Mobilityfeeds

Nokia was right to shift to Windows Phone

This week’s news from Nokia, including corporate restructuring, lowered income projections, and losses for Q2 2012 expected to be in the hundreds of millions, would not have made comfortable reading for the Finnish company.

Switching to a new mobile Operating System (OS) was always going to cause a lot of necessary financial pain, the question for CEO Stephen Elop and the Nokia Board is simple.
Will they be able to follow their chosen strategy, and will Microsoft's Windows Phone deliver for them?

It’s important to remember just how bad the market perceptions of Nokia were on 10^th February 2011, the day before Stephen Elop announced the new direction for the Finnish company. 

LG launches the Optimus L5 Android Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone, heading first to Europe

LG has announced the launch of its new smartphone - the LG Optimus L5, which is touted to be one of LG's stylish, high fashion L-Series smartphones.

The smartphone will make its global debut in key European markets this month.
The device will be available in the UK, Germany and France, followed by markets in CIS, Middle East and Asia before crossing the ocean over to Central America and South America.

Dressed in a slim body measuring only 9.5mm, the smartphone has dual SIM capabilities (in Asia, CIS, Middle East, Central and South America only) and NFC "Tag and Play" (in Europe and North America) for mobile commerce and peer-to-peer sharing.

Nokia Lumia 610 Windows Phone budget smartphone review

Microsoft's Windows Phone may not have yet unseated Google's Android or bloodied the nose of Apple's iOS since it burst onto the mobile scene in 2010, but Nokia's latest release could mark a significant change in its current fortunes.

The Nokia Lumia 610 is the first Windows Phone for the cheaper end of the market - a sector which has been ably exploited by legions of low-cost Android devices.

With weaker technical credentials but also a more reasonable price tag, the Lumia 610 aims to expand Windows Phone's reach to younger mobile buyers. 
SIM-free handsets can be picked up for roughly €225 (US$285).

Should you buy the Nokia Lumia 610?

If you've watched the development of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform with interest but haven't been brave - or perhaps rich - enough to take the plunge, then the Nokia Lumia 610 is going to be right up your street.

Sony Xperia U Android budget smartphone review

The Sony Xperia U is the baby of Sony's Xperia family, but takes a lot of design cues from the more-expensive Xperia S.

In essence, the 3.5" device is a successor to the Xperia Ray, which was released last year to great acclaim.
Sony is one of the few companies that continues to build Android devices under 4", and the Xperia U is a great example of a device that hits all the right notes without breaking the bank.

Is this the right entry-level phone for you?
Let’s dive right in.

Specs:

- Google's Android 2.3.7 Gingerbread with custom Sony overlay
- 3.5" 480×854 pixel LCD display
- 1Ghz dual-core NovaThor SoC with Mali-4ooMP GPU
- 512MB RAM / 4GB internal storage / 1.9GB app storage
- 5MP camera w/ flash, VGA front-facing camera
- 720p video capture
- WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1, A-GPS
- HSDPA 14.4Mbps / HSUPA 5.76Mbps
- 3G: 850/1900/2100Mhz, 2G:  850/900/1800/1900Mhz
- 112 x 54 x 12 mm
- 110g

Nokia sells its Vertu luxury phone division to private equity firm EQT VI

Nokia has agreed to sell its luxury phone division Vertu to EQT VI, a private equity firm from Northern Europe.

“With its strong brand, undisputed category leadership and attractive growth outlook, Vertu fits well with EQT VI’s investment strategy,” said Jan Ståhlberg, Partner at EQT Partners. “EQT VI is excited about the opportunity to develop Vertu as a standalone company and plans to drive the development of the luxury mobile phone category through significant investments in retail expansion, marketing and product development,” the investment advisor to EQT VI added.

Vertu President Perry Oosting said:

“This is a logical next step in the evolution of Vertu as the world leader in luxury mobile products.”

“Since Vertu began in 1998, our business has grown every year, due to the efforts of our talented workforce and the unique products and services we offer to our customers. We believe that EQT VI will position Vertu to continue to grow and lead in our marketplace,” he added.

Nokia plans to cut 10,000 jobs by the end of 2013

Finland's Nokia, one of the world's biggest mobile phone makers, announced on Thursday that it plans to cut up to 10,000 jobs by the end of next year due to massive additional cost-savings measures.

"These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia's long-term competitive strength," company Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a statement.

Nokia was earlier this year bumped from the world's biggest mobile phone maker spot it had held for 14 years.

Windows Phone 8 first screen-shots leaked, Skype and Nokia Drive become native

Microsoft is expected to talk about Windows Phone 8 on 20^th June 2012 at their Dev Summit, however, details about the new mobile Operating System (OS) have already begun to surface – in the form of leaked screenshots.

First of all, the big news - Skype will be integrated straight into Windows Phone 8 (something we’ve been waiting for ever since Microsoft acquired the VoIP expert).
Skype will be integrated into the People Hub, and Skype calls can be answered with or without video.

It is not just Apple and Google's Android Ice Cream Sandwich that have data monitoring apps built into the OS.
A DataSmart app will be brought to Windows Phone 8 that will give up-to-the-minute statistics on how much data is being used and how many more days users have left in their billing cycle.
This app can be placed on the home screen for easy and seamless use.
The live DataSmart tile will give real time updates.

Developing countries users get access to smartphones thanks to budget Android devices

When the first device powered by Google’s Android Operating System (OS) was unveiled in 2008, it was intended to shake up how phones were made and sold, and also how the mobile Internet would be used.

Just over three years later, with Android on the cusp of global domination, Google is well on its way to accomplishing all those goals.
And while it would be understandable to fear such dominance, this may be a positive development for phone users, especially those in developing countries.

“It’s about being better connected with the knowledge of the world and democratizing forces,” says John Lagerling, Director of Global Partnerships for Android. “These are people who have never had a computer.”

Sony announces Xperia Miro and Xperia Tipo Android ICS budget smartphones

Users looking for budget Android phones running the latest version of the Operating System (OS) have two more options in Sony’s upcoming Xperia Miro and Tipo, when they ship in the third quarter of this year.

The phones have the same look as the high-end Xperia S unveiled earlier this year in the way, in the simple monolithic screen and “lip” at the bottom of the design.

However, these two models are not packed with so many of the latest features.

For most users, all smartphones are iPhones and tablets are iPads, regardless of manufacturer and OS

More than eight in ten mobile phone users are confused about the meaning of the word ‘Android’ even though many use Google's mobile Operating System (OS) on a daily basis – according to a new poll.

The survey, by mobile casino Roxy Palace, found than 83% of those quizzed were unable to define what Android meant even though many were using the Operating System on their smartphones and tablet devices.

Some thought Android was a mobile phone manufacturer with others believing it was the model name of their device.

Samsung brings TecTiles, NFC tags that help you simplify and automate your life

It was just a little over a week ago that Samsung announced that the Galaxy S III would be hitting five carriers in the United States, but now the company has introduced another new product that you may be interested in.

Samsung yesterday took the wraps off of its TecTiles, which are programmable near field communication (NFC) tags that consumers can use in conjunction with an NFC-enabled device to automate certain functions on their handset.
For example, a user could program a tag to toggle the WiFi radio on or off and then tap it when they leave their home to disable their device's WiFi radio or turn it back on when they return.
Other possible ways to program a TecTile tag include setting it to send a text message, check-in on Foursquare or launch an app.

So how does it work? 

Apple didn't learn from Android - iPhone fragmentation officially on the way

Way down in the fine print about Apple's upcoming iOS 6, you'll find a little note that says new features like Flyover and turn-by-turn directions are only available on the iPhone 4S, or the iPad 2 or higher.

A note immediately below that says Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S or third-generation iPad, the 'new iPad'.

Since the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad 2 are all actively for sale and still being marketed by Apple, we have to wonder:
Is Apple on the road to fragmenting the iOS experience?

iPhone 5 expected to launch with iOS 6 this fall - Rumor

Apple has announced the new generation iOS, the Operating System (OS) that runs its iPhone devices, at its WWDC 2012.

However, the news on the iOS 6 seems to have stirred more interest for the next iPhone, namely iPhone 5, than for the Operating System itself.

The iOS 6 revealed at Moscone West in San Francisco on Monday is currently available for Apple developers.
Although the time has not been confirmed yet officially, people expect it to be available to the public by September. And consequently, the iPhone 5 is rumored to be launched at or around the same time.

Gigabyte unveils Dual-SIM Android Ice Cream Sandwich GSmart line of smartphones

Taiwan based computer peripherals maker, Gigabyte has launched a new range of Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphone running dual-SIM handsets at the Computex 2012 convention which was held last week at Taipei, Taiwan.

These new Gigabyte Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones have low-power single core mobile processors housed inside them. Gigabyte has not clarified on the pricing and arrival of these new dual-SIM smartphones. 

New Gigabyte GSmart models indeed look chic and sturdy at the same time.
Out of four new GSmart models, two house a MediaTek mobile processor while other two house a single core Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile processor.

Samsung may be working on a 'Galaxy W' Windows Phone - Rumor

WP7.nl came across an interesting Windows Phone which it spotted on WP Bench and it's a yet unknown and therefore unannounced phone from Samsung called "Galaxy W".

WP Bench is a performance benchmark for Windows Phone 7 devices which tests the device's CPU, GPU, memory, storage, display and battery and allows to publish the score to online charts or compare with the others.

And that's where the Galaxy W was spotted.

Interesting enough, the W could clearly stands for "Windows" while it's quite surprising that Samsung might call a Windows Phone "Galaxy" which stood so far for Android phones while the Windows Phone equivalents were called "Omnia".

Also somewhat irritating is the Omnia W's Windows Phone version which is 7.10.8779.
This would mean it would run on Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh aka Tango, not Windows Phone 8 aka Apollo.

Windows Phone takes over iPhone in China

Mobile phones running on Google’s Android Operating System (OS) have “hit their peak”, but Microsoft’s entrant to the mobile world — the Windows Phone — is moving in on its rivals, ZTE’s Executive Vice-president He Shiyou toldChina Daily on Friday.

ZTE is one of the largest phone equipment makers in the world.
It launched a Windows Phone this month on its ZTE Orbit device, making Orbit the latest smartphone device to enter the hot Chinese mobile market.
The company said it hopes to sell more than 30 million smartphones this year, of which the Windows Phone is expected to account for about 10% of that business.

“The market share of Android-based phones has almost hit its peak, while the Windows Phone devices have been gaining momentum since the fourth quarter of last year,” he told the paper, adding the Windows Phone push is part of ZTE’s overall plan to diversify its product portfolio.

Microsoft expected to launch Windows Phone 8 on 20th June 2012

Microsoft is set to announce the launch of its next-generation mobile operating system (os) update with the Windows Phone 8 Apollo on 20^th June 2012.

According to an invitation that requests the presence of the press, the Redmond-based software giant is ready to reveal a “sneak peak at the future of Windows Phone” in San Francisco on the said date.
While Microsoft remains tight-lipped about the event’s main agenda, most industry followers are betting on a Windows Phone 8 launch.

However, analysts still do not have an inkling of what Windows Phone 8 has to offer, as Microsoft seemingly tries to make a good following from Apple in a reticent approach on its next mobile Operating System.
Several speculators hint that Apollo will offer support for multiple core processors to match Google's Android smartphones from phone makers like Samsung and HTC.

Lamborghini launches gold-plated Android smartphones and tablet

Lamborghini yesterday unveiled a new line of Android-powered smartphones and tablets that will only be sold in Russia. 

The smartphone is called the TL700 (pictue right) and features a 3.7" 800x480 resolution touchscreen display.
There's 4GB of memory and a 5 MP camera in the back.

The body is gold plated and the back is laced with crocodile skin.
Unfortunately, Lambo paid more attention to the aesthetics as it opted for ageing Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

This will cost an astronomical US$2,743 (€1,977). 

Galaxy Note-inspired dual-SIM mini-tablet spotted in Singapore

We've seen Shanzhai iPhones and BlackBerries, but this has got to be a first: a Samsung Galaxy Note imitation.

While pounding the halls at the PC Show 2012 tech fair in Singapore, we noticed the familiar-looking supersize smartphone going for just $279 Singapore dollars (US$218 / €174).

Upon closer inspection however, the "Note" was running Google's Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, instead of Android 2.3 Gingerbread out of the box.
More interestingly, the User Interface (UI) seemed to be inspired by HTC's Sense UI, with its "3D box effect" when scrolling through the home screens.

Nokia could soon have to face a takeover

Nokia, the mobile-phone maker struggling to recover lost market share, jumped the most in five months as investors speculated the company may receive a takeover bid.

The stock advanced 6%, the most since 5^th January 2012, to close at €2.36 (US$3.79) in Helsinki.

Nokia had declined 41% this year before today as consumers snapped up Apple iPhones and smartphones running on Google's Android Operating System (OS).
Finland-based Nokia is rebuilding its smartphone business around the Windows Phone platform from Microsoft, which has been speculated to be a possible acquirer, according to Exane BNP Paribas.