The Nokia Blog

TripAdvisor Now Available in Ovi Store and Ovi Maps

Mark Guim — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:24:16 +0000

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest (and my favorite) travel site just announced a new partnership with Nokia that includes an app and an integration of the service into Ovi Maps. It launches today in select markets, with full global roll-out scheduled within a month.

The app will let travelers search for popular hotels, restaurants and attractions in their vicinity, as well as find the cheapest airfares available. It will be available in 12 languages, so travellers around the globe get a localized TripAdvisor experience.

“Our collaboration with Nokia further strengthens our commitment to providing trusted and valuable travel advice at home or on the go,” said Steve Kaufer, TripAdvisor founder and CEO, in the press release. “We are thrilled to launch TripAdvisor for Nokia which gives even more travelers a new way to access the more than 35 million traveler reviews and opinions available on TripAdvisor.”

I’m in the US and do not see the app or integration through the Ovi Store or Ovi Maps yet. Let us know if you can download it already from your region.

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Nokia C7 Leaked in Hong Kong Magazine

Mark Guim — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:32:36 +0000

The Nokia C7 has not been officially announced yet, but that doesn’t stop the Hong Kong Hi-Tech magazine from getting their hands on one early. It features Symbian^3, 3.3-inch 640×360 resolution capacitive display, 8mp camera, 720p video, dual LED flash, and so on.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Nokia C7. Some photos were already leaked last June. Pricing and availability is still unknown, but mobile insider Eldar Murtazin claims it will be around 270 Euros. If this illustration is correct, the Nokia C7 will be the top model in Nokia’s Cseries lineup.

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Nokia N8 in Black, Silver, Orange Now Available for Pre-Order in Italy

Mark Guim — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:57:38 +0000

Eager Italians can now pre-order the Nokia N8 for €469 (about $610). The official online shop shows it will be available at the end of September. If you’re ordering one, don’t forget to enter the code CONSEGNAGRATUITA to get free shipping.

Only three colors can be pre-ordered at the Nokia Italy shop so far: black, silver, and orange. We’re not sure when you can get the green or blue version.

The Nokia N8 features Symbian^3, 3.5-inch AMOLED display,12mp camera with Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon flash, Dolby Digital Plus, and more. We’ve had our hands-on with a prototype Nokia N8 last month. Click here for more details.

I’m looking forward to this device. After reading Vanjoki’s promise, it’s really important for Nokia to make sure it doesn’t suck. We’ll see in September.

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US Prices for Nokia C6, E5, and C3 Revealed

Mark Guim — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:26:54 +0000

The Nokia C6, E5, and C3 get official US pricing at the Nokia online store. They’re all in the pre-order page, but clicking on any of the devices for more details at the time of publishing this post, results in an error page. This means these devices are coming soon, but we’re not sure when exactly. We’ll keep you updated.

The Nokia C3, Nokia C6, and Nokia E5 were announced last April. Nokia was pitching them as affordable handsets designed around messaging and social networking. Prices are listed below:

Nokia C3 $129 USD
Nokia C6 $309 USD
Nokia E5 $259 USD

Thanks @JosueGimenez for the tip!

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Framestore Releases New Videos about FX Studio – an App for Nokia N8

Mark Guim — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 15:12:53 +0000

You already know that Framestore is working on a cool visual effects app for the Nokia N8, right? If you’re excited about it like me, then you’d also like to know that they’ve published new videos about mobile and web-based FX Studio that will allow you to add Hollywood-quality special effects to your video clips. The preview of the sample effects look great so far. Take a look.

Click here if any of the videos below aren’t visible in your RSS reader.

‘An intro to FX Studio’

‘How it works on your phone’

‘Cannon test’

‘Ghost’

Headbanging Penguin

It’s going to be interesting how people are going to use this app on their new Nokia. The effects can be used in fun clips, but it isn’t hard to imagine an ambitious filmmaker create a short film with these effects.

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Spotted: Ad for Nokia X6 and 5230 Running Android

Mark Guim — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:41:01 +0000

Who’s getting fired for this? A poster showing the Nokia X6 and Nokia 5230 running Android was spotted on Oxford Street in London. The ad was for Three Mobile. It’s definitely a marketing error because Nokia recently said there were no plans to use Android with their devices. I hope you didn’t get your hopes up.

The ad was spotted by Maurico Reyes, who uploaded it on his Posterous account. While I wouldn’t mind playing with a Nokia device running Android, the head of Mobile Solutions for Nokia, Anssi Vanjoki, already confirmed, “despite rumors to the contrary, there are no plans to introduce an Android device from Nokia.”

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Meet @NokiaCareUS – Official Nokia Support on Twitter for North America

Mark Guim — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:59:03 +0000

We just got word that a whole team of folks will be working on the ~~@NokiaUSCare~~ @NokiaCareUS twitter account to answer questions you have about Nokia products or the Ovi Store. The account was created last June but they just tweeted about the launch today. This could be the fastest way to let someone at Nokia know about the issues you’re experiencing.

Update: Name was changed to @NokiaCareUS.

At the time of publishing this post, the ~~@NokiaUSCare~~ NokiaCareUS twitter account has 11 followers and only following the @NokiaUS account. They will be serving North America.

I’ve reached out for more info and will update this post once I get a response. Have a question about your device or the Ovi Store? Why don’t you try asking them now?

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Meego Chosen as the In-Vehicle Infotainment Platform By GENIVI Alliance

Mark Guim — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:01:02 +0000

The Linux foundation just announced that Meego will be the next platform to be used for In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) by the GENIVI Alliance. To name a few, this major automotive alliance consists of members like BMW, GM, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Peugeot, and more. No timetable was announced, but they mentioned the reference design builds upon the Meego handset platform which isn’t expected until October this year.

Meego is a Linux based platform that will support a vast range of devices including netbooks, tablets, phones, and more. It was created last February by Intel and Nokia with the merge of their Moblin and Maemo platforms. The first Meego-powered Nokia device is expected later this year.

“We selected MeeGo as the open source basis for our platform because it is technically innovative and can provide the cross architecture build support we require for our references,” said Graham Smethurst, President of GENIVI. “Working with MeeGo we expect to establish a solution that effectively merges IVI needs with those of the other MeeGo target device categories.”

The announcement shows a lot of potential and I’m anxious to see how it will be implemented. An example I can imagine is planning a trip on your computer or phone, then syncing with your car IVI for drive navigation. Once you find a parking spot around your destination, you can use the phone to navigate you the rest of the way.

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Get the Nokia N900 for $1 When You See the Flashing Egg

Mark Guim — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 16:14:25 +0000

Nokia and Newegg are currently running a promotion over the next month that might interest you. They will be offering some pretty exciting offers on some of Nokia’s latest devices but it requires you to have a quick eye. When you see the egg on the widget flashing (embedded after the jump), it means one of the offers has gone live. For example, one of these deals is a voucher for a Nokia N900 for just $1.

I’ve embedded the egg below. Click here if you don’t see it in your RSS reader.

The first person to click on the flashing widget will get the chance to win one of these deals. But don’t worry; if you don’t get through first you will be automatically entered into a prize draw for some other Nokia goodies. The first offer will be kicking off today, so keep your eyes peeled for the flashing egg.

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Apple Shows the Nokia N97 Mini Loses Signal if You Hold it in Awkward Way

Mark Guim — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:31:44 +0000

Apple did not want to leave the issue alone and published a video showing their own antenna test on the Nokia N97 mini. The iPhone 4 antenna press conference was held 5 days ago, so why was this video just published? Is Apple being petty?

Video is embedded below. Click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

Apple concluded that the Nokia N97 mini dropped from 7 bars to 2 bars when held in this extremely awkward way…

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Nokia C6-00 Now Available in the UK

Mark Guim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:18:18 +0000

The Nokia C6 is now available at the Nokia UK online store. It’s the latest Symban^1 device with slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.2-inch 640×360 display, 5 megapixel camera, and more. I don’t know if a North American variant will be released, but this European model supports WCDMA 900/1900/2100 MHz. That means the Nokia C6 is 3G-ready in the US with AT&T.

This is for the C6-00 model, not the C6-01 that was leaked a few days ago in the Netherlands. Nokia UK is selling the Nokia C6 for £289 unlocked or £229 with a pay-as-you-go SIM.

This device is very similar to the Nokia N97 mini, but with only one LED flash, a camera without Carl Zeiss lens, and about half the launch price. All About Symbian has an awesome comparison table you should check out.

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Video Walkthrough of the Nokia N8 from Poland

Mark Guim — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:33:12 +0000

GSM Online from Poland just published a video walkthrough of the Nokia N8 covering probably everything except the web browser and camera. You should watch it because the last segment shows Nokia Messaging breezing through emails. It’s great to preview these Nokia N8 videos as we get closer to the release date. It seems to get more responsive in each new video that pops up.

Video is embedded below. Please click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

update: GSM Online deleted the video and re-uploaded it without the Nokia Messaging segments. Here’s the new one:

GSM Online says the hardware they played with is the final retail version, but the software isn’t. They also say it acted pretty quick, but you can see that for yourself in the video.

Do you see yourself with a Nokia N8 in the future?

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Nitobi Teams Up With Symbian to Let Web Developers Create Mobile Apps For Any Device

Mark Guim — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:23:49 +0000

Symbian Foundation announced a collaboration with Nitobi on Monday that will simplify mobile application development. Nitobi’s PhoneGap will be included in the Symbian^3 web extensions package. This means any web developer who knows HTML, CSS and JavaScript can now write a mobile application once and deploy it on Symbian, as well as iPhone/iTouch, iPad, Google Android, Palm, and Blackberry.

PhoneGap is an open source development framework for building cross-platform mobile apps. Developers can build apps in HTML and JavaScript and still take advantage of core features such as telephony, contacts, camera, accelerometers, orientation and location that can be modified or enhanced to improve the end user experience and device functionality. Here’s a video showing examples of iPhone apps created with PhoneGap.

“This is a great partnership that will benefit app developers across the globe. For the thousands of apps that have been built using PhoneGap, developers now have the option of developing one app which will run across all platforms, including Symbian,” said Lee Williams, Executive Director of Symbian.

The Nokia N8 will be the first Symbian^3 device from Nokia that will benefit from this collaboration. It is expected in the third quarter of 2010.

You can read the full press release here.

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Nokia Kinetic Concept Design Stands Up On Notifications

Mark Guim — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:56:25 +0000

Creative designer Jeremy Innes-Hopkins has an interesting concept phone called the Nokia Kinetic. The phone responds to notifications through movement. An electromagnet in the base of the phone allows weight to be shifted which causes the phone to stand up when receiving a call, for example.

More info & photos available at Jeremy’s site

To dismiss a call, the user can simply give the phone a gentle tap, causing it to fall back down again and return to standby mode. There’s no word on whether this design will make it to real life, but it’s an interesting concept that could be very useful. Standing up on its own is a much cooler notification than vibrate. We also won’t need to buy an additional phone stand accessory if it can do it by itself.

Would you like to see this kind of technology in upcoming Nokia phones?

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Nokia N97 Designer Answers Questions

Nokia Responds to Steve Jobs’ iPhone 4 Antenna Press Conference

Mark Guim — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:39:50 +0000

Steve Jobs held a press conference today about the iPhone 4 reception problems. It resulted in free cases for iPhone 4 owners and waived return fees for unsatisfied buyers. He also mentioned Nokia during the conference by saying, “You can go on the web and look at pictures of Nokia phones that ship with stickers on the back that say ‘don’t touch here’.” A couple of hours after the Apple event, Nokia released a statement.

In short, Nokia says antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, but they design their phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases. If they are ever in conflict, they prioritize antenna performance over physical design. Read the full statement below.

Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.

Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.

In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.

I’ve had so many Nokia devices, but don’t remember finding any stickers that Steve mentioned. Have you?

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Video: Ovi Contacts & Social Networks Integration on Nokia N8

Mark Guim — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 20:34:52 +0000

Marcos Diaz Mathe, a film director, has uploaded a video showing the integration of contacts and social networks on the upcoming Nokia N8. There were some good close-up shots of the N8 in action so I’ve taken some screenshots. Take a look.

I think the images displayed on the screen are simulated because they don’t align properly with the Nokia N8. Nevertheless, watch the video below. Click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

Contacts list on the Nokia N8

Contact details on the Nokia N8

Your info on the Nokia N8

The integration looks good. Nokia just needs to release this already so we can finally play with it!

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Nokia C6-01 Leaked in Nokia Netherlands Online Store

Mark Guim — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:34:37 +0000

Looks like someone in the Nokia Netherlands offices pushed a button too early. Photos of an unannounced Nokia C6-01 are online at the official store! We already know that the Nokia C6-00 has a 5MP camera and LED flash, but the leaked photos reveal that the C6-01 has an 8MP camera with dual-LEDs flash.

The front of the Nokia C6-00 and C6-01 look very similar. When the Nokia C6-00 was unveiled last April, the Symbian^1 device featured a 3.2 inch touchscreen, slide-out keyboard, and more. We simply don’t know much about the Nokia C6-01 because there hasn’t been an official announcement yet. You can view the Nokia C6-01 page here.

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Framestore Working on FX Studio App for Nokia. Join Competition to Win a Nokia N8

Mark Guim — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:22:48 +0000

Framestore, the studio that creates visual effects for Hollywood movies such as Avatar, Prince of Persia, and Sherlock Holmes, is currently working with Nokia to create a mobile app called FX Studio. It allows people to add Hollywood-quality special effects to their video clips. They’ve created over 20 original effects already, but they’re asking people to submit ideas to add to the collection. Prizes include a Nokia N8 and software packs from Autodesk.

1st place winner gets:

Work with Framestore London to develop winning Sci-Fi animation concept
Autodesk Maya Entertainment Suite – (value $4,995)
The new Nokia N8

Video about the competition is embedded below. Click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

As FX Studio is still a work in progress, they don’t want to reveal the full list of effects just yet. However, they are able to share all their sci-fi effects:

An alien tentacle (featured in the video)
A UFO
A telescopic canon (in a steam-punk style)
A meteor (with an explosion and shockwave)
A laser gun
An explosion (in a sci-fi style)
An interdimensional portal

Full details about the competition is available at facebook.com/Framestore

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Prototype Volkswagen Passat Gets Rigged with Nokia’s Terminal Mode

Mark Guim — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 17:12:24 +0000

Nokia is working on Terminal Mode, a proposed industry standard for the integration of mobile apps into the car environment. The specification is open to all auto and mobile device manufacturers. As a demo, Volkswagen shows off Terminal Mode in a prototype Passat. Take a look.

Video is embedded below. Please click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

In this video, they’re using the Nokia N97 to connect with the car’s dashboard.

VW told Engadget that the tech is still a couple of years away from commercial integration into vehicles, but third party add-on kits are expected sooner. They’re also working out the details to prevent certain apps from running that might distract the driver while a vehicle is in motion. More details are available at the official Terminal Mode page.

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Study: Smartphone Owners Abandoning Nokia for Lack of Apps & Poor Quality OS

Mark Guim — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:44:10 +0000

YouGov, a research company in the UK, reported some very worrying news for Nokia. During the month of June, they found only 33% of smartphone users will consider getting a Nokia as their next device and only 10% expect to purchase Nokia. When asked if they are likely to recommend a Nokia device to friends, only 12% said yes. Apple, on the other hand, has a 70% recommendation score.

I don’t see the number of people asked in YouGov’s report, but they’ve illustrated the results in percentages below.

You can see that both scores for Nokia decreased since December. YouGov reported the key reasons mentioned by those moving away from Nokia are “the lack of available programmes, or ‘apps’, and perceived poor quality of the operating system, as well as merely wanting a change of brand.”

The disturbing results from YouGov seem to match our own polls. A bunch of Nokia blog readers are ditching Nokia for iPhone or Android. Answer the polls and share your reasons if you haven’t yet.

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Spotted: Meego on Aava Virta 2 Prototype Kit

Mark Guim — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:37:34 +0000

Engadget goes hands-on with the Aava Mobile Virta 2 prototype that is capable of running the upcoming Meego OS. It costs about $2,393 per unit for developers and probably will not see the mass production phase. What seems to make the nerds jump with excitement is that the Virta 2 is based on the Intel Moorestown CPU that can run up to 1.9GHz.

Engadget says the Virta 2 feels rugged and include sensors (compass, accelerometer, ambient light and proximity) alongside quad-band radios, WiFi, Bluetooth and a pair of cameras for video chat. Nokia will be releasing a Meego device later this year, but no leaks or images of the hardware have shown up yet.

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Are You Ditching Nokia for Android?

Mark Guim — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 02:58:45 +0000

Plenty of high-end Android devices have already been released this year and more are on their way. The Motorola Droid X and variations of the Samsung Galaxy S will be available in the US in just a few days. The next big thing from Nokia, the Nokia N8, is expected any day now until September 30th. How are current Nokia users feeling? Are you ditching Nokia for Android?

Symbian’s Disco-duck vs Android’s Andy

The poll is embedded below. Please click here if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

Answer the poll and feel free to share your reasons in the comments below. We’d love to hear it!

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Nokia N8 Photography FAQs

Mark Guim — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 16:16:01 +0000

I’m feeling geeky and smiling cheek-to-cheek after reading the Nokia N8 photography FAQs recently listed at the official Nokia Conversations blog. They’ve shared more details about the camera that’s making me even more excited about the Nokia N8. It’s pretty long but I’ve highlighted a few after the jump.

You can read all the FAQs at Nokia Conversations, but I’ve listed some highlights that you may want to read right now.

Sharpening enhancements set to low by default for a more natural look. You can change this setting if you prefer a high contrast look.
Shutter lag (delay between pressing the button and actually taking the shot) = 0.15 seconds. For comparison, the recent 12MP point-and-shoot Canon SD1300 has a shutter lag of 0.07 seconds.
Shot-to-shot time = “around just two seconds.” For comparison, the Canon SD1300 has a shot-to-shot time of 2.20 seconds.
The Nokia N8 is the first product to use an Active Hyper Focal Distance system for sharp objects between 2ft to infinity during video.
The Nokia N8’s xenon flash module is 30% smaller but has same flash power as the Nokia N82.
You can focus subjects 10cm from the Nokia N8 in close-up scene mode and around 20-30cm in auto.
The newer display is much brighter than previous OLED displays, so it is visible outside even in very bright conditions
Auto white balance is approached differently. I’m still unclear about this aspect and will need a closer look when I get my hands on the device.

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How to Get the Road Warrior Foursquare Badge From Waze

Mark Guim — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 19:28:31 +0000

If you’re addicted to Foursquare badges like me, you might like to know that you can easily get the Road Warrior badge simply by checking in three times through Foursquare in the Waze application. Waze is a social mobile app that provides free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road.

You can download Waze for your Symbian device and then add your Foursquare credentials to check in. They also support the iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile.

Waze isn’t the best way to check-in on Foursquare with your Symbian phone. I recommend Gravity for that. However, if you want to add an extra badge to your collection, this is an easy way to do it.

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10 Reasons You’ll Love the Nokia N8’s Camera

Mark Guim — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:03:18 +0000

Damian Dinning, the camera guru from Nokia, just published a couple of posts highlighting some of the capabilities on the Nokia N8 that they’ve been working on for a long time. Since April 2004 to be exact. He backed it up with some beautiful sample photos for you to enjoy. Read on for the 10 reasons you’ll love the camera on the Nokia N8.

1. More natural colors

We made the decision to go for reproduction that was as natural as possible, and that’s what we’ve been working on since. Images with incredible natural detail with relatively low noise but retain a punch to the images through the vibrant colour reproduction whilst still ensuring it remained natural and very close to the ‘mind’s eye’.

click for larger view

2. Disabled sharpening enhancement for more details.

This is another visual trick that’s been used for many years in digital cameras and one that works well to fool the eye that something is sharper than it actually is. This isn’t detail, it’s noise which has been amplified by the edge enhancement.

Click for larger view

3. Smarter Auto-Flash

Where a backlit subject is detected and it’s deemed to be within the flash operating range, we fire the flash automatically to provide fill-in flash. If we detect the subject is outside of the operating range of the flash in a backlit situation we’ll leave the flash off. I’m not aware of any camera system that does this.

4. Greater flash range than the Nokia N82

On the performance of the xenon vs. the highly popular Nokia N82. In practice, you’ll find the flash range is greater than that of the N82. You’ll also notice that noise is lower but detail is higher.

5. Always-on red-eye removal system

We have a more effective red-eye removal system operating which is now running all of the time.

6. Improved face detection system

There’s an improved face detection system which is linked to backlighting exposure and auto fill-in flash control.

7. Increased detail in video

Through the downscaling and binning process from the 4000×3000 pixel sensor to 1280×720 video pixels, any visual noise that may have required some degree of noise reduction is effectively filtered out, therefore allowing us to process the video with noise reduction disabled. This means in reasonable lighting you won’t see any noise in the video during play back.

8. Video: digital zoom up to 2.5x without loss of resolution

Between 1x and 2x the image becomes progressively a little softer but remains highly usable. But at 2x zoom we’re at a point where we’re simply downscaling the video. This means there’s no loss of resolution which usually occurs through the binning process. This performance is pretty much maintained up to 2.5x as you can see where it starts to tail off a little at 3x which is pretty much the limit imposed by the original resolution of the sensor.

1x zoom (click for larger view)

2.5x zoom (click for larger view)

9. Video: Objects from 24 inches to infinity appear in focus

The N8 uses a system we refer to as ‘Active Hyper-focal Distance’. Hyper-focal distance is a specific lens focus position which by using depth of field allows the greatest range from near to infinity for objects to appear in focus.

10. We listed nine capabilities that cameraphone users will love about the Nokia N8. What other feature do you think we should’ve mentioned too?

Quotes and photos above thanks to Nokia Conversations posts 1, 2, and 3.

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Video: Eldar Murtazin Denies Everything & TechCrunch Loves iPhone

Mark Guim — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:15:15 +0000

Mobile insider Eldar Murtazin has gone on video with TechCrunch to say that he did not have Nokia’s prototype N8, did not receive Nokia’s letter for its return, and is not a current consultant to their competitors. Watch the whole video, and look out for surprising comments from TechCrunch like, “This isn’t the iPhone. I mean, who cares about Nokia?”

And here’s another comment from TechCrunch: “It’s the Nokia N8… you know… it’s the sequel to the N7. It’s not the next iPhone.”

N7? Never heard of it.

Video is embedded below. Head to the blog if it’s not visible in your RSS reader.

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Prototype Meego Phone from Aava Shown on Video

Mark Guim — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 17:45:06 +0000

Shortly after giving us a teaser, Chippy from Carrypad now has video of the Aava prototype phone running an early developer edition of Meego. A lot of things aren’t working yet, but we get to preview the multitasking, gallery, contacts, and the firefox mobile web browser. Take a look.

Meego is a platform that Nokia will be using on future devices. Carrypad explains that the hardware shown below is ” actually a reference design and development platform and it is unlikely to be a phone you’ll ever be able to buy.”

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Meego Phone from Aava Mobile in the Wild

Mark Guim — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:42:00 +0000

Carrypad just scored a Meego prototype phone made by Aava Mobile. They promise to give more details in the next 48 hours. We’re warned that the Meego software is alpha quality, but at least the wifi and browser are working. You don’t need reminding that Nokia plans to deliver their first Meego device this year.

As a teaser, Chippy from Carrypad provides one photo showing the Meego device’s web browser.

Stay tuned as we get more updates.

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Nokia Calls Russian Authorities to Get Their Nokia N8 & Other Property From Eldar Murtazin

Mark Guim — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:35:52 +0000

Nokia is determined to protect its property and has asked the Russian authorities to assist them in the return of all unauthorized Nokia property from mobile blogger, Eldar Murtazin. Nokia wants to be clear that this action isn’t a response to Eldar’s recent criticisms of the company.

Murtazin got his hands on an early Nokia N8 prototype and criticized it on Mobile-Review. A day after the review, Nokia wrote on their official blog that they want their prototype back.

Nokia says that Eldar Murtazin declined to respond to their requests. Eldar says on his personal blog that he asked for clarification, but did not get a response.

Nokia added that Murtazin is very public about being a ‘consultant’ to other international mobile manufacturers. He also confirmed he is in possession of Nokia prototypes and other intellectual property. Nokia believes they have the right to protect itself and is prepared to take all appropriate and legal measures to get their property back.

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How to: Replace Battery in the Nokia N8

Mark Guim — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:57:40 +0000

We’ve been told by Nokia that the battery on the Nokia N8 isn’t removable by the user, but early photos show us that it isn’t that hard to do. Fortunately, a service manual from Nokia Care show us exactly how to do it step-by-step without messing things up.

This guide is provided just in case your Nokia N8’s battery dies and you want to replace it yourself without the hassle of visiting or shipping the device to a repair center. We hope you never have to do this, but we need to add that we are not responsible for broken devices as a result of following this guide.

1. Unscrew the Torx+ size 4 screw on each side of the Nokia N8 7 full turns. Do not remove the screw completely!

2. Pull out the bottom assembly.

3. Lift and pull out the battery lid.

4. Use the pull-out tape to remove the ORIGINAL battery.

5. Attach the pull-out adhesive to your NEW battery

6. Insert the NEW battery as shown.

7. Place the shown end of the battery lid and then lower down the other end. Note that the battery pull-out tape is left under the battery lid.

8. Press and hold both of the two shown screws in.

9. Place the bottom cover as shown and press it into its place. If the bottom cover does not go in properly, loosen up the side screws a bit.

10. Hold the bottom cover in its place and tighten the torx + size 4 screws on both sides. That’s it!

This guide was derived from the Nokia N8-00 RM-596 Service Manual which you can download and view in full right here.