Posts Tagged ‘Nokia’
Skype Available for Nokia Smartphones on Ovi
Skype and Nokia have jointly announced the release of Skype for Symbian, a Skype client for Nokia smartphones based on the Symbian platform. Skype for Symbian will allow Nokia smartphone users worldwide to use Skype on the move, over either a WiFi or mobile data connection (GPRS, EDGE, 3G). It is now downloadable for free from the Ovi Store.
“With Symbian’s global reach, Skype is that much closer to becoming the ubiquitous real-time communications platform for hundreds of millions of Symbian-based mobile users.”
Skype for Symbian enables Nokia smartphone users to:
•Make free Skype-to-Skype calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world*
•Save money on calls and texts (SMS) to phones abroad.
•Send and receive instant messages to and from individuals or groups
•Share pictures, videos and other files.
•Receive calls to their existing online number
•See when Skype contacts are online and available to call or IM
•Easily import names and numbers from the phone’s address book
Skype for Symbian will run on any Nokia smartphone using Symbian ^1, the latest version of the Symbian platform. Skype will soon introduce this client to Symbian mobile devices from other manufacturers, including Sony Ericsson.
The initial Skype for Symbian application is compatible with the following Nokia touchscreen models: Nokia N97, Nokia N97 mini, Nokia X6, Nokia 5800 XpressMusic and Nokia 5530 and the following non-touch devices: Nokia E72, Nokia E71, Nokia E90, Nokia E63, Nokia E66, Nokia E51, Nokia N96, Nokia N95, Nokia N95 8Gb, Nokia N85, Nokia N82, Nokia N81, Nokia N81 8 Gb, Nokia N79, Nokia N78, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 5320.
Nokia Announces 6303i classic
Nokia’s announced the 6303i classic, that follows in the footprints of the Series 40 6303 classic.
The Nokia 6303i classic features a 3.2 megapixel camera, a 2.2 inch screen and email and instant messaging through Nokia Messaging. It has 50 MB internal memory, micro SD supprt, stainless steel covers and carries a retail price of EUR 105, before taxes and subsidies.
The Nokia 6303i classic will start shipping in select markets in the first quarter of 2010.
Nokia Cuts Phone Prices as Market Growth Returns
Nokia cut phone prices across its portfolio in late January, putting its cheapest smartphones on a collision course with mid-range phones from rivals Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
Nokia said price changes were part of its normal, ongoing business. The world’s top cellphone maker usually cuts prices across its portfolio a few times each year. Several industry sources told Reuters Nokia had cut prices by up to 10 percent. After the price cut Nokia’s cheapest smartphone model, the 5230, retails for around 170 euros ($239) in Finland. The model’s wholesale price is now below 120 euros. Demand for cheaper smartphones has helped the segment grow despite the recession, defying the broader, weaker industry trend. Sales jumped 30 percent in the October-December quarter according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Nokia said last week that revenue from smartphones jumped 26 percent in the quarter from the previous quarter to 3.9 billion euros, helping power its overall result. The average wholesale price of its smartphones dipped to 186 euros from 190 euros in the third quarter.
The falling prices have hurt handset vendors like Sony Ericsson, who have focused on mid-range or feature phones, which often boast good cameras or music players but lack computer-like open operating systems. These have been cheaper than smartphones, but the price difference is declining fast. “This latest round of price adjustments sees Nokia taking its low-cost Symbian devices into new territory,” said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight, a British firm that tracks the wholesale prices of mobile phones in Europe. Nokia’s price cuts come as the industry returns to growth following a grim 2009 marked by recession-hit consumer demand. Nokia says it expects the cellphone market to grow 10 percent this year.
Motorola Backs Wimax Over 3G in India
Telecommunications giant Motorola Inc., a Fortune 100 company, says that the newer Wimax technology scores over 3G in data transmission capabilities and that it’s the broadband route India needed to take.
Wimax or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a non-cellular telecommunications technology, which like 3G has the capability to transfer data wirelessly over long distances.
But while 3G offers speeds in the range of 5.8-14.4 mega bits a second, Wimax has the potential to “deliver 70 mega bits over the same spectrum”, a senior Motorola executive says.
“This technology enables better speeds than the standard 3G and even traditional broadband connections,” Tarvinder Singh, Motorola India’s head of marketing and product management, told IANS.
Incidentally, the Department of Telecom will auction the 2.1 GHz and higher spectrum band – which will support both the technologies – some time this month. And Singh says service providers winning the bids ought to opt for Wimax.
His assertion comes on the heels of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) inducting the Wimax technology as part of its 3G standard, the first non-cellular telecommunication technology to get ITU approval.
Researchers at Nokia-Siemens Networks and Heinrich Hertz Institute have showcased a futuristic 3G technology, the Long Term Evolution or LTE, which has a transfer speed of 100 mega bits per second.
But Singh is unimpressed. “Those who swear allegiance to 3G bank upon its development into LTE, which is still at a development stage and cannot be introduced before 2011 commercially,” he added.
Singh said India couldn’t wait till 2011 to provide Internet access and modern technology to its towns and villages. “We are already lagging behind other nations. Wireless broadband in the form of Wimax can solve the problem of building infrastructure for wired Internet access.”
Nokia Develops Self-Charging Cellphone and Nokia Latest Mobile Phones
Experts have come up with a cellphone that can recharge its own battery by harvesting energy from the owner’s motion.
The self-charging handset by Nokia, who has already filed for a US patent, was predicted to work with heavier components, such as the radio transmitter circuit and battery, supported on a sturdy frame.
The frame apparently could shift along two sets of rails, allowing it travel up and down and side to side, New Scientist reported.
Each rail apparently hosted strips of piezoelectric crystals at its end, capable of generating a current when compressed by the frame such that motion, by the user or the movement of the phone, generates electricity.
That in turn charged a capacitor and subsequently the battery, boosting the charge.