Nokia

In an ideal world, every cell phone would be able to switch seamlessly from cellular to Wi-Fi networks. Unfortunately, that world is a long ways off, but Nokia is trying to get us partway there. Today the company unveiled its new 6301 handset, which is compatible with Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology. UMA allows users to make calls on a normal GSM network and then switch to Wi-Fi for voice and/or data. As Nokia said, it brings both the benefits of a cellular and a landline handset.

Other features include a 2-megapixel camera, voice dialing and commands, a music … Read more

As I sat here today, trying to decide what the topic should be for this week's Future Implications piece, I thought of the ever-popular topics of computing, smart phones and even HDTVs. But alas, I came across this list from Ethisphere that lists the World's Most Ethical Companies for 2007.

Upon opening the link and examining the list, I was aghast at what I found: most major tech companies were nowhere to be found. Is this an endemic issue in the technology business? And more importantly, what can be done to fix it?… Read more

Nokia today announced its new Nokia 6555 for AT&T. It may look like a normal flip phone but the 6555 shows that Nokia is spurning the flip phone craze entirely. Though it's fatter than most trim handsets (it can't compete with the Razr's trend-setting profile), its tall, slender shape gives it a soundly sleek and elegant look. Features are plentiful: there's Bluetooth, a 1.3-maepixel camera, a music/video player, 3G compatibility, a host of community applications and Push-to-Talk (PTT) support. Call quality was more than satisfactory, and the display was brilliant. We missed … Read more

Undeterred by iPhone mania, Nokia continues to chug along with its own music phone efforts and has just come out with a new portable speaker device for its Xpress handset. That's a good thing, considering some of the unfortunate alternatives we've seen out there for other phone speakers.

Rather than something that looks like a genetic experiment gone awry, Nokia's MD-6 "Pocket Speakers" take on a sleek form that looks something like a cigarette lighter as seen on Krunker.com. Following that theme, it has a hinged top that opens to reveal both speakers at … Read more

I didn't attend the Apple event yesterday, but I watched the liveblogging by Tom Krazit here on CNET and by Ryan Block on Engadget. Not the same as being there, but still fun.

As everyone knows by now, Apple introduced three completely new iPods along with minor updates for the iPod Shuffle and iPhone:

Amazingly enough, not every bit of technology products involve Apple. There's this other company we've heard of called Nokia, which apparently also makes a few phones too, and some even play music like an iPhone.

Even JBL recognizes that last feature and has created a system to support Nokia's new "5310 Xpress" to maximize the music phone's sound with Odyssey speakers, an equalizer and a built-in amp. JBL's "On Call 5310" also serves as an all-purpose station for the handset with a recharging dock, according to OhGizmo, which says it will … Read more

Yesterday, top cellphone maker Nokia announced Ovi, an umbrella brand for a forthcoming set of online services. Among these services is a new Nokia Music Store, which will offer both over-the-air and PC-based downloads, with two-way sync between device and PC. The service will launch in Europe, featuring a catalog of "millions" of tracks. Individual song downloads will cost 1 Euro and full albums 10 Euros. A subscription, PC-tethered, streaming-only service will also be available for 10 Euros per month. (The whiz-bang Flash site introducing Ovi is here. A press release is here.)

The service leverages Nokia's … Read more

Jupiter Research's Mark Mulligan gives a run-down of what Nokia's new digital music strategy looks like and, well, let's just say Steve Jobs isn't exactly shaking in his Nikes.

Nice hardware with 99-cent Windows Media-DRMed downloads and, inexplicably, a PC-only subscription-based streaming service that doesn't do mobile streaming.

Wow. That's anticlimactic. And, frankly, a little confusing.

The one feature the Macalope sees that Apple really should implement is the ability to buy and download songs from the phone. Of course, there's currently no interface to add songs to playlists on an iPhone and … Read more

As part of its new Ovi brand of Internet services, Nokia is reviving the much-maligned N-Gage gaming platform in a new way. Instead of offering a hardware-based gaming system, Nokia is opening up a mobile gaming portal with the N-Gage branding. Once accessed, you can browse through a wide selection of game titles, download free trials, and finally purchase the games directly from Nokia. Nokia is also heavily promoting the community aspect of the new N-Gage platform, suggesting that you can connect and play with friends all over the world, as well as keep track of global gaming stats. As … Read more