Fido customers that have been waiting for a new stylish and compact flip device may not have to wait that much longer for the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 2720 ‘Fold’. In a little promo image (above) you’ll notice a ‘coming soon’ starburst slapped right on top of the 2720. If you’re looking for a solid, compact flip device, the 2720 fits the bill. Great to have when you need to have a small device you can just tuck away in your pocket.

The 2720 features a 1.3MP camera with video, FM radio, Bluetooth, MP3 player, and 2.5mm audio jack. Pretty basic for sure.

The Nokia 2720 will go for free on a 2-year contract, or $125 contract-free or prepaid. I’ll keep an eye on the Fido site for more information as it becomes available.

[Via: MobileSyrup]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Fido Launches the LG GB250
• BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8230 Officially Released on Telus
• Nokia 1661 Available for Free on Fido
• Fido Launches Samsung F266 Slider
• Fido adds Nokia 5200

Bell busted out their fresh HSPA devices yesterday, and today we  have a similar official announcement from telus (NYSE: TU). Earlier this week, we had a chance to sit down and take a look at the new toys; most of the players you’ll already be familiar with, but here’s a rundown of telus‘ take on each one.

First up we have the Hero, HTC’s Android avenger, jam-packed with their custom Sense user interface. I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t packaged in Sprint (NYSE: S)’s slick, smooth, curve casing, but telus apparently wanted to capture the European flavour by offering something unique to North America, although it’s arguably reminiscent of Rogers (NYSE: RCI)’ HTC Dream in terms of aesthetic. Prodding a little bit about other Android hardware in the future, telussaid that they’re really not interested in vanilla builds – they really want to see some unique experiences with each manufacturer, and I couldn’t agree more. If you’re hoping to see the Hero on another carrier up north, good luck; telus said they’ve nabbed the Canadian exclusive on the Hero, and it sounded indefinite. The price point is also killer: $99.99 on contract, $499.99 off contract.

Next is the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold 9700. You’ve seen our first impressions, and they’re mostly good, though it’s still a pretty predictable iteration on a proven formula. RIM has been making a point to say that their Wi-Fi is UMA capable, allowing for calls over your local wireless internet connection, assuming your cellular service provider has a supporting plan. I took the opportunity to prod telus about supporting UMA, and they said they’re continually evaluating options, but don’t expect UMA before the holidays. Things sounded doubtful in general though, so don’t hold your breath. The BlackBerry Bold 9700 is available on telus for $249.99 on contract, or $649.99 with no strings attached.

Then there was the LG BL40, a ridonkulously widescreen device. I hadn’t spent much time with with LG’s S-Class 3D user interface, but the cube-spinning was kind of cool. The real wow factor was that telus was claiming a North American exclusive on the device. The original Chocolate did pretty well for itself, and I trust that the new one on telus will be equally successful. You’ll be able to pick up the New Chocolate for $79.99 on a three-year contract, or $249.99 without.

Finally, there’s the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E71. There wasn’t much to ask about it, since it’s made the rounds by this point, but considering Rogers recently announced the N86 with 8 megapixel camera, I think telus is going to have some catching up to do when it comes to their high-end Nokia handsets. Still, the E71 is a great handset, and it’s available for $29.99 on contract, or $329.99 without.  Red/white version is also available, apparently.

Oh, then there’s the iPhone, but they didn’t have one there for some reason. Maybe they think everyone already has heard enough about the damn thing. I’m tempted to agree. The telus 32 GB iPhone 3GS will run you $299 on contract, $799 otherwise.

We also got some numbers on the new Clear and Simple pricing, which cuts the system access fee and 911. Here’s a quick rundown of the smartphone plans, which all includes voicemail, call waiting, and conference calling:

• $50/month: 100 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 local favourites or 1,000 outgoing and unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 500 MB data
• $65/month: 200 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 nationwide favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 1 GB data
• $80/month: 350 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 nationwide favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 2 GB data
• $100/month: 450 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 3 GB data

Devices and plans aside, we talked about the HSPA rollout itself. Everything was built right on top of their existing EVDO network, so everything completely overlaps. The situation in the prairies still sounds somewhat sketchy, however – a roaming agreement with Sasktel is getting finalized, but the Manitoba network is still under construction. In terms of future hardware selection, telus will be pushing HSPA for the first little while, but they won’t be abandoning their EVDO network; it’s inaccurate to think that Bell and telus are swapping out CDMA for GSM, since they’re really just piling one on top of the other. It’s also kind of interesting that the HSPA handsets will have no 2G connectivity, which makes me a little scared – it’s always been somewhat reassuring that on Rogers I could fall back on an EDGE connection if 3G coverage was hurting. HSPA does have its benefits, though, like simultaneous data and voice transmission; missing calls while tethering shouldn’t be a problem.

I also asked about the telus Black’s Photography acquisition, which is seeing a proper retail presence today. I was a little worried that employees in a camera store would know jack-all about selling phones, but telus was likening the situation to Best Buy in that they’re as trained as they need to be to sell phones. It will be interesting to see what kind of perspective those salespeople offer on phones with higher-end cameras, though.

The whole lot of handsets are available today, but if you’re excited for these phones, telus showed us a few others that will be worth sticking around to hear about. One in particular we’ll probably be seeing Monday…  For more information, check out telus‘ HSPA landing page.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Bell Intros Smartphone Combo Plans, Outros Employees
• Rogers Wireless Continues to Disappoint Consumers in Q4
• Former Globalive Employee Leaks Marketing Strategy Slides Online
• Rogers Set to Update Smartphone Data Plans
• Rogers announces official iPhone 3G rate plan pricing

Rogers has announced holiday availability of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N86 today, and is using the occasion to take a few potshots at the Bell and telus HSPA launches. Rogers (NYSE: RCI) is claiming their “unparalleled HSPA smartphone lineup underscores Rogers’ network superiority”, and are also milking the LG Eve and xperia X1 for all they’re worth.The N86 is an exceptionally good choice for anyone who’s looking for a mix of simple phone, an outstanding camera, and potential for advanced smartphone functions. The $99.99 on contract price point is also very attractive, but even still, it’s going to be hard to combat the hype Bell and telus (NYSE: TU) are currently commanding. It’s a good thing for Rogers that a holiday launch for wind mobile is looking grim, or they would have even more competition on their hands. If you’re interested in picking up the N86 when it becomes available, be sure to check out our review first, and keep an eye on the Rogers online store.

[via Rogers]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Rogers outs BlackBerry 8320 in blue
• Bell, Telus BlackBerry Storm Going on Sale December 15th.?
• Rogers BlackBerry Bold pricing to be knocked down to $299
• Bell BlackBerry Storm Coming Soon
• Bell HSPA Network Goes Live, Featuring BlackBerry Bold 9700, iPhone 3GS, OMNIA II, and Video Calling

Bell has today gone ahead and flipped the switch on their brand new HSPA network. Coupled with telus (NYSE: TU) launching their own tomorrow, Rogers (NYSE: RCI) will no longer have a lockdown on hot GSM handsets like the iPhone, and Canadians will get some much-needed choice in service providers. The only devices Bell was forthcoming about before today’s announcement were an HSPA+ internet stick, and MiFi mobile hotspot, but they have really opened up both barrels with their full HSPA family. Earlier today, you might have heard about the Bell BlackBerry Bold 9700, but there’s also the original Bold 9000 for $249.95 on contract, the LG Xenon (simple, full-QWERTY slider; $89.95 on contract), the Nokia 2730 (standard candybar; $29.95 on contract), the Samsung omnia II (touchscreen slate running Windows Mobile with TouchWiz 2.0; $199.95 on contract), Samsung Impact (A.K.A Highlight, touchscreen slate with voice and motion-controlled UI; $79.95 on contract), and of course, the beloved iPhone 3GS.

On top of devices, Bell is also announcing a new HSPA video calling service available on the omnia II and Xenon that not only works with other capable phones, but also through a Facebook app. Overall, this is a huge step for Bell and Canadian wireless overall, and it’s not over yet – we’ll be hearing more about telus‘ HSPA  grand opening tomorrow. For a closer look at Bell’s full lineup, check their online store, or their HSPA landing page for more info on the new network.

[via Bell]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• The Signal 46: Canadian HSPA and H790 Bluetooth Headset Giveaway
• Bell Due to Flip GSM Switch This Month, TELUS in October
• Bell’s HSPA Launch List Leaks: Bold 9700, iPhone 3GS, and More
• Samsung Omnia Available at Telus for $129.99
• Samsung OMNIA Now Available North of the Border on Bell

LTE, Long Term Evolution, 4G, whatever you want to call it, was designed to be a complete IP based system. Many of you may be surprised to hear this, but when LTE became a standard, it only supported data. That’s right, 4th generation networks didn’t have an interoperable standard for voice and SMS. Several solutions have been proposed, and I’ve extended my support to VoLGA, but it looks like Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has decided IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) will be the way going forward.

Who supports the decision? AT&T, Orange, Telefonica (many of you know them as O2), TeliaSonera, Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE). That’s a lot of companies. Their posse is called “One Voice Initiative” and now that the big boys have all decided on a standard, progress towards getting LTE networks up and running will start to pick up. Verizon and TeliaSonera are competing to see who will launch the world’s first commercial LTE network in 2010, but it’s going to quite a ways off until 4G coverage is equal to the current 3G footprint.

If anyone can point me (and IntoMobile readers) to a blog post or a book that explains how IMS works, that would be greatly appreciated. I’ve always avoided the standard since I thought it would never fly. Oh how wrong I am now.

Update: The One Voice spec has been published, check it out [PDF] if you’re a network engineer.

[Via: Press Release]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• ABI Research: A dozen operators launching LTE next year
• T-Mobile adds 3G footprint to network coverage map
• TeliaSonera aiming to be the first operator in the world to launch a commercial LTE network
• Verizon confirms LTE 4G network trials with Vodafone; to share with AT&T
• France Telecom-TeliaSonera saga ends as France Telecom walks away from the deal

While Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s iPhone, Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s N97 and HTC’s various Windows Mobile and Android powered devices win the hearts and minds of the technofiend journalists covering the mobile space, there are a class of devices, ultra low end devices, that are responsible for bringing progress to nations and an optimism toward the future that today’s smartphones simply can’t due to their high cost. Today you take it for granted that you have a mobile phone, but can you remember how exhilarating it felt to own your first mobile phone? The ability for anyone to call you, at anytime, is a transformative experience and today Nokia is helping more people achieve that sense of independence from time and space with the launch of 5 devices.

Almost a year ago today Nokia announced the 1202, and at the time it was the cheapest phone the company made, coming in at 25 EUR. Thanks to advances in technology, and price advantages brought on by having massive scale, Nokia has now launched the 1280 and it is available for only 20 EUR ($29.50); huge savings when you consider that many people spend months worth of their wages just to purchase a mobile phone. This device weighs in at 81.92 grams, is 107.2 mm tall, 45.1 mm wide, and 15.3 mm thick. It has a 800 mAh battery that gives it up to 22 days of standby time and 8.5 hours of talk time. The display is black and white, which is to be expected at these price levels, is dual band (900/1800 MHz), has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, flash light, FM radio, and even has user exchangeable covers. Expect to see this in Q1 2010.

Next we have the 1616 coming in at 24 EUR ($35.40), which is still cheaper than the 1202 that was introduced a year ago. You get a 65,000 color 128 x 160 pixel resolution display, 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM radio, and a flash light, all in a package that weighs 78.55 grams and is 107.1 mm tall, 45 mm wide, and 15 mm thick. It is a dual band device, but will come in two variants: 900/1800 MHz and 850/1900 MHz. It has the same 800 mAh battery the 1280 has, and will start shipping in Q1 2010.

The 1800 is essentially the 1616, but with a different look. It will cost 26 EUR ($38.35) when it ships in Q2 2010. It has the same 800 mAh battery, 65,000 color 128 x 160 pixel resolution display, 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM radio, and flash light. It is a dual band device, supporting 900/1800 MHz networks, and it weighs 78.5 grams while coming in at 107 mm tall, 45 mm wide, and 15.3 mm thick. It has a standby time of up to 22 days, or you can drain the battery with 8.5 hours of talking.

The 2200 Slide, which was leaked almost a month ago, is coming out this quarter and with it brings GPRS/EDGE (internet) support and a VGA camera at only 45 EUR ($65.40). The battery holds 720 mAh, and that should last up to 20 days in standby mode or 5.37 hours of talk time. The slider has a 65,000 color 128 x 160 pixel resolution display, is dual band and will come in both 900/1800 MHz and 850/1900 MHz models, and weighs only 93.5 grams. It’s 97.14 mm tall, 47 mm wide, and 15.85 mm thick.

Last we have the 2690, the most “expensive” device announced today, coming in at 54 EUR ($79.70). This Q1 2010 device has support for a microSD memory card, it has a VGA camera, supports GPRS/EDGE, has a VGA camera, and most impressive: it is quadband, meaning you can take this thing anywhere around the world (with a GSM network) and it will work. The internet will look small on that 1.8 inch, 262,000 color, 128 x 160 pixel display, but it’s better than nothing. It has the same 720 mAh battery as the 2200 Slide, and it will last you up to 13 days in standby mode, or 4.5 hours of talk time. The whole package weighs 80.72 grams and is 107.5 mm tall, 45.5 mm wide, and a svelte 13.8 mm thick. Nokia Conversations is saying this device has a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a fact that wasn’t mentioned in the phone’s data sheet, but I’ll trust what they’ve got to say.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia 3710 Fold: GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, 3G, less than €150 ($200)
• Samsung unveils a trio of mono Bluetooth headsets in Russia
• Orange ‘Vegas’ Now Available on Pay-As-You-Go at Orange UK
• Nokia 5320 and 5220 XpressMusic devices have been launched
• Dual microphone equipped Plantronics Voyager 835 Bluetooth headset promises to deliver great sound quality

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) X3 — the non-3G music-centric slider that was announced at this year’s Nokia World in Stuttgart, Germany — has been cleared by the FCC. We don’t have a clue whether some carrier will pick it up, but with this clearance – it’s officially ready for the U.S. market. Since there are no 3G radios involved, it can easily sing along AT&T (NYSE: T)’s or T-Mobile (NYSE: DT)’s networks, relying on EDGE data only. Maybe, just maybe, we see it included in some carrier’s Christmas catalog, though as I said, we have no such information at this stage.

As a reminder, the X3 is a music-centric device sporting dedicated music keys, Bluetooth 2.1, 3.5mm headset jack, 3.2-megapixel camera with flash, stereo speakers, FM radio that works without headsets, 2.2-inch QVGA screen, microSD memory card slot, while Nokia’s feature phone platform Series 40 is running the show.

[Via: Unwired View]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Motorola announces three new ROKR phones – EM25, EM28 and EM30
• Nokia 3608, 8208 for CDMA revealed early
• LG KM330 is a mid-range music-centric phone
• Nokia Xpress Music 5610 headed to T-Mobile
• Nokia 8208 announced for CDMA market

Waking up and receiving good news doesn’t happen often enough, so when I opened my crusty teared eyes at 10 in the morning (Helsinki time) and got this press release in the mail, I hit the roof. Opera, the Norwegian company we all love, makers of the Opera desktop browser, Opera Mobile for Windows Mobile, and Opera Mini, one of my favorite mobile applications of all time, has released Opera Mobile 10 Beta for Symbian.

At this point you’re expect a full on review/preview of the application, but I would be wasting my breathe trying to say something genuinely new. It’s literally Opera Mini 5 Beta, but written in Symbian code rather than J2ME code. It’s noticeably more responsive than Opera Mini 5 Beta, the copy and paste actually works now, best of all it is possible to copy and paste text from the browser to another application. Opera Turbo support is included, but disabled by default. Turbo is the same technology that powers Opera Mini. You type in a URL, Opera intercepts that request, feeds it to a server sitting somewhere next to a moose in Northern Europe, renders the page, compresses it, and then spits it back to your mobile phone. I’d be lying if I said a website rendered with Opera Mobile 10 Beta consumed the same information as the same website rendered in Opera Mini 5 Beta; the J2ME client wins hands down at using the least amount of data necessary to display a website.

Things of note: this works on both touch (S60 5th Edition) and non touch (S60 Everything Else Edition) devices, and with the ability of Opera Link you’ll be able to sync bookmarks and passwords between the desktop version of Opera and the mobile version.

Check out the demo video below:

Oh and if you want to download it yourself, just type m.opera.com/mobile into your mobile browser.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Opera confirms that they’re going to launch Opera Mobile for Android
• Opera: What’s next? A whole bunch of ’shiny’
• Opera Mini 4 goes gold!
• Opera Mini 3.0 released
• Opera unveils next-generation Opera Mini 5 – We talk with Opera’s CEO about Mini

Jay Sullivan, Vice President of Mobile at Mozilla, runs through Firefox for Maemo on the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N900 in the video below and shows off how tabs work, the “awesome bar”, and extensions. You may be asking yourself what’s the point of Mozilla building Firefox for Mobile? WebKit has the largest share of the mobile browser space, and they’re doing a damn fine job at what they do, but you have to remember that WebKit isn’t a browser, it’s just a rendering engine. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), RIM, they’re all building browsers that are powered by WebKit, whereas Mozilla is actually building a complete browser that you as a consumer can install on your mobile device similar to how you install Firefox on a fresh install of Windows today. Key difference. No clue as to when Firefox Mobile will be finished, and what platforms it will support, but at least you can sleep soundly at night knowing that there is a company fighting to make the internet a better experience regardless of the device you use.

[Hat tip to @luovanto aka Jussi Mäkinen, Marketing Maemo Devices @ Nokia]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Mozilla says Firefox Mobile is in the works
• Mozilla wakes up, pouring huge engineering effort into Firefox Mobile
• This is Firefox Mobile
• WebKit Safari based browser coming to Nokia N800
• Sync your desktop browser to Firefox Mobile (Fennec) with Mozilla Weave!

I’ve received enough emails and tweets pointing me to an article VentureBeat published titled “Nokia to invade U.S. market — will launch new phone with AT&T” that I feel compelled to tell you why I didn’t write about it on IntoMobile.

It isn’t news. Period.

Here is the original press release detailing the plans Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) have to cooperate. The first paragraph says it all really:

Nokia and Qualcomm plan to develop advanced mobile devices

February 17, 2009

Nokia and Qualcomm Incorporated today announced that the two companies are planning to work together to develop advanced UMTS mobile devices, initially for North America. The companies intend for the devices to be based on S60 software on Symbian OS, the world’s most used software for smartphones, and leverage Qualcomm’s advanced Mobile Station Modem MSM7xxx-series and MSM8xxx-series chipsets for cutting-edge processing performance and ubiquitous mobile broadband capabilities. The first mobile devices based on this collaboration are expected to launch in mid-2010 and be compatible with the forthcoming Symbian Foundation platform.

“Nokia is very pleased to be in discussions with Qualcomm around designing mobile devices that can benefit from the high level of integration found on MSM chipsets,” said Kai Oistamo, executive vice president, Devices, Nokia. “We are eager to demonstrate to the industry the possibilities that exist when innovative and open software is combined with advanced hardware solutions.”

“Nokia and Qualcomm are leaders in advanced wireless technologies, and this new level of cooperation will bring exceptional leaps in mobile performance to people around the world,” said Steve Mollenkopf, executive vice president of Qualcomm and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies. “We are very excited about leveraging the substantial synergies between S60 software and MSM chipsets.”

Why is VentureBeat taking the facts from a 9 month old press release and repackaging them as “tips” from an “insider” is beyond me, but hey, what do I know about journalism?

I’m just a blogger.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia announces new partnerships with Qualcomm and Broadcom
• Motorola names Sanjay Jha as CEO of Mobile Devices Business
• Nokia makes peace with Qualcomm with a new agreement
• Going to Spain in style
• Qualcomm buys SoftMax – looks toward noise reduction on mobile phones

We dig the idea of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N900’s expandable feature set. And to prove just how tweaking-friendly the Maemo-powered device is, this guy managed to make it run the good ol’ Windows 3.11. Yap, you’ve read that correctly – it’s running Win 3.11 from DOS. But I said enough, just watch the video and enjoy!

[Via: JampBLOG]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Windows 3.1 and Nokia N95, together at last!
• US getting Nokia N900 on September 27th?
• Windows 98 running on Nokia N95!
• Video: Nokia N97 hacked in order to add useless bling
• Nokia slashes E65 price by 15% to prepare for holiday sales

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) just posted an entry to their N-Gage blog saying that the N-Gage publishing platform is going to die in less than a year. Games will now be sold through the Ovi Store, which on face value makes sense, giving consumers a single location to purchase applications, whether that be a new alarm clock, or Super Monkey Ball, but all the community features that many of you have come to love will be gone. Stuff like high scores, messaging, and keeping up with your friends in the N-Gage Arena, that stuff is gone.

If you’re an N-Gage addict, make sure you read the complete blog post to get the details on what’s changing and when.

[Hat tip to @stevelitchfield from All About Symbian]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• How To: Share iPhone applications between multiple iPhones
• Nokia promotes end of N-Gage beta with free game offering
• Interview with Gregg Sauter and Peter Nielsen: Talking about Nokia’s new N-Gage platform
• Creating feature rich connected games with SNAP Mobile
• Some Nokia shortcuts I bet you didn’t know about

Yesterday Google launched Google Maps Navigation for Android 2.0 and with it crushed the stock prices of Tom Tom and Garmin, makers of dedicated navigation devices. The question of whether or not we’ll see Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps Navigation come to other platforms has yet to be answered, but knowing Google’s previous moves in the mapping space, it’s pretty much an inevitability.

Why is Google dominating the mapping space with such force? The answer lies with the cost of maps. If anyone with enough entrepreneurial spirit wanted to create a competitor to Google Maps, Bing Maps, or Ovi Maps, they would soon realize that they would have to secure mapping data, at a great cost mind you, from the two largest players on the market: Tom Tom, who purchased Tele Atlas in 2007, or NAVTEQ, who was purchased by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) during the same year. Entering the mapping space is not easy financially and that is why we’ve seen little competition.

Google Maps is fantastic, I use it on a near daily basis, but how much better could it be if anyone could build a mapping service? I’m not talking about using the Google Maps API to overlay your data on top of a Google Map, or the Ovi Maps Player API, which is an exact clone of Google’s, I’m talking about making mapping data open and free and allowing the same city center to be rendered in millions of different ways depending on the context of what a user wants to visualize. There is already an effort taking place on the internet right now to do just that, and it’s called OpenStreetMap (OSM), but they need help.

If I was Nokia I would donate every last bit of mapping data collected by NAVTEQ to OSM and just sit back and watch to see what happens. Anyone in the world would be able to use that data, and with it usher in a long due renaissance in the world of mapping. This isn’t about OpenStreetMap beating Google Maps, this is about allowing the creation of many mapping services.

If you think about it, honestly, how much better has Google Maps become since it was launched in February 2005? Sure, we now have Google Maps on mobile, but that’s because we had to wait for Google to make their maps available on the go. If access to the data of all the buildings, and all the streets on this Earth was available for anyone to build upon, with no licensing fees, and no strict conformity to the aesthetic dictated by one company, a 3rd party could have not only beaten Google to the mobile maps game, but may have created an entirely new user experience.

Think about it Nokia. You’ve been playing the open card a lot lately. First with Maemo, then with Symbian, now do the same thing with NAVTEQ. It’s the only way you’re going to beat Google at maps. They’ve got smarter people, more of them, and they stand the most to lose so they’re going to defend what they’ve got to the death if you try to out innovate them with Ovi Maps.

Google disrupted the mapping space by making navigation free, your turn to disrupt the mapping space by making maps free as in speech.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia, the internet company, is advertising going to be a major part of the new strategy? *Update*
• Finland’s Nokia will buy US-based Navteq for $8.1 billion
• Free downloadable maps from Nokia
• WISEPILOT supports Nokia Series 40
• Nokia Delivers Free Downloadable Maps to the Mobile World

As expected, the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Surge 6790 has arrived on Rogers (NYSE: RCI) for the rabid texters out there. An unexpected bonus is a cheaper price point than the originally anticipated: a mere $29.99 on three-year contract. This is one of the cheapest new smartphones you’ll find out there, though the form factor might seem awkward to a lot of folks. Still, it’s packing a 2 megapixel camera, GPS, microSD memory card slot, and a 2.4″ QVGA display. It’s not in Rogers’ online store just yet, but it should be up soon.

[via Nokia]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Four Low-End Samsung Phones Revealed
• Canada’s Rogers Wireless to offer the Nokia 6790 Surge, too?
• LG Glance and enV3 User Manuals Scoped Out
• Rogers Wireless adds LG Shine TU720 in black
• Nokia flashes its Wahoo to the world

T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) UK will be offering a special, Chrome coloured (not pictured above, but just imagining what it would look like makes me go ewww), edition of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 5800 on Sunday, sources tell Mobile Entertainment. The device will be free on a 2 year contract, 30£/month. Note that the Comes with Music subscription only lasts for 1 year, so if you’re picking this up then you better start downloading the second you turn the device on. If you’d rather have the 5800 without Comes with Music, then you’ll only have to pay £15/month. Do yourself a favor: buy an HTC Hero and a 1 year subscription to Spotify. You’ll be a happier person, with a better phone, better music selection, and a better overall experience. Comes with Music has been out for roughly a year and they’ve barely managed to get 110,000 people to sign up. Old devices, limited selection, higher prices, I’m not surprised Nokia is having a hard time getting customers.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Brief update: Spotify on 3 handsets – tariffs now known
• Spotify to put its service on 3 handsets
• Brief: Another Spotify iPhone application review hits the intertubes
• Nokia “Comes With Music,” 5800 XpressMusic hit Australia on March 20th
• HD Video: Spotify for the iPhone!

While listening to All About Symbian podcast epsiode 154, one sound bite jumped out at me. At around 21 minutes and 20 seconds in, Rafe Blandford asked Jan Ole Suhr, the one man development shop who is best known for his Twitter client called Gravity, what is the revenue split from the Ovi Store, Handango, and other application stores versus his own website. Bit of back story: on June 2 of this year, Eric John from the Ovi Store team posted a blog entry stating that Gravity was the number one selling application. The statistics haven’t been updated since then, but hypothetically speaking let us pretend that today it is still the number one selling application. Jan said that “around 90%, probably even more than 90% came from my own website”. Is this a sign of how badly Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Ovi Store is doing right now? One would think that with the millions of devices out on the market now with Ovi Store built in that they would launch it, discover Gravity, and buy it, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. There are even commercials running in the UK, a country where Twitter is very popular, showcasing Gravity and the Ovi Store.

The whole point of application stores is to expose people to the applications they can install on their devices, and to give developers an easy way to monetize their applications. If the revenue coming from the number one selling application in the Ovi Store is less than 10% of total sales, then what the hell happened?

Related News from IntoMobile:

• S60 Twitter App Updates with Groups Support
• Samsung Announces Gravity 2 and Comeback on T-Mobile
• Samsung Mobile Application Store Announced for September 14
• Nokia, T-Mobile team-up on integrated mobile content marketplace
• Juniper Research: Annual mobile application downloads to hit 20 billion by 2014

The Wall Street Journal takes a stab at reviewing the Nokia Booklet 3G, the first laptop to come from the Finnish handset maker hellbent on becoming an “internet company”. Katherine Boehret loves the battery life, saying “after running it through a harsh test with its screen cranked up to the brightest setting, Wi-Fi on, music playing on a continuous loop and all power-saving features turned off, it ran for almost eight hours straight”. That’s where the praise end however, she urges readers to “beware its tiny keyboard”. Whatever happened to the 12 hours Nokia (NYSE: NOK) promised at Nokia World?

You’ll be able to pick up the Booklet 3G for $300 from AT&T with a 2 year contract, $60/month, that gives you 5 GB of data per month, or you can buy it without contract for $600. Note: The Booklet 3G comes with Windows 7 Starter Edition, which has a whole lot of limitations. Are you doing to pick up this HDMI port packing, underpowered Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) MacBook Pro clone? I’m curious, leave a reply below.

[Hat tip to @samin, Creative Director at Nordkapp]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia Booklet 3G: BestBuy exclusive for $599 unlocked or $299 on a 2 year, $60/month plan
• Brief: Nokia Booklet 3G to go on sale in Germany on O2 for €249 on a €20/month 24 month contract
• Live from CTIA WITE 2009: Nokia booth tour
• Nokia joins the netbook race with the Booklet 3G: 10 inches, 1.25 kg, 12 hour battery life, HDMI out
• Rogers BlackBerry Bold 9700 Now Available Online!

I posted this video on the @IntoMobile Twitter account, which if you haven’t followed already may be due to head trauma suffered as a child, and I wasn’t going to blog it … that is until I read what Ewan MacLeod had to say about it:

Brilliant, brilliant video from the Phoneage / Tehkseven chaps. Genius. Provided this video doesn’t hit the mainstream and Twitter doesn’t pick this up, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) will be perfectly fine.

To which I have to reply let the spreading begin:

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Twitter account for sale – Rocketboom founder sells his Twitter account with Twitter followers included
• Idea: Nokia should make the E61i with VGA screen!
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic video demos
• O2 Signs Deal with Twitter to Offer Text Alerts
• Video: Social Media Addicts Association

When you’re a company that makes revenues almost exclusively from the sale of mobile handsets, whoring of patents aside, then you take counterfeit hardware pretty seriously. In China it’s really easy to find a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) clone, powered by a MediaTek chipset, running some local operating system that most users in the region have no problem using. That is why today Nokia has announced that they’re teaming up with SAP and Giesecke & Devrient to start a new company called “Original1″ by the end of the year, headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, to deal with the problem.

Full Press Release after the jump. Emphasis added by yours truly.

SAP, Nokia and Giesecke & Devrient to Establish New Global Business Providing Brand Protection Services

Vienna, Austria – Oct. 27, 2009. SAP, Nokia and Giesecke & Devrient today have announced plans to form a new company, named “Original1,” to deliver unique product authentication and anti-counterfeiting services across the globe. These services will be aimed at protecting companies and consumers in a wide range of industries from product piracy and counterfeiting, thereby maintaining brand values, revenue potentials and profitability of branded goods. Original1 will be headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and headed by Claudia Alsdorf, currently vice president of SAP Research. The new company is expected to begin operations before the end of 2009, subject to the approval of the responsible anti-trust authorities. The announcement was made at SAP TechED 2009, being held October 27-29 in Vienna, Austria.

“Counterfeiting is a worldwide problem that is increasing and affecting many successful companies in all industries,” said Alsdorf. “Today, more than ever, companies need to combat counterfeiting before it’s too late, when their company livelihood is at stake. Original1 will provide a one-stop shop for companies seeking secure services that protect them from counterfeiting, safeguard the value of their brands, and help them develop a more transparent way of working to become more sustainable.”

Original1’s services will rely on SAP technology and solutions, while Nokia will deliver mobile authentication software to allow businesses to follow a branded product’s entire life cycle, from a factory to the end customer, using mobile devices. G&D’s contribution to Original1 will consist of security solutions for the entire value chain. This comprises user authentication, end-to-end encryption of the information flow and database encryption. The solution covers the complete sales and logistic supply chain by protecting products and related product packaging by tagging them with intelligent, tamper-proof serialized product codes.

“We see a big business opportunity in brand protection services,” said Antti-Jussi Suominen, general manager, Commerce, Corporate Development, Nokia. “Nokia started a mobile phone-based product authentication business program in 2006; this joint venture is a logical step in evolving that business. We will provide Original1 with the mobility expertise and related technology and believe that mobility will bring a totally new paradigm to brand protection.”

“The brand protection system relies on the trust, customer and companies have in it,” said Dr. Kai Grassie, group senior vice president and head of the New Business division, G&D. “Giesecke & Devrient is a partner of trust for government authorities and companies with special security requirements. This comprises areas like banknote printing and processing, as well as security products and services for the mobile communication, payment and the IT security industry. G&D will contribute its extensive expertise in high-level security technology to Original1.”

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Smart Card Security Being Built into microSD Memory Cards
• Joint venture foundation of Giesecke & Devrient and Nokia completed
• European Commission approves the formation of Nokia Siemens Networks
• India gives the Nokia Siemens merger the OK
• F-Secure Mobile Security launched

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

This software release improves touch screen usability, allowing you to scroll smoothly through content by flicking the screen. Ovi Maps 3.1 brings 3-D maps, more accurate positioning, and improved search. Nokia (NYSE: NOK) (NYSE: NOK) e-mail (Nokia Messaging), Ovi Contacts, Ovi Store, and VoIP support have been added. This release also includes improvements in memory and battery performance, and in image and video stability. To get this software through your device, select Applications > SW Updates and choose the software you want to update.

Someone will surely post something today regarding their experiences with the new firmware. This post will be updated throughout the day with those findings.

Updates:

• UK variants appear to not have been updated yet.
• All About Symbian has a really nice changelog on their site.
• “Best ’secret’ enhancement in N97 v20 is the bump in speaker volume – the device just got a whole lot better for listening to podcasts! 8-)” – @stevelitchfield

A video just came out highlighting the kinetic scrolling. Hat tip to @Jussipekka:

I hope that didn’t cost a lot of money.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• ATTN Nokia N86 users: Firmware 11.043 is out
• Nokia N78 gets hit with firmware v20.149.051.1 and a bunch of enhancements!
• Nokia N95 Firmware 12.0.013 Changelog leaked
• Nokia 5800 XpressMusic gets another updated; Firmware version reaches 31.0.008
• New Nokia N82 firmware available – 20.0.062 enables geotagging, Flash Lite 3, Web Runtime