Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Ah, there you are sweet, sweet Nokia GPS navigator, official at last. Dubbed the Nokia 330 Auto Navigation by the cats in Espoo, this device marks Nokia’s first entry into the dedicated GPS satnav market. It features a 3.5-inch touch-screen with ROUTE 66 Navigate 7 application and European NAVTEQ map data pre-installed on a bundled 2GB memory card of unspecified origins. The 330 is also able to playback unspecified audio and video formats with MP3 and DivX rumored to be in the mix. The press release is so light on specs that we’re unable to confirm if it is in fact rockin’ SiRFStar III let alone provide any details regarding internal storage, battery capabilities, or whether it includes Bluetooth for hands-free linkup with your cellphone. We do know to expect it to hit Europe sometime in Q4 for an estimated retail price of €360/$458 sans taxes. So yeah, they’re looking at you TomTom and Garmin. See the 330 in its car mount after the break.

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: GPS, Handhelds

Besides being quite a handy portal to the internet while you’re out and about, Nokia’s 770 Internet Tablet is about to acquire some navigation functionality as well, thanks to an upcoming hardware and software suite from Navicore. Called the Nokia Navigation Kit, this bundle will include the Navicore Personal 2007 software, an unspecified Bluetooth GPS receiver, and a car-mount rig, priced at €199; for the equivalent of $248, you’re getting TeleAtlas- and Navteq-based maps of continental Europe and the UK, although if you live elsewhere in the world (like we do), you’ll have to shell for additional street-level map packs. Since Navicore’s software will also run in UIQ 3, it can presumably be used on other S60- and S80-powered devices to boot. Not content with giving love to just Nokia owners, Navicore has also released a Bluetooth receiver that will work with any smartphone or laptop equipped with the proper software, giving you the power of SiRFstar III in a 30-gram package. You can check out the diminutive receiver after the break, although since it’s really just a rebadge of Holux’s GPSlim 240, there’s a good chance that you’ve seen it before…

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Filed under: Cellphones, Home Entertainment, Portable Video

As a natural followup to their Wireless Audio Gateway AD-42W (pictured), it looks like Nokia might be getting into the video streaming game with a new WiFi device for streaming video from your phone. The rumor comes courtesy of T3, and deets are slim, but we’re sure Nokia can figure out some nifty functionality for such a device if it does turn out to be real. We’d love to see such a unit act as a DVR and prep videos for your phone, but blurry and pointless camphone vids streamed from your Nokia onto the big screen will be nice too. We’re not quite sure we’d be naming this thing a direct iTV competitor, but between this, a Slingbox, a Media Extender, an iPod video loader and an iTV, our TV setup is starting to look more device-laden than our desktop, so we’re thinking something’s gotta give.

[Via atmaspheric]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Cellphones

5200, 6136, E70, N70, N73. We lost track of what’s what in Nokia’s soup of numbers and letters about twenty or thirty phones ago; maybe our jaded minds can’t handle the constant onslaught of new devices anymore — or perhaps we’re just getting old — but it sounds like help is mercifully on the way. After watching brands like Motorola’s RAZR and LG’s Chocolate dominate pockets and purses for the last couples years, our favorite Finnish phone manufacturer has dropped hints that it, too, will be switching from numbers to names for at least some of its future products. Ironically, the news comes just as HTC is going the other direction with its naming scheme, moving from names to numbers — but with monikers like “TyTN” plaguing their stable, we’re thinking that was the right move. No word on what kinds of words might pop up in the Nokia lineup, but our vote goes to names of Finnish cities (who wouldn’t want a Nokia Oulu?).

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Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, EDGE, UMTS

Even if you're a die-hard Palm or Windows Mobile fan, it's hard to deny the appeal of Nokia's N-series lineup of S60-powered "multimedia computers," whose connectivity and imaging options are some of the best you can find on a smartphone today. As promised, the company has just officially released both the N73 (pictured, bottom) and N93 (pictured, top) handsets that we've been following for some time, and although you probably won't be able to pick them up through traditional channels, we know that they'll definitely be available at your local Nokia retail outlet. As a quick refresher, both of the phones (we know, we know, we're not supposed to call them phones) are highlighted by 3.2 megapixel, Zeiss lens-equipped cameras, with the N93 throwing in a 3x optical zoom and support for 30fps VGA video. Both models also feature high-res 2.4-inch displays, Bluetooth radios, a miniSD slot for image capture or rocking tunes, and quad-band GSM plus 3G UMTS capability. On top of all these attractive features, the N93 also gives you built-in WiFi with UPnP functionality, video out for replaying your precious memories on a big screen, and what sounds like better-than-average in-camera editing. We're still gonna stick with our current smartphones for now, but these models are so hot that we're seriously reconsidering our snobby insistence on rocking those handy QWERTY thumboards at all times.

Read- N73
Read- N93
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Nokia, Misc

Can't make it to Chicago? Moscow a little out of your way? Maybe Hong Kong is a little more to your liking. On its way to 18 flagship stores worldwide, Nokia has opened its third this week -- the first in Asia -- on Russell Street, Causeway Bay. The joint looks to fit the typical Nokia flagship mold, offering a big ol' variety of Finnish hardware and packing enough LCD firepower on its walls to show a novel's worth of text messages coming across the wire from its sister stores across the globe. Any HK residents care to give us the full rundown?

[Via Mobiledia]

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, UMTS

Are you loving the N93’s spec sheet, but gargantuan clamshells aren’t your cup of tea? No worries, friends; the 3.2-megapixel candybar N73 has just been approved by the FCC, and thanks to quadband GSM, we have a fighting chance of seeing this one drop in the States — at least in Nokia’s flagship store, if nothing else. Specs are enough to get the juices of any S60 fan flowing: UMTS (albeit on the 2100MHz band), 2.4-inch QVGA display, MiniSD slot, stereo speakers, FM radio, Bluetooth 2.0, and the list goes on. Now let’s just cross our fingers Qualcomm doesn’t get its way, and we might be seeing this hotness before too long in these parts.

[Via Mobilewhack]

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Filed under: Nokia, GSM, CDMA, Misc

Apparently, Qualcomm was serious when they asked Nokia to halt sales of GSM phones in the US a few weeks ago, triumphantly announcing that the US International Trade Commission (ITC) has now gotten in on the action. The ITC is looking into whether Nokia is in violation of the six patents Qualcomm claims them to be, presumably some of the same CDMA-related patents that have come up several times before – patents that Nokia licenses for its CDMA handsets, but GSM and UMTS devices (which apparently tread on the same patent work) are not covered by the agreement. With Nokia potentially phasing out its CDMA business citing (in part) unfair licensing terms with Qualcomm, they don’t exactly have the option of going the same route on the GSM front, so this battle looks set to play out to the bitter end. Meanwhile, we’re going to start hoarding N93s in case things go south in a hurry.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handsets, Nokia

With everything from 30 second sound clips to SMS messages stacking cost onto your bill, Nokia has gone against the grain by releasing software for their N72 (which supposedly also works for the N70 and N90) that allows users to immediately upload photos they take to Flickr. Sparse options include the ability to send downsized copies and choose images from the Gallery or Camera itself. The idea of uploading images from phone-to-web isn't exactly new, but official Flickr support has been all but impossible to come by, ZoneTag notwithstanding. Of course third party apps such as ShoZu have been accomplishing this for awhile and have more features, but regardless of which app serves the purpose more effectively, its a good sign when major phone manufacturers are taking strides in developing apps to increase the functionality of their phones without charging the users ridiculous pay-per-use fees. So if for no other reason than that, Nokia's Flickr Uploader, although seemingly a bit stifled by limitations, is certainly a step in the right direction.

[Via All About Symbian]

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

For Nokia users it doesn’t get much easier than this: just hit the site below, plug in your phone’s vital deets and you’ll be handed a code that’ll let you take your phone to places it’s never been before — another carrier, that is. Unlocking methods for both DCT4 and DCT3 phones are provided, just don’t be surprised if your latest and greatest handset proves a bit harder to unlock. We’re sure that’s just a matter of time, though.

[Via Digg]

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To follow up on our previous post about Nokia suing Telsda Mobile and Song Xun Da Zhong Ke Electric for copying their Nokia 7260 phone design, here's a gallery of some Telsda's other phones—strangely reminiscent of other phone manufacturers.

Not only is Nokia being ripped, Sony Ericsson, Motorola, and Samsung have all been subject to the sincerest form of flattery. At least Telsda labels their phones with their own brand, instead of passing it off as a "Morotola" or a "Stony Erecsson". – Jason Chen

Nokia takes action against Chinese Cloners [Mobile Gazette]

This ad is only running in Canada, but it’s cool enough to show to everyone in the States as well. Read the behind-the-scenes on how they pulled this off after the jump. – Jason Chen

Movie Clip [Nokia.ca]

More Behind The Scenes (2nd Link on the right) [Heliozilla]

Thanks Richard!

We started out with the idea that we needed to make something that was visually stunning, and then build a concept around that. Secondly Nokia is a fairly refined brand, and the piece needed to have a a certain grace to it to reflect that. The idea of blowing things up came fairly quickly, and we visualized a slow-motion ballet of assorted electronics being destroyed, and then reassembling into the phone. Shooting on black and lighting the objects as if we were shooting a jewelry ad gave a nice polish to offset the violence of the explosions.

Then it was off to the internet to research the technical site of shooting at really high frame rates, looking at sample footage and finding the right camera. Shooting film was simply out of the question, as the look of the explosion we wanted required shooting at frame rates of about 5000 frames per second. After looking at numerous high-speed video options we settled on the Photron Ultima cameras, which could shoot as fast as 6000 frames/sec at 512 x 1024 resolution. The Ultimas connect directly to a laptop via firewire, which controls the camera and downloads footage from the camera buffer. With the camera in standby mode it continuously records footage to the buffer, and when you hit the trigger it will retain a specified amount of pre-trigger footage and then continue recording until the buffer is full.

Next challenge was lighting. Because of the incredible speed of the explosions we had to shoot with a 1/10,000 shutter so the fragments wouldn’t blur. Combined with a 6000 fps we calculated we’d need close to 100,000 watts of light to adequately light a target area of about one square meter. On set we could only leave full lighting up for about 60 seconds before our props would start smoking.

Most of the props were modified shells of actual items. We had purchased several of each so we could do multiple takes, and had two cameras running for each take so we had lots of angles and footage to work with. We used shells of flat-screen TV’s so the screens could be replaced with tempered glass or breakaway glass (each gives a different effect), and the props were filled with bits of circuit boards, assorted parts and bits of glitter. The phone model was built at 300% scale, as blowing up a little 10cm phone would look a little underwhelming.

The pyro we used was primarily detonation cord, we didn’t want too much flame. Being able to review a take and reshoot allowed us to adjust the amount and placement of the charge for each shot.

This may not be 100% legal, but this site claims to generate an unlock code for your Nokia phone for free. You just need to provide your IMEI code, which they swear not to save, and your country, operator and phone model. The standard disclaimer:

The user is hereby advised that codes generated at www.lur.nu can cause damage to the cellular phone.

This site (www.lur.nu) does not take any responsibility for damage caused by unlock codes. The user of the codes is responsible for any legal documents between the user and the operator.
www.lur.nu does not answer to any questions how to use the codes, or free unlocking whatsoever.

We'd recommend trying it on an old phone before using it on the one your work gave you. – Jason Chen

Unlock codes for Nokia GSM Free [lur.nu via Red Ferret]

Filed under: Cellphones, Digital Cameras

With S60 3rd Edition, UMTS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with optical zoom, WiFi, miniSD slot, and QVGA display, Nokia's N93 dual-pivot clamshell pretty much does it all -- at the cost of some considerable bulk, that is. Mobile-review had a chance to spend some quality time with the beast, and if you can get past the portly 188 grams of mass in your pocket, they appear to come away liking the device for all that it does. As flimsy as it may look, we're told the stalk connecting the display to the remainder of the phone is rock-solid: "Even if you shake the phone with all your strength, there is no way the halves will move towards each other." Triband GSM plus UMTS 2100 make the N93 a tough sell in the States, but everyone else seeking out a worthy N90 replacement can expect Nokia's latest superphone to drop this month for around €600 ($765).

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Filed under: Handsets, Multimedia, Nokia, Symbian, GSM, UMTS

With S60 3rd Edition, UMTS, a 3.2 megapixel camera with optical zoom, WiFi, miniSD slot, and QVGA display, Nokia's N93 dual-pivot clamshell pretty much does it all -- at the cost of some considerable bulk, that is. Mobile-review had a chance to spend some quality time with the beast, and if you can get past the portly 188 grams of mass in your pocket, they appear to come away liking the device for all that it does. As flimsy as it may look, we're told the stalk connecting the display to the remainder of the phone is rock-solid: "Even if you shake the phone with all your strength, there is no way the halves will move towards each other." Triband GSM plus UMTS 2100 make the N93 a tough sell in the States, but everyone else seeking out a worthy N90 replacement can expect Nokia's latest superphone to drop this month for around €600 ($765).

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

Some people have quite a bit of spare time on their hands, some have an undying obsession with all things Apple, while others profess their appreciation of the customizability of Symbian devices. Apparently these all came to a head in the Mac phone, the resulting collision producing quite a little hack on the 6680 if we ever saw one. Ok, now who’s gonna make us a Windows phone? Oh, wait.

[Via Bienvenue a Kyoto]

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Filed under: Nokia, Misc

Here’s a patent filing from the creative minds at Nokia that’ll appeal to both the security industry and the paranoid among us. Apparently, with a little elbow grease, bubble gum, and duct tape, engineers have been able to take your standard induction coil used for hearing aid compatibility and give it the functionality of a close-range metal detector. At least, that was the intent of Nokia’s patent filing back in 2004. Of course, we’ve seen enough phone patents come and go to know that the odds we’ll see this in a shipping product any time soon are low, so in the meantime, keep your distance from knife-wielding baddies, m’kay?

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Filed under: Handhelds

As promised, Nokia has just posted the Internet Tablet 2006 operating system for download -- although as of this writing you get redirected to an error page -- giving 770 owners access to those handful of new features announced last month. You'll recall that instead of dropping a QWERTY-equipped version of the tablet as we were hoping/expecting, Nokia disappointed more than a few fans by only unveiling a software upgrade that adds an on-screen keyboard along with the Google Talk client. Even worse, Nokia warns that "installed applications designed for OS 2005 will not be compatible with OS 2006 edition and will not be restored even from backup," so kiss your old apps goodbye if you're planning on upgrading. Still, current 770 owners will probably want to take plunge just so they can run programs developed exclusively for the new OS, and hopefully the software 'board will suffice until Nokia takes our advise and changes up the input style in the next generation of WiMax- and webcam-sporting tablets.

[Thanks, Alessandro Z.]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Granted, the Nokia 8801 is nothing new, but its availability on a US national carrier is. The tri-band stainless steel 8801 sports both American GSM bands, EDGE data, an 800 x 600 camera, and 64MB of internal flash — meager specs considering the asking price, but let’s be honest, buying a phone at this price point has nothing to do with the spec sheet and everything to do with appearance. Well-heeled T-Mobile customers looking to take a chance with questionable scratch resistance can sign up now for a hair under $550.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, T-Mobile, GSM, GPRS, EDGE

Granted, the Nokia 8801 is nothing new, but its availability on a US national carrier is. The tri-band stainless steel 8801 sports both American GSM bands, EDGE data, an 800 x 600 camera, and 64MB of internal flash — meager specs considering the asking price, but let’s be honest, buying a phone at this price point has nothing to do with the spec sheet and everything to do with appearance. Well-heeled T-Mobile customers looking to take a chance with questionable scratch resistance can sign up now for a hair under $550.

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Filed under: Nokia, GSM, Misc

Prior to the BlackBerry / NTP proceedings, we wouldn’t have taken these sensational lawsuits very seriously, but it looks like Qualcomm has every intention of getting Nokia to take notice in their ongoing patent dispute. We recently reported that Qualcomm had asked for a halt to sales of Nokia’s GSM models in Great Britain; now they’re doing the same in the US, filing a lawsuit with the US International Trade Commission to that effect. The suit covers six CDMA patents in total that affect GSM, GPRS, and EDGE; we’re guessing that number includes the two patents named in the UK lawsuit, which Nokia claims are covered under a licensing agreement currently in effect between the companies. Meanwhile, a veritable who’s-who of the wireless world — Nokia, Ericsson, TI and others — are ganging up on Qualcomm in Europe, alleging unfair licensing practices on its WCDMA property. Normally we’d expect a quagmire like this to be tied up in the world’s legal systems for years, but the pressure might be on to resolve this one with all haste as Nokia’s licensing agreement with Qualcomm expires early next year anyway.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia, Pantech, Verizon Wireless, EV-DO, CDMA

Say you’re the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer. Maybe you made a few bad decisions along the way; threw your weight behind the wrong technologies, caught the wrath of CDMA’s keeper, and now you’re missing out on the EV-DO party. That’s precisely the quandary Nokia has found itself facing, and as we’ve already seen with the 6315i, they’re turning to Korea’s Pantech to bail them out. In exchange for a pair of rebranded Pantech EV-DO handsets, Nokia will dish out $129 million. That’s a lot of zeroes after the 129 there, when we’ve yet to see a Pantech headed to these shores we’d even pay $129 for.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

It's been no secret that Nokia has been working on a mobile web server, lovingly codenamed project "Raccoon," but now they've taken things one step further, recently releasing the server source code under an open source license on the SourceForge website. The server is a version of Apache originally designed for the Nokia 6630 phone, although Nokia says it should work on any S60 2nd Edition Feature Pack 2 phone. It's certainly a big deal, and could well change the shape of the Internet, although we think Nokia may be getting a little ahead of themselves saying things like: "If every mobile phone or even every smartphone initially is equipped with a webserver, then very quickly most websites will reside on mobile phones." Better work on increasing that 100 to 1,000 concurrent user limit on the gateway first, or it'll be a while before we serve up a truly mobile Engadget Mobile.

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Filed under: Handsets, Nokia

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Filed under: Peripherals, Nokia, Symbian

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