Despite the fact Nokia (NYSE: NOK) announced that its N900 will sell for $649 in the U.S., the good ol’ Amazon is offering the Maemo-powered device for $480 ($479.99 to be more precise). As you probably already know that money buys you one of the most capable smartphones on the market today with features that include tons of storage (32GB), GPS, WiFi, great 5-megapixel camera, and so on. Exact shipping date is unknown at the moment, but I assume you won’t have to wait for too long to grab the N900, in case you want to.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• i-mate 810-F aka Hummer shows its face
• Samsung U940 passes the FCC hurdle
• HTC Qilin/Dopod T8388 is HTC’s first TD-SCDMA Windows Mobile smartphone for China
• Amazon offers Palm Pixi for $25
• Gigabyte GSmart S1200 officially official

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) just issued a press release announcing a 2% reduction in research and development staff located in Oulu, Finland and Copenhagen, Denmark:

Nokia continues to streamline its R&D operations

Espoo, Finland — Nokia plans to align its research and development (R&D) operations in Finland and Denmark to be in line with the company’s focused portfolio of future products. The planned changes are expected to affect up to 230 employees at Nokia’s Oulu site in Finland and approximately 100 employees at Nokia’s Copenhagen site. The total number would represent approximately 2 % of Nokia’s R&D personnel globally.

Nokia aims to support the employees with alternative solutions, such as finding new positions within the company for as many employees as possible. Nokia will begin consultations with employee representatives about these plans where voluntary severance packages among other topics will be discussed.

Nokia maintains a strong R&D presence in both sites; the company has over 2 000 employees in Oulu and over 1 000 employees in Copenhagen. Overall, Nokia has more than 17 000 people employed in its research and development activities.

That’s pretty sad considering that now more than ever Nokia needs to innovate. Then again as a former employee I think the actual problem is not the amount of research being done, but the difficulty of getting said research to market. Finding someone to fund your idea, and then bring it up to higher management, all before the next yearly reorganization, is not an easy thing to do.

[Photo above is of the Toripolliisi (English: The Bobby at the Market Place) statue located in Oulu]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia and Siemens to begin sharing their product portfolios in February
• Nokia staff in Tampere and Oulu stage a walk out
• Nokia feels the pain of market slowdown, hands out 600 pink slips
• Starting a new segment: Understanding Nokia thru Finnish Proverbs
• Nokia to lisence their modem technology and the first customer is STMicroelectronics

This week in Paris at the Cartes exhibition, Visa was showing off what they’re working on for mobile payments. They demos a native iPhone application, along with a Visa application that is embedded on a SIM card. The most exciting stuff, NFC, is shown off on a shipping Nokia (NYSE: NOK) device. Payments under 20 EUR are just tap and go, useful when you’re in a crowded bar and don’t want to fiddle with credit cards or hard currency, while payments over 20 EUR require a tap, a PIN code, and then another tap to confirm. The sad thing about all of this is that we’re unlikely to see it for at least another year or two. That’s just enough time for Nokia to start rolling out Nokia Money to customers and operators around the world. Here is hoping that rumour of the next iPhone having NFC is true. I’m tired of having to sign little pieces of paper.

[Via: Recombu]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Visa Launches NFC Service in Malaysia
• T-Mobile Hiking up Charges for Paper Billing, Starting September 12th
• Mobilkom Austria develops NFC Mobile ticketing service
• Cellfire – The New Way To Do Coupons
• VeriSign And Visa Team Up For Mobile Banking

Bill Perry, Senior Services Marketing Manager for Forum Nokia (NYSE: NOK), posted some statistics from the Ovi Store which has now been open for 5 months. The Ovi Store is available on over 100 devices, with users from over 180 different countries, and developers from 65 countries. There are 8 countries that have an Ovi Store in their native language and support operator billing: UK, Spain, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Italy and Russia. By the end of Q1 2010, that number should rise to over 20 countries. The top 10 countries accessing the Ovi Store are Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Russia and the UK. In most of those countries the top 2 devices used to get to the Ovi Store are either the Nokia 5800 or N97. Each registered user downloads an average of 8 pieces of content, and the number of downloads in October compared to September is up by 70%.

Couple that data above with the information Nokia CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo gave during the Q3 2009 financial results conference call held on the 15th of October, where he said:

We grew our active users from 46 million to 61 million.

61 million users x average of 8 pieces of content per user = 488 million downloads?

Why isn’t Bill Perry providing any figures such as number of applications? The media would take that number and compare it to the massive 100,000+ applications in Apple (NSDQ: AAPL)’s App Store and claim Nokia is failing.

Why isn’t Bill Perry providing any figures for the number of downloads? Same reason as above.

[Via: All About Symbian]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Didmo to bring Mobile Game Ads to US and Europe
• Samsung Mobile Application Store Announced for September 14
• Mobango reaches five million members
• Nokia’s Ovi Store officially opened for business!
• Mobile social networking in June

I wrote a piece yesterday about first impressions the N900, which really seemed to upset some people – chief amongst the objections were the fact that not everyone believed I have the N900 – well it’s picture-time, check it out:

Other objections included black-and-white statements that resistive screens don’t support multi-touch – with a couple of minutes Googling, I think you’ll find that multi-touch on a resistive screen is entirely possible – it just happens not to be on the N900 – shame …

Others were of the opinion that I must be an Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Fanboi – something I strenuously deny. Oh, BTW, the pictures above were taken using an iPhone 3GS

Ben

Related News from IntoMobile:

• ABI Research: Capacitive touchscreens not the wave of the future for most mobile phones
• Brief: Confirmed: Maemo 6 to bring support for multi touch and capacitive screens
• Apple iPhone – Disappointing LCD Screen?
• Stantum to demo 4.3-inch Multi-Touch Development Kit at Mobile World Congress
• Apple files patent application for pressure-sensitive touchscreen technology

Last night in London there was an official Nokia N900 meetup. Several members from The Really Mobile Project were in attendance and have learned, from Maemo’s Marketing Team, that by 2012 there will no longer be any Nseries devices powered by the Symbian operating system. They’ve also learned that there are no plans to bring Maemo to Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Eseries lineup.

The Nseries lineup, for those unfamiliar with Nokia’s portfolio, is composed of devices that have the highest specifications and the “best” technology that Nokia has to offer. The most famous Nseris device, the one that made the world fall in love with Nokia all over again, was the N95. The most damaging Nseries device, the one that made the world think Nokia employees have their head shoved up their asses, was the N97. The Eseries lineup is supposed to be for enterprise customers, but just about everyone and their mother has a Nokia E71 where I live (Helsinki, Finland) since it’s recognized as the last great device to come out of Nokia.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Live Blog: Nokia Q2 2009 financial results
• UK: The N in Nokia’s Nseries stands for not recommended
• Nokia N76 to get a dose of bling, Bjorn Weckstrom style
• Nokia Booth Tour – CTIA San Francisco 2008
• Nokia to introduce a new Cseries lineup of devices?

So I just received an N900 in the post today, and one of the things I do like to do with new hardware, is to give it the ‘five-minute fiddle’.

For those of you that are not familiar, the aim of the five-minute fiddle is to spend a very short period getting first impressions of a given handset/service, and then write things up with a summary ‘gut feeling’ about it.

Unpacking

My N900 is a full retail model, and so I got a good feeling for the real end-user experience when opening up the packaging of this little bad boy. It’s an understated box, with a good amount of accessories included – and of course, the device itself. One thing I did ponder as missing was a case for the N900. Now I’m not suggesting some kind o’ freaky faux-leather belt-holster affair (that was SO 90s!), I am talking just about some kinda simple slip case, to protect the decent size screen – and the fact you are carrying a 500 GBP/Euro handset around with you!

Hardware form-factor

Although in my opinion Nokia (NYSE: NOK) has dropped the ball in a big way on software in recent years, their hardware design is usually (I say usually, to exclude things like the N96) pretty good – overall, I think the N900 has good hardware. It IS a chunky monkey, make no mistake, and it’s certainly not ’sleek’ – much more blockish than I was expecting. However, it is clad in various types of black material – now given black is my favourite colour, this is no bad thing!

The Slide mechanism and keys are okay – keys possibly a touch small, but it’s going to take some time typing to find out if emails/texts can be knocked out with ease. For right now, it’s certainly all very satisfactory, and at a push I would say it’s ‘good’. One thing I really wasn’t sure about is the kickstand that surrounds the camera – it seems VERY flimsy indeed – to the point where I wouldn’t want to stand the handset up on it. That’s quite a surprise, since one of the good things (and there weren’t that many) with the N96 was it’s cheeky little kickstand!

The (touch)screen is well-lit, a decent size, and … er … resisitive – darn! I personally cannot stand resistive screens, because it’s difficult in my view to regulate your pressure when scrolling lists etc on screen – and this often means you end up accidentally selecting things – unfortunately it’s the same here, which is a such a shame – this device could potentially have been a killer with capacitive screen (maybe that’ll be the N901 or similar probably….!).

Software / UI

So this is really where it’s at with the N900 – does the UI/software cut the mustard? Well, with my five-minute play, I have to say I’m not convinced one way or the other. It did take me some time to orient myself with the Menus/UI, and try out some things which I thought would work on the device (notably one thing that didn’t work was two-finger pinch/squeeze for zoom in/out. Shame.

So apart from the time needed to get used to the UI, overall I think it’s reasonably clear – the four or so homescreens work out well, and to my mind borrow heavily from the iPhone – but they don’t animate between them as smoothly.

As regards programs that are installed, it would appear that Nokia has included web-links as ‘application icons’-  and in fact you have to download apps once you have pressed the icon  which is simply a link to a website. I can’t help but feel this is a weak approach for building out menus, and also the tedium of waiting for an App to download and install is not good.

Other Apps that work well are the standard ones you would expect – email, calendar, contacts, phone. There’s nothing revolutionary about these, they just do their job well.

Conclusion

I’ve yet to spend some serious quality time with the device – but my initial thoughts are that the hardware (excepting the resistive quality of the screen) is better than the software. Although I’m wary about judging too quickly, my gut feeling is that the software isn’t quite at the level you would expect as a power user of the device. Going forward, it may be that the OS is upgraded and bug-fixed, and that usage improves significantly. For now though, my rating would be somewhere between ‘average’ and ‘quite good’.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Sony Ericsson Global Announcement – A day after
• HTC Hero: the ‘lite’ review (verdict: GREAT)
• Hands-on with the HTC Tattoo hardware…
• OS 2007 to be ported over to the Nokia 770!
• “Lived-in” review – Skypephone S2

A new mobile virtual network operator named Simple Mobile has launched today, making some tall claims about how they’re going to change the U.S. wireless market. Here’s the pitch; you can judge for yourself:

Today the chaotic wireless industry just got … Simple. Executive leaders from some of the nation’s largest wireless mega giants have come together to revolutionize the unlimited prepaid wireless market by launching the new MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator), Simple Mobile™.
How will Simple Mobile change the market? Simple, by offering the nation an unheard of SIM card program that instantly delivers affordable, unlimited access with everything wireless has to offer. Unlike other programs with corporate agendas, Simple Mobile customers are encouraged to B.Y.O.P. (Bring Your Own Phone). Service is obtained by placing a Simple Mobile SIM card into over 180 approved cool GSM phones. Customers will immediately get access to a national network that offers Unlimited Nationwide Talk, Unlimited Global SMS, and Wireless Internet Access (IM, MMS, Email & social networks). OMG! This is a game changer.

Simple Mobile (http://www.mysimplemobile.com) promises an affordable way of bringing the nation a much better wireless experience. Their promise of no compromising includes no minimum term lengths in contracts, no credit checks, no hidden fees, and unlimited plans starting at $40 a month.

It’s a simple approach based on their strong belief that wireless can be made less complicated. Simple Mobile plans to cut through the noise and offer a flexible handset solution on a high quality network with a full suite of web capabilities, at a crazy low price. Finally, today’s wireless customers will get what they have always wanted: EVERYTHING – NO MORE COMPROMISING!

While you’ll be able to bring your own GSM phone, Simple Mobile will be offering the BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Pearl Flip, the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) razr V3, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 6030, and three Alcatel phones: the OT-800, OT-363, and OT-303.

Now, the idea of cheap unlimited access sounds suspiciously familiar to Zer01, only Simple Mobile is much more concerned with voice. Their $50 plan only includes 20 MB, with the option to double it to 40 MB for $5. Still, no contracts is sweet, and an ideal situation if you’ve already got your hands on hardware you like. As for coverage, it’s hard to tell if these guys are partnering with AT&T (NYSE: T), T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), or some combination thereof, but you can compare their coverage maps with Simple Mobile’s (I’m inclined to think it’s AT&T based on similar CA coverage in the north), and draw your own conclusions. It’s a tempting proposition, and I think there will be many customers out there interested in unlimited plans with no contracts. If you’re one of them, check out Simple Mobile’s home page for more info. I really hope wind brings something similar to Canada soon…

[via BusinessWire]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• T-Mobile adds 3G footprint to network coverage map
• Cricket expands to Philadelphia
• Walmart offers $45 unlimited wireless service!
• Boost Mobile launches PAYGO Chat Plan – unlimited minutes for just $1/day
• Virgin Mobile USA announces ‘Totally Unlimited’ calling plan – unlimited calling for $80

The Nokia (NYSE: NOK) E72, successor to the much loved Nokia E71, was supposed to ship in Q3 according to a press release issued on June 15, 2009. Today, 5 months and 1 day after the E72 was announced, Nokia issued a press release saying the device is in stores.

5 months + 1 day.

Specifications for those who forgot: 5 megapixel (versus 3.2 on the E71), 600 MHz ARM 11 processor, S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2, 1500 mAh battery, 3.5 mm headphone jack, WiFi, GPS, and if you need to know more then click here.

Update: Slash Gear has an unboxing video:

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia 6120 Classic is official
• German Nokia webmasters leak N96 specifications
• Nokia E72 prototype torn apart for your viewing pleasure
• Nokia E72 officially announced!
• Pictures: Unboxing the Nokia N76

DVB-H, the technology that provides television broadcasts for mobile phones, has reached a new price point today with the launch of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) 5330 TV Edition. For 155 EUR ($230) you get a 114 gram slider that measures 101.2 mm x 48.5 mm x 14.25 mm, has a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3G, and a 1000 mAh battery good for about 6 hours or soul crushing, mind numbing, corporate sponsored programming. The screen measures only 2.4 inches across and has a resolution of 320 x 240, so try not to stare at it for too long, or else your eyes will go bad and you’ll wish you actually did something more meaningful with your life than attempt to sit through an entire “My Super Sweet 16″ marathon on MTV.

Erik Sylvestersson, Vice President Sales & Marketing at DNA Finland said: “Live digital TV broadcasts over DVB-H networks is becoming more accessible to more people. In Finland, we have found that sport and news are the key drivers for broadcast mobile TV consumption among consumers. People want to be able to watch the action as it happens – rather than settle for highlight shows once they get home. Consumers expect an exceptional on-the-move TV experience at an affordable price, something the Nokia 5330 Mobile TV Edition is fully equipped to deliver.”

Erik has obviously never been to a sports bar during a Formula 1 race, or saw a Finland vs. Sweden hockey match. The people of Finland watch sports outside of their home as an excuse to get away from their wives, meet their friends, and pound back some beers while staring at a 60 inch HDTV and stuffing their faces with hot wings.

Before purchasing this device, make sure the country you’re in provides DVB-H service.

[Via: Nokia Press Release]

Update: This is the 5330, not 5530. Thanks to @Not_Al for noticing the typo.

Update: The product sheet [PDF] notes that there will be two versions of the device. Both will have quadband GSM, but one version will have triband 3G on the 850/1900 and 2100 MHz bands, while the other has 3G on the 900/1700/2100 MHz bands. Think we’ll see this on T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) USA with that 1700 MHz 3G band?

Related News from IntoMobile:

• EU supports DVB-H mobile broadcasting standard
• Nordic carriers in talks with Apple
• Nokia: Only 3% of people recycle their mobile phones
• Australia does DVB-H trial
• Mobile TV set to be very popular

Sygic has extended its Mobile Maps application coverage to include the Maemo 5 OS – adding to the existing iPhone, Symbian, Android and Windows Mobile support.

All the current regional versions of the app for other operating systems are in the progress of being converted for Nokia Maemo:

• Australia & New Zealand
• South East Asia (incl. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia)?Brazil
• Colombia
• North America (incl. USA, Canada & Mexico)
• Europe
• UK & Ireland
• Russia?Gulf Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates)

“We are happy to announce the compatibility of Sygic Mobile Maps with Nokia’s new Maemo 5 OS. Currently we are in the phase of quality assurance performing final tests. We are working hard to launch it for sales by the end of 2009, but we won’t hesitate to make this sooner anytime when ready.” comments Anna Hurbanic, Sygic’s PR Manager.

I’ve tested the Sygic Mobile Maps app on iPhone and it’s a good one – it will be interesting to see how it ports to Nokias high-end device…

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Etisalat Brings the iPhone 3G to United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia
• Saudi Arabia racks up 25,000 iPhone 3G subscribers in just hours
• Nokia Mobile Search reaches Middle East
• Nokia’s Mobile Search Finds Its Way to New Corners of the World in the Middle East and Beyond
• Sygic announces compatibility of GPS nav app with Windows Mobile 6.5

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) keeps investing in its Ovi brand. Just recently the company has renamed its Nokia Music Player (PC Client) into Nokia Ovi Player.

Aside from the name change, not much is added in the latest version of the application. Windows 7 support is on, there are some minor UI tweaks, as well as a new option in the navigation/filter tabs – “Recent.” Nokia Ovi Player remains the resource hungry application, but it’s a convenient way for managing music library for Nokia device owners.

You can download the new version by opening from “Help” -> “Check for updates now” menu or by going to the Nokia Music website.

[Via: AllAboutSymbian]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia Beta Labs releases MOSH Client, Audiobooks software
• Nokia Nseries PC Suite graduates from Beta Labs
• Tunebite app strips Nokia’s “Comes With Music” DRM
• Nokia Podcasting N95 update and a survey
• Nokia E90 Firmware Update

Two Hungarian operators, Pannon and T-Mobile (NYSE: DT), are joining the “Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Messaging wave.” Starting from November 1st, all Pannon customers and postpaid T-Mobile customers will be able to access the Nokia’s push e-mail service from select Nokia phones. All leading consumer e-mail solutions are supported by the service — including Nokia’s own Ovi Mail, Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail; as well as the major local e-mail services such as Citromail, Indamail and Freemail.

Both operators will allow free 30-day trial period for Nokia Messaging, after which users will be able to continue using the service for a monthly charge that will be added on top of their monthly bill. Supported devices include such Nokia models as the Nokia E52, E66, E72, E71 and N97.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia Messaging coming to S60 touch; Adds Windows Live Hotmail support
• Nokia extends its mobile email offering
• Orange France to offer Nokia Messaging
• Telefónica to offer Nokia Messaging in its Latin American markets
• Verizon Launches Premium Calling Plans with Unlimited Messaging and Mobile Email

Law.com posted something that probably very few IntoMobile readers care about, but I’ll share it none the less:

In Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s big patent showdown with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) over iPhone technology, it will be Alston & Bird versus Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. Wilmer’s co-managing partner Bill Lee made an appearance for Apple on Tuesday in a stipulation filed in Delaware federal district court.

There may be no lawyer in America more familiar with the technology behind smart phones than Lee. For years, he represented Broadcom (NSDQ: BRCM) in its battles with Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM) over phone patents. That litigation ended in April when Qualcomm agreed to pay Broadcom $891 million.

When Nokia filed its suit alleging infringement of ten patents, we noted the conspicuous absence of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges. The firm had been inseparable from Nokia through its global war against Qualcomm, which ended on the steps of Delaware Chancery Court last year. As we reported, Alston & Bird has done quite a bit of litigating for Nokia as well.

The same is true of Wilmer for Apple, though this appears to be the highest-profile case Bill Lee & Co. have taken on for Apple. According to the stipulation both parties agreed to, Apple has until December 14 to respond to Nokia’s complaint. Some observers are expecting that answer will include a countersuit.

For those who are not aware of what’s going on, Nokia sued Apple for violating 10 wireless patents. Nilay Patel from Engadget did a fantastic job at covering the details of the case, it’s consequences, and likely results. Expect to be reading about Apple vs. Nokia for at least a year, probably two. Things like this never end as fast as you’d like them to, and the results are never what you expect. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter. You’ll keep on buying the latest iPhones or Nokia smartphones.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Broadcom wins appeal for 2005 anti-trust lawsuit against Qualcomm
• Nokia files another counter-suit against Qualcomm
• Dutch court dismisses Nokia patent case against Qualcomm
• US Appeals Court upholds Broadcom patent win against Qualcomm,
• Broadcom takes Qualcomm to court again – claims continued patent infringement

Could it be that the Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre and Pixi are coming to TELUS (NYSE: TU) for Canadian consumption? That’s what I’ve been hearing recently.

As we all know, the Palm Pixi is due to hit Sprint for our American friends on November 15th… the date is really sneaking up on us, it’s less than a week away now… the Palm Pre has been available for some time now in the US, and Bell has been toting the Pre up in Canada for a little while now too. Those that have the Pre generally love the device, but I know there are some that would like to see the Pre hit more than one carrier… and that’s what we’re going to see in Canada in 2010.

With TELUS rumored to pick up the Pixi and Pre in early 2010, TELUS has, in a nutshell, upped their game. Just check out the list of devices TELUS is currently offering, a list which must have Rogers (NYSE: RCI) shaking just a little bit in their shiny red boots:

• iPhone 3G and 3GS
• HTC Hero
• Nokia E71
• BlackBerry Bold 9700
• BlackBerry Tour 9630

Put these devices together with a solid new HSPA+ network and a dash of extra Android love with the Motorola Milestone (coming soon too), the Palm Pre and Pixi are going to make TELUS the favorite for my recently fabricated ‘Most Awesome Canadian Carrier’ in 2010.

TELUS, all the stuff you’ve been doing recently… yeah, just keep doing it.

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Confirmed Device List for TELUS’ New HSPA+ Network
• Bell Due to Flip GSM Switch This Month, TELUS in October
• Telus BlackBerry Tour and Storm Won’t Play Nice With Upcoming HSPA Network
• HSPA and iPhone 3GS Landing on TELUS November 5
• Rumor: TELUS Picking up the iPhone 3GS This October?

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) recently spent an excessive amount of money to produce a 4 minute video showcasing what they think the connected world of 2015 will look like. The first narrative focuses on a French businessman who recently relocated to San Francisco. Apparently he is antisocial because the “closest thing to a boy’s night out” is sitting in front of a television screen, watching a football match, while having a video call with 3 of his friends across the pond. After 2 bottles of wine at home, alone, I bet one of them drops their pants and moons everyone in the room. The next character in this cell shaded investor relations pornography feature film is Maria, a student with an obvious lisp attending her final year at the University of Barcelona, and she is in a club with her friends … but she can’t remember their names. What the hell kind of friend are you Maria? Her boyfriend is based in London, so they have to resort to cyber sex in their “online apartment” using a projected keyboard and display to feel connected.

Finally we have some Indian guy who downloads films to his device, projects them onto a wall so he and his family can watch them, and he sends reports of his fishing trip to a University in America who then deposits money in his Nokia bank account. The video ends with a whole bunch of buzz words flashing on the screen in a seemingly random way that resembles what we all saw in 1999’s hit film “The Matrix”. We can only hope that by 2015 Nokia finally manages to get kinetic scrolling to work without looking jerky, and the Ovi Store to resemble the iPhone App Store of today.

[Via: Nokia Conversations]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• The top three recent films for Mobile device product placement
• Nokia Friend View updated to include friend alerts
• Ovi Store client updated to enable re-downloads; Available on more phones
• Nokia Friend View gets optimized for S60 Touch
• Nine-Year Old Develops iPhone App: Doodle Kids

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) makes close to 4 out of every 10 handsets sold on the planet and in Q3 2009 the Finnish firm made $1.1 in operating profit on the sale of 108.5 million units. Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) sold “only” 7.4 million iPhones, yet they made $1.6 billion in profit. This is the first time in the history of mobile telecommunications that someone has made more money than Nokia on mobile phones. These figures were provided by Alex Spektor, Analyst at Strategy Analytics. His colleague Neil Mawston, Director of Wireless Device Strategies, had this piece of advice to offer:

“Nokia’s profit margin for its handset division has been shrinking during the 2009 global economic downturn. Strategy Analytics believes that the United States, where Nokia now trails Apple in marketshare, is the key to Nokia’s recovery in 2010. A successful fight on Apple’s high-profit home turf can simultaneously help to revitalize Nokia’s margins and to put a check on Apple’s surging growth.”

I’m not really surprised, and you should not be either. Just about every other market operates the same way. Porsche is the world’s most profitable auto maker, but they don’t sell nearly the amount of cars that Ford does. Porsche also doesn’t make a model that sells for $12,000, yet Ford has such a model, and plenty of them too. Ford’s highest end product, the Ford GT, is also pile of poop compared to anything the Germans have to offer. Different companies make different products for different people. Apple makes the best smartphone on the planet (my opinion, not universally shared, don’t complain, I don’t care) because the people working in the handset division concentrate on high end devices. Nokia is a huge company, but how many people do you think work on the 20 EUR devices that go to the emerging economies around the world, and the 100 EUR devices that go to people who are not that well off in West European countries, and how many people are left to work on the N97, N900, and other high end models?

Can Nokia make the best smartphone or are they in an environment where it simply isn’t possible?

[Via: TechCrunch]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia could sock Apple with $1 billion in damages
• Nokia’s touchscreen Nokia 5800 XpressMusic misses 2008 for mature markets
• 400,000 Android Phones Sold Before End of 2008?
• Nokia looking to cheap smartphones to recapture market
• Samsung takes on Nokia’s Ovi

File this under “rumors” but it seems T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) will not only be known for its Android efforts and as a carrier that will probably (we still don’t have this 100% confirmed) carry the Maemo-powered Nokia N900. The Deutsche Telecom-owned operator may also get to offer the Nokia 5230. Or at least we’ve spotted a device that looks pretty much like Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s Symbian S60-running smartphone at the FCC.

Of course, AWS bands are included in the mix, meaning this baby will rock 3G as soon as it’s released. Clearing the FCC is one step, but actually announcing the device is something else. We only hope that between those two steps, we won’t have to wait for too long…

[Via: CellPhoneSignal]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia N900 Rover is at the FCC; Heading to T-Mobile USA?
• U.S. Nokia Flagship Stores to sell the 5800 XpressMusic for $350!
• Nokia E71 to be announced tomorrow?
• Nokia N86 8MP support pages are live now!
• Review: Nokia 6120/6121 Classic, world’s smallest smartphone?

The Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N900 inches closer to a retail launch today with Espoo’s announcement that they’ve started shipping their N900 to distributors and retailers. Nokia recently missed its initial October 2009 window for shipping the N900, so today’s announcement is great news for fans of the N900’s 3.5-inch touchscreen, powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor, 5-megapixel Car Zeiss camera and Maemo 5 OS. Nokia says that the N900 will soon be available in retail stores with an estimated price-tag of €500 EUR. We had a chance to go hands-on with the N900, read up on our impressions here.

“The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reflected in the device preorders,” says Jose-Luis Martinez, Vice President, Nseries, Nokia. “What’s exciting is the Maemo software, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and offers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.”

Nokia has officially announced that they’ll be launching a completely revamped Maemo 6 OS next year, which is expected to blow Maemo 5 out of the water, but won’t work with the N900. For some, that’s not going to stop them from picking up an N900 this year. Will you be picking up the N900 with Maemo 5?

Full press release after the break.

ESPOO, Finland, November 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The shipments of the Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N900, Nokia’s latest mobile computer based on open source Maemo 5 software, have now started. The Nokia N900 will be available in retail stores in November with an estimated retail price of EUR 500, excluding sales taxes and subsidies.

“The Nokia N900 has generated a lot of interest since its public launch in August, which has been reflected in the device preorders,” says Jose-Luis Martinez, Vice President, Nseries, Nokia. “What’s exciting is the Maemo software, which takes its cues from the desktop computer and offers a full browsing experience like no other handset. We believe the Nokia N900 will be a very compelling device for people who are passionate about technology.”

At the heart of the Nokia N900 is its powerful ARM Cortex-A8 processor and up to 1GB of total application memory. Users can browse the internet the way they would on any computer and keep dozens of application windows open simultaneously on the dashboard. The panoramic desktops in the Nokia N900 can be personalized with widgets, contacts and shortcuts. Pictures and videos taken with the 5Mpx Carl Zeiss camera automatically show where they were taken, and users can add their own description tags to make searching the photos even easier. SMS and instant messages are organized as chat flow and people can convenienty switch between the multiple conversation windows. The built-in 32 GB storage is big enough to store up to 7,000 songs or 40 hours of DVD-quality video, and it can be expanded up to 48GB with an external microSD card.

Nokia works closely with the developer community and has recently seen significant innovation happening with Maemo. As a result, people will be able to discover a wide range of games, utilities, themes, panoramic wallpapers and service plug-ins for photo-sharing and messaging for the Nokia N900 through Ovi Store and Maemo Select, starting later in the year. In October Nokia announced official Qt port to Maemo 5. This means developers can use Qt software to target the Nokia N900 and that applications can be easily ported to all Qt’s supported platforms including the next Maemo 6 release as well as Symbian.

The Nokia N900 will initially be available in Europe, Middle-East, Russia and North America. It is also possible to order the device from the Nokia Online Store: http://europe.nokia.com/buy-online

About Nokia

Nokia is a pioneer in mobile telecommunications and the world’s leading maker of mobile devices. Today, we are connecting people in new and different ways – fusing advanced mobile technology with personalized services to enable people to stay close to what matters to them. We also provide comprehensive digital map information through NAVTEQ; and equipment, solutions and services for communications networks through Nokia Siemens Networks.

http://www.nokia.com

SOURCE Nokia Corporation

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Nokia makes the N900 and Maemo 5 official; 500 EUR and due in October
• Helsinki Nokia N900 Meetup: The Maemo guys have heart, but is that enough?
• Nokia Software Updater press release: Waste of keyboard strokes
• Nokia opens Concept Store in Punjab, India
• Nokia completes Trolltech acquisition

Alex Albrecht, from the popular video podcast Diggnation, received a brand spanking new Nokia Booklet 3G and has posted an unboxing video. Notice how he immediately comments on Windows using “an old theme”. That’s called Windows 7 Starter baby, and it’s what Americans are going to get in order to make the cost as low as humanly possible. The dollar is weak. That $600 price tag is roughly 400 EUR, and here in Finland the Booklet 3G is twice that, as in 800 EUR.

Update: Correction, Finland is getting Windows 7 Starter Edition as well. Oh boy. That makes me mad.

[Hat tip to Ricky Cadden from Symbian-Guru for this tweet]

Related News from IntoMobile:

• Brief: Best Buy to get exclusive retail rights on the Nokia Booklet 3G in the USA
• Video: Wall Street Journal reviews the Nokia Booklet 3G: 8 hours of battery with harsh use
• Nokia Booklet 3G: BestBuy exclusive for $599 unlocked or $299 on a 2 year, $60/month plan
• Windows Mobile 6 Theme Now Available for the BlackBerry Storm
• Free "special music edition" S60 3rd editon theme