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Nokia makes E7 QWERTY slider official: 'beautiful and all business' (update: specs)
Nokia's just unveiled its aluminum-clad E7 QWERTY slider handset. One of the new family of Symbian^3 devices, it has a 4-inch tilting touchscreen display on the front and an 8 megapixel imager capable of 720p video on the back. Yummy. It's said to be the best business device Nokia, or anyone else, has ever produced and comes with the touted ability to create PowerPoint slides on the go. The E7 also features Nokia's new ClearBlack Display sorcery and is expected to ship before the end of the year in exchange for €495 (before taxes and subsidies). You'll find the full press release after the break. Update: By now you'll have noticed that the E7 and N8 are almost identical outside of the E7's 4-inch display and slightly bigger chassis required to host it. There are a few other differences, though. For example, The 12.9mm-thin N8 has an FM transmitter and 2mm charging connector unlike the slightly thicker 13.6mm E7. The E7's bigger display also trims back the reported talk time to 540 minutes (the N8 does 720 minutes). Of course, as part of the business focused E-series, the E7 also features a healthy set of preloaded apps including Mail for Exchange (with MS Outlook sync of contacts, calendar, and notes and multiple calendars with meeting request support), IBM Lotus Notes Traveler, Quickoffice dynamic premium, Adobe PDF reader, and F-Secure Anti-theft. The N8 counters with the better camera and stereo mic, thanks to a big 1/1.83-inch 12 megapixel sensor and Xenon flash that require some extra girth on the backend. Oh, and no MicroSD slot on the E7 -- you get 16GB and that's it.%Gallery-102110%
Nokia announces new C6 and C7 Symbian^3 handsets with 8 megapixel cameras, 720p video
Nokia's just rolled a couple of candybar handsets out of its bakery, aiming to seduce new users to its next big platform, Symbian^3. The Nokia C6-01 features an 8 megapixel camera and a 3.2-inch AMOLED screen with all-new ClearBlack Display (CBD) technology from the Finnish company -- touted to deliver better outdoor visibility. The 3.5-inch (also AMOLED) C7 gets more memory than its family mate and a stainless steel body, which Anssi Vanjoki thinks makes it the sleekest device in the world, "no doubt about it." Both handsets can record pixel-heavy 720p video and both will ship some time later this year, with estimated pre-tax prices of €260 ($334) and €335 ($430), respectively. Full PR after the break.%Gallery-102112%%Gallery-102114%
Nokia Mobile TV Headset acts as a TV antenna for your unreleased Symbian^3 device
Okay, so Symbian^3 is still just a glint in our eyes, but that launch date is fast approaching and here's a neat little accessory to keep up excitement for the platform: the Mobile TV Headset. You know how most phones use the cord of your earphones as an FM aerial? Well, this thing does the same, only with DVB-H teevee signals, piping them straight through into your USB-on-the-go-equipped Nokia handset. It comes with channel-changing, call-receiving, and volume controls, and will set you back €40 ($51) before taxes in Q4 of this year. [Thanks, Maximus]
Nokia N8 officially for sale last week of September, UK shops October 1st
At last, an official date for Nokia's N8 flagship Symbian^3 handset. This one's been a long time coming, featuring the first of two major Symbian updates meant to bring Nokia's smartphone division in line with the competition. Look for it in the "last week of September" at Nokia's on-line shops for £429 SIM free, or free with £35 per month contract. Otherwise, it'll hit the UK high street shops on October 1st. See the full announcement after the break.
Nokia said to be launching E7 smartphone next week
Well, it looks like the mystery of Nokia's Symbian^3 slider may soon be solved -- Reuters is reporting that the company will introduce its new "flagship" E7 smartphone at its Nokia World event in London next week, and it says that the device will pack both a "large" touchscreen and a full QWERTY keyboard. That's further backed up by the existence of an XML file on Nokia's own site, which seemingly confirms that the E7 does indeed run Symbian^3, and that it boasts a 640 x 360 display along with that QWERTY keyboard. Not much more than that at the moment, but those previous leaks suggest that we're basically looking at a slider version of the Nokia N8. [Thanks, Wes]
Nokia N8 launches September 30, says senior manager
Tapani Kaskinen is Nokia's Senior Comms Manager, so it's fitting that he'd be the first person from the company to communicate a solid release date for its long-awaited N8 handset. The gent in question told Finnish newspaper Kauppalehti that advance orders of the N8 will "begin shipping 30 September." Bear in mind we're chewing through a machine translation here, but that part's pretty unmistakable. It also meshes perfectly with earlier speculation surrounding Nokia purchasing Google AdWords -- that indicated a one-week exclusive starting on September 23rd for Nokia's UK online store, which, if you do the math, again points to a wide release at the end of the month. We asked Nokia about it ourselves and they're remaining mum on the matter, but chances are looking pretty good that October will start with the N8 finally in eager users' hands.
Nokia C6-01 is a Symbian^3 touchscreen candybar with 8 megapixel camera?
The nerds over at Mobile Geek Inc did a nifty investigative piece revealing more details about Nokia's mid-level C6-01 candybar. After making an awkward early appearance on Nokia's Dutch online storefront, more pics along with the user agent profile have been located thus confirming its lack of QWERTY, 8 megapixel camera, and Symbian^3 OS. A nice alternative to the 5 megapixel C6-00 slider shackled to S60 5th. Look for the new C6 to get official with a very nice price either at, or around, Nokia World 2010 which kicks off September 14th in London. One more front-side pic after the break.
Vodafone teases with exclusive green Nokia N8, still mum on prices and availability
With September just a few days away, things are really about to get real for Nokia's flagship N8, especially in Europe. For instance, Vodafone's UK arm has just updated the "Coming Soon" page for this Symbian^3 device. What's new? Just the fact that the carrier will be offering the phone in two colors: black and green, with the latter ironically exclusive to red Vodafone. Yep, that's pretty much it -- no prices or dates mentioned just yet, but we'll be keeping an eye out for you N8 believers.
Nokia C7 gets an early look: 'hardly a market leader'
The upcoming C7's been well-leaked at this point, but one thing it hasn't undergone is the famously exhaustive Mobile-review once-over that takes weeks to read and even longer to digest. Actually, this isn't so much a review as a "first look" based on prototype hardware -- and as such, it's quite a bit shorter -- but it still gives by far the best, clearest, and most in-depth glance at Nokia's second Symbian^3 device to date. Unlike the over-the-top N8, Mobile-review comes away concluding that the C7 is an exceptionally well-balanced device for a Nokia -- solid specs at a more aggressive price than its Nseries cousin -- but acknowledges that it's still outclassed by the competition and isn't likely to draw any non-Nokia loyalists into the fold. MeeGo, where art thou?
Nokia C7 given a full video preview -- still not announced
And now the cycle is complete. What started as a single mention on a leaked slide has slowly evolved into a full-blown video preview of Nokia's unannounced C7 handset. The cats at the Chinese site zol.com.cn took the time to fuss over the Symbian^3 candybar's stereo speakers, 3.5-inch multitouch display, support for Flash banner ads (presumably via Flash Lite 4.0 like the flagship N8), and the ability to charge off Micro USB or Nokia 2-mm connectors (also like the N8). It's also demonstrated to easily handle a 720p H.264 video file at 2.7Mbps. Without giving reason as to why, the handler speculates that we might see the C7 launch before Nokia's own N8 finally makes it to retail. Click on through to see a fairly extensive preview replete with a soothing Chinese narration.
Nokia C7 leaks again in press-quality photo shoot
We've yet to see an official announcement for Nokia's all-but-real C7 with Symbian^3, but let's be honest: wouldn't you rather see a few more leaked shots of it posing next to a nip of Chivas Regal anyway? Of course you would, and Chinese site zol.com.cn has your number along with a few thoughts on the device: it's got a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, 8 megapixel camera sans Carl Zeiss branding (a nod to the fact that the Nseries will still reign supreme for photography), dual LED flash, and a pretty meager 1,200mAh battery, presumably to keep the shell sexy and slim. It's unclear when we might see Nokia finally fess up to the C7's existence, but Nokia World in the middle of next month seems like an obvious target; stay tuned.
Nokia N8 pre-orders go live in the US, $549 for 'end of September' delivery
Itching to get some hands-on time with Symbian^3? Or maybe it's the promise of a 12 megapixel camera that's drawing you? Whatever the case may be, you might be interested to know that Nokia's US outpost is now ready to take your name down for an N8 with availability expected at the "end of September 2010." In the past, Nokia has often bundled goodies like Bluetooth headsets for anyone willing to pre-order well ahead of time, but not so much this time around -- $549 will net you the phone, and that's it. Heck, they're not even throwing in free shipping. Maybe waiting for the actual release isn't that bad of an idea, eh?
Nokia 5250 set to replace the 5230, turn the ugly dial down from 10 to 6?
It wasn't that long ago that T-Mobile USA launched Nokia's venerable 5230 as the Nuron, but you've got to admit -- with a mug only a mother could love, Nokia owed it to itself to get cracking on a prettier replacement. On that note, we've got a shot of an alleged model 5250 today, sporting the same button configuration as the 5230; considering the gargantuan bezel, we're figuring on a smallish screen, which points to the low end of the touchscreen spectrum -- right where a proper 5230 successor would belong. Thing is, we'd figured Nokia was moving away from the four-digit naming convention for its smartphones altogether -- in other words, we'd expect this new device fit somewhere between the C5 and C6 -- so it's unclear whether this is real and represents a current, non-canceled model in the product pipeline. It's not going to turn any heads, of course -- but if Nokia were able to push this for something crazy like $120 off contract, it'd be hard to ignore.
Nokia's app development strategy: Qt, Qt, Qt (video)
Been wondering about Nokia's strategy for conquering the rapidly expanding app space? Great! So were we, which is why we joined up with a recent dev event carried out by the Finnish company for an update on how and where things are going. It's a familiar narrative by this point: Qt is all set to become the way that Nokia-friendly apps are made -- whether it be for Symbian smartphones or MeeGo-powered mobile computers, coffee machines or infotainment consoles. Nokia did stress that its developer workflow has also been streamlined dramatically, and promised coders a better distilled experience that treats their time and money like the valuable commodities that they are. It's an encouragingly frank discussion of where things have gone wrong in the past and how Espoo intends to remedy them in the future, and we've got it all on video for you after the break -- no reading required!
Nokia N8 up for official €469 pre-order in Italy, available in September
Nokia's Symbian^3 flagship -- the 3.5-inch N8 with 12 megapixel camera -- just went up for pre-order on Espoo's Italian storefront showing an end of September availability. Now before you get up in arms about the €469 price tag (about $610), remember, the €370 estimated retail price announced was pre tax and pre carrier subsidy. That's just how Europe does things, deal with it. We're not seeing the preorder available elsewhere but we'll update you if that situation changes. [Thanks, Faisal]
Gartner: Symbian is 're-arranging the deck chairs,' losing buoyancy fast
We all know that Symbian is still holding the fort as the globe's most widely used mobile OS, but anyone interested in criticizing it nowadays will have to get into a queue. Nick Jones from Gartner is latest to launch a broadside against the apparently complacent market leader, opining that its user experience has been surpassed by iOS and Android, and arguing that future iterations do not promise enough innovation to make the platform stand out. He underpins these observations with his firm's latest estimates, which indicate Symbian's decline in share is accelerating, before positing the idea that the Foundation sets aside some talent for skunkworks projects in order to give itself fallback options should Symbian^4 not be blindingly marvelous. Nick might be going a little overboard with the bleakness of his outlook, but there's no questioning his "Android iceberg" analogy -- if Symbian doesn't find the right course soon, Google might well end up collecting a big chunk of its exasperated users.
HTC Gold with Windows Phone 7 in November, and more from a rumored UK roadmap leak
O, to see what Omio sees. The outlet has obtained what it claims to be "a huge UK mobile phone release schedule for the rest of the year... [from] all the manufacturers" (emphasis its own). So, from where would such an all-encompassing roadmap hail? We don't know, nor can we corroborate any of this, but the details are numerous so let's go through it -- albeit with cautious optimism and a few grains of salt. The biggest phone we can see of this baker's dozen of a lineup is the HTC Gold (sound familiar?), due in November and loaded with Microsoft's mobile OS newcomer Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, that's all the information provided, but it's certainly enough to entice us. Also in November, we've got Samsung i8700 and Nokia E7 -- the latter being possibly a N8-esque QWERTY slider with AMOLED display and Symbian^3, and the former being a mystery (although Omio takes a gander that its aquatic Greek mythology might suggest a Bada-powered existence). Going up the list Memento style, October purportedly brings across the pond-ers HTC Vision, the virtually unknown HTC Ace, Nokia N8, and Sony Ericsson's Xperia X8 and Yendo. September's a bit of a yawner -- SE Hazel and a Nokia X2 candybar -- as is August with the X6 8GB and BlackBerry Curve 9300. And July? Nokia E5-00, Sony Ericsson W20, and Samsung i5500. As is usually the case, the more you can wait, the better your options. Now, let's see if this supposed roadmap stays on course.
Mystery Nokia slider shows off proto-Symbian^3 one last time, commits cellular suicide (video)
We never did quite get the name of Nokia's prototype slider -- it certainly isn't the C7, and it's apparently not the N9 -- but regardless of what you call our dearly departed, its journey is over. In what will no doubt be a fairly familiar tale to readers everywhere, TechnoBuffalo saw the phone remotely wiped right before their eyes, and Negri Electronics (our original source) says they've got private investigators breathing down their necks for the device. Stalwart to the bitter end, RM-626 gave one last performance before it dropped. See the 4-inch handset play an embedded YouTube video after the break if you must, but be sure to stop at the 5:45 mark. For true phone lovers, the rest is too painful to watch. [Thanks, Larry N.]
Nokia: the fight begins now, Symbian^4 N-Series device later
Nokia's newly appointed Mobile Solutions chief, Anssi Vanjoki, has penned an impassioned post over at Nokia Conversations today where he sets out his perspective on the company's current position and future challenges. Describing the Finnish phone maker as "a challenger now," rather than an incumbent, Vanjoki wants to introduce a "laser focus on quality," with his two central aims being to reclaim Nokia's reputation for high-end devices and to re-energize a flagging fan base. He specifically namedrops Ricky Cadden -- who yesterday shut down Symbian-Guru because he'd lost faith with the company -- and clearly considers grassroots support like that an important aspect of how Nokia's success will be judged. As to the actual software front, Anssi confirms that the N8 will be the final Symbian^3 handset in the N-Series, but describes a Symbian^4 device in that family as a "strong possibility," a note which he follows up with a wink (seriously). Symbian is apparently still Nokia's smartphone OS of choice -- no Androids shall be found inside Nokia's hardware under Anssi's watch -- though MeeGo also earns a mention as the "awesome" platform for delivering "market-changing mobile computers." Just in case you were wondering, Anssi finishes off by telling us that these wondrous computers will be small enough to fit into your pocket -- though, sadly, he fails to specify exactly what sort of pocket that might be. [Thanks, Peter]
Nokia (N9 / N8-01?) prototype sized up against iPhone 4 and EVO 4G on video
Setting aside the naming confusion, this Nokia prototype procured by Negri Electronics just keeps attracting our attention. Though we saw plenty of it in an earlier video, this latest rendezvous between Finnish hardware and camera lens includes a few familiar suspects to offer us the best size comparison we've had so far. Squaring up against a 3.5-inch iPhone 4, the QWERTY slider from Nokia seems barely any larger from the front though quite a bit thicker from the side -- an expansion justified by its inclusion of a physical keyboard. It does a lot better when compared to the EVO 4G and the departing iPhone 3GS, looking only marginally chunkier than those keyboard-less devices. Don't take our word for it though -- skip past the break and see for yourself. P.S. -- The UI on this device looks to us a lot more like Symbian^3 than the S60 the narrator believes it's running, leading us to think that this is most likely a keyboard-equipped variant of the N8. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
