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Nokia-Microsoft partnership bears first fruit: Communicator Mobile comes to E52 and E72
Last time we used "Nokia" and "Communicator" in the same sentence, we were talking about a giant QWERTY clamshell with roots dating back to the mid '90s -- but yeah, that's most definitely not what looking at here. Instead, we're seeing the first results of Nokia's newfound friendship with Microsoft, a build of Communicator Mobile that's all set up to run on the S60-based E52 and E72. Granted, an enterprise instant messaging utility isn't something we can all use, but that's just as well since it's limited to just two devices in Nokia's range at the moment; eventually, it'll be preinstalled on "select" devices and be available to a broader selection of phones already in the lineup. This is awesome, guys -- now let's get cracking on Office, shall we?
Nokia's all you can download Comes with Music service is finally DRM free... in China (updated)
We've been browbeating Nokia for using DRM to "protect" its Comes with Music offering ever since the service launched back in December of 2007 -- a time when the industry was just beginning to shed its DRM shackles. Now get this, the idle talk is over, Nokia just launched its all-you-can-eat (for 12, 18, or 24 months, typically) Comes with Music service in China without any DRM at all. India is on deck as Nokia looks to hook more emerging markets on the (kind of) free music drug. That means you no longer have to strip the DRM illegally to play your downloaded content on devices other than your main PC and Nokia Comes with Music handset. And yes, you can keep the tracks for life after your CWM subscription expires. At launch, Chinese consumers will have a choice of eight (ok, seven really) CWM handsets (X6 32GB and X6 16GB, 5230, 5330, 5800w, 6700s, E52 and E72i) with prices starting at a local equivalent of €140 (the CWM service fee is baked in to the cost, mind you) excluding taxes and subsidies. Suspiciously, Nokia's not making the usual boast about the millions of tracks available in the CWM catalog. It is, however, reassuringly supported by all the Big 4 music labels in addition to some Chinese indies, as you'd expect. Sorry, no word on when they'll strip the DRM from its European CWM stores and we're still not clear when CWM will finally see a US launch. Hopefully soon as a service like this could go over very, very well Stateside -- a market that Nokia is desperate to crack. Get on to the other side of the break for the full press release. Update: We met with Jyrki Rosenberg, Director of Music at Nokia, who shed a bit more light on the offering. Unfortunately, while DRM-free music aligns with Nokia's global vision, he had nothing to announce for the US or Europe today. And as you might expect, the onus to go DRM-free in China was in part driven by rampant, local piracy concerns -- recovery of any revenue was better than nothing at all in the eyes of the Big Four. Jyrki also told us that Chinese CWM subscriptions will be 1 year in length but the terms of renewal are still being hammered out. We also know that the music catalog numbers in the "hundreds of thousands" at launch (comparable to competing services in the region, according to Jyrki) and is growing every day. Privacy advocates will be happy to hear that the 256kbps MP3 files are "clean" -- in other words, no user data is embedded in the files unlike the practices of Apple and Walmart, among others.
FCC gives Nokia E52 the rose
You won't find the mega-slim (9.9mm, to be exact) E52 in the hands of any businessfolk just yet, but as usual, some FCC lab has the guilty pleasure of putting this one through the RF wringer well ahead of release. The version tested here is a Band I / VIII piece, which means it'll do full HSPA on the 900 and 2100MHz bands -- not exactly what your average North American S60 geek is looking for, but with the crazy precedent the N97 has set for launching in NAM flavor first, who knows what'll happen?
Nokia N97, N86 8MP, E52 all get N-Gage compatibility
Quick, what's easier to find: an E52 or a game that'll run on it? You'd think this is an egregious case of putting the cart before the horse, but you've got to give the N-Gage team credit for being well-prepared -- they're already listing Nokia's new mega-thin business candybar as being compatible with the service. Also on board is the just-released (and still hard to find in many parts of the world) N86 8MP and -- perhaps most notably -- the N97, making the beastly handset Nokia's first S60 5th Edition phone with N-Gage support. How's the experience sans keys? Let us know your thoughts in comments.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Nokia E52 caught bumming around
"Numeric keypad" and "industrial-strength email capabilities" may not be phrases that most folks associate with one another, but the Nokia E52 has a few things going for it: it's thin, it's sexy, it's got a battery that should last forever and a day, and hey -- let's not forget that some people can really burn rubber on T9. The recently-announced E51 successor (and E55 stablemate) has been caught doing its thing in the wild in a couple exciting colors, and we've got to say -- the phone's utterly malnourished appearance is killer, especially if your pockets are of the unstretching, unforgiving sort. Nokia's been consistently proving lately that it knows how to make world-class hardware, and we're hopeful from these early shots that the E52 won't be an exception.[Thanks, Daniel]
Nokia's E52 brings 8 hours of talk, 23 days of standby
Check it suits, Nokia just spat another E-series device into the boardroom. What the E52 lacks in looks it makes up for with battery specs: 8 hours of talk or 23 days of standby. Otherwise it's an A-GPS, WiFi, HSUPA data, and 3.2 megapixel candybar with generous support for your IT environments via built-in mobile VPN, Call Connect, and choice of corporate email options including Nokia Messaging, Exchange, and yes, Lotus Notes too for all you accountants. Ships in the second half of the year for €245, pre-subsidy and pre-tax. Get your corporate funk on with the video after the break.
