With consumer demand for the most advanced wireless devices continuing to rise, Nokia (NYSE:NOK) announced today that it is optimizing the Nokia N95 8GB for networks using 850/1900 MHz HSDPA (high speed data packet access) in the Americas. Combining speed, technology and content - the new Nokia N95 8GB bridges the gap between traditional fixed entertainment centers and portable wireless devices with its stunning 2.8 inch QVGA screen with support for up to 16 million colors, eight gigabytes of built-in memory, A-GPS positioning for improved location access and enhanced battery life.
A recent global study commissioned by Nokia, entitled ‘A Glimpse of the Next Episode’, predicts that by 2012, up to 25 percent of all entertainment will be created and consumed within peer communities as opposed to traditional media groups. With this trend dubbed by Nokia as ‘Circular Entertainment’, devices such as the Nokia N95 8GB, which allow the consumer to create, edit and upload content directly to the Internet, will be more important than ever as consumers personalize content and make it their own.
"Today’s savvy consumer wants an all in one device that enables them to customize and share content immediately with their social communities. The Nokia N95 8GB fills this void as one of the most advanced wireless devices currently on the market in North America," said Bill Plummer, Vice President, Go-to-Market, Nokia Americas. "With the addition of HSDPA for ultra-fast connectivity, the Nokia N95 8GB delivers on the promise of a multimedia computer in one surprisingly small package."
The Nokia N95 8GB comes with the advanced feature set expected from a state-of-the-art Nokia Nseries multimedia computer. The new Nokia N95 8GB offers a class-leading five megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and autofocus, WLAN, and a full eight gigabytes of internal memory, allowing for storage of up to 20 hours of video or up to 6000 songs. Complete with captivating 3D graphics, the Nokia N95 8GB will also offer compatibility with the upcoming N-Gage games service. It is also a full-featured GPS device with assisted GPS (A-GPS) and a large map database covering more than 100 countries, including a number of US state maps preloaded. The Nokia N95 8GB will also support Nokia Share Online 3.0, which will be made available via Nokia Download! and will enable consumers to upload photos and videos with one click to Flickr or Vox, allowing them to quickly share content with their social communities.
Based on powerful Symbian S60 3rd Edition software, consumers can personalize their Nokia N95 8GB by choosing from a wide selection of advanced mobile applications, including games, navigation, entertainment, productivity and creativity. The Nokia N95 8GB comes out of the box ready to create, connect, consume and interact with some of the Internet’s most popular services including Yahoo! Search, Amazon’s MobiPocket Reader or Flickr. The device also features widget support which enables users to customize the online content they can receive quickly on their Nokia N95 8GB.
The N95 8GB multimedia computer has an estimated retail price of $749 and will start shipping to Nokia Nseries retailers across the United States, the Nokia flagship stores in New York and Chicago as well as online e-tailers during the first quarter of 2008.
A comment in the blog left a link to WeBot - an interesting application that you can download to all your PCs that host music and photos. The files then become available to you with WeBot account - and you only need Web browser to access it, which makes it work with Nokia N devices. Orb is another application that allows cross-computer multimedia streaming.
SIPphone, Inc., developers of the free Gizmo Project Internet calling software, announced their “All Calls Free” program. The new program gives active Gizmo Project users unlimited free calling to landlines and mobile phones in 60 countries around the world. People who wish to participate simply download Gizmo Project, sign up for a free account and add their friends, family and business contacts to their Gizmo Project Contact list. Callers can then call their Contacts on their mobile phones, landlines or Gizmo Project for free. There is no cost to sign-up and the program is available to anyone. More information on this new calling plan can be found at www.gizmoproject.com/allcallsfree.
To be eligible for All Calls Free, users have to log in to their account and make a call using Gizmo Project to attain “active” status. Thereafter, calls to other active Gizmo Project users in select countries will be free. Active users are those people who regularly use Gizmo Project to make calls to other Gizmo Project users (on a PC) or to any landline or mobile phone. The free Gizmo Project software for Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, Linux and the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet can be downloaded at www.gizmoproject.com/download.
The program includes countries such as China, the United States, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Thailand, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Canada, and more. Most European and Asian countries are also included. A full list of countries may be found at www.gizmoproject.com/allcallsfree. Calls to other countries not on the list, or calls to users who do not have an active status, will be billed at the standard low rates found at www.gizmoproject.com/rates.
“The All Calls Free program allows Gizmo Project users to call more than 2 billion landline or mobile phones around the world at no cost to them. There are no hidden fees or catches and we hope to extend the program to more countries in the near future,” said Jason Droege, president of SIPphone. “This is a great reason for people to get their family and friends to make all their calls using Gizmo Project,” Droege concluded.
An interesting review of the upcoming Origami tablets from The Inquirer:
My impression of each of these mobile tablet PCs was the same: they’re a bundle of compromises. They try to fill a lot of different roles, but are second best at all of them. The manufacturers have made a valiant first effort, but Microsoft’s UMPC blueprint is not ready to be turned into a viable product.
Probably just a typo, but nevertheless a third country has been added to the list of honorary countries which participated in making of 770 - Lithuania.
In related news, Nokia USA appears to have grossly underestimated demand for the 770 — the Lithuania-made device is currently back-ordered into January, as many LinuxDevices.com readers are likely already aware.
What do you think of the new Itronix Internet tablet?
It’s been a while since I’ve been to Spokane, but generally Itronix products, generally sold to defense contractors and what not, are selling for thousands of dollars, since they use those Tablet PCs in the battlefield, etc.
Mid-sized, lightweight and ergonomic, the Duo-Touch boasts the rugged and weatherized features you’ve come to expect from Itronix. With up-to-four integrated wireless options in the same device, including GPS, the Duo-Touch is ready for any wireless network. It offers the performance and flexibility needed to keep field-deployed, mission-critical workers productive. The Duo-Touch combines the features of an active digitizer with the flexibility of a passive touch screen. Never fear losing your tablet stylus again!
Smart Money might have cracked the real reason for Nokia to experiment with new products like N770, something that Forbes magazine thought was totally uncalled for:
Simply put, Wall Street worries that Nokia isn’t cool anymore. The Finland-based giant has been cranking out 1990s-style phones shaped like candy bars when consumers have been clamoring for flip, or clamshell, designs like Motorola’s ultra-thin RAZR. At the same time, industry growth has slowed somewhat, and Nokia and others have been pushing into emerging markets with lower-margin phones. Result: Nokia’s overall margins and profits have been slipping.
Business Week’s Dialing Up Linux is a feature story on phone manufacturers’ venture into the open source world. In Linux Answers Phone Makers’ Call the magazine mentions Nokia’s 770 among others:
Even Nokia, which owns almost 50% of Symbian, leaves open the door to working with Linux, says Jorma Ollila, the top cell-phone maker’s CEO. “We will put all our weight” behind Symbian for smart phones, he says. “But at the same time, we are working with the open-source and Linux community, so that we have the readiness to use Linux more in the future if we decide to.” Nokia has already announced a Linux mobile device, the palm-sized 770 Internet Tablet, with a bright, landscape-oriented screen and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology, which enables high-speed wireless Internet access.
However strong the Linux draw may be, Symbian and Microsoft still have certain technological advantages. Both take little configuration and are virtually identical from one phone to the next. That means third-party developers can create off-the-shelf software programs for either. For instance, more than 4,100 applications are now available for devices running Symbian. Not so with Linux.
Meanwhile, global market for handheld devices took another dive, falling 16.9% in Q3 2005. If IDC considers new 770 sales a handheld device (they have some criteria of what they call a handheld, and what they call a phone, and two seldom mix), this could boost the entire industry.
Postneo shares his impressions of Google Local for Mobile and expects Nokia 770 to be the harbinger of all things that are AJAX and mobile:
I predict that 2006 will be the year of mobile Ajax. While I might be stretching the Ajax term a bit beyond Javascript and XMLHTTPRequest, I expect to see a new breed of apps and services with that Ajax feel to them hitting mobile devices in 2006. Google’s offering is just (as usual) before its time. On the horizon we also see Nokia’s WebCore based browser which will be more than capable of traditional Ajax, more devices shipping with Flash and SVG support, connected tablets (Nokia 770 and the PSP), and more. Trust me, 2006 is going to be a wild ride.