Category: Brands

Sony Ericsson launches W700 and Z525

sonToday Sony Ericsson announced two new mobile phones, the W700 and Z525.
The W700 which is the 8th addition to the Walkman series, strongly reminds of the W800 model. The tri-band phone has a 1.8″ 256K colors display with 176 x 220 pixels resolution. The main difference between the new device and the W800 seems to be the smaller Memory Stick PRO Duo card that comes in the box. In this case, it’s a 256 MB one, as in the W800 box it’s 512 MB. Otherwise, the phone has a 2 megapixel camera with LED flash, but without autofocus. W700 has GPRS Class 10 support and has Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity. Stereo earphones are supplied in the original package. Sony Ericsson W700 will come in Titanium Gold color as for some markets there will be a Smooth White version. It will be available in Q2 2006.

The Z525 clamshell is aimed at the US market and succeeds the Z520 model even in design. Unlike its predecessor, it will have Push-to-Talk support. The new device will have a 80 x 101 pixels resolution external display with 4K colors. The internal display will be a 1.8″ 65K colors one with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. The internal memory remains the same as in Z520 – 16 MB. The phone still has a VGA camera, MP3 & AAC support and caller ID associated light effects. The connectivity features of the quad-band Z525 are Bluetooth, USB and Infrared. Sony Ericsson Z525 will be available in New Blue around Q2 2006.

Nokia suspended the release of its 6 smartphones

The Reuters website has published the info that Nokia suspends the release of its 6 new smartphones scheduled for 1Q 2006 as it works to sort out their software. Company spokesmen said the models ? 3 of its multimedia N-series handsets and 3 E-series smartphones aimed at business class ? would start shipping to the customers in the near future.

The shipments of the N91 will start this week and that of N71 and N80 in the next two weeks. The release of the N91 smartphone was originally set for the end of 2005, however it was suspended till 1Q 2006 while the company worked on some software problems. The shipments of the business smartphones the E60, E61 and the E71 set for end of March will start in the upcoming weeks.

via [Mobile Review]

Nokia launches its Nokia Mobility Hosting solution for mobile service providers

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE April 3, 2006

Nokia adds hosting to its fast-growing Services portfolio

Launch new subscriber services more quickly and efficiently with Nokia Mobility Hosting
Las Vegas, NV (CTIA Wireless 2006), US and Espoo, Finland – Nokia today launched its Nokia Mobility Hosting solution for mobile service providers, offering them the chance to quickly roll out new, exciting services for subscribers while keeping investments in check and uncertainties to a minimum.
Separately, Nokia announced it had won a push to talk (PoC) hosting trial agreement with Mobitel Slovenia. In 2005, Nokia won push to talk hosting agreements with mobilkom austria and 3 Scandinavia, and Nokia is currently in hosting solution talks with a number of service providers across the globe.
Hosting is now starting to take off, and is expected to grow sharply in the coming years as operator competition intensifies. Research group Ovum forecasts the size of the hosting market to double to 1.35 billion euros by 2009 from around 670 million in 2005.
“As the telecommunications market converges, operators are increasingly looking in the mirror and asking themselves what sort of role they want to play in this process. They are scrutinizing their business models and asking what is a core activity and what isn’t,” said Jean-Charles Doineau, Service infrastructure practice leader, Ovum.
“We feel operating service platforms is one area that some operators will offload to outside parties in the coming years. Only a handful of vendors have started to look at the potential in this market, and Nokia is one of them,” he said.
The business environment for mobile service providers is becoming tougher, and new multimedia services are becoming increasingly complex to install and maintain. By opting for Nokia’s hosting solution, operators can focus squarely on winning and retaining subscribers by offering popular services such as PoC and multimedia messaging.
“Nokia is unmatched in its ability to serve operators’ needs, from networks to devices to services. With our global footprint of hosting centers, including the new Nokia Global Networks Solutions Center in Chennai, we are in a prime position to tap the growing hosting market and ensure the best hosted solutions for our customers,” said Patrik Sallner, Head of Hosting Service Line, Networks, Nokia.
“Thanks to our broad mobile solutions portfolio and the customer understanding we have from our Enterprise Solutions, Mobile Phones and Multimedia businesses, Nokia can help service providers accelerate the time to market of new offerings. Hosting is a partnership that benefits both sides, allowing them to share initial start-up costs and also reap rewards once the services take off,” Sallner said.
Hosting is one of the many tools that Nokia can offer operators to help grow their business in the face of ever-toughening competition and growing technological complexity. Hosting sits alongside Managed Services to form one of the main pillars of Nokia’s growing Services business unit. Nokia is a leader in the managed services market, with 39 agreements in 30 countries.
Nokia provides a full range of support and services to help operators differentiate and innovate their mobile offerings, with close to 20 years’ experience in the field. Services comprises over 30 percent of revenues in Nokia’s Networks business group, and the figure is growing.

Nokia 3250 starts shipping,Nokia N91 may ship in April

The first Symbian OS 9.1 Series phone and first S60 3rd Edition phone have started shipping in the form of the Nokia 3250. The 3250 is Nokia’s mid-teir music smartphone and costs 350 Euros.The Nokia N91 will start shipping in Europe in the first week of April, and follow in the Middle East and Asia in the second week of April. Shipping dates for the US market are not yet available. The Nokia N91 is Nokia’s high end music phone and will cost 700 Euros

As ever the quoted prices from Nokia re before taxes and subsidies. This means bought SIM free the phones will cost the stated amount + tax, but if subsidised by an operator they will most likely be available for less. For example the Nokia N70 pricing was around 500 Euros at launch. It is now routinely available in the UK for free when bought with a contract.

Both phones are part of the Nokia XpressMusic brand. Features include:

* Dedicated Music Buttons.
* 3.5mm headset jack (either directly or through adaptor).
* MP3, M4A, WMA, AAC and eAAC+ formats support (both phone support WMA DRM ‘Janus’ files so you can ejoy music from music subscrition services).
* 10 hours+ music listening time.
* USB 2.0 and USB Mass Storage Support for transferring music (both phones will sync with Windows Media Player).via [All About Symbian]

Designed for S60 Devices logo program launched

series 60Nokia has announced a logo for programs designed for the most popular smartphone OS – Symbian Series 60. The developers must prove that their programs are Symbian Signed or Java Verified and list the individual models that each program is compatible with. When that is done they can use this logo. This logo program will not only popularise S60 devices but also will make customers aware of the various applications available for S60 phones

According to the Nokia website:
The ?Designed for S60 Devices? logo program is set up for developer use in application marketing. The program features an S60 logo specifically designed for developer use, with the aim of making it easier for developers to communicate that a particular offering is designed for S60 devices.

Enrolling in the logo program enables you to:

  • Associate your offering with the leading smartphone platform, S60.
  • Demonstrate that your offering is designed for the S60 platform.
  • Take advantage of marketing momentum built up by S60 device manufacturers.

via [Allaboutsymbian]

New PRO Games Zone at Forum Nokia

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE Mars 20, 2006

Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone to provide advanced support for next generation of Nokia mobile gaming

New PRO developer zone, enhanced mobile games section will offer key resources and information for N-Gage, SNAP Mobile and Forum Nokia developer communities??
San Jose, CA, USA – Nokia today announced the launch of its new Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone, providing mobile developer companies seeking to tap into the $2.43 billion worldwide mobile gaming market with access to advanced knowledge and technical support in the development of games and entertainment for the growing mobile consumer market.
The new Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone, launched here during the annual Games Developer Conference (GDC), joins an expanded Mobile Games section on the Forum Nokia community website to provide comprehensive developer support for Nokia’s next generation mobile gaming initiative, designed to speed integration of all current Nokia mobile games activities, including N-Gage and Nokia’s SNAP Mobile solution for connected mobile gaming on Java(TM) technology compatible handsets.
The Forum Nokia enhanced Mobile Games section provides extensive technical and business information on mobile games development to more than 2 million registered members of Forum Nokia, the world’s largest dedicated mobile application developer community. The Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone will provide Nokia’s fee-based, 400-plus member Forum Nokia PRO developer program enhanced business development support and exclusive access to in-depth technical information, enabling participants to speed mobile games revenue growth.
According to UK research firm Informa Telecoms & Media, the mobile gaming market surpassed $2.43 billion in worldwide revenues during 2005, with Informa analysts projecting total mobile games revenues worldwide to reach nearly $4.02 billion by end-2006 and soar thereafter, topping $10.17 billion in revenues by the end of 2010 – with connected mobile gaming accounting for more than 30% of the total.
“Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone and expansion of the community games section shine a spotlight on Nokia’s mobile gaming leadership, from the first-ever mobile game — Snake, launched in 1997 — to the N-Gage platform and SNAP Mobile,” said Lee Epting, vice president, Forum Nokia. “Forum Nokia has a great history of supporting mobile game development of which the new PRO Games Zone is the latest example, further enhancing the developer offering, providing easy access to all platforms and programs related to Games in Nokia and exclusive benefits for PRO members.”
Strengthening Nokia’s games developer support within a common framework for Nokia’s next generation mobile gaming will add impetus to the growth of mobile gaming development, increase business opportunities for Forum Nokia members and attract new developers to Nokia’s mobile gaming ecosystem.
“Harnessing Forum Nokia’s expertise to provide developer technical and business support for the N-Gage platform makes perfect sense as Nokia advances its current and future games initiatives within an increasingly unified framework,” said Jani Karlsson, head of games technology strategy in Nokia Multimedia. “Forum Nokia’s launch of the new PRO Games Zone is an ideal example of the level of developer support that will help bring N-Gage’s superior mobile gaming experience to millions of smartphone users around the globe.”
“Developers interested in working with the SNAP Mobile solution will find in Forum Nokia’s PRO Games Zone all the information, tools and support needed for the quick creation of quality, connected Java mobile games,” said Lisa Waits, head of SNAP Mobile. “Access to Forum Nokia’s extensive developer support resources means that high-quality Java games titles from developers working with SNAP Mobile’s developer-friendly system will be more available to operators and more likely to get picked up and played.”
The new Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone will be administered through the Americas, EMEA and Asia regional operations of Forum Nokia PRO and joins other specialized developer offerings launched by Forum Nokia PRO over the past year – including the Forum Nokia PRO: Flash Zone, the Forum Nokia PRO Symbian Zone, the Forum Nokia PRO Enterprise Zone and Forum Nokia PRO Networks Zone.
Forum Nokia PRO offers developer companies access to valuable business development and technical support resources, including events, marketing and public relations support, technical platform roadmaps, discounted devices, pre-release tools, SDKs and code samples for Java, C++/Symbian OS or SNAP Mobile developers,? as well as increased awareness in Nokia channels and joint-marketing activities. Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone benefits also will include access to specialized resources, such as games-specific market research and reports and technical games roadmap.
Further information on developer tools, resources and technical documentation available through Forum Nokia PRO and the Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone can be found online at https://pro.forum.nokia.com/site/global/home/prozones/p_prozones.jsp. More information on the expanded resources available to developers through the enhanced Mobile Games section of the Forum Nokia website also can be found online at http://www.forum.nokia.com/games.
Developers wishing to learn more about Forum Nokia and the Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone can also visit Nokia executives at Booth #616 during the Games Developer Conference at the San Jose Convention Center, March 20-24.
About Forum Nokia
Nokia’s global developer program, Forum Nokia connects developers to tools, technical information, support, and distribution channels they can use to build and market applications around the globe. From offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, China, and Singapore, Forum Nokia provides technical and business development support to developers and operators to assist them in achieving their goal of successfully launching applications and services to consumers and enterprises. More information is available at www.forum.nokia.com.

Nokia’s SNAP to simplify online gaming on mobiles

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE Mars 20, 2006

Nokia simplifies creation of online gaming communities for Java(TM) technology games

Nokia’s SNAP Mobile offers a full-featured turnkey solution that builds on the social aspects of mobile gaming
San Jose, CA, USA – Nokia, the leader in mobile communications, announced today the launch of a business solution that enables operators and publishers to create online communities for mobile Java games in days, rather than months. Operators who choose SNAP Mobile’s Starter Kit or Standard Package can have their users hosted on the SNAP Mobile Community, a full-featured, generic website, which creates an online gaming community almost instantly.
SNAP Mobile offers a full-featured, turnkey gaming community infrastructure that connects mobile gamers via Nokia’s SNAP Mobile gaming platform. Building on the inherent social aspects of mobile phones, these communities can be accessed by gamers’ PC web browsers and internet-enabled phones.
“Mobile technology was born out of the fact that people are social by nature and demand the ability to communicate outside of their offices and family rooms,” said Lisa Waits, Head of Nokia SNAP Mobile.? “We asked why shouldn’t mobile gaming offer the same and we’re answering with our plug and play community solution for operators and publishers that will deliver a seamless, social experience for gamers.”
Nokia’s SNAP Mobile online communities give mobile gamers the ability to communicate in-game with friends, strangers and co-workers all the time, anytime, and deliver a variety of in- and out-of-game features. In-game, players will have their own unique user identities, as well as features such as friend lists, presence, rankings, chat and instant messaging. Out-of-game, users will not only have the ability to maintain their unique user identities and view rankings, but will also have at their disposal news and events, message boards, and featured gamepages.
In addition to being a win for mobile gamers, SNAP Mobile provides operators and publishers with a highly effective, low-cost way opportunity to increase online usage and downloadable game sales.
“At the heart of our commitment to offering online communities was the requirement that this offering be easy to implement,” continued Waits. “We want to bring long-term solutions and easy to use technology to a broad base of players in the mobile content market. The result is happy operators and publishers as well as ecstatic, connected gamers.”
Nokia’s SNAP Mobile is the ideal hosted solution for operators who want to create a gaming community site quickly, with no configuration hassles or up-front costs. Operators choosing SNAP Mobile’s Premium Package provides a community website that can be fully customized to suit the operator’s needs. A generic version is also available for more rapid deployment.
For more information on the Nokia’s SNAP Mobile online communities, please visit www.snapmobile.nokia.com

Nokia debuts new mobile gaming solutions and experiences at GDC Mobile

NOKIA PRESS RELEASE Mars 20, 2006

Nokia debuts new mobile gaming solutions and experiences at GDC Mobile

First look at new developer tools and consumer interface for next generation mobile gaming platform
San Jose, CA, USA – Nokia today unveiled a new software development kit (SDK) and consumer interface for its next generation mobile gaming platform. The new tools and consumer interface are designed to empower the mobile games industry to create high quality 3D mobile games for Nokia smartphones.
“Our new SDK contains familiar tools for developers, making it easy to focus on doing what they do best – creating great mobile games,” said Gregg Sauter, Director, Games Publishing, Nokia. “Our platform lets developers put their games in millions of pockets worldwide and these new tools ensure developers can get on board to take advantage of this fantastic business opportunity.”
Nokia also showcased its next generation mobile gaming consumer interface, showing how consumers can easily discover, purchase, play, manage and share the best mobile games.
“With our new consumer interface, you get quick access to new games and information, it’s easy to buy and manage your games, and share game accomplishments with your friends. You can play fantastic looking games for a great overall entertainment experience in your pocket. This new consumer interface is going to transform the way people find and play mobile games,” continued Sauter.
The new developer tools include Game Development Libraries, based on C++ programming libraries, which will be available across multiple devices. The Game Development Libraries can be updated on the devices for resolving compatibility issues, and adding new features, including industry standard DRM solutions for content protection with minimal integration. Developers can also take advantage of the real-time connected gaming and community features enabled by the N-Gage Arena.
Nokia provides a professional development environment with debugging and analyzing tools such as on target real-time debugging and profiling over USB. Developers also have access to world class developer support through the new Forum Nokia PRO Games Zone launched today.
Nokia’s next generation mobile games platform is expected to launch in the first half of 2007, with a range of titles and devices.

Access Googles Blooger from Sony Ericsson Mobiles

Search Engine Journal reports that Google and Sony Ericsson are working together to integrate Google’s Blogger on SE phones. (pay very close attention to this next statement) Google and Sony claim to be the first in the US cell market to provide pre-loaded blogging application with a tight integration to the mobile camera and easy set-up for mobile users who do not already have a Blogger blog. Have we forgotten that Nokia’s Lifeblog integrated with Typepad and comes preinstalled on certain Nokia devices?

Back to the story:

The first Sony Ericsson products to offer the new service are the recently announced K610 UMTS phone and new flagship imaging handsets, the K800 and K790, announced today and available in Q2 2006.

Integrating Blogger and Google Web Search in the Sony Ericsson handsets will provide a completely new experience for consumers. Icons leading to Google Web Search have been integrated into the phone user interface to provide easy access to the information that Google Web Search can provide.

Calvin Klein of Cellular Communication quits Nokia

FoneArena has learnt from News.com.au that NOKIA’S head of design Frank Nuovo also known as Calvin Klein of Cellular Communicationis to leave the company after more than 16 years.

He would continue consulting and stay as principal designer with Vertu, Nokia’s luxury phone brand.

Nokia would also centralise design to global team overseeing all of its handsets.

Six new phones for Sony Ericsson

sony Today Sony Ericsson announced a whole new line of mobile phones: the K800 and K790 Cyber-shot phones, the quad-band W300 Walkman clamshell, K510 and K310 camera phones and the Z530 clamshell.

The K800 and K790 bar phones are of very high imaging class with their 3.2 megapixel cameras. Supplied with Sony’s BestPic (for exact capturing), PictBridge (for direct printing via USB), auto focus and Xenon flash, the new devices are concentrated in imaging. The phones are 106 x 47 x 18 mm big and weigh 115 g. A 2″ QVGA 262K colors display, 64 MB internal memory, Adobe applications support and other functions make them even more efficient. They also have Picture Blogging feature, which is developed with Google’s Blogger. This option enables easy and fast updating and uploading of photos and data in the user’s blog. K800 and K790 also have a VGA camera for video conversations. Various media formats and FM radio are supported as well. Memory Stick Micro card slot is available for expanding the storage space. Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity options are also included. The only difference between K800 and K790 is the networks support. K800 is UMTS – GPRS phone as the K790 is a tri-band EDGE phone. Both models will be available in Velvet Black in Q2 2006.

The W300 Walkman clamshell is the seventh phone in the Walkman series. This clamshell is 90 x 47 x 24 mm big and weighs 94 g. Made for music lovers, it has 20 MB internal memory and a 256 MB Memory Stick Micro card that comes in the box. Except the card slot, the quad-band phone also has EDGE Class 10 support for high speed data transfer. It has an external 1″ display with 101 x 80 pixels resolution (monochrome, regrettably) and a 262K colored internal display with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. W300 features a VGA camera, standard messaging options and USB, Bluetooth and Infrared connectivity. This Walkman clamshell will be available in Shimmering White and Shadow Black color variants in Q2 2006. Sony Ericsson K510 is a camera bar phone with basic features. It is 101.5 x 44 x 17.5 mm big and weighs 82 g. It has a 1.3 megapixel camera and 28 MB internal memory for storage. The new phone has 262K colors display with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity are also present. The tri-band device will be available in Midnight Black and Polished Purple color variants in Q2 2006.

The Z530 clamshell has a VGA camera but has a Memory Stick Micro card slot. It is 90 x 47 x 24 mm big and weighs 93 g. The external display of the phone is with 101 x 80 pixels resolution monochrome and the internal one is a UBC (Ultra Bright Colour) 65K colors with 128 x 160 pixels resolution. Sony Ericsson Z530 also has Bluetooth, USB and Infrared connectivity. The new tri-band clamshell will be available in Chromic Grey, Soft Black and Elegant Red color cariants in Q2 2006. The Sony Ericsson K310 model is a bar phone with simple photo functions. It has a VGA camera and 15 MB internal memory with no memory expansion card slot. It is 101.5 x 44 x 17.5 mm big and weighs 82 g thus it has the same dimensions as the K510 model. This phone has the same display as Z530 with its 65K colors and 128 x 160 pixels resolution with UBC (Ultra Bright Colour). K310 has Bluetooth, USB and Infrared as well. The tri-band device will be available in Misty Silver and Shadow Blue color variants in Q2 2006.

Continue reading “Six new phones for Sony Ericsson”

The New Vertu Ascent Pink

Vertu the world’s first and only manufacturer of handcrafted, luxury unveils a new exuberant colour variant: Vertu Ascent Pink.

Ultra feminine, ultra classy, ultra sexy, the Vertu Ascent Pink is set to become the hottest accessory of 2005.

Vertu the world?s first and only manufacturer of handcrafted, luxury unveils a new exuberant colour variant: Vertu Ascent Pink. Ultra feminine, ultra classy, ultra sexy, the Vertu Ascent Pink is set to become the hottest accessory of 2005.

The Vertu Ascent Pink is visually stunning featuring beautifully embossed leather in crocodile print, has a strip of polished keys on the front of the phone and matching ceramic pillow. Soft pink backlighting adds a touch of femininity to the sapphire crystal screen while maintaining the bold styling of its second line of luxury phones ? Vertu Ascent. So why introduce the Vertu Ascent Pink?

“The new Vertu Ascent Pink is the ideal accessory for women wishing to make a stunning personal statement without compromising on the quality and craft of a luxury product. This is a phone for women who are modern, confident and like to show their feminine side,” explained Giles Rees, Vice-President, Global Sales for Vertu. “It is perfect for men who are looking for something different – the ideal gift for that special person in their life,” he enthused.

Available in stores this spring/summer 2005, the special edition Vertu Ascent Pink handset is packaged with its own matching pink holster, and in a special pink package. To ensure exclusivity, the Pink Special Edition will have restricted availability in each region at launch.

The Vertu Ascent Pink is tri-band (GSM 900,1800 and 1900). It has Bluetooth and voice dialling capabilities, additional Vertu ring tones, supports GPRS, multimedia messaging (MMS) and concatenated short messaging (SMS).

Vertu Ascent Pink contrasts the feel of soft, hand-stitched leather with hard, custom-developed Liquidmetal? alloy ? a durable, scratch-resistant material with twice the hardness of Stainless Steel and two times more resilient than other metals, including titanium.

All Vertu phones are handcrafted in Vertu?s workshop. True to Vertu?s DNA of obsessive craft, the Vertu Ascent Pink has 240 individual components. The flat panel keypad alone contains over 150 different parts whose design is patented. Each key is manufactured by injecting a stainless steel mixture at high temperature and pressure into an oversize mould. As it cools, the key shrinks by 14% to produce the bevelled keypad design. The keys are then each set on two jewel bearings, to create the unique pivoting action and to guide each key?s movement.For more information please visit: www.vertu.com

Source:esato.com