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Nokia's Ovi store makes soft landing in a few markets, might be headed to your neck of the woods soon
With that May launch window closing fast, it looks like Nokia might get Ovi Store in under the proverbial wire: it just went live on Vodafone in Australia, which was soon followed by other carriers, and then Ireland and Singapore. According to a post that was subsequently pulled from Nokia's Conversations blog, Nokia confirmed the rollout and said that it was progressively moving the Ovi Store to "production servers," and that we could "expect a broader announcement and consumer availability soon." Unfortunately, since that post has been pulled, we're not really sure what to expect, but at least the lucky few with Ovi can beam back important missives on their Twittix apps about what life is like in the future. Above are shots of the store live on an N97.
Nokia Grouper, Mako, Snapper, and Thresher rolling deep on AT&T
Who said Nokia doesn't have a major commitment to North American carriers? We've landed news of a whole plethora of Espoo-sourced devices scheduled to hit AT&T over the coming months, and a few in particular caught our eye. Most notably, the Mako (pictured) is unlike anything we've ever seen Nokia make, mostly thanks to a side-sliding QWERTY keyboard that doesn't really resemble any existing hardware. It rides on the same S60 3.2-based platform as the 6650 and E71x, features dual-band HSDPA, a 2.4-inch QVGA display, AGPS, 2 megapixel camera, Video Share, and 128MB of internal storage with microSD expansion. Sadly -- this is going to be a dream killer for some folks, we think -- it's only got a 2.5mm headphone jack, which is a step back for multimedia support. This one was at one time targeted for June 5, but if we had to guess, it's been pushed back -- maybe we're crazy, but we feel like it hasn't leaked enough to meet that date at this point. Anyhow, looks like this one's a good foil for that QWERTY swivel allegedly due on Verizon. Speaking of "this looks nothing like a Nokia," the Thresher is an ultra-glossy slider that doesn't quite resemble anything officially announced in other markets. It shares its Series 40 guts with Grouper, which was the codename assigned to the 6750 Mural flip we recently saw hit the FCC. Both devices do HSDPA and AGPS; the Grouper makes do with a 2 megapixel cam, though, while the Thresher steps up to 3.2 with an integrated flash. The Thresher's signed up for September and the Grouper for July, but as with all of these, it's anyone's guess whether those dates will hold. Finally, the Snapper flip is a lower-end device that we could envision replacing the 6555, lacking the Grouper's style but still staying strong with triband HSDPA, Bluetooth 2.1, AGPS, and a 2 megapixel camera. This one's tentatively targeted for August.
Nokia's N86 8MP cruises through the FCC's database
When Nokia unveiled its N86 back in February, we Yanks were given no hope whatsoever that a US release was in the cards. We're doing our best to stifle our excitement, but it sure looks like a stateside launch is a lot closer now that said handset has made its way through the dark and murky halls of the FCC. Seen here in a lovely, washed-out shade of black, the 8 megapixel, OLED-equipped dual-slider seems no different than the one we toyed with in Barcelona, save for the whole US-friendly aspect, of course. C'mon Nokia, come clean with the price and ship date, won'tcha?[Thanks, eleminop
Samsung i8910 HD comes to Orange UK
Say what you will about S60 5th Edition, but here's the thing -- of the smartphones in the news today, only one has a massive AMOLED display. Samsung's i8910 HD is almost irrefutably the baddest-ass S60 device ever produced and one of the most heavily-spec'd smartphones ever made for any platform, featuring the aforementioned 3.7-inch 640 x 360 capacitive touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera, an S60-specific implementation of TouchWiz with 3D enhancements, and HSUPA. Bottom line is that if this phone can't get you worked into a lather, S60 definitely isn't for you -- and lucky Brits now have the opportunity to make that gut check thanks to Orange's retail launch. You can grab it for a totally reasonable £97.50 (about $151) on a £35 per month plan, which seems like a pittance to pay for one of the monster handsets of 2009. [Via All About Symbian]
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 E63 getting goth makeover
The E63's always going to play second fiddle to its older, sexier brother, the E71 -- but it certainly doesn't help anyone take the phone seriously when it's only available in playful, non-neutral colors. Don't get us wrong, blue and red both suit this phone well -- but if you're going to take it into a board meeting, you might want something that's not going to turn heads and distract the suits from that fabulously interesting PowerPoint presentation on third-quarter financial projections. To that end, it seems that Nokia Europe is prepping a blacked-out version of the low-cost business device, though it's not clear when or where you might be able to pick it up. Speaking of blacked-out Nokias, you feeling any heat over there, E71x? [Via Symbian-Guru]
Nokia's flagship N97 gets its own website, pre-order link ($699)
If flash animations and S60 5th edition are your idea of a good time then you'll want to head on over to Nokia's new interactive N97 landing page. From there you can get as close as you'll ever get to Nokia's flagship slider with 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 pixel resistive touch-screen display prior to its expected June launch. So go ahead, take 'er for a spin and then hit the newly live pre-order button after you're convinced that this is the smartphone for you. Sure, there's lots of potential June competition out there but take heart: the Android-powered Samsung i7500 lacks a QWERTY, there's no guarantee that a next-gen iPhone will launch in June, and the Palm Pre might be a big fat dud. There, feel better about your choice?Update: Tipster Chris just let us know that the N97 shows a $699 phone-only price on the "find products" tab over at Nokia USA. That's $6 cheaper than the N96, strangely enough. See screen-grab after the break.Update 2: Pre-order is go for the US.[Via mivadika, thanks Nikos K.]
Nokia E71x now available from AT&T
It's been an awful long time in coming, but AT&T's customized remix of Nokia's lovely E71 -- the E71x -- is now available for sale direct from the carrier's site. As was revealed a little over a month ago, pricing comes in at just $99.99 on contract after rebate, which seems like a steal for a device with this level of capability and sex appeal. Of course, you'll need to be okay with S60 3.2 -- but if you can get past that, you've got a gorgeous all-metal shell, full QWERTY, HSDPA, 3.2 megapixel cam, and WiFi waiting for you. What now, Bold? [Thanks, Ivaylo]
Cincinnati Bell lands Nokia's XpressMusic 5800: $149.99
Good one, Cincinnati Bell -- you totally got us. Oh, wait. This isn't a joke? For the second time in as many months, the aforesaid carrier has somehow managed to land a white-hot Nokia handset before any other operator in America. This go 'round, the company is becoming the first in the US to offer a subsidized version of Nokia's polarizing XpressMusic 5800, bringing it to customers in the Ohio region for $149.99. Those looking to do without any strings can procure one for $349.99 (which is still $50 less than what Nokia's asking), but it's the bragging rights here that make it all worthwhile. So, how long before a real carrier follows suit?Update: And here's the press release.[Thanks, Adam]
Nokia N86 8MP features amazing active kickstand
So here we were, thinking that the Nokia N86 8MP was just a featurebumped N85, and what happens? These screenshots showing off a series of custom settings for the kickstand in the back leak out and blow our minds. See, the N95 just has a dumb plastic stand back there, but the N86 8MP can actually launch an app when you flip it out, making it an instant video player, picture frame, or speaker system. That's innovation, friends. Now let's party.
S60.com riding off into the sunset come June
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust -- you know how it goes with the circle of life and all that jazz, even the best things must eventually come to an end. In this case, it's a bittersweet end that's leading to an exciting new beginning -- S60's home page, S60.com, is officially shuttering shortly, but only to make room for its Symbian Foundation equivalent. Registration for the current site and the S60 Ambassador program are already closed, and the rest of the site will be decommissioned by the end of June; it's not clear how all of S60.com's features will be replaced over at Symbian.org, but we have hope that they'll be largely replicated, especially considering the community-minded focus Symbian has applied so far in its wild journey into open source. [Thanks, Alex J.]
How would you change Nokia's 5800 XpressMusic?
Nokia's first ever full touchscreen S60 phone has had quite the bumpy ride into reality. After launching here in North America, it was on the receiving end of heavy pounding from early adopters who couldn't adequately take advantage of 3G services. Now that those issues are ironed out (and you've had five minutes to cool your jets), we're wondering how you'd tweak / change / overhaul the 5800 XpressMusic. Needless to say, our own personal list would likely span a few pages (collated, double-spaced, 1-inch margins), but this post isn't for us. In fact, it has been specially crafted just for you, so feel free to let off some steam in comments below. Just keep it constructive, okay?
Nokia E71x finally coming to AT&T on May 4?
We've been teased by the promise of the E71x for months now -- and of that time, we've been teased on a very official level for a solid three weeks -- but we've yet to get a solid release date out of AT&T. The popular rumor is that last-minute problems in the phone's custom FP2-based firmware (the original E71 runs FP1, you may recall) affecting email caused the holdup, and naturally, a mass firmware update on an endless sea of already-manufactured devices can be a bit of a production. Now, Nokia Experts is reporting that we'll finally see this thing hit shelves on May 4 and has a screenshot to back up the claim; at $99.99 on contract, it'll still be a steal by then, but we'd recommend they not wait any longer than that. Please, seriously.
Symbian ports its platform to Atom, just for the heck of it
Companies and enterprising individuals have been dabbling with the tantalizing concept of slapping Android on a cheap netbook for months now, and seeing how Android and Symbian could end up locked in a heated battle for the hearts and minds of the open-source mobile platform world, it stands to reason that the boys and girls at the Foundation would want to counter the OHA's every move. Some good people in the S60 On Symbian Customer Operations group (try fitting that on a business card) have managed to compile and run an S60-skinned Symbian build on one of Intel's Atom reference boards, showing a stock S60 screen and an OpenGL demo -- which, as you might imagine, runs circles around the performance of a garden-variety S60 handset. To quote the Foundation's boss, "I was most impressed with the responsiveness of the UI and upper application layers" -- the only question left to be answered is whether there's a place in the world for a Symbian-powered netbook.
Nokia E71x struts its stuff on video
We were never able to track down an E71x with a SIM and an active AT&T Navigator account, but it's pretty clear from our time with the device that AT&T has left its S60 3.2-based core pleasantly untouched. We wouldn't call it "virgin" by any stretch, but the profile can be tweaked to your liking, we weren't able to find any options that were notably absent, WiFi's still there, and you can file all of the unremovable AT&T crapware in a separate folder that you'll never use (and yes, we did verify that it can't be uninstalled, sadly). And let's not forget -- you're getting one of the sexiest smartphones ever made for a penny shy of a hundie, so really, what do ya got to complain about?
Nokia E71x graces us with its presence
Our time with it was all too brief, but we had just a few moments to play with a SIM-less E71x last evening -- and yes, we're pretty sure this blacked-out beauty is going to sell like Canadian bananas when it launches on AT&T in the next few weeks, especially at that enticing $99.99 price point. Anyone who's handled an original E71 will know exactly what's going on here: slim, sexy, totally usable keypad, and WiFi. Too bad they weren't able to cram in a 3.5mm jack on the E71x to complement the addition of S60 3.2, but hey, we're just going to count our sub-hundred-dollar blessings and move on.
5800 XpressMusic firmware updates brings loads of improvements
Two firmware updates in a month? If you're the 5800 XpressMusic, the answer's yes. Nokia has just pushed out the second update for said smartphone, and this one's packing some serious heat. For starters, the new software promises faster data downloads from the internet, an improved email experience and a better search experience with in-device search. If that's not enough, Nokia's also opening up new camcorder features (second camera support for still image capture in addition to video calls, burst mode that allows people to take multiple pictures one after another without needing to repress the picture taking button) and adding a mobile dictionary with support for 38 languages. Finally, the 'Application Update' gives owners the ability to check (or set to check automatically) for available updates for applications and update them directly in the device. Needless to say, we'd highly recommend you hit this up on the double, and let us know how it goes, yeah?
AT&T pulls trigger on Nokia E71x and Samsung Propel Pro
Kicking off what's sure to be a fun-filled week of announcements surrounding CTIA out in Vegas, AT&T's smartphone lineup just got a little beefier thanks to the official introduction of a couple devices we've been expecting for a hot minute now. First up, the Nokia E71x is just about ready for shelves, bringing WiFi, AT&T Navigator (which hopefully won't preclude the use of Nokia Maps and other GPS-enabled apps), and all of the lauded physical design characteristics you're used to from the original, unbranded E71. The best thing here might be the price -- just $99.99 on contract after rebate, thankfully beating rumors of $200 and $150 by a country mile; it'll hit shelves "in the coming weeks." Next up is the Samsung Propel Pro, a device that shares very little in common with its Propel namesake other than a form factor, mainly because this sucker's a full-out smartphone running Windows Mobile 6.1. It's got WiFi, a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard (naturally) and will be available on April 14 for $149.99 after all your discounts have been applied and your two-year agreement is filed away.
Keepin' it real fake, part CXCIV: Nokia N83 is not a Nokia N83
While the shortly flaunted N83 never did amount to anything back in the day, we can safely say the device you see above is definitely not what the suits in Espoo had in mind. The touchscreen-based smartphone looks about as thick as an N95, though we can't recall ever seeing a flavor of Symbian look anything like this. If you care to know, the phone sports a 400 x 240 resolution panel, 0.3 megapixel camera (ha!), dual SIM card slots, Bluetooth, FM radio module, about two to three hours of talk time and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack. But hey, it's only a buck 'o five off-contract, or exactly the price of freedom according to certain puppets.[Thanks, facelessloser]
Nokia E71x misses rumored launch date on AT&T
First we had a solid rumor that the long-awaited Nokia E71x would finally go on sale come March 24th, but that day -- yesterday -- sadly came and went without a single handset hitting shelves. The latest intel suggests that a last-minute bug discovered in the phone's email app was the monkey wrench that brought the whole Rube Goldberg machine of a launch process to its knees, and sadly, the thousands of units already produced are just going to sit around while they await a firmware update -- an update that's several weeks out, the story goes. Though the idea of a subsidized E71 that carries over most of the original's openness and throws in a dose of S60 3.2 for good measure is an enticing idea indeed, the unlocked models have been around since July of last year, so the scary question becomes: will this product still relevant by the time AT&T finally manages to get it out the door?
