes use of the first three rows to do its thing, it shouldn't make much of a different in practice for typing usability. Besides a 2.4-inch QVGA display, you get a 5 megapixel camera, full HSPA, microSD support up to 32GB, and 802.11n (yes, n!) WiFi, making it a surprisingly well-equipped device considering that it falls toward the bottom end of Nokia's budget-themed Cseries. We played a bit with the diminutive candybar at Nokia World, and though you can't really tell from the pictures, we know where Nokia's saving the money on this one: the build. Put simply, it feels like a pretty cheap phone all the way around with flimsy plastic, a so-so display, and a resistive touch layer with plenty of give. Trust us when we say that's not a knock -- at €145 ($189) fully unlocked and subsidy-free, you're getting a lot of capability -- but would-be buyers should be warned that this doesn't have anywhere near the premium feel of the N8. That said, it's extremely thin, light, and small -- and the on-screen controls are all plenty large for fat-fingering your way through the UI -- so we could see it making a serviceable backup phone even in the developed markets where Nokia doesn't plan to push a lot of these. Check out the gallery!
Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type puts a touchscreen on your Series 40 featurephone
Nokia has just revealed its X3-02 handset, which does the unthinkable and marries a relatively standard 16-button keypad with a 2.4-inch QVGA touchscreen. Now, we might have our reservations about Nokia's S40 OS being able to translate to a touch-friendly UI, but the beauty of this phone is that touch comes as essentially a free extra rather than the fundamental navigation paradigm. It's augmented with 3G, 802.11n WiFi, and Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, and the whole thing is wrapped within a 9.6mm-thin brushed aluminum shell. All that, and the X3-02 will only cost €125 (before sales taxes and subsidies, as usual) when it launches later this quarter. See it on video after the break. Update: Nokia has informed us the X3-02 uses a resistive touchscreen, no real surprise given its price.%Gallery-99601%
Nokia X2 follows X3's footsteps, welcomes Series 40 to the Xseries fold
A number of Series 40 devices were branded with Nokia's "XpressMusic" label back in the day, so why not Xseries, too? Well, Nokia must be on the same page, because it has just announced the X2 candybar without a trace of smartphone DNA to its name after the X3 kicked things off a few months ago. The relatively low-end phone clocks in with a 5 megapixel cam with flash, 2.2-inch QVGA display, Ovi Store and Facebook support, dual loudspeakers, integrated FM radio, dedicated music keys, and microSD expansion up to 16GB (32GB would've been nice, but considering the scarcity and overwhelming price of said cards, it really doesn't matter too much in practice). The 13mm-thick piece is due before the end of June for €85 ($113), which is a heck of a value by our rough math.
Nokia C3, C6, and E5 try to smarten up the dumbphone market
The countdown is over and the mystery is solved. Nokia just let us in on the secret of its "everyone connect" teaser: a trio of new middling handsets. Yes folks, hardware, but not the N-series flagship many of you were hoping for. Instead we've got a handful of affordable QWERTY cellphones bent on bringing messaging and social networking to the masses. Naturally, these devices aren't going to compete for the attention of the N8-00 crowd -- that's fine, they're not meant to. Today's launch is part of Nokia's global strategy to push the smartphone experience down into the dumbphone market. Let's start things off with the colorful C3-00 (available Q2 for €90 pre-tax and pre-subsidy) -- Nokia's first Series 40 QWERTY. The quad-band GSM candybar crams its social networking tools onto a 2.4-inch QVGA homescreen with Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, and 55MB of internal memory (and up to 8GB supported on microSD) coming along for the ride. It's also packing the Opera Mini browser in addition to the standard Webkit fare for browsing the mobile internet on the C3's paltry EGPRS data connection. But hey, €90. Moving on, we've got the more ambitious C6-00 (Q2, €220) 4-row QWERTY slider with quad-band GSM/EDGE and quad-band HSDPA/UMTS on the 850/900/1900/2100 frequencies. The familiar looking C6 runs S60 5th on that 3.2-inch nHD (640 x 360 pixel) touchscreen (resistive, we presume) with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera and flash riding the backside. Of course, it also features integrated A-GPS for free Ovi Maps turn-by-turn navigation as is the case for all new Nokia GPS-enabled smartphones. Finally we've got the E5-00 (Q3, €180) for those in need of a S60 3rd device that's a bit more business-minded than the C3 but twice the price (but still cheap). That means tri-band UMTS, A-GPS, WiFi and another unfortunate 2.4-inch LCD. Full press release after the break.%Gallery-90347%
Nokia's Series 40 to 'offer a compelling touch experience'
Even though it's lived a long, fruitful (some might even say wildly successful) life as Nokia's one and only high-end feature phone platform, Series 40 is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis now that S60 pushing deeper than ever into categories traditionally considered dumbphone strongholds -- one needs to look no further than the C5 to see that strategy in action. So, what's next? Quite a bit, actually. Cellularmania appears to have gotten hold of an official document assuring developers that the company is continuing to drop money into taking Series 40 to the next level this year, promising a "compelling touch experience" along with confirmation of earlier rumors that we'd see dual-SIM devices for certain markets where it's a big deal. It's still unclear what kind of mix we're going to see in Nokia's product portfolio 5, 2, or even a single year from now, but Series 40's still got a seat at the table -- for now, anyway.
Nokia 6303i Classic announced, 'guarantees fun for a long time without charging'
If you were waiting for a mild refresh of Nokia's 6303 Classic before taking the plunge on a new handset... well, you're a strange character, but the good news is that your time has come at long last. The 2.2-inch QVGA display and 3.2 megapixel camera are both carried over; otherwise, you've got a micro-USB connector, 3.5mm headphone jack (good for the integrated FM radio), microSD expansion up to 8GB, Nokia Messaging, and up to a respectable 8 hours of talk time. Needless to say, this isn't a high-end piece -- it tops out with tri-band EDGE, but it'll run just €105 ($144) unsubsidized when it hits "select markets" this quarter.
