Windows Phone 7.8 coming soon to Nokia Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800, 900

There's good news for owners of Nokia Lumia phones with Windows Phone 7.5. According to a report over at Nokia Power User (NPU), the update is now available at NaviFirm, indicating it should become officially soon enough.

Nokia India launches dual-SIM QWERTY Asha 205 for Rs. 3,499

Nokia Asha 205 was announced for global markets last month alongside the Nokia 206 in both single-SIM and dual-SIM variants.

China's Huawei will open R&D centre on Nokia's home turf

Chinese telecom firm Huawei on Monday announced plans to invest 70 million euros (USD 90 million) to open up a research and development centre for smart phone and tablet software in Finland, home to rival Nokia.

Smartphones to light up Sydney's New Year show

Sydney's world-famous New Year's Eve fireworks will go interactive with a smartphone-powered light show, officials announced Thursday, with ambassador Kylie Minogue calling on the city to embrace.

The light show, described by City of Sydney officials as a "world-first", will run through an app on iPhone and Android smartphones that will illuminate the screens with colour at scheduled intervals leading up to midnight.
The city is hoping to attract more than one million people to the harbour foreshore to witness the fireworks, and organisers want the crowds to hold their phones aloft to form a synchronised wave of colour.
"In a city of great diversity we come together at New Year's Eve to embrace the future and celebrate all that we are and the potential that tomorrow holds," Minogue, the event's creative ambassador, said in a video message for Thursday's official launch.
Minogue said the theme for the 2012 celebrations, Embrace, was about "acceptance, tolerance, fun and above all love".
"This year I want everyone to embrace during the 9pm family fireworks and the midnight fireworks," she said.
"Whether it's embracing new ideas, change and opportunities, or just giving a big hug to your family and friends, it's something everyone can get involved in."
App users will also be able to submit a word to be projected onto the pylons of the Harbour Bridge, which is typically the centrepiece of an evening's pyrotechnics.
The Sydney fireworks kick off global New Year's celebrations and are seen by billions of people worldwide.

 

Nokia announces Lumia 620 with 3.8-inch display, Windows Phone 8 for $249

Nokia Lumia 620

Nokia has quietly announced the first real "budget" Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Dubbed as the Nokia Lumia 620, it sports 3.8-inch screen with a ClearBlack WVGA display. There is a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera on board. It is powered by 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor with 512MB of RAM and 8GB internal storage (expandable by 64GB).According to Nokia, the Nokia Lumia 620 helps in adding more youthful appeal to the existing Windows Phone 8 range. The unsubsidised version of this smartphone will be available in the market for $249 and will start retailing some time in Q1 2013.
Nokia is betting big on Nokia Lumia 620's 'dual-shot' technique, which helps in creating new colours and textures for this smartphone. So what this 'dual shot' actually does is cast two layers of polycarbonate, a single base layer and a second colour, in a transparent/ translucent layer, to produce depth effects and secondary colour blends. For example, yellow and cyan are combined to produce a lime green colour.
As Nokia Lumia 620 is a Windows Phone 8 device it will have Live Tiles for updates direct to the Start Screen, PeopleHub and a Me Tile along with other Windows Phone 8 functions.
Currently Nokia is offering Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 in its Windows Phone 8 lineup. It had first showcased both these smartphones at a gala event in September 2012.
Nokia Lumia 920 comes with 4.5-inch PureMotion HD+ display, wireless charging support and 2000mAh battery. It comes with the 8.7-megapixel camera with Nokia's famed PureView technology. Other features of the smartphone include 1GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, 1.2MP front camera, and Micro-USB port. Nokia Lumia 820 on the other hand is a mid-range Windows Phone 8 smartphone. It has a 1.5GHz Qualcomm S4 dual-core processor, 4.3-inch ClearBlack display, 8GB of internal storage and a 8-megapixel rear camera.
As of now, both Nokia Lumia 920 and Lumia 820 are not available in India but are expected to be launched sometime in December 2012, after Nokia failed to stick to its earlier announced date of launching these devices in the country in November.

Key specs for Nokia Lumia 620

•  3.8-inch TFT WVGA 800X480, ClearBlack
• 512MB RAM (8GB internal storage, Micro SD support up to 64GB)
• 5 megapixel autofocus, LED flash; video capture: HD 720p@30fps; VGA front camera
• NFC, WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n 2.4Ghz + 5Ghz, Bluetooth 3.0, GPS/A-GPS, Glonass, micro-USB, 3.5mm audio connector (AHJ + WP Controls)
• 1 GHz Dual Core Snapdragon S4
• Up to 14.6 hours on GSM and up to 9.9 hours on WCDMA; Standby time: Up to 330 h
• 115.4 x 61.1 x 11.02 mm; 127g (including battery

 

Nokia launches the Lumia 920T for China Mobile

Nokia will partner with China Mobile to launch a version of its new flagship Lumia smartphone tailored for the world's largest cellular market, the Finnish company said on Wednesday.China Mobile, the biggest operator in the world with more than 700 million subscribers, will start selling the Lumia 920T, the first phone to be based on Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 platform in China's third-generation (3G) network.
Nokia shares rose 6.1 percent in the early Helsinki trade. Successful sales of the latest Lumia 920 and 820 models are seen crucial for the company as it tries to reverse a decline in market share it has lost to Samsung and Apple.
Chinese telecom carriers have been engaged in intense price competition by offering cheap handset deals and data plans to try to attract higher-end 3G subscribers. China Mobile is the only telecom carrier in China without a contract with Apple Inc to sell iPhones in the country.

Nokia Siemens Networks to close optical networks unit - sources

Nokia Siemens Networks' (NSN) services unit faces closure as an essential contract with Deutsche Telekom will not be extended, two people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.One person said the closure, effective en 2013 would be announced on Wednesday during a workers' meeting in Kassel.
NSN Services, which generates under 100 million euros in annual sales and employs about 1,000 people, ensures that calls and data are transmitted via overhead cable networks. Deutsche Telekom sold the unit to NSN five years ago.
At the time the two companies agreed on a 5-year 300 million euro services contract. The unit also counts Vodafone as a customer.
The contract would not be extended, the person said.
German daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung first reported about the closure of the unit.
Verdi union representative Mike Doeding said that a meeting to update workers about next year's plans was scheduled for Wednesday, adding he had no idea about the message to be expected.
"If they are to close the unit it would be an outrage," Doeding said.
NSN declined to comment, while Deutsche Telekom referred to NSN for comment.
NSN, a 50-50 joint venture between Nokia Oyj and Siemens AG, is cutting costs and plans to shed a quarter of its staff and sell product lines to focus on mobile broadband. NSN had 60,600 employees at the end of the third quarter.
The telecoms equipment market is going through rough times with stiff competition from Chinese peers Huawei and ZTE as the major telecoms operators postpone investments, faced with shrinking markets due to the weak economy.
France's Alcatel-Lucent is also cutting costs.
On Monday, NSN said it was selling its optical fibre unit to Marlin Equity Partners, resulting in the transfer of up to 1,900 employees, mainly in Germany and Portugal.

Nokia sells headquarters building

Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia, which faces cash-flow problems, said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell and lease back its head office building outside Helsinki for 170 million euros ($222 million).

"Owning real estate is not part of Nokia's core business and when good opportunities arise we are willing to exit these types of non-core assets," Nokia's chief financial officer, Timo Ihamuotila, said in a statement.

"We are naturally continuing to operate in our head office building on a long-term basis," he added.
The troubled group, once a dominant force in the global market for handsets, recently posted its sixth quarterly loss in a row, burning through cash as it proceeds with a vast restructuring programme.
In October, the company said it was looking to sell its head office building, named "Nokia House".
The glass-and-steel waterfront structure was built in the town of Espoo in the 1990s, during the boom years for the telecom industry when Nokia become the world's biggest mobile phone maker.
The building has been sold to Finnish real estate company Exilion in a transaction to be completed by the end of the year, Nokia said.

Nokia quietly unveils dual-SIM Nokia 114

Nokia has quietly unveiled the dual-SIM Nokia 114. The phone popped up on the Nokia India website without so much as an official word from the company.

Nokia 114 looks like the dual-SIM variant of the Nokia 109 that was unveiled in some markets (but not India) last month. The phone features a 1.8-inch (4.57 cm) QVGA colour display, 32GB of expandable storage and Bluetooth. It comes with a 0.3-megapixel camera capable of recording QCIF video at 15fps. The Nokia 114 comes with a 1020mAh battery capable of 637 hours standby time and 10.5 hours talk-time or 27 hours of music playback.

This 2G-only phone measures 110.0mm (H) x 46.0mm (W) x 14.8mm (D) and weighs just 80 grams.

Last week, Nokia announced two mobile phones - Nokia Asha 205 and Nokia 206.

The Nokia Asha 205 is a QWERTY device with a 2.4-inch display and a dedicated Facebook button. It comes with 2G connectivity, Bluetooth, VGA camera and a battery that offers 11 hours talk-time. The phone comes with pre-installed apps like eBuddy Chat, Twitter and support for popular email accounts such as Gmail as well as 40 free games from EA. The Nokia Asha 205 will be available in Cyan, Magenta and Orange colour options.

Nokia 206 is a regular 'bar' style feature phone with a 2.4-inch display, 1.3-megapixels camera and 2G + Bluetooth connectivity. It comes with pre-installed apps like eBuddy Chat, WhatsApp and a gift pack of 10 free, premium content items. The Nokia 206 will be available in Cyan, Magenta and Yellow colours.

The Nokia 114 is current listed as "Coming soon" on the Nokia website and there is no mention of exact price or date of availability.

Nokia 114 Specifications

• 1.8-inch QVGA display
• Dual-SIM 2G, Bluetooth
• 32GB expandable storage
• 0.3-megapixel rear camera
• QCIF video at 15fps
• 637 hours standby time, 10.5 hours talk-time or 27 hours of music playback
• 10.0mm x 46.0mm x 14.8mm
• 80 grams