So much buzz about HTC and Apple lately, it’s like we’ve totally forgotten about someone who was once a major force in the smartphone market – Nokia. Earlier this week, I noticed that Nokia had released its latest Symbian flagship into Singapore. Besides being launched in between two of 2010′s best mobile devices (HTC Desire and iPhone 4) the N8 comes at a very crucial time for Nokia, especially when the company is poised to deliver bad news regarding its profit.

continue reading "Can The New Nokia N8 Save Nokia?"

ABBYY Business Card Reader is a handy application for Nokia smartphones which allows users to quickly and easily capture contact information from business cards and add it to the mobile address book together with contacts’ photos. The ABBYY Business Card Reader helps save time and effort by eliminated the need to manually type in names, phones and other key info. The application will be of great use and value to business professionals and anyone who communicates a lot.

Try it for FREE today! – ABBYY Business Card Reader for S60

Features of ABBYY Business Card Reader [Nokia/Symbian]:

• Fast and easy way to add new contacts. All contact information from a business card can be captured in three simple steps
• High quality of data capture and processing. The application uses ABBYY’s award-winning OCR technology, which quickly and accurately “reads” printed text on images captured with a mobile camera
• Automatic detection of different data types on business cards. The application intelligently locates different types of contact information on a business card, such as Name, Company/Organization, Job Title, Telephone Numbers (Office, Mobile, Fax), E-mail, and Web site
• Ability to add photo to a contact without quitting the application.
• Easy-to-use intuitive interface allows you to start using the application right away.
• No additional equipment required. All you need is a mobile device with a built-in camera.
• Recognizes business cards in 16 languages: Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian.

Minimum Requirements of ABBYY Business Card Reader [Nokia / Symbian]:

• Operating systems: Symbian® OS S60 v. 9.1, 9.2, 9.3, 9.4
• Memory requirements: 10 to 20 MB RAM depending on the number of enabled recognition languages. 15 MB internal memory or storage card space for installation.
• Camera requirements: 2 mega pixels or better with autofocus.
• User Interface: available in English, German, Turkish and Russian.
• Supported devices: Nokia N73,Nokia N78, Nokia N79, Nokia N82, Nokia N85, Nokia N86 8MP, Nokia N93, Nokia N93i, Nokia N95, Nokia N95-3 NAM, Nokia N95 8GB, Nokia N96, Nokia N96-3, Nokia N97, Nokia E66, Nokia E71, Nokia E71x, Nokia E72, Nokia E75, Nokia E90 Communicator, Nokia 5530, Nokia 5730 XpressMusic, Nokia 5800, Nokia 6210 Navigator, Nokia 6220 classic, Nokia 6710 Navigator, Nokia 6720 classic

Display Dimensions
240×320, 320×240, 360×640
Operating System
Symbian OS v9 (3rd edition), Symbian OS v9 (5th edition)

Reviews on ABBYY Business Card Reader [Nokia / Symbian]:

Catherine

This is very usefull and comfortable product!

Josh

Works fine, thanks!

Anna

Great appl! The best from recognition application for business cards.

Try it for FREE today! – ABBYY Business Card Reader for S60

Keen to see what’s in the Nokia N900 package? Look no further!

Here’s a video of the one of the Slashgear guys opening up this Nokia beauty:

Via SlashGear

Check out this video of the upcoming Nokia N900 (to be released this month) featuring the Maemo Internet Browser. From the looks of this device, it appears that Nokia will bounce back nicely from the not-so-great success of the Nokia N97. I particularly like the zoom-in and out gesture at 2:37 -

Main Features of the Nokia N900:

• 10Mbps HSDPA 3G
• 3.5 inch 800×480 Touch Screen
• 5 MegaPixel Camera
• 32GB of internal memory
• MicroSD Expansion
• Slide-out full QWERTY keypad
• Multitasking ability
• 600MHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor
• Supports Flash 9.4

What do you think? Drool-worthy?

Via YouTube

It’s no secret that the Nokia E71 was one of Nokia’s most popular phones of recent times. Some of the accolades received by this gadget were:

• Editors’ Choice, Readers’ Choice and 8.9 out of 10 rating on CNET.co.uk (as of June 2008)
• Phone of the Year and the Best Smartphone at the 2008 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards
• WIRED Magazine‘s 2008 Best of Test
• Highly Commended in a category of Best Mobile Handset or Device at the GSMA Awards 2009

Now hot on its tail is its successor, the Nokia E72, which is based on the same award-winning design with a couple of nice tweaks. I particularly like the introduction of the new touchpad which is similar to that used on Samsung devices. It looks like users will be able to get around faster and easier with this type of input method. Check out the other main enhancements below.

Improvements of the Nokia E72 over the Nokia E71 are:

• Increased megapixels: from 3.2 MegaPixels to 5 MegaPixels
• Optical Navigation Key (touchpad) instead of NaviKey
• Faster HSDPA : from 3.6Mbps to 10.2Mbps
• 3.5mm stereo audio jack – no more 2.5mm Nokia jack
• Telephone sound quality improved with noise cancellation
• Digital compass included
• Torch activated by single press on spacebar
• Slightly Larger: from 114mm to 144mm

According to Mobility Site, it’s already available for pre-order from Amazon. This is the US version. So if you’re keen to get this before most people, follow the link above.

For the more patient, here’s a video below showing you some of the Nokia e72 highlights

Nokia e72 Video Review

MobiSystems OfficeSuite is a complete mobile office solution, allowing you to create, view and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint files away from your office.

The new version 5 of the MobiSystems OfficeSuite has been especially enhanced with Microsoft ® Office 2007 file support. You can enjoy all of the great features of MobiSystems OfficeSuite 4 + the ability to open new Microsoft ® Office 2007 DOCX and XLSX files on your S60 5th Edition phone.

The program utilizes the most commonly used desktop document formats and allows you to easily acquire your sensitive documents on your handset. With the advanced editing features you can modify documents on the fly and save them in their original format, just ready to be used back on your desktop PC.

Features of Mobisystems OfficeSuite:

• The Word Editor of MobiSystems OfficeSuite
• A powerful tool for creating professional documents, reports, and brochures. You can easily create everything from business letters to complete books with professional layouts, and email them from your phone.
• Features & Benefits: Opening and viewing native DOCX files
• Editing of Microsoft native DOC files and the commonly used RTF and TXT formats
• True Type fonts and Unicode support
• Advanced spelling capabilities in 6 languages – English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch- word auto-complete and underlining of misspelled words
• Advanced document formatting with embedded tables, images and hyperlinks
• Custom zoom to get best visualization of your documents
• Full preservation of the original document formatting
• Supports password protected Word files
• The Excel Manager in MobiSystems OfficeSuite
• This application allows you to work with native Microsoft Excel XLS and XML files or the commonly used CSV format right on your mobile phone. A feature-packed spreadsheet manager with which you can calculate, analyze, and visually communicate your data quickly, easily and on the go.
• Features & Benefits:
• Opening and viewing native XLSX files
• “Easy sum function” availble in SpreadSheets
• Editing of Excel XLS and XML files, and CSV files
• Save in the original Excel XLS and XML and CSV file format with 100% preservation of the of the document formatting
• Support of True Type fonts and ability to work with multiple fonts, font colors and font styles
• Over 100 common and scientific functions to make your calculations easy and accurate
• Custom zoom for best document visualization
• Charts
• Support of password protected Excel files
• Undo and redo
• Hiding and freezing of columns and rows
• PowerPoint® Presentations in MobiSystems OfficeSuite
• Slides provides all the resources you need to deliver high-impact presentations from your mobile handset.
• Features & Benefits:
• Support of PPT and PPS PowerPoint® native files
• Several different view modes – slide view, slide show and notes
• True Type fonts and Unicode supported
• Landscape and portrait view modes
• Fullscreen mode
• Embedded images and charts
• Award-winning Mobile Office Bundle
• MobiSystems OfficeSuite is designed as one complete office package with
• Common file explorer for all file formats to help you organize and manage your files
• Sending documents as Email attachments
• The software is recognized by industry experts and customers alike.
• MobiSystems OfficeSuite has two separate work modes:
• In View mode you can open and read document without any limitations in functionality or time. No limited trials!
• In Edit mode documents can be modified on the device and saved in their original format. The save is available for a limited 30 days trial
• 4 Ways to Share Office Documents:
• Bluetooth transfer to other phone or PC
• Infrared beaming
• Direct upload from/to your PC via cable connection

Try it for FREE today: MobiSystems OfficeSuite 5 Symbian S60 5th Edition

Nokia has eliminated the monthly subscription for anytime files on their Ovi Files service! The pricing used to be a monthly fee, with the option for either a 10GB or 30GB bucket of online storage. Nokia Ovi Files provides 10GB of complementary service, which is certainly much appreciated.

Ovi Files is the result of Nokia’s purchase of Avvenu. Basically, there is a PC-based (Windows only, unfortunately) Ovi Files Agent that runs on your connected computers, constantly synchronizing files with the online server. Initially, the free version required that your home computer be on and connected in order for you to access your files. The ‘Anytime Files’ were ones that were copied onto Nokia’s server in your Ovi Files account, so that you could access them, well, anytime.

You can use Ovi Files for various purposes, usually installing things to various phones. There is a helpful widget that you can download, though it does not really do much, aside from automatically logging you in to the mobile site. We recently thought of a host of ways that Nokia could add some real value to the Ovi Files product, and I really hope that they were listening, because, especially now that it is free, they could really gain some attention with it.

Sign up for free Ovi Files service.

Nokia’s latest bluetooth headset, the Nokia BH-804, looks very stylish indeed. Judging by the picture above, it’s also well accessorised and would be a welcome addition to any road-warrior’s desktop.

CNET recently did a review and here’s a summary of their investigation:

The good

• Small and stylish
• Easy to use
• Comfortable to wear
• Good accessories
• Good sound quality

The bad

• Ear loop is not very flexible and is cumbersome to attach
• Expensive

At $299.95,  I think Nokia’s trying to break into Jawbone’s market. Whatever it’s trying to do, it’s a lot to pay for a bluetooth headset!

What are your thoughts?

Nokia BH-804 Bluetooth Headset Review CNET

The Nokia E55 just passed the FCC. The Nokia E55 is a candybar smartphone that features 20-key QWERTY keyboard, QVGA display, 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS, Wi-Fi, stereo Bluetooh and microSDHC card slot.

The “dash 1” variant of the Nokia E55 has just garnered approval from FCC. Nokia keeps pumping all of its devices through FCC labs, despite the fact they’re not selling that well in the United States, to say the least. Latest phone we caught on its way to the North American market is the ultra-thin smartphone – Nokia E55. Announced alongside the E75 at the Mobile Congress in Barcelona, it prides itself with ROKR-type keyboard, WiFi, GPS, HSDPA, 3.2 megapixel camera, Symbian S60 3.2, and so on. We have no idea whether some carrier in the United States will pick it up, but we have no doubts it will reach Nokia’s Flagship stores in Chicago and New York City.

Nokia E55 is a S60 smartphone, which comes in at 9.9mm thick. So just when can we expect to see the E55 and its “compact QWERTY”? That’s not known as this point, but Europeans will be able to pick one up soon.

Nokia E55 – Full Phone Specifications

Think of it like a next generation Power Glove. With circuits detecting stretches in a flexible material, signals are sent to a device that could interpret user input, be it for gaming, virtual reality, or other creative uses. The patent includes haptic feedback mechanisms – small vibrations or even pressure could go a long way to polish virtual interactions. Imagine having that little finger sleeve pull your fingertip backwards when you push a button, as if it was actually there. In addition to the finger joint sleeve, there is also a wristband pictured which could add further functionality.

Nokia seems to be a bit behind the competitors in figuring out how to make full touch user interface work on it’s smartphones. But they are getting better at this and should eventually figure things out. The basic idea is pretty simple. Create a comfortable sleeve, with embedded sensors that react to the stretching and relaxation of the human skin.

As the skin stretches differently when you move your fingers and/or hand, the input device can figure out the different gestures and transmit them as commands to a mobile device wirelessly. The input device can be used to intuitively control a wide range of mobile gadgets, including your phone, game console, media player, laptop, near eye-display and many others.

This kind of controller may not seem too practical and looks pretty far fetched, but, if wearable electronics will become as popular as some are predicting, it might come in quite handy in a few years.

Remote Input Sleeves from Nokia via Intomobile.