Nokia introduces Booklet 3G 'mini laptop'

Nokia rocked the world this morning by introducing its spin on the laptop, called the Booklet 3G. If you’re the rude sort (like us) you could call it a fancy netbook, what with its Atom processor and 10.1-inch display, but that screen is higher res than your average Eee, and it also sports integrated 3G wireless and a hot-swappable SIM card, so it’s definitely trying to define its own niche. It looks to be running Windows 7, which isn’t particularly netbooky, and also has integrated A-GPS with a copy of Ovi Maps, HDMI output, a rated 12 hour battery life, and the usual Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, all in a 2cm (.78 inch), 2.7lb aluminum body that’s understated, sophisticated, and should make most Nokia fans very happy — Nokia fans who are looking for a tiny laptop, anyway. There’s a fancy promotional video after the break, and while we don’t have any anticipated release date or price just yet, we’ll be learning more at Nokia World 09 on September 2. We promise not to make too many Foleo references.

Source: engadget

Nokia to announce Microsoft deal, denies ditching Symbian

Skype, whose technology has allowed legions of consumers to make practically free long-distance calls over the Internet on fixed lines, has been moving into the mobile arena with deals with operators such as Hutchison Whampoa’s 3.

“We believe that mobile is incredibly important to our future,” Skype Chief Executive Josh Silverman told Reuters in an interview at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the industry’s biggest gathering.

He said Nokia would install Skype in its high-end N-series phones, starting with the N-97. “The Nokia announcement is really a major milestone. When we partner with manufacturers we are able to deliver a superior experience,” Silverman said.

Skype software is also available to download onto mobile phones after they have been bought, but is then less integrated into features like address books, making it less convenient.

Most mobile operators are wary of Skype, fearing they will lose revenue through consumers paying little or nothing for calls, but Silverman said 3 had actually seen its average revenue rise by 20 percent for consumers using Skype phones.

He said subscribers were encouraged to use their phones more by flat-rate data plans — boosting usage of 3′s other services — and that customer loyalty increased. Skype also has deals with other operators but 3 is its most successful.

Silverman said more than 300 million minutes’ worth of Skype to Skype mobile calls had been made so far, with current rates at about 1 million minutes per day. Skype had 405 million registered users in total at the end of last year.

Skype was bought by online marketplace eBay for $4.3 billion in 2005 with the intention of bolstering its PayPal online payments service but it took a $1.4 billion writedown in 2007 and there have been media reports that eBay may sell Skype.

Silverman declined to comment on the speculation. “EBay is very supportive. We are very happy with the support we get,” he said. “I spend 100 percent of my time building the world’s best communications company.”

Source: Yahoo & Reuters

The focus of the cell phone market has been shifting to software development since Google and Apple entered the mobile market in the past two years.

Nokia unveiled the store at a developer conference on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona.

Also at the fair, telecom operator Orange said it will launch a similar online store from May across Europe. Nokia said it would open the online ‘Ovi’ store in nine countries in May. It said 70 percent of revenues from the store would go to software developers, and its first model to ship with access to the store would be its new flagship phone N97.

Nokia said partners for the store included, among others, social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace.

“Ovi Store is a much needed response to success of App Store from Apple,” said Ben Wood, research director at CCS Insight.

“Successful deployment is essential to maintaining the competitiveness of Symbian and the key partner is undoubtedly Facebook, given the current momentum around social networking on mobile phones,” Wood said.

Research firm Strategy Analytics forecasts the value of the mobile content market — including downloadable games, ringtones, wallpapers, video, mobile TV, text alerts and mobile web browsing — to grow 18 percent to $67 billion this year.

Apple’s App Store has proved to be popular with iPhone users, and helped spawn an entire industry of entrepreneurs who design the programs which can then be downloaded by consumers.

Apple said last month a total of 15,000 applications are available and downloads have hit 500 million in six months.

Microsoft Corp is also planning an “online bazaar” for applications running on its Windows Mobile operating system, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blackberry-maker Research in Motion said last year it plans to launch its app store early this year.

SMARTPHONES TO BUCK THE TREND?

Nokia shares were 0.9 percent lower at 9.46 euros on a softer Dow Jones Stoxx European Technology index, recovering from a brief knock after Chief Executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo told a news conference he saw a deep, long and global economic downturn ahead.

Cellphone makers introduced new advanced cell phone models on Monday, hoping to benefit from expected continued growth in demand for smartphones.

While the overall cell phone market is expected to shrink around 10 percent in 2009 as consumers rein in spending, analysts and the industry still expect the smartphone market to grow some 10-20 percent in 2009.

Sony Ericsson unveiled an 8 megapixel camera phone and said it would bring to the market in the second half of the year a 12 megapixel camera phone model codenamed “Idou.”

“There is always demand for something new, better, something attractive, and that’s what we are looking for,” Hideki Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson, told Reuters in an interview.

At its news conference Nokia also launched two smartphone models, the E75 and E55, along with two GPS navigation phones.

Source: Yahoo & Reuters