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Nokia 5800 Tube Unveiled At Comes With Music Event, Has A Plectrum!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Sure enough, the touchscreen Nokia 5800 hyped to high heaven is here, and looks pretty nice. 3.2 megapixel camera with dual LED flash, 8GB of memory, 3 inch haptic screen, plectrum, the phone certainly has it all on paper but we’ll wait and see if it still feels like a traditional Nokia…

At a bargain price of £219 upon it’s eventual launch, it is the right price to challenge certain other touchscreen music phones, but whether it has the kids excited remains to be seen.

Check out the phone in motion from this NokNok video!

Nokia CEO Tips Hat To Heavyweight Challenger, Set To Take On All Comers

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Speaking at a gathering of the big names in Silicon Valley, Nokia’s CEO acknowledged the threat posed by new competitors to their phone industry dominance, but vowed to put up a good fight in the coming months.

Nokia’s head honcho Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo realised that the introduction of businesses once rooted in the computing world have changed the focus of the mobile phone market to high-powered smartphones and online connectivity.

“Suddenly you have the mightiest companies in the world there as your competitors. That is a little mind-boggling,” Kallasuvo said, speaking of Google and Apple entering what was previously Nokia territory…and making waves.

Also Nokia have been impressed by BlackBerry makers Research in Motion making their handsets more appealing to the casual market, but have aligned with Microsoft to get Symbian compatible syncing software, thus remaining competitive in the business sector.

Apple did get a special shout-out, as the post-iPhone market has changed the requirements and desires of phone consumers forever:

“We have a new, credible competitor in this business. You know I need to take my hat off. Of course we need to be able to respond to any competitor and we will.”

Kallasuvo’s opinion of the new phone by online behemoth Google was somewhat muted, but not without a hint of recognition that the G1, and more importantly new operating system Android, as a threat: “They are a newcomer here. I think the jury is still out: What is the new thing they bring here?” Talking of the inception of Symbian architecture alongside Motorola and Ericsson, he said: “I realized that we could have made the same announcement 10 years ago.”

With the oft-rumoured 5800 Tube to be announced in mere hours alongside the iTunes-battling “Comes With Music” service, it is clear to see that Nokia can have become a bit of an industry also-ran as far as innovation is concerned, but they are far from comfortable there.

Moving into 2009, the Finnish company certainly seems to have the drive and determination to reclaim lost ground from their competitors, but you cannot shake the feeling that they would swap the hundreds of millions of handset sales for just some of the ‘cool’ that Apple has brought to the table.

Well, maybe not all those sales…

Source: Reuters

T-Mobile G1 : Initial Production Run Of 2 Million?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

With under a month to go until the launch of the G1 handset, word is that T-Mobile and Google have high hopes for it, tapping up HTC for 2 million of the things!

They hope to sell approximately half a million over Q4 2008, with the following sales contributing NT$18 billion into HTC coffers into 2009. Two million may not seem a high figure in the face of 100 million units a quarter for Nokia, but to enter the market with a new device, OS and brand is no small feat.

The combination of a low price point and open hardware might make the G1 a success in the short term, but with forthcoming handsets to use the Android offer a different enough experience to warrant attention?

Time will tell.

Source: EMSNow

Nokia Comes With Music Launch Event - Location Revealed!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

There I was, walking down leafy Camden on the way into work, when I saw plenty of workmen buzzing around the famous concert venue Koko…

Putting my sleuth hat on, I took a closer look and discovered a clue as to what could be going on there today…see if you can spot it:

So, there you go! It looks like the Nokia will be going ahead with the “Comes With Music” launch very soon, but will the 5800 Tube touchscreen phone be making an appearance?

More riveting pics follow!

Read the rest of this entry »

Nokia N96 Out Today! New Firmware Update Messing With It?

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Good news for those who didn’t win the Euromillions this weekend, as the N96 is now a little cheaper having been released on Pay Monthly at the major retailers!

I’m slightly biased, but Omio have some really great Nokia N96 deals which went live today.

£35 a month for 600 minutes and unlimited texts on Orange with the phone costing only £29.99 from Dial-A-Phone is our most popular one, and it’s not hard to see why!

Quite the bargain for the super multimedia successor to the N95, complete with digital TV, BBC iPlayer and a whopping 16GB of storage for all your music and movies! If you’re in two minds about taking the plunge, get an in-depth rundown on the Nokia N96 features page!

Slightly less happy news from some early adopters is that the newest firmware update released by Nokia is making their gorgeous new handsets play up a little. The v11.018 update seems to wonkify call quality and speaker output a little bit, but this is the opinion of big time Nokiaholics in the official forums so we’ll wait and see whether these problems are widespread…

Source: Pocket Picks

Apple Shares Take A Nosedive, Industry Follows Suit

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Not a good time to have little Timmy’s inheritance in Apple shares, as they dropped by almost 18% on Monday following shaky industry reports and Wall Street worries about the US Federal rescue plan.

The stock price is currently at $105.26, a low not seen since May 2007, and fell from $128.24 to make the steepest Apple price drop in 8 years.

As news emerged that the $700 billion rescue plan for the industry failed to pass through the House of Representatives, the stock market went into freefall as the Dow Jones lost a worst ever 800 points, and Wall Street saw the bleakest day of trading post-9/11.

The ramifications are currently being felt across the globe as well as in the tech sector, with others in the mobile industry feeling the effects deeply.

Microsoft shares fell by 8.7%, whilst Nokia and Samsung felt the ripples also. The lattermost at least have a barrage of forthcoming handsets like the Tube and the M8800 Pixon to weather the storm, but with a lack of information regarding a follow-up to the MacBook Pro and a lacklustre iPod nano announcement last week, Apple’s previously recession-proof sheen is beginning to fade.

Our bet? Apple will come up with a positive bit of spin in the coming week, either a ‘leaked’ photo or quick announcement to get back on the right track, and be fine in no time. Right?

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Hello Nokia N96!

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Some enterprising fellow has bitten the bullet and bought the a Nokia N96 straight from the flagship Regent Street store in London, and has been nice enough to start a blog to relay his adventures!

Hello N96 has a very detailed account of the unboxing, a first play around, the iPlayer and live TV service, even video recording with a nice touristy shot of Nelson’s Column. However, he does mention it crashing, so maybe we should expect the N96 to change our lives forever after all…

A great place to go if you want to know more about the phone, including how much slimmer it is than the N95, and what gaming using the N-Gage service is like. He will keep it updated with further impressions as time goes on, so it might be a good ‘un to bookmark!

Sony Ericsson Reveals PlayNow Digital Music Service

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Kids today, they likes them some music.

Apple has iTunes, Nokia’s forthcoming Comes With Music service sounds like an all-you-can-eat aural buffet, even the 1-day old T-Mobile G1 has cosied up with Amazon MP3 to provide all your tunes on the go.

Despite inventing the idea in the first place with the Walkman, Sony are still catching up in the mobile music race, but hope to take the lead again with the download portal ‘PlayNow’. Check out the slick site offering music, games, themes and wallpapers over here!

Developed in conjunction with UK-based Omnifone, the service allows unlimited downloads of music, on the condition that you sign up to a monthly contract.

The waters regarding all of these portals gets a bit murky at this point, as the definition of ‘unlimited’ tends to vary depending upon who you talk to…just ask Vodafone.

PlayNow offers unlimited downloads for the duration of the contract, but once time’s up, only 300 songs can be kept on your PC or phone.

This pales in comparison to Nokia’s “you download it, you keep it” method, but Sony are quick to dismiss it on the basis that Comes With Music is tied up in DRM whilst PlayNow is free to copy all over the place.

Omnifone are championing Sony’s new offering, no surprise considering they helped create it in the first place! Having said that, they were cosy with Vodafone’s subscripition deal less than a year ago, so they are pretty much on whichever team makes the most money.

With all these competing music services tripping over each other, the market runs a serious risk of overwhelming the consumer altogether. We hope it doesn’t force them to go back to something which feels a lot more familiar and easy…where they get music for their iPod, perhaps?

Source: BBC

Nokia 5800 Tube Launches October 2nd

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Ready for more touchscreen phones? Just in the nick of time to prevent Samsung from running riot in the mass market touchy domain, Nokia will be releasing the 5800 “Tube” handset in early October, according to Pocket Lint.

The 2nd of October is the day that has been touted, as it coincides with the announcement for Nokia’s Comes With Music digital download service. What better posterchild for it than the XpressMusic enabled Tube?

It has been a long, long time coming, and some hands-on impressions have not been very complimentary, feeling the Tube does not make the most of having a touch interface…but as Nokia have stated, it is only the beginning of a new range of handsets.

More news as we get it!

Nokia vs. Google Phone: Symbian Offers “Impact In The Context Of Volume”

By Ernest DokucloseAuthor: Ernest Doku Name: Ernest Doku
Email: ernest.doku@omio.com
Site: http://blog.omio.com
About: I like gadgets, loads! I like talking about them, writing about them, using them, watching other people use them though binoculars... Some would say it was an unhealthy fascination, but then I'd be all like, "Shh...," and go back to doing gadget-related things. Hit me up on Xbox Live or PSN, I'm EJStyleS. I promise to give you a good match as well as talk about things that aren't gadgets. A bit.See Authors Posts (491)

Despite the buzz surrounding the launch of Google’s first handset and software platform in the form of Android, Nokia remains steadfast in their belief that the mobile phone industry is very challenging for the uninitiated.

A lead of years of high-end research and development, coupled with many millions of handset sales is an unassailable one, insists head of Nokia S60 technology management David Rivas.

The shrewd move to buy up Symbian for $410 million only to turn it into a free platform, makes a great deal more sense in the wake of Google’s open door solution Android coming to fruition.

“[Before Symbian became open source] you could go with proprietary and mature, or you could go with immature and free. Now there is a choice that is free and mature.” states Rivas in a Reuters interview, knowing full well that over 200 million Symbian powered phones were sold in the first half of 2008 alone.

That kind of installed user base and sustained sales are number that will keep manufacturers working with Symbian rather than unproved entities like Android, or the relatively small user base of the iPhone’s platform.

“All developers tend at the end of the day to look for something that has impact in the context of volume,” Rivas notes, making mention of Google’s comparatively embryonic state in terms of the few manufacturers adopting the platform.

So, with Symbian straddling the worlds of free-to-use platforms and a ubiquity approaching Windows Mobile, it is well positioned to oppose all comers as well as force some to question Microsoft’s policy of charging approximately £6 per handset to use their operating system.

In an environment where every manufacturer is looking to save pennies, Nokia’s generous plans for Symbian seem agile enough to remain competitive during the tough times.

With T-Mobile announcing their Android powered G1 phone imminently, the industry will scrutinize the first steps of Google’s baby very closely as eveyone looks for a new hook to sway the consumer. Let hope Android finds it’s feet quickly before becoming a mobile version of Linux, marginalised and misunderstood…