Fennec (a.k.a. Firefox Mobile) goes alpha for Android and Nokia N900 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Mozilla Blog  | Email this | Comments

The upcoming C7's been well-leaked at this point, but one thing it hasn't undergone is the famously exhaustive Mobile-review once-over that takes weeks to read and even longer to digest. Actually, this isn't so much a review as a "first look" based on prototype hardware -- and as such, it's quite a bit shorter -- but it still gives by far the best, clearest, and most in-depth glance at Nokia's second Symbian^3 device to date. Unlike the over-the-top N8, Mobile-review comes away concluding that the C7 is an exceptionally well-balanced device for a Nokia -- solid specs at a more aggressive price than its Nseries cousin -- but acknowledges that it's still outclassed by the competition and isn't likely to draw any non-Nokia loyalists into the fold. MeeGo, where art thou?

Nokia C7 gets an early look: 'hardly a market leader' originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Mobile-review  | Email this | Comments

Remember this scandalous little leak from back in June? It looks to have been validated today, as imagery of Nokia's MeeGo (or is it Symbian^4?)-powered N9 QWERTY slider has emerged over in China. As usual with these things, we can't be certain that this device is in fact part of Nokia's roadmap and not just another creative hardware emulation, but it sure seems to have our old buddy Eldar Murtazin convinced. Seeing it with clear N9 branding, we can now say that the previously unknown Nokia slider was more likely the N8-01, a keyboard-equipped version of the (still) upcoming N8. The source of this N9 leak reports that it's not in its final retail shape, as it doesn't match up to "the latest drawings," but is apparently planned for a release in the 48th week (i.e. beginning of December) of this year. The prototype, built in Finland, is said to have an entirely metallic construction (more aluminum would be our guess), with only the keyboard buttons, USB cover, and a few decorative parts being plastic. See more of it, including a thorough teardown, in the gallery below.

Update: A friendly mole of ours ran this handset's serial number through an internal Nokia system and has confirmed it as a Nokia prototype. He was also able to uncover an RM-680 product type classification (further distancing this from the RM-626 slider) and a 0595571 product code. Add those to the "Prototype Build B2" and "Property of Nokia" labeling inside the phone's battery compartment, and you've got yourself a very strong candidate for the real deal here.

Update 2: A closer look at the display reveals that this is running something that bears a heavy resemblance to the MeeGo screens we've seen so far -- and if you run the product code through Google, you see some Maemo 6-related bug tracking results, which of course has since become MeeGo. Good stuff, eh? Thanks, Sockatume!

Continue reading Nokia's QWERTY-slidin' N9 shows up in the wilds of China (update: running MeeGo!)

Nokia's QWERTY-slidin' N9 shows up in the wilds of China (update: running MeeGo!) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Eldar Murtazin  |  Baidu  | Email this | Comments

Nokia N9: the MacBook Pro Phone originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 08:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  @jamesburland (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

And now the cycle is complete. What started as a single mention on a leaked slide has slowly evolved into a full-blown video preview of Nokia's unannounced C7 handset. The cats at the Chinese site zol.com.cn took the time to fuss over the Symbian^3 candybar's stereo speakers, 3.5-inch multitouch display, support for Flash banner ads (presumably via Flash Lite 4.0 like the flagship N8), and the ability to charge off Micro USB or Nokia 2-mm connectors (also like the N8). It's also demonstrated to easily handle a 720p H.264 video file at 2.7Mbps. Without giving reason as to why, the handler speculates that we might see the C7 launch before Nokia's own N8 finally makes it to retail. Click on through to see a fairly extensive preview replete with a soothing Chinese narration.

Continue reading Nokia C7 given a full video preview -- still not announced

Nokia C7 given a full video preview -- still not announced originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 06:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink HDBlog.IT  |  Superchilko (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

Last quarter we reported on some pretty stellar growth numbers for Android in the global smartphone marketplace. Back then, Google's OS had a 9.6 percent slice of the pie, but today that's ballooned to a robust 17.2 percent, meaning that in terms of end-user sales over the last three months, Android has nearly matched RIM's BlackBerry sales. That's quite the feat when you consider that a year ago the latter was shifting ten times more units than the former. This extraordinary growth rate has narrowed down Symbian's lead at the top, in spite of Nokia's favorite OS actually shipping on more phones this year, while the big loser of the quarter has to be Windows Mobile, which contracted both in terms of market share and actual shipments.

Overall, smartphone sales were up by 50 percent year-on-year, according to both Gartner and IDC, while Gartner adds that mobile devices as a whole grew at a tamer 13.3 percent pace. In terms of phone manufacturers' global share, Nokia and Samsung have held on to their top positions, LG, Sony Ericsson and Motorola have experienced some uncomfortable shrinkage, and HTC, RIM and Apple have capitalized to expand their portions. Looking over to IDC's smartphone share data shows, again, that all smartphone makers are growing remarkably well, but it does highlight HTC (129 percent) and Samsung (173 percent) as really improving their presence in the sector. The reason? Android, Android, Android.

Continue reading Gartner and IDC agree: the Android invasion's accelerating around the world

Gartner and IDC agree: the Android invasion's accelerating around the world originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 07:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Gartner, IDC  | Email this | Comments

It wasn't that long ago that T-Mobile USA launched Nokia's venerable 5230 as the Nuron, but you've got to admit -- with a mug only a mother could love, Nokia owed it to itself to get cracking on a prettier replacement. On that note, we've got a shot of an alleged model 5250 today, sporting the same button configuration as the 5230; considering the gargantuan bezel, we're figuring on a smallish screen, which points to the low end of the touchscreen spectrum -- right where a proper 5230 successor would belong. Thing is, we'd figured Nokia was moving away from the four-digit naming convention for its smartphones altogether -- in other words, we'd expect this new device fit somewhere between the C5 and C6 -- so it's unclear whether this is real and represents a current, non-canceled model in the product pipeline. It's not going to turn any heads, of course -- but if Nokia were able to push this for something crazy like $120 off contract, it'd be hard to ignore.

Nokia 5250 set to replace the 5230, turn the ugly dial down from 10 to 6? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  TamsS60  | Email this | Comments

Can you believe we've waited on the N8 long enough for (at least) three KIRF versions to beat it to market? This latest one's pretty special too, as it gives us a glimpse into one of the fevered dream of Engadget commenters: a Nokia flagship rocking Android (2.1, in this case). The iZiNN CJ-3 copies the N8's form factor, styling, and 3.5-inch screen, but throws in an upgrade of its own by going with a higher-res 800 x 480 capacitive panel. Yeah, we're shocked too. A 5 megapixel imager, a budget Rockchip CPU, and an HDMI port fill out the rest of the known specs, while a release in China is expected some time later this month. Anyone know why this thing isn't being built and sold by a legitimate manufacturer?

[Thanks, Ludger]

Keepin' it real fake: Nokia's Android N8 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink NokiaPhones.net, Cloned in China  |  Mobile Uncle  | Email this | Comments

Symbian has unzipped its trousers and flopped out 100,000 more daily activated phones than what Google showed off the other day. More »

We've already gotten a glimpse at MeeGo's prerelease stock UI for handsets, but just like Symbian, there's no guarantee that the experience is going to be consistent across manufacturers -- and a new video apparently captured from an online survey makes it seem like Nokia might be looking to go in a slightly different direction. The one minute, twenty-nine seconds of footage walks us through five parts -- starting up, the "powerful multitasking UI," getting connected, the Ovi Store experience, and the music player -- and as you might imagine, it's the Ovi Store portion that has us feeling like this is a thoroughly Nokia-customized experience (not to mention the copyright in the lower left). It generally looks richer and more functional than what we've seen before, and parts -- like the webOS-esque multitasking -- remind us of Maemo 5's thumbnails, which makes perfect sense considering MeeGo's roots. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, MTA]

Continue reading Nokia's treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed?

Nokia's treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments