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Nokia Asha 308 And 309 Smartphones Introduced (video)
Today Nokia has introduced two new handsets to its Asha range of smartphones, in the form of the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309.
Both devices have been designed by Nokia to provide customer with an affordable capacitive touchscreen experience, and are both 2G enabled. Watch the videos after the jump to see more details and the phones in action.
The latest additions to the Nokia Asha Touch range are also supplied supporting Nokia web services and developer tools, with the Nokia Asha 308 also supporting dual SIMs if required. Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president, Mobile Phones, Nokia, explained:
“Our innovative Asha Touch family of devices is designed for people who want a great smartphone experience with lower running costs,”-”By introducing the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309, we’re expanding our affordable smartphone lineup and bringing new mobile experiences to more people.”
Both the Nokia Asha 308 and Nokia Asha 309 will be arriving in stores during the fourth quarter of this year and will be priced around $99.
Source: Engadget
Nokia Beta Labs: rilasciata la versione 3.24.053 dello Store QML di Symbian
Direttamente dai laboratori Beta di Nokia è arrivata da pochi minuti una nuova release dello Store QML di Symbian. La versione rilasciata è numerata come 3.24.053 ed introduce le seguenti novità:
- Risolto il bug che portava la perdita della connessione durante il download dei pacchetti
- Risolti altri bug
Maggiori informazioni e download su Nokia Beta Labs.
Viber for Symbian confirmed, Maemo stays ignored in the corner
Symbian Nokia OS fans, rejoice! Viber officially confirmed that its famous free calling app will be getting support for your platform soon.
The good news came, weirdly, from the Maemo community forum, but since they were delivered directly by Viber representatives they are as official as it gets. They confirmed that a Viber version compatible with the Nokia proprietary platform is under development, but sadly, Maemo users will have to wait a bit more.
We reached Viber and they were kind enough to confirm the authenticity of the account that brought the news for us. Sadly, we couldn’t get any more details such as release date and supported devices specifics.
Nevertheless, this piece of news is great for everyone with a Nokia OS device in their pocket. The existing Viber users will also benefit as they will be able to reach more of their contacts through the free calling app.
Say goodbye to Symbian, say hello to Nokia Belle
Symbian is already on its last legs as a mobile OS, now Nokia is giving it a bit of a kick while its down by ditching the name it grew up with and rebranding the latest versionsimply Nokia Belle. That’s right, the Symbian title we’ve all come to know and love is being retired by Nokia, and with very little fanfare. In fact, the switch is relegated to a parenthetical aside in an update on the status of Belle at the official blog of the Finnish manufacturer. Here’s the announcement in its entirety: “The all new Nokia Belle (previously Symbian Belle)…” That’s it! Of course, functionally, swapping Symbian for Nokia makes little difference, but its still sad to see one of the last vestiges of this long lived platform disappear. We’d say to check out the source for more details, but that’s all she wrote.
Opera ufficializza Mobile 11.5.1 per Symbian, il Browser è in arrivo anche nel Nokia Store
Opera ha da poco ufficializzato l’arrivo del Browser Mobile 11.5.1 per Symbian. Così come abbiamo visto con la release Mini, questa versione di Opera Mobile risolve numerosi bug e si appresta ad entrare (dopo qualche rilascio) nel Nokia Store.
Changelog:
- Aggiunta la funzionalità di scrittura predittiva
- Risolti alcuni bug causati da Opera Link
- Risolti alcuni bug causati dal copia e incolla
- Risolto il bug che causava il freez del Browser
- Risolti alcuni problemi con software di immissione di terze parti
In attesa che arrivi nel Nokia Store, Opera Mobile è scaricabile su m.opera.com.
Swype torna disponibile, da oggi supporta anche Symbian Belle
In maniera completamente silenziosa, i Beta Labs negli ultimi giorni hanno ripristinato il download di Swype, il miglior software di immissione testo per Symbian, rilasciandone la versione 2.1.
Questa la changelog:
- L’applicazione ora si può installare su qualsiasi unitò
- Risolti i bug critici presenti nelle impostazioni
- Compatibile con Symbian Belle
- Nuove lingue
- Risolti bug vari
Compatibile con tutti i Symbian touch, Swype è scaricabile dalle pagine di Nokia Beta Labs.
In rete arriva la Build 111.030.0404 di Symbian Belle per Nokia N8 (video)
Mentre il firmware del buon Xeon (e non solo) si basa sull’ultima build ufficiale del Nokia 701, quindi la 111.020.0203, in rete, precisamente dal Brasile, è da poco arrivata una nuova versione di Symbian Belle per N8 numerata 111.030.0404.
- La vecchia build, una volta perso il segnale nella maggior parte dei casi non riusciva più a riagganciarlo
- Migliorata la gestione della luminosità, precedentemente troppo sensibile
In attesa che il firmware sia disponibile per il download, vi segnaliamo che potrebbero esserci dei problemi con la fotocamera nel rilevare e nello scrivere la propria posizione nelle informazioni delle immagini appena scattate.
Samsung taking Bada open source in 2012?
Samsung invited the world to adventure with its own smartphone OS, Bada, almost two years ago and so far most of us have turned down the offer. Of course, that trip could look more appealing if a Wall Street Journal rumor is true and the company is planning to open source it for use by developers and other manufacturers alike next year. Citing the usual “person familiar with the situation”, Samsung apparently isn’t interested in snagging any outside companies like, say, webOS, but wants to strengthen its independence from Android after Google announced it will purchase Motorola. Right now, it feels like we’ve already seen this story play out for the still-kicking Symbian. On the other hand, maybe Samsung, with its massive manufacturing capabilities and current hit-making prowess, can strike the right balance of hardware, software and apps to make it worthwhile. If it tries and fails, well, maybe the folks in Redmond will be looking for another close friend.
Nokia's online stores go offline in France and Spain
Nokia’s “around breakeven” outlook announced earlier today is discouraging at best, and now it looks like the company has begun shuttering online stores in response to growing competition from resellers, which offer lower prices on the same hardware. So far, online stores in France and Spain have been replaced with a closure notice, so customers in those countries will need to turn to third-party vendors to get their smartphone fix. European online stores in Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, and the UK remain open for business, but low online sales figures (and the inevitable death of Symbian) mean we may see more countries falling offline in the near future. “Prices are too subsidized by the carriers and sales were low, so they will keep providing support,” a representative from Nokia Spain told us today, so as expected, the shutdown only affects sales operations — of course, you’ll still be able to turn to your local Nokia site for support.
Nokia Oro is covered with 18ct gold on the outside, tinged with Symbian regret inside (Video)
Nokia has just unveiled a strange new beast of a smartphone. Internally, it’s your good old C7 — 3.5-inch AMOLED screen, 720p video recording, 8 megapixel camera, a pentaband radio, and Symbian as your zombieOS — but externally it’s taken on a lick of gold paint and a rear cover made of real leather. The price for a phone built quite so luxuriously is said to be upwards of €800 ($1,126) before taxes and subsidies and launch is expected in Q3 in select countries across Europe and Asia. Russia in particular is called out as a successful market for such “premium” phones, with Nokia’s Gabriel Speratti, General Manager for its operations in the country, explaining that:
“We have a large number of users who are looking for products with a build quality and superior materials that attest to their success and social standing. In some areas, possession of such premium products is the passport to being taken seriously.”
We have to agree, owning a phone like this will certainly have an effect on your social life, we’re just not so sure it’ll be a positive one.
Nokia transfers Symbian development and 3,000 employees to Accenture, will downsize workforce by further 4,000
Nokia’s already done quite a bit to cut ties with last year’s big push for Symbian and Qt development, though this is perhaps the biggest step yet. The Finnish company has announced it’s transferring responsibility for Symbian development to consulting and outsourcing firm Accenture, which sounds odd given the latter outfit’s inexperience in delivering mobile OS updates, but the good news is that the 3,000 devs Nokia had working on Symbian will continue their jobs under the new employer. That basically means that Nokia will live up to its unhappy promise that there’ll be “substantial reductions in employment” within its own ranks, while still keeping the men and women responsible for updating Symbian employed. Unfortunately, there will still be a further 4,000 job cuts in the company’s global workforce, primarily in Finland, Denmark and the UK, which will “occur in phases” between the beginning and end of next year. Nokia’s agreement with Accenture also involves continued collaboration on delivering mobility software and services on the Windows Phone platform. You can read more about that in the PR after the break.
Windows Phone and BlackBerry struggle to attract developer attention
We’re taking this with a grain of salt, since it applies only to users of the cross-platform Appcelerator Titanium development environment, but it appears that Windows Phone 7 is facing an increasingly uphill battle for mobile mind-share. At this point it should go without saying that a platform lives and dies by its developers and, according to Appcelerator, they’re growing less and less interested in creating apps for Microsoft’s smartphone OS. Only 29-percent of devs responded to the company’s quarterly survey that they were “very interested” in putting their wares on WP7, a fall of 7 points from last quarter and far less than market leaders Android and iOS. News is even worse for RIM, which saw a fall of 11-points in developer interest for BlackBerry, and now trails the folks from Redmond. Again, this survey is based only on the responses of 2,760 developers using a particular product, so we’d refrain from calling the results incontrovertible. Still, it reinforces something that even a casual observer could discern: BlackBerry and Windows Phone 7 have a tough row to hoe. Two more charts after the break.
Nokia X7 first hands-on!
The Nokia X7, everybody! Like the E7, this is a 4-inch AMOLED handset with an 8 megapixel EDoF camera, though unlike its more buttoned-down business-oriented sibling, this is an entertainment handset through and through. Check it out in pictures below and we’ll bring you more impressions of it and the new Symbian “Anna” UI very shortly. Video forthcoming too!
Nokia E6 official: a 326ppi portrait QWERTY handset optimized for business (video)
A VGA resolution on a 2.46-inch display equals 326ppi. Talk about pixel density! Nokia’s Symbian “Anna” update has found itself a delightful little carrier to market in the new E6. This business-centric device touts awesome battery life, with up to a month of standby time, features both a touchscreen and a portrait QWERTY keyboard, and will be targetting E71 / E72 upgraders, BlackBerry lovers and, evidently, pixel density enthusiasts. Shipping in Q2. Full press release, video, and specs can be found after the break.
Nokia X7 with Symbian 'Anna' now official on Three UK (video)
So, it’s official. The Nokia X7, unfit for a US launch, has finally found a home with Three in the UK. The heavily leaked stainless steel handset runs an updated Symbian^3 “Anna” OS that finally introduces a vastly improved browser and portrait QWERTY with split-view data entry among its 50 new enhancements. Rounding out the specs are an 8 megapixel cam with dual-LED flash, 4-inch OLED ClearBlack display, HD video recording, and 256MB RAM / 1GB ROM with an 8GB memory card tossed in the box. Pricing and availability are expected soon. You’ll find the press release, video, and more pic after the break.
Nokia E7 review
Over the years, we’ve seen a steady stream of business and messaging-centric landscape QWERTY smartphones come and go, with HTC arguably leading the pack via its collection of Windows Mobile, Android, and WP7 devices featuring sliding keyboards and tilt-out displays. But few of HTC’s offerings are as iconic or memorable as Nokia’s line of Communicator clamshell phones — starting with the Nokia 9000 in 1996, continuing with Symbian S80 models, and culminating with the Nokia E90 atop S60v3.
The Nokia E7 is the latest in this distinguished succession of Communicators and the manufacturer’s current flagship device, dethroning the Nokia N8 which continues on as the company’s media mogul. Now that the E7 is finally shipping in the US, we can begin to answer a few outstanding questions about Nokia’s latest high-end device. Is it the greatest Communicator to date? Can it carry the torch for Symbian in the immediate future? And more importantly, how does it fare in today’s shark-infested Android and iOS waters? Jump past the break for our full review.
Oggi chiude ufficialmente la Fondazione Symbian e Nokia da un nuovo look al portale Symbian
Era il lontano 17 Dicembre 2010 quando, in seguito all’annuncio della chiusura di Symbian Foundation, Nokia aprì il proprio portale interno dedicato a Symbian. A distanza di mesi, dopo aver effettuato alcuni lavori ed in occasione del completo passaggio di consegne (previsto domani), la casa finlandese ha dato un nuovo look al portale interno di Symbian. Ora il portale, oltre ad un nuovo BlogUfficiale, include anche il codice sorgente ed una completa documentazione del sistema operativo.
Potete trovare il portale all’indirizzo symbian.nokia.com.
Nokia promises strong Symbian devices through Windows Phone transition, major OTA update this summer
Nokia loves telling the world about the 150 million Symbian handsets it will ship in the years to come. Problem is, that’s far from a factual statement — it’s a goal, a hope, and something that will only be possible if developers and fans don’t abandon the platform wholesale as the company transitions from Symbian to Windows Phone smartphones over the next two years. As such, Nokia is desperately trying to convince us that Symbian and the Qt developer framework are far from dead. In an open letter of encouragement to developers from Purnima Kochikar, VP of Nokia Forum & Developer Community, Purnima attempts to coax devs into fine-tuning their Qt skills in preparation for a “strong portfolio” of new Symbian products with “GHz+” processing and faster graphics coming in 2011 and 2012. Presumably she’s talking about the T7, X7, and E6 leaks among others. And because Symbian is still the leading smartphone platform in markets like China, India, Russian, and Turkey, she hints that Nokia will likely continue to support Symbian well beyond the transition to Windows Phone, at least in select markets.
Of course, hardware has never really been Nokia’s issue so it’s nice to hear Purnima commit to a first major Symbian user experience update this summer that includes the new home screen, icons, browser, and navbar we’ve already seen, in addition to a “fresh look and feel” to the Ovi Store and Maps with the latter also getting a integrated social media services update. The Symbian update — some of which has already been seen on the C7 Astound — will come to “all users” over the air. Too late to save the platform but just in time for the Symbian faithful.
Opera delivers new Mini, Mobile browsers with pinch-to-zoom and shows off one for TVs (Video)
Web browser maker Opera is staying busy, unleashing several new versions of its product upon the populace today. Both of its on the go browsers have been updated with modern technology like pinch-to-zoom, sharing to other apps, improved scrolling and new tablet-friendly interfaces, while its also ready to show off a new version for set-top boxes and updating tools to help developers create apps for Opera-powered TVs. In case you need a scorecard, Opera Mini 6 (available for J2ME, Android, Blackberry, Symbian/S60) compresses pages before downloading them and Opera Mobile 11 (for Android, Symbian, Windows 7, MeeGo, Maemo) promises the entire web for those on high speed connections like WiFi, explaining the platform crossover. Peep the demo above or press releases after the break if you’re still not sure what pinch-to-zoom means in or just point your mobile browser to m.opera.com and download the latest version for your device — iOS need not apply at this time.
