Nokia To Ship 2 Top-End Unlocked Phones

Las Vegas — Nokia will brings its first 8-megapixel camera phone and its new flagship N-series phone to the U.S. market this year as unlocked devices, the company told TWICE during the CTIA convention here.

The Nokia devices will be available direct to consumers through Nokia’s Web site and flagship stores as well

The flagship N97 is Nokia’s first N-series device equipped with both a touchscreen and hard QWERTY keyboard.

as to retailers through such distributors as Brightpoint and Ingram Micro.

The flagship N97 is the company’s first N-series device equipped with both a touchscreen and hard QWERTY keyboard. It will be available here shortly after its June launch elsewhere in the world. The 8-megapixel N86 is due in the second half in the U.S.

The only other 3G camera phone available in the U.S. with 8 megapixels is Samsung’s Memoir touch-screen phone, available through T-Mobile. SonyEricsson, however, plans U.S. availability of an 8.1-megapixel HSDPA model at the end of the second quarter and announced global second-half availability of a 12.1-megapixel model whose U.S. availability hasn’t been announced.

Both Nokia models are 3G W-CDMA/HSDPA phones shown at the GSM World Congress earlier this year.

The N97, priced in Europe at an estimated 550 Euros ($729) before taxes and subsidies, features 3.5-inch 16:9 touchscreen with virtual dialing keypad. With the phone in landscape orientation, users slide the display up at an angle to reveal a hard QWERTY keyboard. The screen’s 35-degree viewing angle makes it easier to view and reduces glare, the company said. With the screen at an angle, the device resembles the company’s Communicator phone of the 1990s, though that device was a clamshell that opened up to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and screen.

The N97 features 32GB embedded memory, 16GB MicroSD card slot, 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, video capture in 16:9 DVD quality, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, Microsoft Exchange support, and customizable home screen with preloaded and downloadable widgets that can be dragged and dropped to different positions. Select widgets display frequently updated information from Web services and social-networking sites.

Other N97 features include assisted GPS and electronic compass, Web browser, Flash video streaming, and compatibility with Nokia’s navigation service and Nokia’s N-Gage downloadable games.

In the N86, the company is offering the capabilities of the U.S.-available N85 but upgrading the camera to 8 megapixels from 5 and, for the first time, incorporating variable rather than fixed aperture and mechanical shutter. The mechanical shutter eliminates motion blur, a spokesman said. Like the N85, the N86 feaures Carl Zeiss optics, Symbian 60 OS, OLED display and triband (850/1900/2100MHz) HSDPA operation.

The N86 features slide-from-the-side horizontal QWERTY keyboard that doubles as a vertically oriented dialing keypad. Four media-control keys slide out from the other side.

Full specs weren’t available, but the European version features 3.6Mbps HSDPA, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, UpnP, assisted GPS, A/V storage and playback FM transmitter, FM tuner with RDS, display that rotates from portrait to landscape mode, HTML browser, video sharing over cellular, 16GB MicroSD slot, and compatibility with Nokia’s navigation service and Nokia’s N-Gage downloadable games.

MWC 09: HTC Reveals New Android Powered Handset - HTC Magic

Vodafone and HTC Corporation have announced the HTC Magic smartphone, Vodafone’s first Android-powered mobile, which will be available in the spring. The introduction of the HTC Magic is the result of a successful relationship between Vodafone and HTC, and Vodafone’s joining, late last year, of the Open Handset Alliance.

“Delivering an unbeatable mobile internet experience for our customers is a priority for Vodafone, so we are very excited to be introducing our first Android-powered smartphone in the spring,” says Patrick Chomet, Global Director of Terminals, Vodafone Group. “Following our joining of the Open Handset Alliance, we have worked very closely with HTC to bring this cool new phone to the market. Our customers want to access a wide range of the most attractive mobile devices to help them make the most of their time - the HTC Magic helps meet that need.”“The HTC Magic embodies the compact style and sophistication for which HTC has come to be known, with the powerful and intuitive internet experience for which the Android platform was designed,” says Peter Chou, president and CEO, HTC Corporation. “We are proud of our partnership with Vodafone and excited about making the Android-powered HTC Magic available to Vodafone customers in Europe.”
"The announcement of the HTC Magic is an important step for Android and the Open Handset Alliance," says Andy Rubin, Senior Director of Mobile Platforms at Google. "With it, Vodafone is opening up the mobile web for consumers across Europe and giving more third-party developers a platform on which they can build the next wave of killer applications."The HTC Magic has -
a 3.2-inch QVGA touch screen display
Features a trackball and navigational buttons for quick, easy access
Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
Handwriting recognition
MicroSD card support
Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE/GPRS
Bluetooth only for mono headset, USB (mini)
3 megapixel AF camera
GPSThe HTC Magic includes a variety of email options such as Google Mail, POP3 and IMAP. In addition, Android Market allows for quick and easy downloading of games and applications utilizing Vodafone’s network.
The new handset is exclusive to Vodafone in the UK, Spain, Germany (Black) and France where it’s available in White. It’s also going to be out in Italy on a non-exclusive basis in both colors – Black and White. Customers can ensure that they are the first to receive information about the HTC Magic’s availability, pricing and pre-ordering by registering their interest via their local Vodafone website from today. Full details of availability and pricing will be available in the future in local Vodafone markets.

George Bush shoe attack

MTNL Brings 3G to India

Most of us spent on expensive 3G handsets, hoping that some day 3G services would be available in India, but were left disappointed. Well today it seems your wait is over, for the first time in India 3G services are available courtesy MTNL. MTNL is a state owned telecom provider in the cities of Mumbai and Delhi. With 3G, MTNL has ushered a new era of mobile communication in India. 3G is capable of offering advanced services such as video calls, broadband wireless data, faster online video streaming and a better gaming experience due to it fast data transfer rate which can reach up to 2Mbps. MTNL's 3G network is based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) technology one of the popular 3G technology used worldwide. The 3G network infrastructure in Delhi has been built with equipments from Motorola. MTNL will initially offer its 3G services in Delhi, followed by Mumbai. BSNL, another state owned telecom provider is soon expected to launch 3G services all over India starting with Chennai. While MTNL and BSNL were awarded the 3G spectrum by default, the Government has yet to open the bidding process for private players.

Nokia has unveiled N97; a new flagship model with a large touch screen which it hopes will bolster its smartphone offering. The world's largest cell phone maker Nokia is calling the new smartphone `the world's most advanced personal computer.' Incidentally, N97 is the second touchscreen device from the stable of Finnish handset giant; the company unveiled its first touch handset, the 5800 XpressMusic, in early October, more than a year after the iPhone debuted. Nokia 5800 XpressMusic will hit the retail shelves in January 2009. Other than iPhone, N97 is a direct rival to Sony Ericsson's X1 and HTC's Touch Pro -- which both use Microsoft's Windows software. Here's looking into what the new Nokia NSeries entrant brings for the users.

The sleek handset pairs a 3.5 inch touchscreen with a QWERTY keyboard. The slide-out QWERTY keyboard is a full 3-row. The smartphone transforms from a touch slate to a landscape QWERTY device. There's a tilting touchscreen display and a customisable home screen that can be personalised with widgets. The wide touchscreen has a 16:9 aspect ratio and a resolution of 640 x 360 pixels. The smartphone is reportedly 30 per cent thicker than iPhone.

N97 offers a powerful 32GB memory with microSD for adding 16GB more (making it a staggering 48GB), 5 megapixel camera (with Carl Zeiss optics and dual LED flash), support for Nokia's N-Gage gaming system and handwriting recognition. Other features include, a 3.5mm headset jack, microUSB port used for syncing and charging, Haptic feedback and 1500 mAh battery. The smartphone runs on S60, the latest version of Nokia’s Symbian operating system.

Nokia claims that the Nokia N97 will use a browser that supports Flash and Flash video. Making what many term a jab at Apple iPhone (which lacks Flash support), at a pre-launch event in New York, Bill Plummer, vice president, said that N97 enables "real Internet browsing--unlike some phones". According to the company, N97 has up to 37 hours of music playback, 4.5 hours of video and a staggering 16.5 days of standby time.

N97 has 3G wireless network connectivity, a built-in compass and GPS. There are comprehensive connectivity options: WiFi, tri-band HSDPA, Bluetooth and USB. The N97 introduces the concept of social location (So-Lo). Using the GPS receiver and integrated compass, N97 has the capability to always know where it is located and with social networking integrated it can broadcast that position to authorised friends and family.