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Woz: Windows Phone is 'beautiful,' Android 'no contest,' still loves iPhone, ask again tomorrow
When Steve Wozniak talks mobile, people love to listen. Last time we checked in, he was lauding some of Android's finer points, and now he's raining praise on Windows Phone. In an interview with A New Domain, the Apple co-founder was all too happy to share his recent positive experiences with the Espoo / Redmond collaboration. In particular, Woz waxes about how intuitive the interface is, and how naturally apps lead you around. He goes on to say how there's nothing he's seen that isn't more beautiful (than iOS and Android) on the Windows system, before claiming Android is "no contest" when it comes to the interface. It's not all lemonade and roses, however, as he then admits he's no fan of the voice control functionality compared to the other two platforms. When pushed to admit what he uses as default, it's still the iPhone -- two of them in fact -- but Woz's ability to see the best in all mobile operating systems will be sure to further confirm his status as one of tech's most liked. Head down to the source to hear for yourself. [Thanks everyone who sent this in]
Nokia Lumia 800 likes to taste the rainbow, wants to try a splash of white and yellow?
Cyan and Magenta were a good start, but Nokia hasn't finished plucking eye-catching colors for its smartphone flagship. Alongside a not-exactly-unexpected white model, these leaked renders suggest that our favorite polycarbonate Windows Phone will net a zesty yellow (possibly lime green) wardrobe at some point in the future. According to MonWindowsPhone, details on timeframes and launch regions remain foggy and will depend on customer demand. If the phone fares well in certain locales, Nokia will likely be more willing to offer up some spicier colors.
Nokia 710 spotted on developer site, probably not running 'Internet Tablet OS 2008 Edition'
With barely a few weeks before the phone giant's annual hurrah, Nokia World, kicks off in London, details have leaked of a new phone possibly winging its way to the Finnish faithful. According to MyNokiaBlog, the 710 is slightly longer and wider than the MeeGo-powered N9, with a 1.4GHz Cortex A8 processor, a 3.7-inch TFT screen and a five megapixel camera topped with some 720p video-capture frosting. All these details were swiftly pulled from the site, but not before the blog managed grab the screenshot above. A Nokia 710 also made a brief appearance on Occasional Gamer, which registers phone use on WP7 games. Most of the details match up with the Nokia Sun we saw earlier this month, though there are some inconsistencies -- is it TFT or AMOLED? We're hoping for the latter. It'll be a few weeks before Nokia has anything official to say, but whatever it is, it's going to have to wow us. The competition's never been tougher.
Another Windows Phone spotted, Nokia Sun on the horizon?
It's getting increasingly difficult to pin down exactly how many Nokia Windows Phones we can expect to see this year, now that the French WinPho obsessives at Mon Windows Phone have added the Nokia Sun to that list. The site got its hands on the vague screengrab above, which shows this mystery phone joining Orange France's ranks of forthcoming devices. With names like the SeaRay and Sabre already being bandied around, the Sun does fit in with Nokia's naming trend for Mango handsets, although it could be another name for previously leaked hardware. The accompanying spec sheet, meanwhile, hints at a very N9-esque device with an AMOLED screen, eight megapixel camera, polycarbonate shell, and (perhaps) a Micro SIM slot -- all centered around a slightly smaller display. Who knows, maybe this is the anonymous (and possibly fake) phone we saw last month? All bets are on the table at this point, but with Nokia World set to kick off in a few weeks, we shouldn't have to wait long for an answer. We'll be there to sniff out all the details on the Finnish colossus' Windows Phone offerings -- however many they decide to shower us with.
Nokia: first Windows Phones still shipping by end of year
Somewhere in the world, sometime between October 1st and December 31st, somebody will be able to purchase a Nokia-branded Windows Phone. Exactly where, when, or who is still in question. But Nokia at least took to the Twittersphere to reassure the masses that the company is still aiming to release a Windows Phone by the end of the year, though we likely won't be seeing it ship in large volumes until early next year. Curiously enough, Nokia Australia's Twitter account was included within the short message, which makes us wonder if they're tossing a little clue our way. We're hoping to have another entry on our Black Friday shopping list -- not that it's short as it is, of course.
Nokia and Microsoft hosting special event August 17th (update: no new hardware)
Between the "accidental" unveiling of the Sea Ray, the announcement of Fujitsu's Mango device, and the less-than-stellar Q2 Nokia had, it doesn't take a lot of crazy speculation to surmise that Stephen Elop's quite the eager beaver in ensuring it'll get the most out of its newfound marriage with Microsoft as soon as possible. Thus, hearing word of a special event being thrown at the beginning of Gamescom, an annual gaming conference in Germany, is definitely a good sign; according to press invites sent out today, the party -- to be held on August 17th -- promises "exciting actions and surprises," and we're pretty sure they don't mean a free t-shirt. So join with us in determining what these surprises are, but please... don't try that hard. Update: Well, don't ever say we told you to temper your excitement. We just heard from Nokia itself that this is nothing more than a "local developer event," and to not expect any new devices that we haven't heard of before. But hey, at least the fall edition of CTIA isn't too far out...
Nokia giving developers free E7 and Nokia WP7 handsets
Nokia's fighting an uphill battle to retain its community of developers as it switches focus to Windows Phone and Microsoft's Windows Phone Developer Tools from what was a joint Symbian / MeeGo smartphone strategy unified under the Qt development framework. As such, Espoo just notified its Launchpad members that they'll be receiving about $1,000 in free hardware in the form of Nokia's new flagship E7 QWERTY slider and a "Nokia WP7 device" just as soon as it's available. Nokia's also tossing in a few other incentives like free access to the next Nokia World / Nokia Developer Summit, three months free tech support for all Nokia technologies (limited to 10 tickets), a free User Experience evaluation for one app, business development assistance, and help publishing apps on the Ovi store. This is also great news for us as the chance of seeing leaked pics of that first Nokia WP7 device have just increased dramatically.
Nokia to developers: no Qt for Windows Phone development
Nokia's been beating the Qt warpath for years after purchasing the developer framework from Trolltech back in January of 2008. In fact, Nokia just made the switch to Qt exclusively back in October in a sign of its unrelenting support for the unified development environment. That, like all previous Nokia strategies, is in for a big change today. While Qt will continue on as the development framework for Symbian and MeeGo, Microsoft will provide its free Windows Phone Developer Tools (Visual Studio 2010, Expression, Silverlight and the XNA Framework) to developers interested in developing for Nokia Windows Phones (get used to that phrase) while providing "guidance" to anyone wishing to port their apps to WP7. In other words, Qt will not be adapted for Windows Phone 7 APIs. Full letter after the break to what we imagine is a very disgruntled and previously loyal Nokia developer community.
Nokia tells investors that 2011 and 2012 will be 'transition years'
Wondering how long it will take for Nokia to fully execute on its new strategy? Here's a clue in a press release targeting investors and financial analysts: "Nokia expects 2011 and 2012 to be transition years, as the company invests to build the planned winning ecosystem with Microsoft. After the transition, Nokia targets longer-term: (1) Devices & Services net sales to grow faster than the market. (2) Devices & Services non-IFRS operating margin to be 10% or more." There are many ways to interpret this, naturally. But the one we can't get our minds around is that the Symbian and MeeGo houses were such a mess that they couldn't be repaired by 2012, even after years of effort and huge investments directed towards that goal. And here we thought that MeeGo "inspired both confidence and excitement" while Symbian's only issue was UI related. Update: Stephen Elop says that he expects Nokia to ramp up the transition this year and be ready to ship Windows Phone 7 devices in significant volume in 2012.
