As a handset maker and telecommunications equipment provider where would Asterisk fit into the scheme of things? I ask because Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has an open source department, the web browser being the application they’re most known for, who might want to poke around and see if they can make Asterisk easier for corporations and even carriers to implement.

I might be off base here since I don’t know if this is a market Nokia is pursing, which is why I want to know: What does Nokia think of Asterisk and where does it fall in the grand scheme of things?

An article entitled "Asterisk an under-appreciated Open Source Success Story" over at O’Reilly was the inspiration for this post.

What an interesting way to start a blog, your first post is a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N93 review! The author doesn’t list any details about himself but a quick Google (NSDQ: GOOG) search reveals his MySpace account. Why exactly did I enjoy this review so much … it just feels like a normal guy you’d meet in a coffee shop telling you about a new toy he got himself.

Here are some highlights:

"This thing is pretty big"…..That’s all I could think when I first received my phone.  It’s a pretty big phone when you first see it, but after having it for over a month, I don’t feel that way anymore.

This is my first Nokia/Symbain phone and after having almost every OS (i.e., Windows, Blackberry (NSDQ: RIMM), and Palm (NSDQ: PALM)), I must say, I think that the Symbian OS is the best.  Coming from a Treo 700p, Blackberry Pearl and the T-mobile (NYSE: DT) Dash, I thought that it would take some time getting used to sending text and emails with a regular keypad……BOY WAS I WRONG!

I have been very impressed with the picture and video quality.  It’s not the best camera in low light, but I’m not complaining.  The sound quality is excellent.  It sounds like you have a microphone pointing in whichever direction you are shooting.  I have literally put away my digital camera and who needs a camcorder when you have your all in one phone?

Originally, I planned to purchase the N93 and then sell it once the N95 became available.  I have since changed my mind and will just have both the N93 and the N95.  The gaming aspect, form-factor and video (even though the N95 shoots dvd like video, I’ve read there is no auto focus) of the N93, brought me to that conclusion.

Source: Jaymos World He has several sample images and 2 movies he shot!

I was curious about his "N95 has no auto focus" statement so I googled it myself:

Use the Nokia N95 to take photos with a 5 megapixel autofocus camera and enjoy videos, music and graphics with crystal clarity on the 2.6” QVGA (240 x 320 pixels), 16M color display.

Source: Nokia

Get in!  That’s good news.  ROK’s TV service is now working with high spec Symbian 3 handsets such as the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N71, N73, N80 and N93.

ROK TV’s patent-pending technology delivers video
streaming to mobile phones over mass-market 2.5G GPRS at a faster frame
rate than any existing 3G TV service.

ROK TV currently offers 21 channels and is available in the UK,
China and the USA. In the UK channels can be viewed individually for
99p per month or all channels for £9.99 plus network data charges.

I’ll be trying this out on my N73 and N93.  Here’s a snippit as to what to expect from ROK this year –

2007 will see ROK take further strides in the mobile TV
space, including plans to build and operate 30 white-label mobile TV
services over both 2.5G and 3G for selected mobile networks globally.

Bring it on.

Source: SMS Text News

Why no E series love? I don’t watch TV anyway so it’s not like I’m missing much. I’d rather install Orb on my PC and have access to content I know I’ll like.

If you are interested in such a service then I recommend you subscribe to Ewan’s blog, he covers the SMS and mobile sector very well.

Just to give you some back ground on Tomi:

I was employed by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) up to 2001 and Nokia is a continuing customer of my consulting services. So yes, I am biased. But I’ve also used over a dozen Nokia branded mobile phones and nearly a dozen non-Nokia branded phones in my career, and am a very heavy user. Since the invention of the smartphone category in 2000, all of my phones have been smartphones. So I speak with considerable experience.

Check out what a few things he has to say about his N93:

First, you play with the twisting motions. Some of the phones seem a bit cheap in their hinges, sliding or folding. This seems solid. Like the doors of a Mercedes Benz.

The details are all just what you’d expect from a top-end high-price device. Like you feel when you operate a professional Canon camera, or drive an Audi executive sedan. All the controls feel solid, just right, engineered. Not just there by accident. There are separate operation keys for camera function on the side of the phone, which are inactive when the phone is in phone or browser mode. The battery life is very good. And small style things stand out, just the kind of "I am an expensive phone" details. There are so many. Like the cover screen with its short animation in colour. And the extra covers for the miscellaneous connectors.  And a lot of user-customization for keys, etc.

This is by a wide margin the best texting phone Nokia has ever manufactured! The keys are all large enough, but distinct. They each are contoured to help very easy blind texting. The travel of the keys is just long enough, but not too long. It is a DELIGHT to write text messages on this phone.

Source: Communities Dominate Brands

Nokia has always been a handset maker who made phones that were a pleasure to type on. This has recently changed however and looking at such devices like the N91 and all the other various slider phones, makes you wonder what exactly is going on internally!

AllFinder is a search engine for your phone. Now I don’t use the built in email application on my E61 since I prefer Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Java implementation but this app searches not only email but contacts, calender entries, text messages, and basically any piece of data residing on your device. Why isn’t this built in? Sure Nokia (NYSE: NOK) can implement search at the application level if it wanted too, but this goes a step beyond that and goes through everything. It’s Google Desktop search for your mobile. I want it, built in.

I’ve seen quite a few number of videos taken with the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N93. It’s been a 50/50 split between beautiful and disastrous. This is one of the best I’ve seen yet, worth watching in the original mp4 file format (39 MB) but here it is in Flash:

Source: WOM World

There is still a lot of room left for improvement when compared to some of the things I’ve seen on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Video and YouTube but hey for a cell phone camcorder it’s bloody amazing.

Telefonica (NYSE: TEF) Moviles Panama, which operates under the movistar brand, has chosen Nokia (NYSE: NOK) to build its GSM radio and GPRS network, thus continuing its commitment to pioneer in delivering the best and most advanced technology to its clients. The network will cover the whole country, and enable the operator to offer mobile data and voice services to movistar clients.

Under the agreement, Nokia delivers a GSM radio network with Nokia base stations and base station controllers, as well as a GPRS network. Nokia will also implement the Adaptive Multi Rate (AMR) service, which is a voice compression technology that improves network efficiency, in order to improve voice quality and capacity in the network.

To support the evolution of the GSM network, Nokia provides management services, project implementation, maintenance services and training to optimize the network performance. The system is supported by the multi-vendor, multi-technology Nokia NetAct(TM) network and service management system.

"Without any doubt, having Nokia implement and optimize our GSM network allows Telefonica Moviles Panama to offer the Panamanian market the most modern network in the country. Key to the fast growth in our market are top-quality services and efficiency," says Amaru Chávez, Vice President of Technology at Telefonica Moviles Panama.

"This agreement reinforces our growing cooperation with Telefónica in Latin America. We are committed to continue our successful relationship to increasingly satisfy the communication’s needs of the Panamanians, allowing technology to make their lives easier," says James O’Brien, Account Director, Networks, Nokia.

Source: Nokia PR

Congratulations Panama and Nokia! Before I hit 100 years old I bet the world will be covered with cellular service, I’ll be able to check my email … everywhere!

Dubai Internet City has created an association of IT professionals to drive ICT growth in the emirate. The Dubai IT Association will promote the adoption of technology, education and innovation to accelerate ICT development, DIC said in statement. Founding members include 3M, Ducont, Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Intel, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), Market Vision, Nokia (NYSE: NOK), and Sun Microsystems (NSDQ: JAVA).

Source: AME Info

I watched a one hour long documentary on Discovery about Dubai. It’s stunning, definitely a place I have to visit before I die. Congrats to Nokia for getting their early.

Audio books are set to be revolutionised by a tiny card that can store up to five lengthy novels on a phone.

The card can be slotted into a mobile phone, dispensing with the need to carry up to six CDs for an audio version of a book. The technology, originally developed to store music, will be released this year by Nokia (NYSE: NOK).

One title that will be available is the bestselling Looking Good Dead, by the British thriller writer Peter James. He said: “I think this will revolutionise storytelling . . . with this, you can wander off into the park, lie down and listen to a book.”

Nokia is introducing the technology initially with James’s German publisher, S Fischer Verlage. His publisher in Britain, Macmillan, is in talks for a British version. Annual sales of audio books have reached about £71 million in Britain and £435 million in America.

Source: Times Online

I guess by that tiny card they mean a miniSD card. I don’t know about this … I mean people just have to learn how to rip their CD’s and transfer files to their phone. Then again this article is vague about the implementation so I can’t knock it until I get more information.

FExplorer, one of the most popular Symbian applications, will soon be available for the S60 3rd edition-based devices. According to Symbian-Freak, Dominique Hugo, the creator of the popular application, is adding the final touches to FExplorer for the latest Nokia (NYSE: NOK) smartphones.

Those not familiar with the matter should know that FExplorer is the file and system explorer for Symbian OS devices, which pretty much does the same job as SysExplorer or Y-Browser. Still, previous S60 v2 device owners, still prefer the good ol’ FExplorer over other similar apps.