Ewan's got a fairly honed sense of hearing, which is why Rafe and I packed him off with a Bluetooth stereo headset to investigate wireless sound quality and reliability. Did A2DP pass the test and is it ready for the prime time? A qualified yes for low grade pop listening, but an emphatic no (for several reasons) for anyone serious about their music...
Another week, another acquisition for Nokia. This time it's Enpocket, a "global leader in mobile advertising providing technology and services that allow brands to plan, create, execute, measure and optimize mobile advertising campaigns". Comments welcome. The press release follows.
At 'the definitive consumer awards event' last night, the Mobile Choice Awards, the Nokia N95 was voted the ‘Dream Handset’, ahead of the Apple iPhone, while Nokia's other flagship, the E90, was pipped to the post for 'Best Smartphone' by the Blackberry Curve. MEX has some analysis of the night and of some related industry trends.
In what is one of the most significant technology acquisitions of the year Nokia has announced it is to acquire Navteq for $8.1 billion. Navteq is the leading provider of digital map information which is used in car navigation systems (e.g. BMW), mobile navigation devices (e.g. Garmin), Internet-based mapping applications (e.g. Google Maps), and government and business solutions. Nokia uses Navteq data in its own Nokia Maps product.
Purely gratuitous, but it's the weekend. It's amazing what a difference a theme can make. And I've fallen in love (despite my preference for white themes) with the next gen N95 8GB black theme and wondered how it would look on my E90. Pretty darned sexy is the answer - or at least, as sexy as it's possible for the E90 to get! Photo below.
If you've ever looked at an aspect of the Symbian or smartphone world and asked 'Why?', then you know exactly how I sometimes feel. This being Friday, here are some of my puzzlers for weekend pontification....
The launch of Nokia's new marketing campaign for the likes of the US-spec N95, "Open to", is also made notable by the availability for sale in consumer electronics shops (well spotted Stefan), independent phone shops and chains (in addition to Nokia's own flagship stores). So far only stores in New York and San Francisco are listed, but you can bet this list will expand...