Nokia's next product launch set for October 22, Lumia phablet incoming?

Nokia’s 6-inch Lumia 1520, which we first saw in leaked images a couple of weeks back, was originally intended to be unveiled at an event next week. But amid news of Microsoft’s acquisition, rumors started to emerge that the company was pushing those plans back until October. Well, Nokia just revealed via Twitter that it’s holding an event on October 22nd, and though short on details it’s likely the phablet will be there.

Code-named Bandit, specifications for the device are said to include a 1080p display, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor from their latest range, and a 20-megapixel PureView camera.

Before sale to Microsoft, Nokia was testing Android on Lumia phones

While Nokia has made a name for itself with its wide range of Lumia smartphones running Windows Phone, a report from The New York Times has revealed that Nokia was interested in Android. "Well before" discussions between Microsoft and Nokia lead to the former company buying the latter, Nokia was reportedly testing Android on their Lumia smartphones, having managed to get it running on prototype devices.

Microsoft apparently knew about Nokia's testing of Android, although it didn't form any part of discussions between the companies during the acquisition stage. Nokia had arranged a deal with Microsoft in 2011 to solely produce Windows Phones, although the deal expired in 2014, meaning Android Lumia phones might have made it to the market in under a year's time.

If Nokia had produced a Lumia-like device running Android, with features we've come to love such as 41-megapixel PureView cameras, it might have been the death of Windows Phone. Nokia makes almost all the Windows Phone devices currently available, and commands an impressive 87% share of the Windows Phone market; without them, Microsoft's small share of smartphone sales would begin to dwindle.

Nokia has had to face a large amount of criticism for choosing Windows Phone over Android. The Finnish company had a 30% of the smartphone market in 2010, before that dropped away to the 3% it is now. Smartphone buyers have also often wished that Lumia phones would run Android rather than Windows Phone, citing the weak ecosystem as a reason against purchasing their devices.

Whether or not a switch to Android would have considerably boosted Lumia sales will forever remain unknown, with the company set to produce Windows Phones from here on out.

Nokia Windows Phone 8 handsets rumored for early September unveil

Microsoft unveiled the next major update to Windows Phone during a special Windows Phone Summit in late June, but so far the company has refused to say when devices will hit the market aside from "this fall." That said, according to rumors first reported by Chinese site WPDang and backed up today by Bloomberg, Nokia plans to announce Windows Phone 8 handsets as early as next month at its Nokia World event.

Nokia World 2012 will kick off in Helsinki roughly a month form now on the 5th and 6th of September, a week ahead of the rumored September 12 announcement of the next iPhone. The early unveiling may help it gain some mindshare among consumers in the run-up to the holiday shopping season, although actual Windows Phone 8 handsets may not hit shelves until sometime around November.

For reference, if the latest rumors surrounding the iPhone launch are accurate, Apple could have new hardware ready for consumers as early as September 21, nine days after the unveiling.

The Finnish company held the spot as the world’s leading mobile phone maker for fourteen straight years but was overtaken by Samsung earlier in 2012, according to research firm Gartner.

Despite favorable reviews, the Lumia handsets have struggled to compete against established platforms such as Android and iOS. The fact that its flagship Lumia 900, launched just a few months ago, will not get the upgrade to Windows Phone 8 later this year has done little to help. Nokia plans to rollout a Windows Phone 7.8 update that will bring some of Windows Phone 8’s changes to existing devices.

The decision was nevertheless received with optimism by some users who feel it is necessary to leave previous generation handsets behind in order for the platform to advance. Among other things, WP 8 will finally support multi-core processors and share common code with the Windows 8 desktop OS.

Nokia discussing WP8 exclusivity agreements with EU carriers

Hoping to boost sales and plug its rapidly depleting cash reserves, Nokia may create exclusivity agreements with worldwide partners ahead of the Windows Phone 8 launch later this year, mimicking its US sales model with the Lumia 900 via AT&T.

The Financial Times reports that the struggling phone-maker is in talks with several European networks, including Deutsche Telekom as well as its UK-based venture, Everything Everywhere, and France Telecom. Securing such deals would guarantee Nokia dedicated support for upcoming devices, including additional incentive for partnered carriers to launch marketing campaigns -- not unlike Apple's approach when the iPhone was first introduced.

"Many European operators are already keen to help establish the Windows phone range as a third credible competitor alongside Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Android ranges, whose market dominance allows them to take almost all of the profit from the sale of handsets," the Financial Times said, citing the comments of an unnamed executive working for one of the mobile providers.

A Nokia spokesperson wouldn't comment on speculation, but said the firm has "excellent relationships and a regular dialogue with our operator partners."

Nokia says Nexus 7 tablet infringes on their patents

Google announced the long-rumored Nexus 7 tablet during their I/O Conference last week. The device won’t be available until mid-July but that isn’t stopping Nokia from claiming the slate infringes on some of their patents with regards to Wi-Fi technology.

The Inquirer believes that the patents in question have to do with the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard. In a message to the publication, a Nokia spokesperson said they have more than 40 licensees under their standards essential patent portfolio which includes most mobile phone device makers. The problem is that neither Google nor Asus are licensed under this patent portfolio. The spokesperson said that companies who have not licensed up should simply approach them and sign up for licensing rights.

Google’s $199 tablet features a 7-inch backlit IPS display operating at 1,280 x 800 and is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 12 GPU cores. 1GB of RAM comes standard while users can choose between 8GB or 16GB of onboard storage. The device will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest Google OS revision highlighted by Project Butter. This initiative is said to improve overall system performance and reduce lag at virtually every avenue.

It is believed that Nokia will simply seek to have either Google or Asus sign up for licensing rather than try to impose legal injunctions against the tablet. For their part, Asus has refused to comment on the matter for now. No word yet on Google’s response.

Nokia says Nexus 7 tablet infringes on their patents

Google announced the long-rumored Nexus 7 tablet during their I/O Conference last week. The device won’t be available until mid-July but that isn’t stopping Nokia from claiming the slate infringes on some of their patents with regards to Wi-Fi technology.

The Inquirer believes that the patents in question have to do with the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard. In a message to the publication, a Nokia spokesperson said they have more than 40 licensees under their standards essential patent portfolio which includes most mobile phone device makers. The problem is that neither Google nor Asus are licensed under this patent portfolio. The spokesperson said that companies who have not licensed up should simply approach them and sign up for licensing rights.

Google’s $199 tablet features a 7-inch backlit IPS display operating at 1,280 x 800 and is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 12 GPU cores. 1GB of RAM comes standard while users can choose between 8GB or 16GB of onboard storage. The device will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the latest Google OS revision highlighted by Project Butter. This initiative is said to improve overall system performance and reduce lag at virtually every avenue.

It is believed that Nokia will simply seek to have either Google or Asus sign up for licensing rather than try to impose legal injunctions against the tablet. For their part, Asus has refused to comment on the matter for now. No word yet on Google’s response.

RIM to split handset and messaging services into two companies

Research in Motion has been fighting an uphill battle to remain relevant in the handset market for a number of years but according to one report, they will soon concede defeat. RIM is planning to divide their handset and messaging service into two separate entities and sell the handset division, according to Gizmodo as first reported by the Sunday Times (login required).

The newspaper claims that RIM would keep the messaging and data capabilities like BBM, BIS and BES but would license out their usage to third parties. This idea to license BBM has reportedly been tossed around before with some inside the company thinking it would help brand recognition while others believe it would give customers yet another reason to switch to Android or the iPhone.

The newspaper suggests a few other options as well, including the possibility of selling the business to Amazon or Facebook, handing over the messaging division to Google or Apple if the price is right or continue to remain a single entity but sell a stake in RIM to a large company like Microsoft or someone else with handset ambitions.

Forbes points out that none of these ideas are new and some are pretty comical at the core, like Microsoft investing in RIM. After all, they have Windows Phone and Nokia to work with. Adding RIM would seemingly do next to nothing for their handset division.

We’re not sure what will eventually happen to RIM but they certainly can’t continue on their current path without changes for too much longer.

Source : http://techspot.com

Nokia says they are doing 'more than enough' for Lumia users

Microsoft kicked off their Windows Phone Developer Summit yesterday by detailing several new features in Windows Phone 8 and filling in some of the blanks surrounding the existing mobile phone operating system. Specifically, Microsoft confirmed that handsets like the Lumia 900 would not be compatible with the new OS due out later this year.

Instead, legacy hardware will be upgraded to Windows Phone 7.8, an OS that will deliver some fresh features like a new Start Screen interface. This admission sparked some debate as to whether Microsoft and Nokia are doing enough for existing Lumia owners. In search of more answers, The Verge recently sat down with Nokia’s Kevin Shields to get some answers.

In a nutshell, Shields feels that Nokia is doing more than enough, pointing out that most customers probably aren’t aware of the upgrade roadblock. He further notes that anyone that walks into a store and buys a Lumia 900 is getting a great offer on a product that has a long lifetime of innovation.

During yesterday’s event, Nokia announced a new set of apps and updates coming to Lumia phones in the US and China in the near future. The Camera Extras app includes burst shooting, an action shot mode and a panorama mode while the Play To app helps users stream photos and videos to any DLNA device, such as a Smart TV, PC, Mac, PS3 or Xbox 360. Both of these features should be available by the weekend.

Counters and Contact Share allow the user to monitor phone usage and share contacts, respectively. Both will be available to those in the US next month.a

Rumor: Microsoft to buy Nokia smartphone division in 2012

Microsoft may be poised to purchase Nokia’s smartphone division by the middle of 2012. Analysts at Danske Bank sparked speculation in a report in which they said a deal with Microsoft “makes sense”, according to Bloomberg.

A deal with Redmond has been rumored ever since Nokia named Microsoft executive Stephen Elop as their CEO in September 2010. Nokia shipped their first smartphones running Windows Phone operating system this quarter. The Lumia 800 and 710 were introduced in late October and have been billed by many as the best Windows Phones yet.

Such a merger could be good for both businesses as Microsoft competes with Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems for market share.

Nokia stock rose as much as 3.2 percent based on the report. Danske Bank has even changed their recommendation on Nokia from “hold” to “buy”. Company stock has declined significantly in the past year, losing roughly 50 percent of its value since January. Nokia is currently valued around $19.1 billion.

A deal with Nokia wouldn’t be the first high profile acquisition in recent memory. In August, Google agreed to purchase Motorola’s mobile unit for $12.5 billion. The deal is still pending customary regulatory approvals but if passed, it would mark Google’s largest-ever acquisition.

A spokesman for Nokia, Doug Dawson, denied the report in an email statement to Bloomberg, saying the company put these rumors to rest a long time ago.

Windows Phone leadership changed, Windows 8 integration hinted

On Monday, Steve Ballmer issued a memo informing Microsoft employees that leadership of the Windows Phone 7 team would be handed over to vice president and lead engineer, Terry Myerson. The former division president, Andy Lees, will be working on a special project that aims to yield the "maximum impact" of Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8 in 2012. Lees had been the president of the WP7 team for three years.

While "driving maximum impact" is not clearly defined, Microsoft may be planning some substantial tie-in between Windows Phone 7 and Windows 8. Perhaps this will translate into tight integration between the two platforms, mutual promotions, common design elements, ideas for tablet PCs or even some sort of platform unification. Regardless, the implications could be profound. We'll just have to rely on our imaginations for now.

Ballmer admitted Windows Phone 7 has not seen the kind of traction Microsoft would like, with a mere 1.5 percentmarket share among smart phones world-wide. Analysts have also shown that WP7 has all but stopped in growth while Android gobbles up most new smartphone owners across the globe.

Despite the company's difficulties, Microsoft's CEO points out that smart phones with WP7 continue to receive favorable reviews and people generally seem to like the platform. Early this year, we reported that 93 percent of WP7 owners were either satisfied or very satisfied with their phones and 90 percent were willing to recommend the platform to their friends.

Ballmer also suggested Microsoft's recent deal with Nokia will help forge a healthy future for Microsoft's mobile endeavor. As part of the deal, the handset maker will been manufacturing WP7 phones for global distribution. The Lumia is the only Nokia phone currently available with WP7.

As part of a holiday promotion, Microsoft is still offering their $25 prepaid app store card for the purchase of any WP7 phone until December 31.

Nokia to release two Lumia 800 updates to fix battery woes

Nokia just recently released its new, make-or-break Windows Phone 7 powered Lumia 800 smartphone, and it's already becoming apparent that many users are suffering battery-related problems.

After receiving ever-increasing complaints on its official forum, the Finnish company has now released a statement saying, "We understand that some people have expressed concerns about battery life on the Nokia Lumia 800.  Early investigations show that the majority of people are enjoying the full Nokia Lumia experience without any problems.  A software update in early December will include improvements to power efficiency, while a second update in early January introduces further enhancements to battery life and battery charging."

Nokia also said that anyone concerned should contact his or her local Nokia representatives at the earliest opportunity for further assistance. The phone, released just last month is marked as their flagship model, powered by the new Windows Phone Mango operating system.

Affected users are understandably unhappy, with average standby times massively reduced from those quoted on the specifications for the phone. While they await the updates, Nokia has releasedsupport information on its forum to help users optimize battery life as much as possible -- though providing tips such as turning your phone off when you are not using it is certainly not going to impress handset owners.

A forum poster by the name BrentNewbury summed up his experience in a response to Nokia's tips, "it would just be nice to see a more understanding response like 'Nokia are aware of the problem and are currently investigating the issue. We apologise for the inconvenience', rather than (and this is paraphrased) 'You're using the phone wrong, you need to turn off every feature that makes your £400+ device, a smart phone.'"

In some respects, it mirrors the battery issues faced by Apple with its new iPhone 4S release, although according to several reports its hotly tipped iOS 5.0.1 patch did little to resolve the problem, sending them back to the drawing board to resolve it with an upcoming iOS 5.0.2 update.

Nokia begins work on first Windows phones, dismisses Microsoft acquisition rumors

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has confirmed that his company has starting working on the first Nokia smartphones powered by Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. At the same time, he has also denied rumors that Microsoft wants to buy Nokia outright. The agreement between Nokia and Microsoft, which was announced last month, still has to be finalized; this will occur sometime in the next couple of months.

"I'm not aware of a strategic interest that Microsoft would have in the rest of the business," Elop told Reuters. "To the extent that a partnership has been formed around what they're really interested in, then what would an acquisition bring other than a good year of anti-trust investigation, huge turmoil, delays? We're right now, today, having people work on the first Windows Phone devices from Nokia. That work is already under way. If this was an acquisition scenario, that wouldn't be possible. Now what happens is accountability. If someone's not succeeding they need to be helped or they need to be moved along. In my context, that will absolutely be the case. So there's a team in place. It's now a new team of my new leadership, newly minted in terms of their new roles. Now they have to perform."

We've been debating on when Nokia will release its first Windows Phone device; will it be in 2011 or in 2012? Nokia's chairman has said Windows-based Nokia phones will be on sale next year, but Elop has said he is aiming to produce a Windows phone by the end of this year. Nokia's transition from Symbian to Windows Phone is, however, expected to take at least two years.

As we've already underlined before, Windows Phone 7 is not mentioned anywhere in the Nokia-Microsoft announcement: the two companies simply refer to the OS as Windows Phone. It's thus quite possible that Nokia will start by pushing out Windows Phone 8 on its higher-end devices.