Nokia has published a video showcasing its partnership with optics maker Carl Zeiss, with an emphasis on the implementation of the Nokia N8's camera. The video details the specialised knowledge need to create the optics, highlights the importance of robustness and discusses the key camera characteristics. While the video has a marketing message, it does offer a rare behind the scenes glimpse of what goes into making a high-end camera phone.
What a great idea - step through the alphabet and pick the best Symbian application starting with that letter. And, impressively, every letter has a great suggestion here in 'The Essential A-Z of Nokia Apps', from Angry Birds to Zuma. Well worth a quick scan - maybe you can come up with better suggestion here and there?
At Qualcomm's recent Uplinq conference, Stephen Elop, Nokia's CEO, gave a keynote in which he described the decision process that led to Nokia's February 11th smartphone strategy shift and outlined the five key elements of the third mobile ecosystem that Microsoft and Nokia are building. In this news story we have transcribed the key passages and here you will find Elop's answers to many of the most commonly asked questions about Nokia's new strategy and vision for the future.
Following on from last week's episode, which focused on Windows Phone Mango, here is the seventh episode of the 361 Degrees podcast. This week it's a nostalgia fest as we remember devices we've owned and that we think have helped shaped the industry. 361 Degrees is a podcast all about mobile technology, created by Ben Smith of Wireless Worker and co-hosted by Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review and Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian.
Nokia's Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Rich Green, is to take an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons. Green joined Nokia in 2010, and was brought into its leadership team in February 2011, reporting directly to new CEO, Stephen Elop. As CTO, Green was charged with overseeing the direction of technological advancement in both Nokia's software and hardware groups. Henry Tirri, head of Nokia Research Center, has been appointed acting CTO.
An update to Ovi Store application, version 2.08, is currently being rolled out, by Nokia, for its Symbian^3 devices (N8, C7, C6-01, E7). Along with improvements at the server-side, the update enables the automatic detection and provisioning of updates for applications that have already been installed. Users will be automatically prompted to download and install the client update when they next open the Ovi Store application.
Here's an interesting one. Nokia and SPB are working together to bring a client for the popular Russian social network, VKontakte, to Symbian handsets. The network, spookily reminiscent of Facebook, has all the features you would expect, including personal pages, privacy controls, photo and video hosting, groups, comments... and now SPB are bringing that to the handset.
Offscreen Technologies has announced the release of its in-house integrated development environment (IDE), free of cost to anyone who wishes to use it. Named Origo, it can be downloaded from origo.offscr.com, along with various guides and further information on its use. Origo allows users to write once and automatically package their application for Symbian^3, S60 5th Edition, S60 3rd Edition, Maemo 5 and Windows Phone 7. Offscreen Technologies Ltd. states that it has published over 150 applications, and has had over 70 million downloads via the Ovi Store.
Foursquare fans on Symbian looking for an alternative to the official client might like to look at NeliSquare from Tommi Laukkanen. This Qt based application, originally developed for the N900, has now been compiled for Symbian. While still in alpha, it's slick, easy to use, and runs a little faster.
The Nokia X7 can be pre-ordered from the Nokia UK online shop for £399 SIM Free, £359 on PAYG or from free on a £25 per month contract. It also available for pre-order in Nokia online stores in Germany (€459), Italy (€429) and China. Pre-orders will also be available from a number online retailers shortly. The pre-order page indicates delivery will take place at the end of June.
Bloomberg Businessweek has published an in-depth article, titled 'Stephen Elop's Nokia Adventure', which describes how Nokia's new CEO is trying to turn the company around. It covers his first 8 months at the company and looks at the story behind Nokia's new strategy. There's a lot of interesting detail about the decision making behind Nokia's smartphone strategy, which took place in the first few weeks of 2011.
Yesterday at the D9 conference Stephen Elop, Nokia's CEO, quashed recent rumours that Nokia was set to be acquired by Microsoft. In response to a question about whether Microsoft was interested in buying Nokia's hardware division Elop said that, "the rumours are baseless", reinforcing an interview had had given to CNBC earlier in the day and statements that Nokia had released to the media.
Following on from last week's episode, which focused on Blackberry, here is the sixth episode of the 361 Degrees podcast. This week episodes focuses on the Windows Phone Mango update, following Microsoft's recent media event. 361 Degrees is a podcast all about mobile technology, created by Ben Smith of Wireless Worker and co-hosted by Ewan MacLeod of Mobile Industry Review and Rafe Blandford of All About Symbian.
Today, Nokia Beta Labs released Nokia Play To for Symbian^3. This application allows you to show and play media, stored on your phone, over WiFi, on compatible devices, such as TVs, home audio systems and PCs. The application uses DLNA, which means no configuration is need once WiFi is on and all devices are connected to the same network. It's a great way to show off your latest photo, videos and music download to your friends.
How much data does your smartphone use? With the rise of capped monthly limits, this becomes an interesting question, even before you consider how much data you should put aside for when you are travelling abroad. Nielsen have surveyed a number of mobile phone bills in America to get the answer, and it's less than 600 MB a month (reports GigaOM).
