The Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95 (pre-production proto) finally arrived a couple weeks ago and it is the most existing mobile device I have used in years. It has everything. The Camera is amazing and the device is lighter than one thinks. It does produce spontaneous WOWs. I think this is due to three things, weight, size and brightness of the screen and 5MP camera. It is much faster than N73 and the mechanics have a great clicketiclack feel to it. The stereo audio is good, the slide show feature is improved as the panning is smoother.

I love the fact that the video recording has matured to VGA resolution and 30fps. It is smooth and clips are really watchable, The pictures are crisp and the macro is as great as it has been on N90 and N73. If I ever buy another digital camera it will be a SLR.  I hence pronounce the pocket camera dead. The Camera boot time is my greatest criticism of the device! This needs to be fixed it is unacceptably slow!

The GPS was cool, I was impressed how swiftly the maps came down over 3G. I also liked the graphics on them. Clean design. The N95 screen is big enough to make mapping useful. From utility point of view it is first generation and there is plenty room for innovation. I wish it was more, I am here, let me explore what’s around me. What makes the Maps app really interesting is the way they split it into product and service. The maps are downloaded dynamically, so where you move, a map corridor is downloaded and stored on the card. If you want turn-by-driving direction you need to buy a service. There are also point of interest services from several providers. This is real end2end management from Nokia’s point of view.

The N95 is a major upgrade compared even to the N73 launch last summer.  For anyone who makes phones, the N95 must be a source of stress. The sheer level of complexity to engineer this device would make most engineers have sweat pearls in the forehead. This is the most sophisticated gizmo at 120g ever engineered. Congrats guys, my hat off. My very rough guess is that more than a thousand engineers worked directly full-time on the device around the world and across the ecosystem, most of them have worked very long hours. I am also sure that in the labs there are engineers and designers who already are bored stiff with it, busy making the successors, and like this they will blow your socks off when public. As an outsider I am constantly surprised by the seemingly acceleration of utility in some many domains. When I put the N95 next to my wife’s 6682, they seem to be from a different decade, and it is only two years ago. The N95 to me is yet again proof that we are living a mobile revolution that is about to transform society in a profound way. All that said would I recommend the N95 to friends and family the answer is yes.

Source: Christian Lindholm

Via: Tommi’s S60 Application Blog

I’m still going to say we aren’t there quite yet. $200 point and shoots are still producing images with a much higher degree of color saturation and proper lighting than a $700 smart phone.

$200 point and shoots also boot in less than 3 seconds.

What we have here is a basic scheme of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) RM-230, still unknown model (but not part of N or E series as its model is XXXX), which we guess will be the successor of the 3250 music phone.

The new Nokia phone is quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS (probably HSDPA-capable) device supporting world roaming in both 2 and 3G – the only image available shows is has rotating lower part (as it was with the 3250) with play/pause and camera keys on the back. On the opposite side it probably has standard numeric keypad and navigation keys. Supporting all frequencies, the phone will be fully usable in the US (for which it just got approval by the FCC), and hopefully – offered by the carriers.

There is no official information at the moment, but probably something will pop up soon. If you have any information about the exact model, its specifications, or just some spy photo/information you want to share with us, feel free to contact us. If this mysterious phone appears on the 3GSM show in Barcelona, we will be there to check it out.

Source: Phone Arena

To each and every one of you going to 3GSM I wish you the best time in Barcelona.

As for me? My eyes are going to be glued to my rss reader waiting to read what you have to say.

I hope this news isn’t true since common sense dictates something like an E series would be the first to get a triband wcdma chip. Stranger things have happened!

Let us hope that this thing has a standard 3.5 mm headphone jack.

UPDATE: Symbian Guru has some more (conflicting) information to add about this thing:

• confidentiality request for 45 days, so 3/16/07 [this means CTIA not 3GSM]
• Quad-band GSM (finally becoming somewhat of a standard), EDGE, Bluetooth, and WCDMA, though only one band [not what phone arena is saying]
• Audio Adapter AD-44 [used for testing] (implying music-oriented, but not with 3.5mm, sadly) [SADLY IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT!]
• Direct link to the FCC filing

I’m going to have to go thru these PDF’s myself.

(Phone Arena has a REALLY high resolution version of this picture; I cropped it to fit on my blog for all the people with XGA screens out there, myself included)

3.0.649.0.0.31

Start up your software updater!

Source: Lazy Chris

Rant: Why won’t Nokia (NYSE: NOK) release a changelog for their various firmware upgrades?

Remember my 20 New Year’s Resolutions for Nokia? Let me give you a refresher on one of them:

Create a phone so advanced that it can be put in a dock, and this dock would have several USB ports, audio out, and VGA or DVI out. The one laptop per child idea is foolish; there isn’t an infrastructure to support it. What if each of those children had a device the size of an N73 that they can bring to a local center, plug it in, and now use a full size monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Or apply the same scenario to emerging markets.

Look what Sony has just patented:

There is a LOT of detail pertaining to the capabilities of this device over at the source: Unwired View

Via: Engadget

I am impressed. I wasn’t kidding when I said Sony could easily overtake Nokia in the mid to high end of the market if they made all the right moves.

u-blox AG, the leading Swiss provider of GPS receiver technology, will unveil u-blox 5, a GPS and Galileo-ready chip featuring an acquisition performance of less than one second, at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

3GSM, which runs from 12-15 February, is one of the world’s largest telecommunications trade fairs and is expected to attract more than 60,000 visitors this year, providing a unique opportunity for mobile network providers, product manufacturers and distributors to meet and exchange views.

u-blox will be promoting its u-blox 5 chip at the event in Hall 2, Booth C116. The new technology boasts an acquisition and tracking sensitivity of -160 dBm that enables indoor coverage, a 50-channel engine and a power consumption of less than 50 mW. Its energy efficiency and tracking sensitivity make it ideal for GPS-enabled mobile phones and other battery-operated portable devices that operate in difficult indoor environments like shopping malls, train stations and urban canyons.

Source: ublox

Via: Phone Scoop

When Rafe said this about the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N95 GPS ability, I was a bit let down:

In use, I found the GPS took a few minutes to ‘lock on’ when inside (next to a window) from a cold start; outside it was much quicker, as expected, and soft starts were faster still (a matter of a few seconds). A subjective first impression suggests the N95 has similar capabilities to SIRF II GPS chipsets.

Source: All About Symbian

The GPS is less powerful than the best external Bluetooth GPS on the market (those which use the SIRF III chipsets). I would say it is similar to SIRF II chipsets though may have slightly poorer accuracy. One of the problems here is that when positioning the N95 you generally have to do so for viewing, whereas Bluetooth GPS can be placed on a shelf or window ledge for better reception. A good example of this is for use in a car. I find I have to push a Bluetooth GPS as far back as possible on the dash board to get a good signal. This is going to be harder to do with an N95. In my initial tests I had trouble getting a reliable signal with the N95 tucked down in the car.

Source: All About Symbian (Another article)

GPS should be something I shouldn’t have to worry about. It should just work. Now price and power consumption has a lot to do with the chip selection process at Nokia … but all I’m asking is that Nokia get an engineering sample of some sort. After all both you and ublox are going to be at 3GSM!

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is interested in buying Vivatel. The mobile operator will sell individually BTC. Icelander Thor Bjorgolfsson who owns 65% of BTC intends to sell his share, his fund announced.

So far only Nokia has intentions to buy Vivatel, Standart newspaper reported. The Finnish giant won in September a contract for building a 3G network for the third mobile operator. Nokia will also distribute equipments for GSM, EDGE, WCDMA nets and other technologies from this sphere. Vivatel started its market operations on November 5th 2005 and so far has given negative financial results. The company has over 500 thousand subscribers or about 7-8% of the market share.

Source: Information Agency

This is all the information I could find on Vivatel:

Vivatel (Bulgarian: Вивател) is the third Bulgarian GSM operator, started in 2005. It is owned by the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company, which was granted a GSM operator license in June 2004 and an UMTS license in May 2005. The company sponsors Bulgarian football club PFC CSKA Sofia.

Vivatel reached 500,000 clients in September 2006.

Source: Wikipedia

Let’s see what happens. I don’t get it, but then again Nokia does a lot I’m still just starting to learn about.

Finnish telecommunications equipment maker Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is to launch a probe into its connecting people bonus system, Finnish provincial daily Keskisuomalainen reported Wednesday.

Nokia workers expressed outrage last week upon learning that they would not receive bonuses even though the company reported record profits.

Arja Suominen, a Nokia spokeswoman, told Keskisuomalainen that the company would start a global debate on developing the bonus system.

All full-time Nokia employees are eligible for Nokia connecting people bonus, with the exception of senior executives, who benefit from equity incentives.

Source: NewsRoom Finland

First question obviously is why?

Second … just how large of a bonus is this and what do employees have to do to earn it?

UPDATE: More, a lot more, information over at the Helsingin Sanomat:

Nokia workers have expressed their disappointment in regard to what they feel is an unjust situation on the company’s intranet chat groups, where the company directors have also answered some of the questions.

Nokia President and CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo explained the bonus criteria in a Friday video speech, which has since been available on the Nokia intranet.
      
The personnel representatives have already held talks with the management over the development of the Connecting People, bonus system, which is the most controversial. Nokia has promised to continue to discuss the development of the system world wide.
    
Shop steward Kivari is of the opinion that the present bonus discussion is a good example of the problems inherent to flexible wage systems.
      
"In our society in general, there is more and more talk about added flexibility, and a result-based rewarding system is just that. But the system has to work both ways. Good performance should be rewarded. Otherwise there is little hope that it will act as an incentive to improve productivity", Kivari concludes.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) isn’t waiting for a city-wide Wi-Fi network in San Francisco to get going before it gets involved in the city’s broadband efforts. The company is donating a number of Wi-Fi enabled cell phones and Internet tablets to two San Francisco high schools to get students hooked on the mobile Internet.

The largest cell phone manufacturer in the world is donating N90 and N93 multimedia phones to about 20 students at Balboa and John O’Connell high schools. The students, all members of school multimedia programs, are also being equipped with 770 Internet Tablets. The partnership between the city and Nokia is being formally announced today at a ceremony at O’Connell.

The new devices will take advantage of Wi-Fi hotspots that have been set up at the two schools in recent months by the city for this pilot roject. The hope is that the students will use the phones to snap pictures and video, creating content they can share with others. The tablets can also be used to help students learn how to use technologies like voice over Internet protocol.

The city is still waiting for a Wi-Fi network, as part of Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Tech Connect initiative. But city officials hopes that they can help create some opportunities now for needy residents by partnering with private groups and companies like Nokia.

Janet Schulze, principal at O’Connell said the combination of Wi-Fi at the schools and the new Nokia devices will help bring her students, mostly low-income, closer to the latest in technology, making the Internet even more personal to them.

Nokia’s Girard Weiner, Nokia’s vice president for strategy and M&A, said he believes students can help spread the gospel of the mobile Internet, which can thrive with the implementation of city-wide Wi-Fi networks.

"In the future we think more people will access the Internet from a mobile PC," said Weiner."We want people to understand what they can do with the mobile Internet.

Source: SF Gate

I am all for helping children learn, but honestly … what are cell phones and internet tablets going to do to encourage their development? Creatively they can explore whatever their little hearts desire, but what about education?

I hate to say it, but all American High School kids are going to do with such high end devices are surf myspace in class and share naked pictures of themselves via MMS with their sweethearts.

At least that was what I experienced in high school all of 4 years ago. Ah memories.

Nokia has planted a seed however in the back of their minds. They are educating these kids about unlocked phones. You try finding a carrier who offers such a freaking awesome and powerful device in the states. Not to mention whenever one of these lucky kids whips out a Nokia N93 at a party, heads will turn.

As most of my readers should know, I’m involved in the Nokia Bloggers Relation
program, so I have the opportunity to test all of those mobile phones
in deep. Moreover, I look forward to compare them with the upcoming
N95, that should be included in the program as well.

After a few
months of experiments and continuous daily usage, I can write down a
few considerations about "which of these phones is for whom".

Source: Thoughts on VoIP, technology … and more

Check out what he has to say. Always keep this thought in the back of your mind however: only you know what you like, no one can tell you that. Luca is trying to make comparing these devices easier.

Pentti Kallio, the chairman of a Finnish association promoting the recycling of electronics, was quoted as saying in Left Alliance organ Kansan Uutiset that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) was breaching Finnish handset reuse regulations.

In an ongoing Nokia campaign, consumers can send unwanted Nokia-branded handsets back to the manufacturer free of charge. According to Mr Kallio, the company is crushing the handsets instead of reusing them or parts thereof as required by the regulations. Päivyt Tallqvist, a Nokia spokeswoman, said the claim was utterly groundless.

"The campaign has been about encouraging consumers to return disused mobile phones and finding out which ways to do so function best," Ms Tallqvist said.

She added not one handset received as part of the campaign had been crushed.

"The envelopes will be given to our partner Stena Technoworld to wait for the campaign to run its course. In the next stage, we will send a team there to analyse what kind of products we have received. This means every envelope will be opened and sorted."

Working handsets in good condition would be tested and suitable resellers found, Ms Tallqvist added.

"The handsets that do not pass these tests will naturally be recycled. After all, the most important thing is to get the old phones out of the drawer and recycling is a perfectly good alternative. That way we can salvage a lot of the material for reuse."

Source: NewsRoom Finland

I hope Nokia can get out of this once. I’d like to see what evidence Pentti Kallio had acquired to make such a negative statement. You can’t just say things like this at a moments whim and not expect a backlash.