"renegadefanboy" via Amby in Google Reader

Nokia Booklet 3G Review

Mark Wilson — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST

The Nokia Booklet 3G is one of the nicest netbooks you can buy, with a build that aspires to be a 10-inch MacBook Pro. But it's still just a netbook, and therein lies the problem.

Price

$300 with 2-year AT&T contract, $600 à la carte

Verdict

Nokia has built a great netbook, but they've done nothing to redefine the genre. Their 10-inch Booklet 3G has your typical 1.6GHz Atom, 120GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM. Running Windows 7, that means the performance is just passable. I'd be this close to pounding my head against the wall when a program would begin installing or a video would load.

That's typical.

What's ever so less typical is the sharp, sub-3lb unibody-esque construction (complete with sweet MacBook-like under-hatch battery and a hinge that bends nearly 180-degrees), HDMI output (not that you can really playback HD videos smoothly on an Atom) and, of course, solid integrated 3G and integrated GPS (though Nokia's bundled Ovi software apparently requires a phone or PC to activate, and after 30 minutes of fiddling, I honestly gave up on mapping.)
The battery life is impressive, too. In nonstop 3G browsing and app running with the screen at 80% brightness, the machine's svelte 16-cell battery ran for a bit over 6 hours and 30 minutes. That was a strenuous test, and dimming the screen and/or browsing through Wi-Fi should truly be enough to get you through the workday sans-recharge. (For instance, CrunchGear's John Biggs reported a pretty remarkable 10 hours of movie playback.)

But alas, even for a nice netbook, the Booklet's price is a bit too opulent for what you're really getting: an ever-so gussied up version of the same machine you could buy from Acer, Asus, HP, etc, for half the price (before subsidies). Meanwhile, there are plenty of ULV systems in the $700 range with bigger screens, better performance and portable-minded design (of course, they'll mostly require 3G dongles).

Give me some rhinestones and a bit more power, and we'll talk. Or just hand me back my iPhone.

Quality build

Long battery life

Plastic monitor back makes whole thing feel cheaper

It's still a $600 netbook

Are T-Mobile And Nokia Making Up?

TheGuru — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:54 PST

While Nokia has always done decently in the U.S. market with its boring S40-powered featurephones, it has struggled to get the major carriers to carry its Symbian-powered smartphones. There are currently 3 Symbian-powered smartphones available from AT&T, which is a good improvement, but T-Mobile is the other GSM carrier, and there’s not much of anything over there – yet. The Nokia N900, Nokia’s first Maemo-powered device with a SIM card, includes support for T-Mobile’s oddball 1700/2100MHz 3G network, and just started shipping yesterday.

In other related news, it appears as though a version of the Nokia 5230 has slipped through the FCC sporting support for T-Mobile’s 3G network, too. The 5230 is essentially a cheaper (if that’s even possible) version of the 5800 XpressMusic, with a newly redesigned homescreen but lacking built-in WiFi. The 5230 also features a 3.2-inch nHD touchscreen display, built-in GPS, 2 megapixel camera, and standard 3.5mm audio port.

Neither Nokia nor T-Mobile have made any announcements, but given that T-Mobile is the *only* carrier in the world to use this oddball 1700/2100MHz 3G network, it only makes sense that there would be something coming soon. T-Mobile also has a slightly better history with Symbian, having launched quite a few phones back in the day. The 5230 could possibly signal a resurgence, but time will tell.

You can peruse the FCC filing here.

[via Cell Phone Signal]

Win An N97 Mini From Vringo And Symbian-Guru

TheGuru — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:33:23 PST

That’s right, we’ve teamed up with the gang at Vringo, the video ringtone app, to offer you a way to get your hands on the newest Symbian-powered touchscreen smartphone from Nokia, the N97 Mini. Vringo is a video ringtone application that also allows you to browse and download thousands of cool videos, right on your phone. You can set these videos as ringtones for your friends, and you can even set the video that your friend will see when you call them (assuming they’re using Vringo, too). The application has recently been updated for Nokia’s S60 5th Edition-powered smartphones, such as the new N97 Mini, or the 5800 XpressMusic, and can be downloaded straight from the Ovi Store here.

So, how do you win an N97 Mini from Vringo and Symbian-Guru.com? It’s easy, just get your creative juices flowing. To enter, you’ll need to put together a video rendition of the classic Nokia ringtone, no longer than 30 seconds. Upload your video to any video hosting site, tag it with ‘sgvringocontest‘, and then leave a comment on this post with a link to the video. It’s really that easy! The entries will be judged by the teams at Symbian-Guru.com and Vringo.com, and a winner will be announced at the end of November.

Entries will be judged on creativity and enthusiasm, so bust out your kazoo, cowbell, or whatever else you can find. The winner will not only receive a brand new Nokia N97 Mini, but will also possibly have their entry pre-loaded into the Vringo application, for others to use! Here’s the rules and whatnot:

Only one entry per person – so make it count.
Contest runs until midnight CST on November 24, 2009, so make sure your video is uploaded, processed, and your link posted as a comment here all before the deadline. Late entries will not be accepted.
Entries must be less than 30 seconds long.
There are no geographical limitations – anyone in the world is welcome to participate
The winner will be contacted via email, so make sure you put one when you comment with your video link
Any video with excessive profanity, racial slurs, or any other inappropriate content will be eliminated and removed from the contest. We are the final judge on what is deemed inappropriate, so keep it clean, folks.

Video: Nokia in 2015 – The Way We Live Next

Cj — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:38 PST

Nokia takes a look into its crystal ball. If you’ve ever wondered what life will be like five years from now, take a look at our short video which shines a light on how we think mobile devices and services will evolve.

Video: N900 – TV-out and Video Sharing

Cj — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 07:30:54 PST

Steffen from the Maemo 5 UI Team, shows how you can view what’s on your phone’s screen using the TV-out capabilities and how to share a video.

If you build it (so it's sexy) will they come?

(author unknown) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:13:47 PST

Roy Tanck hits the nail on the head with his observations on both Opera and Gravity. In his thoughts on Opera Mobile (which we reviewed here) he says that "the Norwegian company has made browsing fun again". This follows on from the "much needed sexiness" that Gravity added. The question is whether manufacturers realise this is just as important as an environmentally friendly box or a new wallpaper?

At the start of any new technology, the money is always made in selling shovels, the tools that are needed to get people involved. Time passes and the technology matures and while people still want shovels, it's not at the top of their list. What is at the top of the list now is the eye candy, the sexiness, and the graphics that slide around the screen nicely. It's why app stores and third party developers are important in the modern ecosystem.

You'd be hard pressed to argue that Apple is not sexy in the modern smartphone world. And, while the Symbian Foundation is making noises about updating the user interface to something more slick in the next version (quick, make a reference to the story of the Ugly Duckling), their strategy up until now has been to create the best tool in the world at the Operating System level, leaving it up to the licencees to implement the UI. Time has of course left us with S60 as the dominant UI, but while it was sufficient a couple of years ago, now it looks more like a shovel than a beautiful garden.

What can the Symbian Foundation do? Well they're showing promise that something sexy is coming along by flashing a bit of leg with their UI Concept video. On top of that there are more hints every day that there are amazing things in the roadmap, but much of these are tools in the SDK's and tool-chains for the developers to create good third party applications. Will the Symbian Foundation make it easy enough for developers to make sexy applications?

The problem could be that these tools and the existing platforms aren't sexy enough to attract new developers. Having a few poster child applications is a good start, but the Symbian Foundation not only needs to make the tools, but prove that these tools can be used (by others) to create the eye-catching applications. They're going to have to bootstrap a new app economy, with lots of razzamattazz and showbizness. And I'm wondering if they have that in them.

Ewan Spence

Firefox For Maemo Updated To Beta 5

TheGuru — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:59:25 PST

The Mozilla team just announced a new version of ‘Fennec’, which is also known as Firefox for Maemo. The new version, Beta 5, includes several updates, listed below. I’ve tried Fennec on various Maemo devices, including the N800, N810, and now the N900, and this version is the first that I would consider even remotely usable. It launches in seconds, rather than minutes, which is a first step towards usability.This new browser for the Nokia N900 is still somewhat slow, even over my home WiFi network, though the interface is, in my opinion, much nicer than the built-in browser. After a bit of loading, this new version has no problems rendering the full version of Maemo-Guru.com, in fact.

One cool thing about Firefox for Maemo is the Weave add-on, which allows you to synchronize information between your desktop and N900. This is one of the things that was missing in every one of the previous Maemo devices, and I’m really glad to have the ability to easily sync bookmarks and tabs with my device finally. The implementation is still somewhat buggy, but I’m still glad to see someone working on it. I would also like to see Xmarks.com update their add-on to support Firefox for Maemo in the near future, as well.

Here’s the list of improvements from the Mozilla team:

Firefox official branding, with Firefox name and logo
Support for multiple locales, currently including Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Russian
Flash sites such as YouTube now work
The viewport meta tag is now supported by Firefox on mobile sites using it
New form assistant to make filling in forms easier
Improved panning and zooming performance and behavior
Numerous other bugs and polish issues addressed

Not bad, though I can’t help but wonder how many betas we’ll have before we get the finished product. You can get Firefox for Mobile installed on your N900 by going to http://www.mozilla.com/m in your device’s browser.

Why Nokia Struggles With Services

TheGuru — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:20:53 PST

Yesterday I caught a great post from Ewan Spence about the second failing of N-Gage, and what it really means to Nokia’s whole services strategy. Ewan was able to look at the bigger picture and see that N-Gage has (twice) suffered a similar fate to other Nokia services, and it’s something that Nokia really needs to work on. Basically, they launch things with an awesome initial vision, and do great at that. Unfortunately, after a few maintenance releases/updates, they move on to something else.

While at first this would seem to be limited to just Nokia’s services, it’s clear to me that this also plagues their device lineup. Given that Nokia is a phone manufacturer first, it’s no surprise that they’ve carried on handset manufacturing norms into their services execution. And that, my friends, is why Nokia continually struggles with its services offerings.

This is how Nokia has always done things in the mobile arena, though. They launch a phone with all the marketing to go behind it – real ads, viral ads, etc. After a few months, they release a firmware update or two to fix bugs, maybe add a few features, that sort of thing. After a year or so, if the phone turns out not to be very popular, it’s finished, relegated to the back stockroom (ala N76, N93i, etc). If it does prove to be popular, it’s gifted with another 12-18 months of updates and attention, ala N95.

After 2 years or so, the device, regardless of popularity, is forgotten, lost in the midst of new devices that are cooler. While this makes total sense in the tangible field of mobile phones, it doesn’t make any sense in the intangible services world. It happens, though. Look at Ovi Sync, Nokia ViNe, Ovi Share, Ovi Files, N-Gage, the list goes on. Sure, there are a few stand-outs, like Ovi Maps or Nokia Messaging, but the rest simply fall back.

Contrast this to the competition, namely the iPhone and Android devices. While the hardware is likely to experience the same fate (and rightfully so, as new hardware becomes available), the supporting services are there, and constantly improved. iTunes gets updated frequently, with new features and abilities and bugfixes. The various Google services that are integrated with Android are constantly being improved here and there, such as the addition of Exchange support to Google’s synchronization capabilities, and added features in Gmail.

If Nokia wants to really make some waves with their services, they’re going to need to commit to them for the long haul. To do this, they’re going to have to continually update them, specifically to work with the newer devices. When I got the N97 so long ago for review, it was incompatible with Ovi Sync, and no one could tell me why. Ovi Files has operated the same since it was purchased (it used to be called Avvenu), with no additional features or anything.

Pannon and T-Mobile introduce Nokia Messaging in Hungary

Cj — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:00:43 PST

Straight from the Press Release :

Budapest, Hungary – Pannon, T-Mobile and Nokia announced today that they will bring Nokia Messaging, Nokia’s easy-to-use email service to their customers having Nokia enabled devices in Hungary. From the 1 st November, all Pannon customers and postpaid T-Mobile customers will be able to access the Nokia Messaging push e-mail service, which supports all leading consumer e-mail solutions, such as Ovi Mail, Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail as well as the major local e-mail services, such as Citromail, Indamail and Freemail.

“In today’s world, access is of key importance – not only the access to information but also the access to each other. Mobile phones pose an obvious solution to keep in touch with each other, and the combination of a handset and an e-mail solution is perfectly in line with Pannon’s goals to offer services to our customers that make their lives easier” – said Gergely Laczkó Tóth, acting CMO of Pannon.

“T-Mobile offers numerous solutions for the ever more popular mobile phone based messaging to its customers, and the offer may become even more complete by introducing NokiaMessaging, as subscribers can pick the solutions best matching their needs. Subscribers increasingly expect the capability to make telephone calls, internet connections and watch TV anytime and anywhere – to have the freedom of accessing information or entertain themselves. Jointly with our partners – e.g. the market leader mobile phone manufacturer Nokia – we wish to fully meet these expectations, building upon our internationally acknowledged, excellent quality network” – said János Winkler, Head of T-Mobile in Hungary, COO Magyar Telekom.

“We are pleased to make this announcement simultaneously with Pannon and T-Mobile. Nokia aims to make mobile e-mail available for as many people as possible; therefore the fact that two Hungarian operators offer Nokia Messaging is an important milestone. With Nokia Messaging, we can meet the need of people to access their public e-mail whenever they want, wherever they want” – said Marcus Störkel, Country Manager for Nokia in Hungary.

Nokia Messaging is an easy to set-up and easy to use push email service which allows the user to mobilize up to ten personal e-mail accounts on one device. With Nokia Messaging, people get the benefit of real time messaging and are able to read, send, forward and reply to emails, view subfolders, download and read attachments and also attach files to emails in real time. Using the push e-mail technology e-mail is swiftly and automatically sent to the mobile phone, without needing to retrieve it. Many users want to enjoy the flexibility of different accounts for each of their communities.

The Nokia Messaging service can be tested for 30 days free of charge. Following the test period it will be available for a monthly charge. Users can initiate the activation of the service at the customer service of their mobile operator. The service can be used with Nokia E52, E66, E72, E71 and N97 mobile phones.

Further information about Nokia Messaging is available on the site of Nokia at http://email.nokia.com as well as on the websites of the operators (www.pannon.hu and www.t-mobile.hu)

About Pannon
Pannon is one of Hungary’s leading mobile operators. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Telenor of Norway, Pannon entered the Hungarian market in 1994. By the end of Q4 2008, Pannon had 3.731 million active subscriptions and a market share of 33.9%. Besides voice services, Pannon’s business is increasingly dominated by mobile Internet. In addition to its EDGE network available to 99% of Hungary’s population for e-mail and browsing, Pannon is continuously developing its 3G/HSDPA network offering the highest mobile data transfer rates. The 3G/HSPA network is currently available in 434 towns and villages across Hungary. Pannon is a leader also in the Hungarian CR landscape: its corporate responsibility initiatives include the Pannon Példakép Foundation, support for public causes, as well as arts and sports sponsorship. www.pannon.hu

About T-Mobile
T-Mobile is the mobile services brand of Magyar Telekom. Magyar Telekom is the largest telecommunication service provider of Hungary, offering the whole range of telecommunication and infocommunication (ICT) services. Further information: www.t-mobile.hu

Stat Clash: Nokia 5230 Vs Nokia 5800

Mikey Bee — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:30:39 PST

The Nokia 5230 is rumoured to be set for launch in the New Year and in many ways it the next logical successor to the super-selling Nokia 5800, as it takes many of the features of the 8-million selling Nokia 5800 but brings with it a slightly cheaper entry-point and a raft of new colours. So, is the Nokia 5230 going to steal your affections? There is only one way to find out and that is with out Stat Clash: Nokia 5230 Vs Nokia 5800…

The Nokia 5230 is a 3.2-inch touchscreen device that apparently comes with a full-screen ’soft’ QWERTY keyboard, as well as the new Homescreen we first saw on the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic. This means you’ll be able to load four of your favourite apps straight from the homescreen, including the likes of Facebook and YouTube.

The big thing about the Nokia 5230 is that it will ship in a range of colours and you’ll be able to pick up a standard version for 149 Euros (£130). Like the Nokia 5800 Comes With Music Edition, there will also be a Nokia 5230 Comes With Music that will set you back just 259 Euros (£225) where Comes With Music is in operation.

In the meantime, we thought we’d see how it stacks up against everyone’s current favourite media touchscreen phone, in a stat clash we call Nokia 5230 v Nokia 5800!

Screen: Both the Nokia 5800 and Nokia 5230 share a similarity in the size and resolution of screen. Both has a 3.2-inch touchscreen display with 640 x 360 pixels and 16:9 aspect ratios. So, not much to split them apart at this stage.

Size & weight: The Nokia 5800 has in our opinion a fantastic design, and one that has been built for the mass-market. Measuring 111 x 52 x 16mm it feels great in the hand and has an overall weight of 109g. In many respects, the Nokia 5230 looks and feels a lot like the Nokia 5800 but like the Nokia 5530 it uses a slightly squared off design and slightly less impressive plastic casing. As a result, the Nokia 5230 is slightly slimmer, measuring 11 x 51.7 x 14.5mm, but weighing in at a tad heavier 113g.

Processor: When it comes to processing power, you’ll find that the Nokia X6 shares the same processor as the Nokia 5230 (and the Nokia N97 and Nokia N97 mini for that matter). This is the ARM 11 CPU, which has a clock speed of 434MHz, so we can expect apps to load as quickly and smoothly as they do on current generation of devices.

Check out the Nokia 5230 Hands-on

Memory: If the Nokia 5800 has one major flaw, then it would be the lack of internal memory, at it comes with just 81MB of internal memory. Even so, this is better than the Nokia 5230, which like the Nokia 5530 XpressMusic find room for just 70MB. However, you can always add 16GB of storage space using the microSD slot to either device.

Camera: The Nokia 5800 comes with a pretty smooth camera in the form of a 3.2-Megapixel CCD with Carl Zeiss optics with dual-LED Flash. We’ve found it a great camera for most occasions. Where the Nokia 5230 differs is that Nokia has knocked the camera down to an entry-level 2-Megapixel CCD with maximum resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels.

Check out our Nokia 5800 review

There we have it, the stat clash we’ve been waiting for and it looks like the Nokia 5800 may well have finally met its match. The Nokia 5230 looks set to be something of a mainstream wonder. The question is, will you be switching from the Nokia 5800 to get a little more colour in your life or are you happy with the best selling Nokia touchscreen around? Let us know in the Comments below.

Nokia N97 and Ovi Maps rocks!

Rich G — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:30:30 PST

With all the fuss surrounding the Nokia N900 it’s easy to forget that the Nokia N97 and its slighter sibling, the Nokia N97 Mini, is the flagship Symbian S60 device. As if we needed reminded, Nokia has put together a great little video that shows off the Nokia N97 and the latest version of Ovi Maps. It’s worth checking out how much the Nokia N97 and Ovi Maps rock – you’ll find it after the jump…

Nokia launched the Nokia N900 with a very weird but totally complusive ‘The Nokia N900 – The Journey Starts Here’ video yesterdayand is more along the lines of a Chris Cunningham video than Nokia’s usual attempts. However, for it’s latest venture with Ovi Maps Nokia has gone for a more television friendly feel and in line with Nokia’s usual marketing campaigns.

The video sees a man – in a suit – using his Nokia N97 to make the most of Ovi facilities in conjunction with ‘Good Things’ to locate a “private” party atop a futuristic sky-scraper with other, less formally dressed individuals. As usual, there are no old people present, and everything seems very Utopian and perfect.

On route, we see the internal workings of the Nokia N900 as our protagonist navigates the city, checks updates, and send messages to people via the Nokia N97’s on board Life Casting facilities. It’s a slice of nice marketing that shows off the Nokia N97 and Ovi Maps to its best advantage.

Check out the Nokia N97 Mini Ovi Maps video:

Video: Nokia's Vision of Mobile Devices in 2015

Danny Allen — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:36:21 PST

This cool dual-display handheld netbook concept is one of several devices Nokia imagines we'll see just a few years from now. Check out this video they just presented at their Way We Live Next 3.0 event in Finland.

The twin-screen netbook concept splits into a smaller handset when you're on the move, and can also act as a computer, GPS, and TV-connected media center. In the video, Nokia also uses it to demonstrate how it sees cloud-based services being used. When you're in an area with fast wireless broadband, the device could use remote servers to help crunch streaming video and sync data, but it would also be self-sufficient when you're not.

Cool stuff, but 2015 is but 5 years away, Nokia. Better get a move on. [SlashGear]

Nokia N97/N97 mini: part 2 - The OS, The Interface, The Apps

(author unknown) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:05:11 PST

In part 1 of this review mini-series, I looked at the form factor, design, build quality and performance of the Nokia N97 and N97 mini, concluding that the mini was the more streamlined product of the two, with another six months of design behind it. In this second part, I look at the OS, interface and applications. Can the N97 and N97 mini hold their heads up in 2009?

"All of which is not to defend every decision made by the S60 user interface teams over the last few years. The v20 update, with its kinetic scrolling in every menu, dialog and pane, is clearly a whole heap more intuitive than the 'scrollbar' driven system still used today on the Nokia 5800. And some of the application interfaces are downright disjointed - for example the Options/Actions split in both Web and the Camera apps. But the end result is something which is still very usable - if not perfect. There's simply too much heritage and too much functions to radically overhaul the UI without throwing things away. I'm guessing that Symbian^4 in a year or so's time will be the point where there's a whole new interface and hoping that not too much of the existing functionality gets ditched"

Read on

Top up your Oyster with Symbian

Rich G — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:30:30 PST

Everybody knows the feeling, you tap your Oyster card on the gates to get a tube and bang, red light, there’s no money left on it, which usually means joining the back of another massive queue to top it back up. Obviously, this is never a good thing, particularly when you’re in a rush. Fortunately, thanks to the Symbian Foundation, this could be a thing of the past. Read on after the jump to find out more.

The Symbian Foundation announced this week that it’s planning to incorporate NFC (Near Field Technology) into the next generation of Symbian operating systems.

Sean Puckrin, head of community support at the Symbian Foundation, revealed at the third annual Way We Live Next Nokia development conference this week that the next generation of Symbian OSs (S^3 and S^4) would have NFC technology built directly into them. This will allow for short range wireless communication with other electrical-wireless gadgets.

The first handsets to feature NFC technology should be with us by the second half of next 2010.

In addition, the technology will be open to third party developers, meaning NFC technology can be built into applications and widgets. So, in this sense, topping up your Oyster is the tip of the iceberg as you could potentially use NFC to purchase cinema tickets, train tickets, or even hook up you’re handset to your car stereo.

Sound good? Tell us what you think in the Comments below.

Via: Nokia Conversations

Nokia Twin-Screen smartphone a possibility

Mikey Bee — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:12:15 PST

Nokia’s ‘The Way We Live Next‘ conference in Espoo, Finland has started to heat up, as the second day of show-and-tell gets under way. One thing to emerge that looks amazing is the possibility of a Nokia smartphone with two screens! Find out more about the Nokia Twin-Screen smartphone after the jump…

In a presentation that offered an insight into how we’ll be living in 2015, Nokia’s senior vice-president of corporate strategy Heikki Norta has shown off a device with two screens that makes full use of ‘The Cloud’ for accessing all your files, media and email without any need for it to be stored on your device.

The video went on to highlight how these new devices will help make the world a more mercurial place, but it’ll allow people to control their lives more directly. The example shown is of a fisherman in India. Not only will he use his device to get the best prices for his fish, he’ll be making extra money by selling his data to overseas universities who can tap into his and other fishermen’s information for their research.

OK, so none of this is new but it shows that Nokia has a long term vision that it’s working towards. So, what do you think, will the world be a dual-screen reality by 2015? What’s more, will the mobile world be carried out in the Cloud? Let us know what you think in the Comments below.

Check out the Nokia vision of 2015 video:

Via: Nokia Conversations

Nokia N97 Mini White Edition Launched

Mikey Bee — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:30:12 PST

The Nokia N97 Mini launched a couple of weeks back and came in its shiny Cherry Black livery, which if we’re honest has more than a hint of copper brown to it. However, it’s time to start getting excited about the Nokia N97 Mini White Edition, as it’s popped up exclusively on Phones4u. Find out how to get your hands on a Nokia N97 Mini White Edition for free after the jump…

With its 3.2-inch screen, full QWERTY slide-out keyboard and 5-Megapixel Carl Zeiss optics camera, the Nokia N97 Mini White Edition is very much the same as the standard version but happens to come in a stunning crystal white livery.

As was suggested last week, the Nokia N97 Mini White Edition has popped up as an exclusive to retailer Phones4u and is tied to an Orange contract at the moment. This has us wondering if and when (and to whom) the Nokia N97 Mini Black Edition will be offered by, as we’ve still not heard anything about this handset.

You can get the Nokia N97 Mini White Edition for free and pay just £25 a month on an 18-month contract. For this, you’ll get the best looking Nokia N97 Mini around, as well as 600 minutes talk-time and 3000 texts a month.

So, thinking of plumbing for the Nokia N97 Mini? Let us know which version you like the best in the Comments below.

A Qt powered S60 interface looks a bit like this

(author unknown) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:44:24 PST

We've been hearing a lot about Qt running on Symbian OS and how it's going to help, but this video (from the recent Qt Developer Day) shows how the current S60 UI would act if it was powered by Qt. It's still recognisable as the interface that many have a love/hate relationship, but it gives a nice touchstone to jump off from to the next iteration of UI.

Thanks to Zomg it's CJ for pointing out the video.

Maemoproject – the journey starts here

amby — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:21:27 PST

Download: Leona Lewis ‘Happy’

Mikey Bee — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:30:41 PST

After her stunning performance on X-Factor, this year’s contestants have a lot to learn. What’s more, it was a sure-fire guarantee that the Leona Lewis single ‘Happy‘ would make it to Nokia Music Single of the Week. This big tune could only be handled by a singer with a voice as confident as Leona’s. Find out how you can download Leona Lewis ‘Happy’ for free from Comes With Music…

Leona Lewis ‘Happy’ is the cracking new single from the former X-Factor winner and looks like it’ll top the charts later this week, no doubt chopping runners-up JLS from the top spot.

Lyric wise, ‘Happy’ find Leona leaving an old lover, striking out on her own to find happiness – ‘I gotta find my place I wanna hear my sound, Don’t care about all the pain in front of me, ‘Cause I’m just trying to be happy.’ Does she find it? You can bet your boots she does!

Leona Lewis ‘Happy’ is an amazing song with a dynamic and huge sounding track with a single that seems to come out of nowhere. Sure, she could be accused of milking the sentimentality and cheesyness of her earlier single ‘Bleeding Love’ but ‘Happy’ does exactly what it says on the tin and leaves the listener, well, erm happy!

Now, to buy this as a download from Nokia Music will cost you just 79p, which is a bargain for so much good music. However, if you’ve signed up for Comes With Music then you’ll be able to download Leona Lewis ‘Happy’ and anything else from the six million plus online catalogue, free of charge. What’s more, anything you download is yours to keep forever – something you won’t find with other online services.

Nokia Music has over six million tracks and it’s been added to almost daily. Every week, you’ll find the latest Single and Album of the week being promoted, along with the official Top 40 Singles and Album charts.To find out more about Comes With Music and which Nokia handsets support the service, head on over to Comes With Music

AAS Insight 94 - Google Mobile Search, Opera 10, Symbian UI

(author unknown) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:50:00 PST

In All About Symbian Insight 94 (AAS Podcast 158), we round up a few loose items from SEE 2009 - the Nokia 6788 and the open sourcing of the EKA2 kernel. Then there's discussion of the official enabling of Ovi Store downloads, live tests of Google voice recognition in its Mobile Search product, thoughts on Opera 10 Mobile for Symbian from Ewan, news of a Symbian UI concept video from Rafe and details of the new version of BBC iPlayer from Steve. You can listen to AAS Insight 94 here or, if you wish to subscribe, here's the RSS feed.

In this podcast we cover:

SEE 2009 Extras - Nokia 6788 and EKA2 kernel
Ovi Store re-downloads
Google Mobile Search with voice recognition
Opera 10 Mobile Symbian release
Symbian UI concept video
iPlayer update to version 2.5

Got a question or a topic you would like us to ponder and discuss in the next podcast? Got some feedback from us (love it or hate it)? Get in touch and let us know.

Some people have reported problems playing the podcasts via RSS. If your MP3 'loops back', can you let us (Rafe) know? We need some data points in order to be able to solve the problem. Thanks.

"renegadefanboy" via Amby in Google Reader

Nokia Booklet 3G Review

Price

Verdict

Are T-Mobile And Nokia Making Up?

Related Posts

Win An N97 Mini From Vringo And Symbian-Guru

Related Posts

Video: Nokia in 2015 – The Way We Live Next

Related Posts:

Video: N900 – TV-out and Video Sharing

Related Posts:

If you build it (so it's sexy) will they come?

Firefox For Maemo Updated To Beta 5

Related Posts

Why Nokia Struggles With Services

Related Posts

Pannon and T-Mobile introduce Nokia Messaging in Hungary

Related Posts:

Stat Clash: Nokia 5230 Vs Nokia 5800

Nokia N97 and Ovi Maps rocks!

Video: Nokia's Vision of Mobile Devices in 2015

Nokia N97/N97 mini: part 2 - The OS, The Interface, The Apps

Top up your Oyster with Symbian

Nokia Twin-Screen smartphone a possibility

Nokia N97 Mini White Edition Launched

A Qt powered S60 interface looks a bit like this

Maemoproject – the journey starts here

Download: Leona Lewis ‘Happy’

AAS Insight 94 - Google Mobile Search, Opera 10, Symbian UI