Nokia ties up with Google
February 18, 2008 by M. Hussein
Filed under Blog News, Nokia
Nokia has recently tied up with Google to facilitate web search on its products. This was announced at the Mobile World Congress in which Nokia also launched new models offering new services. One of those models is the fantastic Nokia N96.
The integration of this Google software will begin in select markets on Nokia N78, Nokia 6210 Navigator and Nokia 6220 Classic. Nokia N96 is also included in this group. However, Google search will be extended to additional models in the future.
This feature, will be available in over 100 countries, serving mobile owners speaking 40 languages. Nokia is improving its market share and launching more and more mobiles “mini personal computers”, as the company said.
“As we continue to free the internet from the limitations of the desktop, we are taking mobility into a completely new realm of possibility,” Nokia Chief Executive Officer Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo said.
Nokia Executive Vice President (Mobile Phones) Kai Ostamo, while commenting on its new range of phones, said “we would like to be called Mobile Experience Company and not just a mobile phone company.”
Last Friday Nokia Shares (NOK) ended with a loss of 0,69% while Google shares (GOOG) lost 0,49%
PopCap Games to develop multiplayer mobile games for SNAP Mobile
February 18, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Blog News, N-Gage, Nokia
Game Developers Conference 2008, San Francisco, CA and Espoo, Finland- Nokia and PopCap Games, the leading developer and publisher of casual games, will bring connected mobile Java(TM) games to the SNAP Mobile platform. The award winning Chuzzle(TM) is the first game to be re-developed by PopCap under a multi-game agreement.
“SNAP Mobile is all about bringing fun multiplayer Java games to the masses,” said Paul Whitaker, Head of Business Development for SNAP Mobile, Nokia. “With a catalog of broadly appealing games, PopCap titles are a perfect addition to our growing portfolio.”
“Downloads of our mobile games continue to grow rapidly and we have learned that consumers are increasingly looking for on-the-go games that allow them to interact with one another,” said Andrew Stein, Director of Mobile Business Development, PopCap. “To help meet that growing demand, we’re happy to cooperate with a company like Nokia that shares our vision of bringing engaging and fun casual games to the mobile mass-market along with a proven track record of efficiently distributing and hosting connected mobile games.”
The multiplayer version of Chuzzle(TM) will feature community offerings, including chat, leader boards, and more. The original single player version of Chuzzle(TM), which was named ‘Casual Game of the Year’ in 2005 by Billboard’s Digital Entertainment & Media Excellence Awards, is expected to be available on a variety of mobile devices powered by SNAP Mobile by the end of 2008.
Source: Nokia
Glu Mobile unveils initial line-up of titles coming to Nokia N-Gage
Game Developers Conference 2008, San Francisco, CA and Espoo, Finland – Nokia and Glu Mobile Inc. (Nasdaq: GLUU), a leading global publisher of mobile games, today announced its initial line-up of games to be launched on the N-Gage platform in 2008. The titles launching are based on two major forthcoming films from Warner Bros. Pictures, SPEED RACER and The Dark Knight, as well as Super Slam Ping Pong, a new original Glu title in the spirit of Glu’s runaway hit, Super K.O. Boxing!
“We’re pleased to bring these key titles from Glu to N-Gage,” said Alex Galvagni, senior vice president product development and chief technology officer, Glu Mobile. “N-Gage is a great innovation in mobile gaming technology, and this line-up of games from Glu utilizes the platform capabilities to offer richly rewarding game experiences.”
“These three titles are valuable additions to the N-Gage platform, and will deliver exciting gaming experiences for N-Gage players,” said Gregg Sauter, Director of 3rd party publishing, Nokia. “We’re delighted to further our relationship with Glu Mobile – their catalog of games is extremely strong and offers something for everyone.”
About Glu titles coming to N-Gage:
Nokia N96 release date
February 17, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under Blog News, Nokia, NSeries
My friend Devin Ballentina has posted what he thinks is the release date for the Nokia N96 smartphone. He believes that the date marketed over Mobile City, 7th May, is the realistic one.
The truth is that Nokia doesn’t have to hide it anymore, as the product is official. Unfortunately there is no official price tag or network deals on it, or even leaks on networks for that matter. The price on the website seems to be a bit higher than the one given to the Nokia N95 on it’s release, currently it’s set to $799, and that’s with a $100 discount.
The only price we have from Nokia is without taxes or subsidies, which is $550, relatively cheap compared to the one at Mobile City, but this price is only set for a release in Q3, which is quite late if Nokia wants to throw out the competition.
Source: The Nokia Guide
The Nokia’s N96 Small Battery
February 17, 2008 by M. Hussein
Filed under Blog News, Hands-on, NSeries
The most concerning issue on the Nokia N96 is the small 950mah battery. We all know this battery performed poorly on the original Nokia N95 so why did Nokia decide to use it again with the Nokia N96? It is a very strange decision, but somebody was able to talk with the N96 product manager at the Mobile World Congress.
A bigger battery means a bigger device, so to Nokia it was more important to keep the device comfortable to hold in our hands. Also the software was made to provide all Nokias N96 more efficiency. So no worries about he battery. Right? Or not?
My friend Meraj, when he done his review to nokia N95, that deficiency in the device was an aspect that reduced the classification to him. We hope this not happens in the Nokia N96!!!
DVB-h on Nokia N96
My friend James posted an article with a video showing the streaming of DVB-h on a Nokia N96.
Unfortunately DVB-h isn’t available in most countries, but around 2010 this technology will make itself heard.
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xo8EBKjDWKs
Source: Nokia Creative
What improved in the N96′s software?
February 16, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under S60, Symbian
With the shipping date of S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2-based devices drawing near, it’s good time for a quick review of the new UI features. A lot of software optimization has been done in S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 to increase performance. In addition, new features have been developed to produce for an award-winning UI. These new features are described in more detail as follows:
UI transitions and effects
UI transitions and effects make using these devices more compelling and create a pleasant look and feel for the UI. These effects and transitions are seen when applications are launched, exited, or switched between, when opening and closing folders, and when the options menu is opened or closed.
Personalization options
Active idle now features a vertical layout option in addition to the current horizontal view. Wallpapers support a slideshow mode that allows the user to choose several pictures that will be shown in a desired sequence. Also, fullscreen pictures can be shown when a call arrives, making it easy for the user to identify who’s calling them.
Simplified usability
A lot of effort has been put into usability, although some of the features can be found in the previous release as well. Multitasking is one of these features. Many users are not aware of S60’s unique multitasking capability. All of the applications opened by the user can be found from the options menu or by pressing the menu key for a short time. There is also a label for a middle key, making tasks visible and available by pressing it.
Contact information within the phone memory and on the SIM card can be seen in a common view enhancing the user’s options for contact storage. Also, the common composer for messages is a very handy new feature: when a user is writing messages and decides they want to include multimedia content, the bearer will automatically be changed to multimedia messages.
Source: S60
N96 email goodies
February 16, 2008 by Meraj Chhaya
Filed under S60, Symbian
S60 details a lot of the new Feature Pack 2′s possibilities, so let’s start revising them:
Email is one of the most widely used services on smartphones. Most smartphone users want mobile access to their business or private mailboxes – or in many cases both – but their specific needs can sometimes be very different. The S60 email solution has been designed to be flexible, configurable, and extensible, so that it is capable of supporting such versatile requirements.
The built-in email client in S60 supports, by default, all of the widely used standard email protocols – such as POP3, IMAP4, SMTP, and MIME. This allows S60-based devices to connect to virtually every internet email service. Email access can be initiated by the user when needed, or the client can be configured to poll the mailbox periodically. The user can then define the days and time period during which automatic mailbox polling is performed, as well as setting the polling interval.
In addition to user-initiated or polling-based email access, S60 also supports true push e-mail, using standardized protocols such as IMAP IDLE and OMA EMN (email notification). With push e-mail, the user is automatically notified when a new e-mail arrives. This notification is similar to that provided when a new SMS or MMS arrives.
S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 introduces new email enhancements. It now supports OMA Data Synchronization protocol for email access. The OMA Data Synchronization support enables mail synchronization locally, using PC Suite, and remotely, with compatible synchronization servers. (The synchronization server may request that synchronization start by way of a short message.) This provides the user with a push e-mail experience without requiring them to stay permanently connected to the server.
Source: S60
Q&A session and Thoughts on the N96
Devin Ballentina posted some great thoughts and also a transcript of the Q&A session with Nokia Product Manager for the N96. The article covers many of the hidden aspects of the N96, and I think it’s quite an eye opener, worth the reading!
Before I give my comments on what I think is the high-light of yesterday’s announcements, the N96, let’s summarize the extra details that we know so far, based on the Q&A session with the N96 Product Manager.
-What is the reason for including only a 950 mAh battery?
“Answer: Instead of putting in a bigger battery than the N95, we optimized power usage of key functions, in particular those related to multimedia and entertainment. For example, video playback time is up to 5 hours and music playback time is up to 14 hours, which we achieved through hardware accelerators and other optimizations.”
N96 LED flash demonstration
This is one piece of hardware that was long discussed and really criticized, so someone was clever enough to actually test the LED and show its power…or lack of it.
The Nokia N96 features a Dual LED flash instead of the loved Xenon. The excuse that Nokia Product Managers presented is that Xenon lights can only be activate for a second, where the LEDs can be active during the whole of the video capture session. Last night I saw a Mercedes, and it came to my mind that some cars use Xenon headlights, which are lit for long periods of time, so why couldn’t this technology be incorporated in phones?
Enjoy the video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AGOSXbpeMo
Source: TheNokiaBlog
