Nokia preparing Linux-based phones

From Engadget -

Nokia CFO Rick Simonson has revealed this week his company will be releasing some Linux-based cellphones in the future. However Simonson refused to reveal what flavor of mobile Linux would be used; borrowing from its tablets might make sense, but the emerging Android and LiMo are pretty hard to ignore, too.

Source article here.

Nokia's N-Gage Cellphone Gaming Platform Is Up and Running

From Gizmodo - The N-Gage blog has announced their cellphone gaming platform has gone live. If you've got an N81, N81 8GB, N82, N95 or N95 8GB, you can download and install the service now (available on both Mac and PC). It's like Xbox Live for your phone.

You can view Gizmodo's video hands-on here.

You can download the service here.

Nokia's iPhone -- no, seriously

From Engadget -

The above phone was presented during Nokia's GoPlay event as a glimpse into the future of Nokia interface design. It's due out next year. When pressed during the Q&A about the striking similarity to the little Cupertino device, Anssi Vanjoki, Nokia's Executive VP & General Manager of Multimedia, said, "If there is something good in the world then we copy with pride."

Nokia Warns Consumers Of Battery Overheating Risks

August 15, 2007 - Nokia warned consumers that 46 million batteries used in its mobile phones could overheat and offered to replace them for free while it negotiates with battery maker Matsushita over who would bear the costs.

Nokia, the world's top cellphone maker, said about 100 incidents of such overheating had been reported globally, but none had involved serious injuries or property damage.

"Nokia has identified that in very rare cases the Nokia-branded BL-5C batteries ... could potentially experience overheating initiated by a short circuit while charging, causing the battery to dislodge," it said on Tuesday.

Nokia said it was working closely with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd., which made the batteries in question between December 2005 and November 2006, to investigate the problem.

Replacing the batteries would have some financial impact, but Matsushita would pay part of the costs, Nokia said.

Analyst Richard Windsor of Nomura estimated the cost to Nokia at a maximum of 100 million euros ($137 million). Research firm Gartner said one such battery would cost around $4.

Some U.S. cellphone analysts said the warning would be unlikely to either hurt Nokia's market share or boost its main rivals such as Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. or LG Electronics

But Jyske Bank downgraded its rating on Nokia shares to "reduce" from "buy," saying every third Nokia user would now have to check their phone's battery.

"I think this will hurt Nokia's brand a lot, and that's the most precious asset Nokia has," Jyske analyst Soren Linde Nielsen said. According to Interbrand, Nokia's brand is valued at $33.7 billion, making it the world's fifth-most valued brand after the likes of Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

Full details at NY Times.

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To check if your Nokia battery needs replacement, go here.

EU Backs Nokia-Led Mobile TV Standard

July 18, 2007 -BRUSSELS - The European Commission backed a Nokia-led mobile television broadcasting standard in a move that could spur growth in the fledgling but potentially lucrative sector.

The lack of a single technology has held back wider take-up for television on cellphones and the EU's support for digital video broadcast handheld (DVB-H) could be the decisive factor in the battle to establish a global standard.

The European Union executive made GSM (global system for mobile communication) mandatory as a cell phone standard in the 1990s, opening the door for rapid growth in that sector in Europe. GSM is now the standard in many non-EU countries.

The choice is a blow for Qualcomm and South Korean vendors which have promoted their own technologies. So far only DVB-H has a global presence, while South Korea, Japan, the United States and China are embracing local rivals. Some of the other technologies are also making a play for the global market, preventing services being offered worldwide under a single standard.

Commercial DVB-H broadcasts have started in India and Vietnam, in addition to some European countries, while Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia are to open networks this year.

More details at Extremetech.

Nokia Touchscreen Phones to Add Tactile Feedback

From Extremetech -

Nokia has licensed the right to use Immersion's VibeTonz Mobile Player technology in any of its mobile devices sold worldwide. Immersion said it will begin supplying the VibeTonz software developer's kit (SDK) to Nokia's developer community starting this month. In turn, that community will be able to create downloadable applications and future content for VibeTonz-enabled cell phones.

According to Immersion the system can provide tactile cues for mobile touch screen interfaces, as well as be used for mobile games with touch feedback. It is currently used in more than 4 million LG and Samsung phones worldwide.

With Apple's iPhone leading a new wave of touch-sensitive phones, industry analysts are predicting optical sensors and touch will be the next big things.

The tactile cues are obviously intended to provide as close a simulation to the user experience of typing on standard mobile keypads. But without a base reference like the protrusions on the F and J keys on QWERTY keyboards and on the 5 key on standard mobile keypads, how will users be able to touch type on touch screens when entering SMS messages?

Some S60 Nokia Phones Can Run iPhone Safari Web Apps

iFoNfo has reported that some Series 60 Nokia phones with the Safari-based browser can run Web Apps intended for the iPhone. These include the N75, N95 and a Samsung model, the SGH-i520.

But unlike the iPhone, the S60 phones are not limited to web-based applications as these support J2ME and Flash.

Future iPhone apps that are based on the Safar UI will likely work with the S60 phones provided the difference in the UI is taken into consideration. The N95 has a 240 x 320 screen compared to the iPhone's 320 x 480.

The iPhone’s touch interface also looks nicer than the typical S60 phone’s method of moving a cursor with a directional pad, but it works well enough for pointing and clicking. Still, it is simply cool to know the phones can run iPhone apps.

Nokia E90 launch this week, entirely new type of mobile next year

Came across this undated post from Unwired View (probably very recently) since the Nokia N77 was just released -

In addition to the launch of the N77, the Nokia E90 Communicator is being launched in Finland this week as well.

According to the interview given to E24.se news portal by Antti Vasara, GM of Mobile Devices Business Unit, the E90 will start shipping in small quantities first in Finland, then Indonesia and will eventually reach Sweden this August. When the rest of us will see it is still not clear, since, according to Mr. Vasara, the E90 is a complicated piece of equipment and hard to produce in large quantities at first.

Other interesting bits of information revealed in the interview:

• Nokia is not too enthusiastic about touchscreens, since all their tests had shown that users prefer keyboard and joystick for an input device. But they are ready for touchscreens if they see the demand.
• Consumers don’t like to learn using new shapes/form factors on mobile phones. That’s why the E70 isn’t selling well.
• Nokia will be launching an entirely new type of mobile next year

It appears Nokia is taking a wait and see approach with the iPhone and the LG Prada touchscreen phones and will have an answer if the sales of these handsets take off.

Nokia N77 Multimedia Computer Starts Shipping

Edited Press Release from Nokia

ESPOO, Finland, June 11 - Finland is the first to experience optimized mobile TV with the Nokia N77 multimedia computer. Later this month also Vietnam and India will start shipments of the Nokia N77. Consumers will now be able to keep up to date with news and sports and enjoy their favorite TV shows live on the move*. The affordable Nokia N77 comes in a stylish and pocketable form factor with complete Nokia Nseries functionalities.

"The Nokia N77 takes TV out of the living room," said Jonas Geust, head of Nokia Nseries Players Category, Multimedia, Nokia. "The wide 2.4" flat screen and high quality stereo sound makes it the ideal personal mobile device for enjoying TV programs on the go."

The dedicated TV key on the Nokia N77 gives users direct access to a world of TV programs. It even remembers the last channel viewed when switched off the TV. Viewers can also set reminders to alert when a program is starting and access it at the push of a button.

The Nokia N77 also offers the advantage of 30 second replay and live TV watching continues after the replay clip. Through the Program Guide in the mobile TV application viewers can see program information up to seven days, browse TV channels, purchase new channels if desired and select the TV program they are interested in.

Other features include MP3 player, 2MP camera (1600 x 1200 pixels), web browsing, email access, calendar and to-do lists.

The Nokia N77 is based on S60 3rd Edition software on Symbian OS and is offered in markets where commercial mobile TV services based on DVB-H technology are available.