New images of a Nokia Lumia 800 handset running on wpbench revealed a list of Greek names for what we can only assume are codenames for upcoming Windows Phone-powered Nokia handsets. Shared by the My Nokia Blog, the images came from a user running the Windows Phone 7 benchmark on his Lumia 800. The names include Nokia PureLambda, Nokia Phi, Nokia Pure Phi and Nokia Alpha.
Research firm IDC has published its latest smartphone market-share report, finding Android and iOS to be responsible for eight out of 10 smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012. Android captured 59 percent of all sales, while iOS took 23 percent of the 152 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter. Linux phones maintained the same small share held for four quarters. Symbian and Blackberry shipments continued to drop precipitously.
Nokia faced its third credit rating cut in a month on Friday in signs of a further confidence problem. Standard & Poor dropped Nokia's rating to junk status based on a shortfall in cash strength. While its existing cash was a "positive factor," the firm said, it expected the phone designer's cash to drop from a predicted 4.9 billion euros ($6.5 billion) to no more than four million euros ($5.3 billion).
Samsung has achieved a milestone in toppling Nokia for the crown of top cellphone maker, Strategy Analytics estimated in a new study. Using unofficial figures for Samsung as well as official data elsewhere, it had Samsung leading with 93.5 million cellphones sold, or 25.4 percent of the entire space. Nokia's rapid decline in smartphones saw it tumble from 108.5 million phones at the start of 2011 to 82.7 million a year later, or 22.5 percent.
Former Nokia and later Symbian Foundation executive Lee Williams in an interview Wednesday blamed current CEO Stephen Elop for the company's current troubles. The former Symbian S60 Senior VP told CNET that Elop had "no overarching vision," allegedly unlike his predecessors. Before him, Nokia was purportedly always focused on the future and would "never give up" its stance as the lead.
The total mobile user base is significantly less oriented towards Android than phone market share would suggest, according to research. An InMobi study saw iOS extend a slight lead in North America based on ad impressions, going from an 0.6-point lead at 33.1 percent in the fall to a 2.7-point gap at 36.8 percent in the winter. It had Apple, not Google, growing faster for at least the past several months.
In a stylish new promo video (below), Nokia has chosen to show the photo and video capturing prowess of its 41-megapixel 808 PureView smartphone. Instead of simply recording the phone at work, the video itself was shot entirely using the 808, taking advantage of its 41-megapixel resolution to zoom in and out of scenes without losing detail.
Nokia are today rolling out its previously announced Belle Feature Pack 1 firmware for the Nokia 701, 700 and 603. Over the air updates now available include a processor boost from 1GHz to 1.3GHz, a version 8.2 web browser, and new widgets, amongst other improvements.
Nokia sent out a warning on Wednesday that its results for the first quarter of 2012 would be worse than expected as its smartphone sales continued to struggle. Its operating margin would now be down by three percent instead of flat, while that for the just-started spring quarter would be similar or lower. "Competitive industry dynamics" and tighter profit margins were to blame, Nokia said, making clear allusions to fiercer competition from Android and the iPhone.
Nokia has been granted a patent for technology that enables phones to automatically upload data to social networks. The patent describes a system that could be used to initiate automatic uploads whenever a user performs certain operations, such as changing a music track, capturing an image or video, accessing a website, or changing location.
Nokia users with Symbian handsets can today download the Microsoft Office Mobile apps to their handsets. Previously, only Windows Phone users had access, but the range of handsets that can now use the software suite has now been expanded to a further eight phones. Initially, the Nokia 603, 700, 701, C6-01, C7, E7, X7 and Oro have access.
Nokia has put up its 808 PureView smartphone up for pre-order on its Italian website. The phone is most notable for its 41-megapixel camera and that it still runs the Nokia Belle (Symbian) OS instead of Windows Phone. Nokia is expected to begin shipping the phone SIM free (unlocked), priced at €599 ($785 USD) in May.
The current wave of promised Nokia Asha S40 phones will be joined by a fifth model, the Asha 306, if the recently leaked owner's manual (PDF) is any indication. Unlike the Asha 303, 300, 202, and 203, the 306 forgoes a hardware keyboard, opting only for a touchscreen. The phones are due to arrive sometime in the next three months.
Earlier hints from a Nokia exec about a PureView-badged phone running on Windows Phone have gained more traction thanks to a newly discovered LinkedIn job post. Thus far, the company only confirmed that a Symbian-powered 808 PureView (shown) is coming, but a Lumia variant is evidently on the way. The job ad seeks a Senior Specialist for imaging algorithms for Windows Phone, and the 808 PureView is directly referenced.
Nokia is working on two entry-level MeeGo phones as part of its Next Billion Group project, NetbookNews heard from sources from within that group. The mission of the group is to bring the Internet to a billion people who currently don't have access to it in many third-world countries. To do so requires a free operating system, which Windows Phone isn't, while Symbian is run by Accenture and being phased out from Nokia's smartphone mix.
In the hopes of building up the app ecosystem for the Windows Phone platform in the long term, both Microsoft and Nokia on Monday have pledged to commit 9 million euros (about $12m) each to a new developer program at Finland's Aalto University. Called AppCampus, the project aims to attract budding and established developers for the ecosystem. The program will also result in apps for Nokia's Symbian and Series 40 platforms.
New Kantar Worldpanel data from Tuesday has shown Windows Phone overtaking Symbian in the UK. Although both were now small, Windows Phone was up to 2.5 percent of the British cellphones sold in the three months leading up to mid-February where Symbian had dropped to 2.4 percent. Much of that could be credited to the Nokia Lumia 800, which in Europe made up 87 percent of all Windows Phone sales.
A just-published but long in the making Nokia patent filing has revealed that Nokia has been working on a slide-to-unlock patent of its own. The approach would have users slide an icon on the screen to 'uncover' app icons. By then moving to an unlock area, users would have a two-stage unlock that could launch any app accessible from the home screen.
Nokia said on Monday it will close its Nokia Money service in India in order to focus on its phone business. A spokesperson briefed Reuters that it was jettisoning the mobile financial services business as it wasn't a core Nokia business. The service was launched throughout all of India late in 2011 after earlier, regional launches.
The streaming music subscription service that is Spotify will come to Germany on Tuesday, German media has reported. It will partner with the German version of Interview magazine and the Eventim festival guide. The price will be the same 10 euros (about $13) per month other European countries pay.
Apple is near ousting Motorola as the third-largest phone builder operating in the US, comScore found in just-published data on Tuesday. Between the October launch of the iPhone 4S and January, Apple gained two percent of the total cellphone market, putting it at 12.8 percent. A small if continued declined from Motorola has put it at 13.2 percent, raising the chance that Apple will overtake even Motorola's combined share by the spring.
Nokia's Smart Devices Executive VP Jo Harlow in commentary this weekend gave hints that the 808 PureView's extreme camera technology would come to Windows Phone devices soon. Echoing some sentiments from the end of the live event at Mobile World Congress, she told Aamulehti that it would "not take very long." She couldn't divulge when, although it's possible that Apollo (Windows Phone 8) in late 2012 may be an opportunity.
Nokia has provided many more details of Belle Feature Pack 1, which will arrive on some of its new smartphones starting this spring. The first to get it when it arrives is the 808 PureView. While the focus will be on boosting the entertainment experience for users, Nokia in a surprise step said it would boost the processor speed of the Nokia 700 and 701 by a full 30 percent with the update, from a 1GHz clock to 1.3GHz.
Nokia at its special event at Mobile World Congress on Monday paid a large part of its time focusing on a new wave of S40 phones: the Asha 202, Asha 203, and Asha 302. We got to look at all three shortly after, and had a look at the importance of designer phones to much of the world: a messaging phone in Mumbai is as vital as an iPhone in New York. Continue on for a hands-on underscoring the importance of quality phones for everyone.
Nokia might be winding down Symbian, but it has given the old platform one big last hurrah in the 808 PureView. The design centers on a seemingly reality-defying 41-megapixel camera. We got to try that sensor, and the phone, and you can read-on for some first-hand experiences.
Nokia is holding a special event at Mobile World Congress that's expected to be device-focused. The lineup could include an international version of the Lumia 900 as well as a low-cost Lumia 910 and possibly new Asha messaging phones. Check out our live coverage page for updates as they appear from the Fira de Barcelona.
Nokia and Microsoft this week released the first batch of productivity apps for the former's handsets running on Nokia Belle phones. Called Microsoft Apps, the free productivity suite includes four programs usually only found on Microsoft's own platforms. A common thread with multiple smartphone OS bases is OneNote, which lets users create documents containing text and images.
The iPhone managed to retake a large part of its share of the UK smartphone space in the past year, Kantar WorldPanel found Monday. It had climbed from 21.7 percent as of late January 2011 to 29.1 percent a year later. Android was still in front with an unspecified amount, but as in the US, it wasn't at the expense of the iPhone.
Indonesia has issued certification for the operation of two new Nokia handsets, the Asha 305 and Lumia 610. The 305 is expected to be part of the entry-level Asha range and sport the Symbian S40 operating system and may get a 1GHz processor. The 610 is likely to be an entry-level Windows Phone device, and the certification reveals the Lumia 610 will get GSM 900/1,800MHz support along with WCDMA at 2,100MHz for 3G.
Region-specific Gartner data has shown that Apple was losing Chinese smartphone market share in the last few months before the local release of the iPhone 4S. Its portion dropped from 10.4 percent in the summer to 7.5 percent in the fall. The company mostly lost its fourth place position to local designer ZTE's 11 percent.
Exactly which handsets Nokia will reveal at the upcoming Mobile World Congress show and its February 27 press conference may have been leaked to PocketNow. There will reportedly be six new phones unveiled, including three smartphones and three feature phones. The Windows Phone-powered devices would be the Lumia 900 and Lumia 610, while the 808 PureView would still use Symbian. The 808 is expected to be a replacement for the N8.
Nokia has just detailed its new Nokia Public Transport app (free, Ovi Store), for its Belle-powered smartphones. It offers bus, train, underground and suburban train schedules for nearly 80 cities and urban areas around the world. Users can also bookmark often-visited locations such as their home or work.
Nokia has told Astound smartphone owners that they won't be upgraded to the latest Symbian OS release, Belle. Apart from thanking owners for their patience, it didn't say more. Its international equivalent, the C7, is getting the new version.
Nokia has began releasing its promised Nokia Belle software updates for a number of its handsets on Tuesday, a day earlier than expected for some. The handsets that will benefit from the changes now include the Nokia N8, E7, E6, X7, C6-01, C7, and Nokia Oro, with owners of the Nokia 500 having to wait a few more weeks. There are a number of changes with the update, with the easiest to notice being the new interface.
A Canalys wrap-up of 2011 smartphone share painted an overall picture that kept Apple and Google in front, but also provided clearer pictures of Windows Phone. Android was just short of an absolute majority at 48.8 percent, while the iPhone held 19.1 percent. Nokia's Symbian and RIM's BlackBerry still held on to the double digits at 16.4 percent and 10.5 percent each.
A potentially major rumor has Nokia accelerating the death of Symbian as a smartphone platform. The company has officially planned for a transition through 2013, but the Register heard only one new model, a sequel to the N8, was still in the works. Existing owners would get the Belle update, but every other project on the OS had supposedly been cancelled.
The sustained effect of the iPhone 4S launch has kept the iPhone growing at the same pace as Android in the US. Google's platform grew a collective 2.5 points over the fall to 47.3 percent, but Apple nearly matched it with a 2.2 percent hike to 29.6 percent. As with much of the past year, the two were only really drawing from other platforms, with the BlackBerry down nearly three points to 16 percent.
The Belle software update (no longer Symbian Belle) to Nokia handsets will come on a wider basis on February 8, at least to handsets in Vietnam. The information was revealed by Nokia Vietnam's Facebook page. It specifically references the Anna version of the software and the Nokia 603, 700, and 701 phones already coming with Belle.
Apple's record iPhone sales have led to Android shrinking for the first time in its over three-year history, ABI Research estimated Friday. Operating on the belief that next-closest Samsung shipped 33 million smartphones, it had Android's collective share drop from 52.5 percent in the summer to 47 percent this fall. Apart from the iPhone 4S' launch effect, Android had 'sagging midsection' where LG, Motorola, and Sony had been fighting just to become profitable.
Separate IHS iSuppli and Strategy Analytics studies Friday have backed Apple's rapid return to the top of the smartphone space in the fall. Determining that Samsung had shipped 36 million smartphones, slightly higher than Samsung's preliminary estimates, IHS iSuppli put Apple's 37 million iPhones just on top. Although Samsung nearly quadrupled the amount of smartphones it shipped and moved more year-long, Apple's higher starting point meant it could just double its yearly shipments to stay competitive.
Nokia has posted its financial results (pdf) revealing better than expected results. The Finnish company reports that it has sold ‘well over’ 1 million Windows Phone-based smartphones in combined sales of the Lumia 710 and the Lumia 800. However, while its core earnings beat market consensus, they were still down 73 percent as it sold less Symbian-based smartphones than it had forecast.
Nokia hit a milestone and a possible close to one phase of the industry on Wednesday after it sold its 1.5 billionth Symbian S40 phone. The device, an Asha 303 messaging phone, went to 21-year-old Mayara Rodrigues of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The platform has been around since 1999, starting with the Nokia 7110.
New reports from Danish carriers have suggested that the Nokia Lumia 800 may be experiencing iPhone-like demand. Talking to Mobilesiden, local telecom leader TDC's Morten Steen Jensen claimed to have seen the same kind of demand as for the iPhone 4S. While it's not clear which phone was next, the Windows Phone sold three times as many as its next-closest counterpart. Telia had the Lumia 800 second only to the iPhone.
IHS iSuppli made an optimistic estimate late Wednesday that Windows Phone would overtake the iPhone in market share by 2015. It saw Nokia's switch to Windows Phones like the Lumia 900 as a catalyst, taking Windows Phone from just 1.9 percent in 2011 to nine percent in 2012 and 16.7 percent in 2015. At that rate, it would just be ahead of Apple, which researchers thought would have 16.7 percent.
A new study from Check Point on Wednesday hints that iOS use may have pushed past the BlackBerry in at least one metric for corporate use. Among the device types connecting to 768 IT pros' networks in the US, 30 percent said the most common was one of Apple's mobile types at 30 percent. Just slightly less, 29 percent, pointed to the BlackBerry as the most common, while only 21 percent were pointing to Android.
Nokia and Ferd Capital revealed late Thursday that Nokia had quietly bought Ferd company Smarterphone. The deal, which had been wrapped up in November but only just made public this week, was intended to give Nokia's basic feature phones a "user experience similar to smart phones" using Smartphone's software. The terms of the deal hadn't been given out.
In spite of its device share, Android is losing ground in terms of actual use online, NetApplications found on New Year's Day. Android slipped to 16.3 percent of mobile web share in December, or the same share it had in September. Unusually, most of the loss came to otherwise shrinking platforms: Java ME bounced back to get just under 21.3 percent, Symbian returned to 5.8 percent, and even the BlackBerry recovered slightly to 3.5 percent.
December StatCounter data has shown an unusual resurgence in Symbian on the web at the very end of 2011. Having dipped under 30 percent in October, Nokia's platform not only bounced back but nearly matched its high for the year at just over 33.5 percent in December. Most of the drop appeared to come at the expense of iOS, which shed a point and a half to reach 22.6 percent.
Seiko Epson stated Monday that it was paying Nokia $80 million to settle its part of a Nokia lawsuit over price fixing for cellphone LCDs. Although Seiko Epson still denied that it colluded with others on artificially hiking LCD prices, it decided to pay $80 million rather than risk a product ban. Nokia wasn't requiring an admission of liability in return for dropping the lawsuits, but Seiko Epson argued that it was being pressed into a payment it wasn't ready to make.
After being saddled with questions about why it dropped the Symbian name from the latest OS update for its smartphones, Nokia has responded in a blog post. Nokia's Head of Symbian Product Marketing, Vesa Jutila, wrote that the Symbian Belle name is still being used for developers, with the Nokia Belle name reserved for end-users. The explanation isn't very informative, however.
